“In my most OUTRAGED Opinion” by R.T. Fitch ~ co-founder/president of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
“If Dumb and Dumber had kids, this boy would be their prodigal son!”
A new journalistic approach to reporting on the status of wild horses & burros on federal lands; scientifically referred to as the Cranial Rectal Entanglement Syndrome
There’s an age old adage that says, “Even a fool is considered a wise man, until he speaks” or in this situation, writes; and in the case of freshman New York Times reporter David Philipps it couldn’t be more crystal clear than just that!!
You remember ole ‘wet behind the ears’ Philipps when two years ago he slithered onto the horse slaughter scene by publishing a story in ProPublica on Tom Davis who just happened to casually buy 1,700 wild mustangs from our own lovely Bureau of Land (Mis)Management and then just kind of lost all of them somewhere while extoling on the virtue of eating baby horse steaks, you ‘member, right? Duhhhhh? It didn’t take a Scientific Rocket to figure out that ole Tom was sending our national icons across the border to be slaughtered for palates across the seas.
But Funky Philipps prematurely published the story thereby destroying an ongoing investigation while never exercising due diligence to complete and verify his look into the dark and unsavory world of the BLM selling horses off to kill buyers. Davis got off, the BLM promptly swept their alleged investigation under the rug while Philipps and his bumbling side-kick horse (advocate?) got a few moments of fame and someone probably got a few more donated dollars to support their/her lifestyle. Only good thing about it was that it pissed off the then Secretary of Interior, Ken Salazar, so much that he lost his cookies and threatened bodily harm to Phillips in public; which probably helped to hasten the demise of the cattle rancher Secretary but it sure would have been slick if he had hauled off and decked dopey Dave right there on the spot. That would have been great fodder for a few more OpEds, but Salazar wimped out and slunk away with his tail between his legs, which was his standard operating procedure (SOP) anyway.
But now ‘HE’S BACK’ (Phillips) with a half-baked, bought out, one sided article called (BARF ALERT) ‘As Wild Horses Overrun the West, Ranchers Fear Land Will Be Gobbled Up‘…arrgghhh, give me a friggen break. Even I, an aging amateur with no opinions, could have come up with something better than that tripe.
The blatant, unsubstantiated and glaringly obvious lie that Wild Equines (oops, big word) are in high numbers in our western states is simply bad enough in it’s own right but to follow it with the corny, ridicules line that ranchers are worried about land being gobbled up…well listen to this Davey, “IT AIN’T THEIR FLIPPING LAND, IT”S PUBLIC LAND” and they are by no means good ole Texas type ranchers who buy their land, pay taxes on it, improve it and care for it, they…your buddies who you went to for this stupid story…are federally subsidized WELFARE Ranchers. Don’t you EVER do any research?
Of all the people to go to for a story on wild horses this misguided misfit went to the most contemptuous, handful of the biggest parasites in the west and asked their opinion on the status of the few remaining wild horses that live on public land that they consider to be THEIRS through entitlement for their personal profit! Is he CRAZY or is it just me?
Here’s the facts on these political poachers and their lies about the horses…we published an article on the shameful Utah good ole boys complete with graphs from data obtained from their own BLM bedfellows that shows their low, range quality cows and sheep can outnumber the horses in the counties in question as much as 10 to 1…what gives?
Facts don’t lie, only welfare ranchers and biased reporters do!
And, once again, Philipps goes to the darkside without getting the entire story, without researching the facts and publishes an article that is totally 180 degrees out from the reality of the situation. And someone PAYS him to do this? Is it just the New York Times or are there other fiscal motivators at foot, here? It sure seems like it to me and it should certainly appear to seem so to you; the tax paying public that is being ripped off by the welfare ranchers that Dandy Dave prefers to quote and embellish while giving noted equine advocate Ginger Katherns only a single line quote and I am certain that even that representation has been taken out of context or somehow twisted to fit the purpose of this propaganda piece of crap.
