Happy Birthday Colette!

Colette began working with Wild Horse Education (WHE) back in 2017. She had been involved in wild horse and burro issues, as well as animal issues both domestic and wild life, before joining WHE. Her focus was at the legislative level and she felt a deep frustration as “Ten Years to AML” was being formalized (a document that later became the Path Forward many of you became familiar with when BLM formalized it into their budget requests to Congress).

At first, she formed her own informational portal as she looked for a way to continue her work to protect wild horses and burros. Then, she found WHE.

Colette has a very unique skillset (like most people do) that was a perfect fit for her work and a very welcome addition to the WHE team. Colette began her work with us on the backside, focusing on research and legislation. In 2021, when our team needed a new roundup observer, she stepped into the public eye and took on the challenge.

Joining our team in the field at the Antelope roundup for training, Colette demonstrated an immediate gift for videography. She learned the art of roundup documentation fast and blended seamlessly into teamwork documentation.

Her work in the court system, and her amazing tenacity to overcome obstacles, has helped her develop into a formidable advocate.

Keeping her cool (and keeping her camera steady and rolling) is not easy when you are under pressure from agency personnel that can often place unnecessary obstacles in your path (much like frat house hazing), other members of the public are being highly emotional or even engaged in harassment (things people at home do not see). But Colette has always kept her focus on documenting and getting her questions answered, no matter the challenge.

You can read an OpEd Colette penned for the Reno Gazette Journal after capturing the colt from Pancake that broke a leg on video, she captures the spirit of true advocacy and WHE team membership: “One person can feel helpless. But don’t give up. Change throughout history has come from creating a ripple, and you never know how far it will travel. Out of this has come legislation and litigation.”

With much gratitude, we present Colette with a small token of our appreciation for her Birthday.

Happy Birthday Colette. We are grateful for your dedication to our wild ones and your 5 years of service with WHE. Every time this work requires taking on a new challenge, digging deep, you do not shy away. 

With our gratitude. 

Get to know Colette, in her own words:

Wild horses are beloved, belong and given federal protection. At first glance, the message
cued up for me was to save the animals. Believing any reality can be changed, my search was
on for sources. My research kept taking me to Wild Horse Education. Right off, the writing
gives off the vibe of real information. There is great content found nowhere else—complete,
thorough, true advocacy for the protection and preservation of wild herds and wild lands. The
feeling was something akin to taking a deep breath. It all made sense. The work is all there
for wild herds to stay on the range in the wild. To save wild horses, save their habitat.

We all bring with us our own life experiences and skills that help us to navigate through our
lives and society and we all want to contribute. I am not unlike any of you, not better, and not
worse, just me, someone who is the product of growing up in the West. My beginning was in
Alaska, a territory before statehood, and is my center. Along the way we all work hard to be
better. For me, my B.A. in social welfare is also at my core. My service as a certified
shorthand reporter in California and Nevada, working in courthouses from Reno to Los
Angeles, is helpful. Often being considered the “13 th juror,” and part of over a thousand trials,
has been my most valuable education.

My approach to everything comes from my life lived.
It is a blend of continuing my public service for the wild horses and burros, the public lands,
and in the public interest. Maybe we are influenced by one moment. For me it was at a
church service in Anchorage, Alaska, as was John F. Kennedy, and why I quote this. “One
man, one person can make a difference. And everyone should try.” – John F./Jackie Kennedy.

We are grateful to have you, Colette, as a core team member today.

Help keep our teams in the field and in the fight.