Writer/Publisher Steven Long recently interviewed BLM spokesperson Heather Emmons regarding the disgraceful and unlawful actions being undertaken by her agency while conducting a massive winter time, wild horse roundup in Nevada. Out right lies, violation of federal law, bumbling bureaucracy and total disregard for a Federal Judge’s ruling permeate the conversation as the befuddled interviewee attempted to apply logic to an illogical and out of control government agency.
Steven’s interview, in it’s entirety, is inserted below.
(Gag Alert: Please ensure that all liquids and/or foreign objects are removed from your mouth prior to reading this interview. The threat of either rapid expulsion or uncontrolled aspiration of said materials is all but assured while visually consuming this written dialogue. Your safety always comes first)- R.T.
Exclusive by Steven Long, Editor/Publisher of Horseback Magazine
BLM Director, Don Glenn said on December 7th, Perl Harbor Day, that ALL BLM roundups are open to the public - that no situation would prevent the BLM from allowing citizens to observe the tax-payer-funded roundups - Even Horses Laugh!
HOUSTON, (Horseback) – When the Bureau of Land Management began their “gather’ of Wild Horse on private land on Monday, Horseback Magazine asked to go along on horseback with a reporter and photographer. We promised to be unobtrusive. We were politely turned down and told the agency would allow no press to witness what has turned into a brewing scandal for the Obama administration. We interviewed BLM spokesperson Heather Emmons.
HORSEBACK: Federal Judge Friedman last week advised against this gather. Why is the agency doing this against his advice?
BLM: Uh, well the judge ruled in our favor that we could actually go ahead and gather.
HORSEBACK: But he advised against it.
BLM: Well, all I know is that we were given the okay to go forward so we started our gather this morning.
HORSEBACK: Whose decision was it to start the gather against the judge’s advice?
BLM: Well, once we got the ruling, you know, from the judge, that we could go ahead with the gather – we went ahead with the gather.
HORSEBACK: Was it Mr. Abbey’s decision? Whose decision was it? That’s what I’m asking.
BLM: Well, I can give you the name of someone to talk to with regards to that. I can’t really talk to that.
HORSEBACK: Can you find out for me? I don’t necessarily need to talk to them. I just want to know who made the decision to go against a federal judge’s advice.
BLM: I sure can.
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE: What is your plan for allowing the media access to the roundup?
HEATHER EMMONS, BLM: We are going to be on private land. We are planning specific dates where we can escort media it to the gather, and then out…
HORSEBACK: We don’t mind being escorted, but what we have in mind though is to have full access with our people on horseback. We don’t object to having one of your people on horseback next to us but we want to be able to see everything that is going on.
BLM: That’s what I’m trying to convey to you. We can’t let you have full access with this one.
HORSEBACK: What are you hiding?
BLM: We’re not hiding anything, sir.
HORSEBACK: It sounds like it.
BLM: The reason we have parts of it on private land is because it is the only way to have access to the horses for certain areas. They are really rough areas to get to. The private land is the only way we can get in there and get to them.
HORSEBACK: Isn’t it a fact that the BLM always prohibits the press from coming in and having full access?
BLM: We like to work with people and take them in with escorts only because it’s so remote out here.
HORSEBACK: In other words, you like to control the situation.
BLM: Well, we like to be able to explain what’s going on, make sure people are there for people with questions to help them out.
HORSEBACK: We’ve been covering this for months. Some people have been covering it literally for years. We, and they, are perfectly aware of what’s going on. We want to be able to photograph it. We want to see the horses if they are injured. We want to count the horses that are injured. We want to know the nature of the injury. We want to see how the injuries happen.
BLM: Okay, well we are going to have public days that are going to happen. There are parts of the gather that will be on public land and anybody can go on that. We’ll let people know when those parts of the gather will occur on our website.
HORSEBACK: How much of the gather will be on public land? How many days?
BLM: Oh, about half of it.
HORSEBACK: Will you keep people in an observation area, or will they be able to go anywhere they want?
BLM: Well, we’ll probably put them in an observation area depending on where it is and how we set it up. As you probably well know, horses spook very easily, so we can’t have people roaming around for the safety of the attendees because the horses spook if they see any movement whatsoever, they turn around and run the other way.
HORSEBACK: I run a horse magazine. I’m perfectly aware of horse behavior. What we have in mind specifically is not to do anything that would spook a horse – but have someone on horseback standing still within a hundred yards of where the gather is taking place – standing very still and not spooking.
BLM: They’ll see you, and we don’t know exactly where the helicopter is going to guide the horses.
HORSEBACK: Was anyone from the press and public out there today?
BLM: I don’t believe they were out there today, no. Again, we talked to the land owner and the land owner did not want to have the public out there today at all.
HORSEBACK: Who is the landowner by the way?
BLM: You know, in this case, I’m not sure of the names of them but I know our Horse and Burro people have spoken with them.
HORSEBACK: Could you research that for us please and get us contact information?
BLM: I sure can. We are doing a media day on Wednesday of this week.
HORSEBACK: What is going to take place at the media day?
BLM: We’re going to have everyone meet at BLM in Winnemucca at 6 AM on Wednesday morning and do a briefing to explain to people what they are going to see, what we intend to do, how it works. Then we are gong to caravan out to the site and watch horses be gathered for a few rounds.
HORSEBACK: How long will the media be out there?
BLM: We’re anticipating maybe five hours.
HORSEBACK: And how many media days are you planning?
BLM: We don’t know at this point. We’re just going to kind of gage the interest.