“Oh, woe is the welfare rancher and poo-poo on the tree hugging, tax paying American citizens who are outraged by the BLM’s efforts to manage our wild equines into extinction to the benefit of the BLM’s special interest cohorts in crime.” To hell with ya’all!!!
I have the right to my opinion and on this blog I have no inhibitions about voicing it; David Philipps is a horse hating hack and his amateurish style and special interest slant towards journalism buys him no kudos from mainstream Americans; not you, not me, not anybody.
I won’t sink so low as to state what he has really professionally become but it is glaringly obvious that this misguided truth twister is now a full fledged member of the oldest profession in the world and the primary pressing and most obvious question, on the minds of educated and compassionate Americans, is ‘Who is his Pimp?”
My rant has concluded (for the time being).
Keep the faith; we are their voice.
Related articles
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Go R.T.!
Carol Walker cwlivingimages@gmail.com http://www.LivingImagesCJW.com http://www.WildHoofbeats.com
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R.T.
Too bad you don’t have any opinion on this …. LOLOLOL
PS Great article exposing the dirty side of the so-called media and its lack of truth.
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Just wanted to be sure you understood that it was YOUR article that was great … not his piece of cra…..
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Glad you wrote this
I just finished reading that article you mention
Agree…didn’t do his homework
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I have left Facebook & Twitter because I’m plain disgusted with the so-called wild horse advocates who insist on being polite. Hasn’t gotten them anywhere in 40 years and it never will. The NV protest that was meant to be “up in your face BLM” turned out to be nothing more than every other rally, thanks to so-called polite wild horse advocates, of which one of the persons mentioned by RT was part of the problem with the NV protest. I’m old & been protesting since the 60’s. Isn’t it time for younger folks to get mad enough to get “in the BLM’s face”? I’ve washed my hands of these polite so-called horse advocates who sure as hell talk alot but do NOTHING. Thank you, RT, for once again reminding people that idiots like Phillips & his buddies actually do nothing to help the wild horses.
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I agree Barbara, there has to be more done than talk politely…at one of the rallys in Rock Springs the blm sent their mouthpiece out to talk with us and she acted like she was everyone’s best friend. If one of us would have punched her in the mouth it would have at least gotten a little press (hopefully). I don’t believe that the petitions etc do a damn thing. Maybe to raise the publics awareness somewhat. I’m not a violent person by nature but I do believe that there is a place for that in varying degrees…media attention is what is needed….and large numbers of people present as well. I remember seeing on the news the protesters of the Vietnam war. There was some crap that went on at those protests!!! I admired them then and still do. I am certainly no expert but I AM very frustrated by our total lack of influence on what is happening to the wild Ones.
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You are exactly right, Elaine Taylor. Yes let’s remember the Vietnam War protests….they did do some good. Why? Because we got in the government’s face! And I’m proud to say I was one of the many thousands out there getting in the government’s face about Vietnam. Oh, if only we could do that again for our wild horses!
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I’m with you both….I can still smell the tear gas…..
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Me too! I was at People’s Park at Berkeley and faced the bayonets of the National Guard. And I was at many many anti-war protests. SF No fear but crystal clear bead on dumcaffs and fakes and cheats.
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Janwindsong I am in awe of you and the others that stood up for what you believed and didn’t back down…and I believe that it can happen again for the wild Ones. We HAVE to be willing to stand up and scream and not back down. I WISH they had a reason to call out the National Guard on us!!!! Come on down media!!! Advocates let’s join forces and be STRONG!!! These people in the sixties weren’t afraid to stand up for what was right…
It comes down to this everyone….do you want to spend the rest of your life knowing that the wild horses might still exist in the wild if you had been willing to do whatever it took to save them…a sacrifice…..even if it meant that you might have to give up a few days of work, you might have to arrange for someone to look after your horses, your house, your kids for a few days, you might be arrested and spend a day in jail, you might have to travel a long way, you might have to spend money on it that you don’t really have. But in the end there would be NO DOUBT in your mind that YOU had done EVERYTHING humanly possible to save these beautiful souls from extinction.
Janwindsong, Barbara, Christy and grandmagregg I am grateful to you and every other person that cared enough to stand up and scream and sacrifice so that our troops didn’t continue to get slaughtered for no reason at all.
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Unfortunately, resource exploitation of various kinds has driven public lands management for many decades. Mining, logging, oil and gas drilling, and even farming have occurred and continue to occur on public lands. But the most widespread commercial use of western public lands is livestock production. Nearly all public lands that have any forage potential for livestock are leased for grazing. This includes 90 percent of BLM lands, 69 percent of USFS lands, and a surprising number of wildlife refuges and national parks. This land-your public land-is frequently managed as if it were a private feedlot rather than the common heritage of all Americans.
The western rancher is dependent on what is, in essence, a welfare program. The much-publicized low fees paid by ranchers to graze federal lands are only the beginning. Other subsidies include taxpayer-supported research at western land grant universities and agricultural exemptions that lower property taxes paid by ranchers. There are handouts to help with nearly every problem: drought relief, low-interest agricultural loans, emergency livestock feed programs, emergency grazing on Conservation Reserve Program lands, to name a few. And this is not all. Ranchers are literally mortgaging the public’s resources for their private benefit. As Mark Salvo explains in his essay on the connection between the banking industry and public lands ranching, ranchers are able to take out loans based on the “value” of their grazing permits. This questionable arrangement forces government officials to consider the status of a rancher’s debt when making range management decisions, rather than focusing on what is best for the land.
What can be done to address the problems associated with public lands livestock grazing? There is a simple answer: end it. Get the cows and sheep off, let the wild creatures reclaim their native habitat, and send the ranchers a bill for the cost of restoration.
Above are excerpts from:
http://www.publiclandsranching.org/book.htm
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No more “Private Profit from Public Lands!”
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AMEN! Great writing.
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Credit goes to the authors of the book “Welfare Ranching” available to read online for FREE and I highly suggest people take a look at it.
http://www.publiclandsranching.org/book.htm
“Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West”
The majority of the American public does not know that livestock grazing in the arid West has caused more damage than the chainsaw and bulldozer combined. Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West is a seven-pound book featuring 346 pages of articles and photographs by expert authors and photographers on the severe negative impacts of livestock grazing on western public lands.
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Welcome back.
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As for the two anti-wild horse ranchers interviewed in the Philips article, the Wintch Family in Utah has received $12,320 in subsidies and the Pearson Family has received $110,192.89 in subsidies per http://farm.ewg.org/region.php?fips=49000
Welfare Ranchers? You betcha!
Iron County, Utah Summary Information
• $11.4 million in subsidies 1995-2012
Beaver County, Utah Summary Information
• $10.7 million in subsidies 1995-2012
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interesting it seems no comments are allowed for this article.
But wanted to point out that there may be a connection with 35 years of ranching public lands and a degradation of the land, especially in times of drought. Taking cows off for one season is not sufficient to stem the tide of 35 years of moooooching.
I am sorry the drought etc. is impacting ranchers but if your business model includes a generations-long subsidy from the government to survive and thrive, it’s time to revisit your business plan and join the rest of America’s businesspeople.
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You may wish to ask the NY times to open the article for public comment?
nytnews@nytimes.com
Something like this:
“I sincerely request the Times open public comments in this biased article: As Wild Horses Overrun the West, Ranchers Fear Land Will Be Gobbled Up”
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I sent an email to Mr. Philipps – it sure wasn’t as good as RT’s, but since there were no comments allowed on the OPINION PIECE…. LOVED RT’s article!
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I love the photos. Wintich standing in his field of dense alfalfa(?) With many cattle shoulder to shoulder behind him and Pearson standing at an obviously and horribly overgrazed and abused piece of land. Such stewards crowd the application stage for Farm Bill assistance.
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Well stated and written, R.T. – standing ovation for you here!