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Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
I’m very surprised that you didn’t ask them about the horses being trucked to Fallon to “be fed and given veterinary care”… at the Fallon feedlot?? Where the kill buyers love to hang out??
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GAGE THE INTEREST!? OMG! My gag reflex is overpowering! Gotta run! Urrrrrrp!
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We have found that BLM has a new lease at a different ‘feed lot’ and that is where the horses are going. If there is any underhanded business done I hope they are caught red handed. Mar
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How any US citizen can sit, read and digest the BLM responses without outrage and not demand action by their reps, to include the Prez is absolutely mind boggling! I know many of us here are, but that the US Public is satisfied looking the other way, is beyond comprehension. DOI/BLM are so entreched with special interest and incompetence that it is literally tantemount to spitting on the Constitution. Look at all of our government servants: SEC, FTC, Homeland Security, USDA, yadayada…staggering the inefficiency, waste, stupidity and flat ass failure to perform. WTH is all of our money going for????? Good luck to our mobilizing supporters today in San Fran, Chicago, etc.
Don’t give up; never give up!
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I heartily “SECOND” all of your comment! DITTO
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I just wanted to let you all know, it’s been snowing since Monday night here in N. Nevada where the gather is taking place. I hope the helicopter is gounded due to weather conditions!
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OM Gosh you did warn me and I had some hardware nearby which was hurled!!!! Sorry!!! Ditto on the grounding of the helicopters, what a crock of #$%&& Believe me I wont give up although from this side of the country it is very hard to just sit and watch this happen. Indiana is renowned for killer sales and you will NEVER find one of my horses knowingly anywhere near one of them. If the plan to move them to facilities around here happens it will break my heart. If I didnt already have 13 of my own already I would be adopting more too.
Another thing the reporter should have asked was, because this is such a remote and difficult region to access, hence the useage of the private landowners land to conduct this gather, was the landowner going to be getting the benefit of the unutilised land once the horses are removed for their cattle or whatever they farm, I mean if no-one can get there other than to tresspass on their land then who is going to see what is going on after the fact or stop them?
Am interested to see if and when they name names!!!
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This has been referred to as Paiute land. i have called it reservation land but I have not seen it called that yet. Is it a RES? If so, we have no rights there at all. I have heard the Paiute have taken their horses to slaughter, are they wild horses who come onto the res? I know there are people who are very busy in Nevada right now who can answer this. Maybe we should not expect one right now… mar
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http://www.stevenlongwriter.com/
From Steve’s article: “Horseback Magazine repeatedly asked for the name of the landowner, Greg Foster, who is cooperating with BLM on the gather. The agency claims the wild horses it is stampeding with a low flying helicopter are in mountainous terrain. Spokesmen say that the bureau is only setting up a holding pen and storing equipment on Foster’s property. Since press and public have been barred from witnessing the “gather” except in tightly controlled “media days,” there is no way to independently determine if the BLM is herding wild horses found on the landowner’s property.
The agency claims the horses are driven from the Nevada highlands into the pen set up on Foster’s property.
The BLM has refused to release any more information about the landowner other than his name. A search has produced numerous Nevadans named Greg Foster. An agency spokeswoman claimed the information is protected by the federal privacy act, however, details regarding federal contractors who are not engaged in national security work are generally readily available as public record. Horseback has asked for the information under the federal Freedom of Information Act. Horseback has also asked if Foster is reimbursing the federal government for removing horses from his property.”…
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I just wish that there was a way to locate the holding pen by tracing the correct “Greg Foster” or his parcel of land. This should be public information.
There has to be a way to verify that horses are not just being gathered from a private land as well as to verify the condition of the horses and to be able to count them. How do we know how many horses are truly there and how many are being sold directly to killer buyers?
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RT, Is it OK to say that anyone can go to the county clerks office to get the name of a land owner from the maps they have for that purpose? Mar
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Land ownership is public record. In some locations you can even search from the web, but it is all public domain.
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Then who is preventing them from looking this up? Mar
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Mar, R.T.,
There, directly above R.T.s January 2, 2010 at 11:17 PM post is my idea of the string of lies like the WMD, Iraq videos of lies that hit the air. Wow, I must have posted this, then had a couple of toddies, then had the epiphany! HAPPY NEW YEAR! Think I will go now and celebrate again – I must have had a really good time!
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Sure wish I could join you with that Hot Toddy thing. Have one for me, you all deserve it.
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Right Rox, and the video of a string of BLM lies would be great, too. Cheers, mar
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Good interview, Steven. Keep up the good reporting and your interviews with people who are obviously trying to shine on the American public and continue the illegal mustang holocaust.
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Was just reading another Horseback Magazine Article on TCF. And the answers about the private land loophole.
I had asked on this blog, and Steven Long asked are the horses on public land being driven to private lands – BLM answered yes.
Now my next question, to Don Glenn, when you said we could all be at roundups, are we supposed to believe that you did not at that time know this plan, are you expecting us and the American people to believe that you all only discovered on December 28 that you had to use private land?
I’m waiting for someone to put together a “string” of these videotaped lies and inconsistencies, including all the statements made by Don Glenn, Robert Abbey and Ken Salazar in the news interviews.
Like in early December Don Glen says “the horses are starving”, on tape at the Pryor roundup. Now just a few days ago, in a news article, he says” there are not starving horses, I just don’t know how the press keeps getting that wrong”. WHAT?
BLM and cattle interests claiming the horses ruin the land, yet in a news article where Salazar is selling his zoo plan he states that horses improve the range land and that will be good for the east and midwest. WHAT?
Oh, there are lots more where that came from…
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