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Another great read, R.T. ~ you are a truly great voice for our horses!
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below is the letter I sent to the NYT, which brought a response from their “correction desk” asking for my “facts” within about 30 minutes. I think I am going to forward this to them and tell them I figured that was as much facts as they can take in one stand. Thank you for your wonderful article, and for the response talking about needing more in your face protest RIGHT ON SISTER, even grannies can do it. Look what Wild Horse Annie did!
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HaHa…..even us grannies have seen better days….I’m about one step removed from a wheelchair. But for those of us grannies that aren’t, let’s show the younger folks how it was done in the 60’s & 70’s. We didn’t get stuff done by sitting around and talking about it.
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ok, forgot to put my letter to the NYT
To the NYT
I can’t believe that a newspaper as prestigious as the New York Times would print an article so inaccurate, in fact so onesided as to be ludicrous. Have you finally been bought out by the same Tea Party individuals backing the so called “Pony Express” riders trying to paint themselves in the red-white-and-blue on their trek to Washington. I was going to list all your inaccurate facts in this article, things your fact checker should have done, but I realized that it would put me over the word limit. So instead I challenge your readers who I believe are smarter than your staff, to check out the facts for themselves. Please google or fb the American Mustang the movie, Cloud the wild stallion that show what is really going on. And until yu get your facts right, I think I’ll put my times where it belongs….
Cindy Thomas
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Why did Phillips concentrate on the the opinions of the welfare ranchers?
Free steaks for life?
Just as a point of reference, one of the ranchers interviewed by Phillips was Mark Wintch. He is part of a rancher group suing the BLM [to remove wild horses] and in fact is the president of that rancher association. One of Wintch’s public land grazing allotments is the Wah-Wah where he has 8,490 AUMs (which could support about 707 wild horses) and depending on the time of year, Wintch runs from 335 to 1,285 head of his welfare cattle on that public land allotment. Prime example of welfare ranching.
No room for wild horses? BS!
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I had another few minutes to look at the other rancher interviewed in Phillip’s article and so that the Pearson family would not feel left out (please excuse my sarcasm), here are some welfare ranching facts for them:
Per BLM RAS, the Pearsons have grazing permits on numerous allotments equaling about 7,257 AUMs (which could support about 605 wild horses or burros).
So just for “fun” we can figure that Pearson pays $9,797 for grazing fees per year at the BLM rate of $1.35 but (and I know this varies in different places from about $15 – $35 per head per month to lease private land) using an average of $25 per month per head of cattle it would cost Pearson $181,425 for grazing fees per year to lease private land. Seeing this, you can easily see why these two welfare ranchers are so avid and vocal about the removal of our wild ones from public lands… MONEY.
PS, while looking at the Pearson welfare ranching numbers, I ran across another 8,510 AUMs in the Wintch family name. OMG, I think that makes over
17,000 AUM’s for Wintch? That would be about $22,950 at the BLM welfare rate of $1.35 and about $425,000 at the average private property lease rate.
People have flapped their traps and spouted lies for far less than these large amounts … so not surprised to hear these two flappin’ and spoutin’.
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R.T. One of your best blogs yet!
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If this or any ranch owner cannot manage his own land and livestock sufficiently enough to provide the lifestyle he wants, then that is proof that he is an incompetent ranch manager and he deserves the results of his deficient management.
I (and our wild ones) should NOT have to pay for his/her incompetence.
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OMG grandmagregg, you speak the language of, dare I say, REVOLUTION! If this land would quit paying out everyone all these subsidies we might actually have something in the budget. BTW I think maybe it’s time for a little civil disobey.
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Okay I AM TOTALLY CONFUSED.
Is this Dave Philipps the same Dave Phillips that wrote for Propublica. I know they have mostly the same name and it makes it confusing.
One has one L in it and the other has two L’s.
So is one and the same person or two different?
MAJOR HELP PLEASE!
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There are others who will reply to you and be way more polite, but to answer your question…..YES….this is the same guy who broke the article in Pro publica about the 1700 wild horses sold to slaughter. He let the wild horses down then by publishing the story before proof could be found (him and another so-called wild horse advocate who I do believe is only in it for the glory and money to sustain her way of life) and he’s doing it again with this preposterous article.
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I never thought I would say that some writer would make my blood boil more than AP’s infamous Jeri Clausing but now this Phillips has ! And the Times leaves no place to comment to disprove his lies. So much for living in the Land of the Free ! Not to worry the New York Times will be hearing enough about this to blister the paint off the barn I would not doubt that Philips had earlier deliberately sabotaged the expose of Salazar. It is either that or he has become just another Judas among former “journalists” who sold his soul for silver coins.
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Did you submit your editorial to the paper contradicting this media moron with facts instead of slanted opinions generated by the BLM buddies? Hope so. What a dumbarse Phillips is.
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Wouldnt it be nice if everytime this ass opens his mouth his foot would automatically insert in his mouth !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Arnt these people suppose to do research and get all the facts???????????????????????????
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Thank you rt! I usually complain about some of your blogs. But love this! Thank you!!!
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Research and facts seem to be the last thing, if at all, our media does before publishing an article. Really???? I for one get real tired of being thought of as an idiot because I am a wild horse and burro advocate. Rant for all your worth, R.T. Send the NYT the graph. Can they really deny the impact of the livestock. And this is a BLM document!! If Philipps would have taken the time to research (like my hero grandmagregg – you are awesome) he might have realized how out in center field he is. We need someone to write an article at the NYT to refute this. New York, they know what’s going on out here. Yah, right. BTW, the pictures in the article tell it all, don’t they? Overgrazing, drought – bad combination for our land.What a novel idea to have to feed your own livestock instead of depending on us.
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He should apply to the National Inquirer…
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Reblogged this on "OUR WORLD".
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Thanks RT for being so straight up, too bad you don’t have his job! and Yes Tami Hottes, I totally agree with you
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Everyone can tell by all the roundups that have started from Jan.2014 to now Oct.2014 doesn’t add up to what the BLM is saying about how many wild mustang there are.. They lie always have.. Nancy Woodall
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very well said
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Letter from Monika Courtney
US Land Gobbling: NY Times Article by Dave Philipps
The following is a letter that Monika sent to Dave Philipps and the pro-wild horse community. It alerted us to the misinformation being spread by the New York Times. Monika has given us permission to reprint her original letter. – HfH
Dear Dave,
Since your name has gone national your biased, fork tongue speak stance must be exposed. In reporting on the race of land grabbing maggots you seem to have excluded the real culprits:
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/energy/renewable_energy.html The U.S. Department of the Interior and the BLM are working with local communities, state regulators, industry, and other federal agencies in building a clean energy future by providing sites for environmentally sound development of renewable energy on public lands. Renewable energy projects on BLM-managed lands include wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass projects and the siting of transmission facilities needed to deliver this power to the consumer.
Where is your coverage of the New Energy for America ? Where is your coverage on Solar Solyndra ? Where is your analysis of “all must go” to make room for
green/solar/wind ? “All “means the total monopolizing of our Western lands by $ multi-million government business relations – controlling water, ridding tortoises, wildlife, and of course wild horses and burros, the prime scape goat and black sheep of the renewable energy project head honchos. You are buying into this; yet fail to document the deeper gist ? Where is your report on how hugely outnumbering livestock grazing (the illegitimate political child) has left irreparable damage to our public lands ?
How about telling your audience some details on the Dry Lake Valley North SEZ ? The Silver King HMA, where BLM planned to remove 88% of horses to offset the loss of up to 5.4 % of the HMA to solar energy developments within the SEZ ? How about telling the Reid solar thriller? http://beefycow.com/senator-reid-helped-kill-wild-horses-for-no-purpose-solar-land-sits-empty-big-companies-profit/
Imposing certain terms to intensify a campaign solely aimed to discredit latest scientific findings or scape goating mustangs has ever been the tool of wild horse enemies. In your writings you fail to mention who really gobbles up the land. It is the multi-million $ corporations who are after the Western states for the “New Energy Frontier” – speak solar, wind, geothermal, transmission lines and stations… did you miss this in your bout on land grabbers? Mustangs are the constant target for blame… by those refuting science and transparency to serve their agendas. Furthermore, to refute the existing evidence of wild horses’ native status as “feral” reflects a pitiful status quo of misinformation. Ross MacPhee, Ph.D. from the American Museum of National History has been kind enough to allow this reprint of his response to Ms. Simon of WSJ, and it is one of the best explanations regarding the wild horse’s evolution. http://www.wildhoofbeats.com/news/wild-horses-an-excellent-defense-for-a-returned-native-species
Please find the updated version of the Kirkpatrick/Fazio piece at the following link: http://tinyurl.com/3kg8p5y
The reintroduced, native wild horses of America enhance the eco-system. The public domain was declared as their protected home with the 1971 Act passed by Congress. In the competition of multiple use the wild horse enemies cleverly dismiss scientific evidence, historic facts and disseminate a myth that is false to mustangs’ authentic status, origin and current census. The good ol’boys’ creativity in this quest is testimony to their archaic, self-serving stance. With massive PR gigs the BLM tries to convince of a problem that does not exist (They ought to still justify the loss of over 20 million acres of federally protected habitat for mustangs, since 1971, when WFRHBA was passed).
It should be your duty to explore truth and factual evidence. As rational minds rest their case on the latest independent scientific findings to contribute to the education library about the important historic presence of wild horses in Northern America, some paying mouths and all those reflecting otherwise ought to get a clue on the jaundiced views which are a product of pro hunting, special interests/gov’t biz $$$ and greed driven personal agendas. There are no excess horses, only excess lies. Deception and manipulation of the American public. Betrayal and cruelty to the horses. The fact that your shady findings omit the truth to accuracy of census and who really grabs the West… leaves a sour taste. Why don’t you suggest counting horses with drones ? It would shock the nation to see how few wild horses and burros are left, despite the inflated sagas by your sources. The BLM even wants to send wild burros to Guatemala now. Who pays this ludicrous idea – sending our wild equines protected by law, yet pushed off the ethically sane radar to unknown foreign shores?
May your audience not fall for the propaganda and misinformation you spread. I am looking forward to reading your next article which should focus on the new destructive Energy Frontier of the United States and how it impacts the West, our future – by manifesting the losses besides the gains we have yet to see – as they are carried out secretly and covert. What once sounded so intriguing with hope and promises…renewable energy… has become a national GOBBLE $$$ agenda that runs on shams and greed. Instead of finding a voice in support for our wild horses (such as Reserve Design) to co-exist in this wide huge West… you join the deception train of those wanting them gone. Shame on you.
Monika Courtney
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Moneka Courney !!!!!! You ROCK !!!!!!!!!!!!
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Subject: US Land Gobbling: NY Times Article by Dave Phillipps
Dear Dave,
Below you will find my letter to the NYT regarding your article. I did not have your email address when I wrote it or I would have sent the original to you. eb
To whomever receives complaints regarding the lack of ability to comment on this article:
I have just read the truly biased article written today by Dave Phillips on Wild Horses and find that I am not able to comment even though I am registered with the NYT. Why?
This article is full of falsehoods. It is scientifically known that the cattle and sheep being allowed via permit (permission) to graze on Public Land that was designated primarily to our Wild Horses and Burros in 1971 by an unanimous vote of Congress and supported by over 90% of the American public, are the animals destroying the rangeland permanently.
This legislation took place because it was made known that the lands which once held two million horses were only occupied by as few as 25,000 because of their gruesome slaughter by greedy ranchers and dog food companies.
Contrary to the one-sided statements in this prejudiced article, horses and burros do not tear up the grasses – rather they mow the grass leaving the roots and enough of the plant that the grasses regrow. Cattle mow the grass off just above the roots and sheep pull the grasses up by the roots and in both cases the grass is permanently destroyed. The grazing of livestock is decimating OUR range land.
Additionally, the WH&Bs are nomadic when allowed to occupy “their” open range, they spread the grass seeds in the ideal manure consisting of “little green apples” which provide the perfect fertilizer for the seeds to mature and grow, and because the WH&Bs are nomadic, the seeds are spread far and wide.
Cattle and sheep hang close to the water holes which they muck up and destroy with their cloven hooves and sloppy manure. Horses and burros have flat hooves and do not destroy the water holes and as nomads move about providing the ranchers have not fenced them off from available water which is frequently and deliberately done in animosity to the public’s horses and in behalf of the private livestock herds from which the ranchers “make private profit off of public lands” at the expense of the Wild Horse and Burros who are legally designated as the primary occupiers of OUR Public Land.
Mr. Phillipps did not mention that cattle outnumber the WH&Bs by as much as 200 to one. That means that one half of one percent of the animals grazing on public lands are the legally designated Wild Horses and Burros. Cattle are only allowed by permit (permission) and the BLM is authorized to care for and oversee the WH&Bs not to over populate the Public Lands with cheap grazing permits for huge numbers of livestock.
True estimates for WH&Bs left on Public Lands is about 15,000 which is almost below “viability” breeding stock and resonates of the potential loss of them altogether (Extinction), and those who have survived the vicious helicopter round ups languish in pens uncared for, unwormed, badly mucked, untrimmed, poorly fed and watered, without shade or shelter from inclement weather; medical care exists only as the gelding of stallions who carry the viable genes – penned WH&Bs are maintained with close to hatred by the completely corrupted BLM.
The BLM is not only authorizing dirt cheap grazing permits for hundreds of thousands of livestock, they are also giving leases cheaply to energy companies who plan to drill, mine and FRACK our lands against the wishes of the public.
The BLM and its Advisory board has been carefully infiltrated with pro-rancher and pro-energy advocates who spread terrible lies about OUR American Wild Horses and Burros. They are advocating for the slaughter of our precious American WH&Bs, and they want to send them to Third World countries to become beasts of burden or to slaughter them for food.
Slaughter of horses is one of the most terrible cruelties ever imposed on an innocent prey animal who operates from flight to escape predators. The rounding up of these WH&Bs is brutal and cruel. The transport of any horse to slaughter is hugely inhumane and the slaughter process is even worse. One can only wonder how we have come to such a 180 degree turn in 43 years.
WH&Bs have lived in North America for 38 to 55 million years. The fossil records and paleontological discoveries have repeatedly verified that the horse is native to North America, crossed the Bering Straits when it was a land bridge, and populated Asia and Europe with equine. Many scientists believe that the horse is the oldest living mammal in North America and never went extinct on this continent.
We as Americans love them as the epitome of beauty, spirituality, perceptive intelligence, and symbols of FREEDOM with the exception of those greedy entities who believe that the public lands belong to them – the Cliven Bundys who greatly resemble the two cattle advocates photographed for this outlandish, biased, and thoughtless article.
I can only hope that the New York Times will have the decency to publish a rebuttal – a second article written with truth – and will allow WH&B advocates who are fighting to keep OUR American Wild Horses and Burros alive and viable to be heard.
To continue to destroy such a public treasure as our Wild Horses and Burros in behalf of duplicitous, dissembling, slovenly, and corrupting ranchers and energy executives would be a travesty.
Elaine Brown
Contacts: davephilipps@gmail.com public@NYtimes.com letters@nytimes.com
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Truth and Facts are suppose to every journalists Bible , and everyone of them should be Bound to that o\r they are nothing and have nothing to say or to write about……………. If they want to be taken seriously ! They must take their Job seriously !!!!!!! Otherwise go do something else !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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You Also Rock Cindy , Hopeyou sent that to NYTIMES
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