Horse News

Video: When Enforcement Lags For Grazing Rules

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Source: EarthFixMedia

What’s at stake with America’s lagging enforcement of grazing rules – explained in one minute.

Categories: Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs

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8 replies »

  1. The last sentence in the video says, “grazing that causes damage isn’t always stopped or even detected in the first place”. I have seen hundreds of sheep “camped out” in (yes IN) an almost dry lake-bed. I have seen numerous trespass incidents with many cattle grazing and hundreds of sheep being herded in a no-grazing area after a wildfire… the list goes on and on. These were not isolated incidents … this is how the BLM “manages” our public land when it comes to the livestock ranchers. I can VERIFY that livestock grazing is a “who you know” game played by ranchers and BLM. I personally know of numerous livestock violations that were documented and reported to BLM. These violations were ignored or brushed off by BLM. In other words, why would a welfare rancher give a hoot about violating their permit if there was no punishment for the violations? And why would BLM insist ranchers follow the law if it will cause “irritation” among his/her friends and neighbors and relatives in these small communities? It is a game that BLM and welfare ranchers play and it is you and me and our public lands and our wildlife and our wild horses and burros who lose the game.

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  4. I agree the BLM grazing program is broken but have to speak up for the BLM and USFS employees on the ground. They don’t make and can’t change the laws but are often risking their lives to do their jobs, and in a small community where you aren’t anonymous the stakes are much higher for your family and your career. There is a real reason a lot of BLM vehicles are no longer marked!

    It can’t help wild horses much (if at all) to vilify the staff on the ground unless they are flagrantly violating the law, in which case the full weight of the law should be brought against them. What we need is a change at the Congressional level to effect any real change in the wild horse and burro program. In my opinion this program should be pulled from both the BLM and USFS and placed into the oversight of a department solely tasked and funded with appropriate management that ensures a viable future for America’s wild equines (as the 1971 law intends).

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  5. I agree that there are all kinds of people working for BLM & USFS – some are better and some are downright evil. Here are two of the on-the-ground BLM employees that majorly participated in the sales of hundreds and hundreds of our wild horses and burros to Tom Davis. You will not be able to convince me that every one of the employees, from the office staff to the wranglers didn’t know exactly what they were part of. What is even more frightening is these same people are STILL in charge of our wild horses and burros today.

    Litchfield, California facility manager
    “In March, a corral manager emailed Spencer to say he had 92 “nice horses” just rounded up in High Rock, Calif., and to ask if Davis could take some of the geldings.”
    A day later Spencer replied, “Davis told me that if the geldings are in good shape he will be able to place them into good homes.”
    “How many would Mr. Davis want to buy?” the corral manager asked Spencer. “And are there any specifics that he is looking for?”
    “He said he’d be interested in all of them, no specifics,” Spencer replied.”

    Burns, Oregon BLM facility manager.
    “In January [2012], the manager of the agency’s corral in Burns, Ore, emailed superiors in Washington, D.C., to ask what to do with 29 mares, almost all of which were pregnant. Spencer replied that Davis would take them.”

    Ref: http://www.propublica.org/article/missing-what-happened-to-wild-horses-tom-davis-bought-from-the-govt

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    • I agree – there certainly ARE people on the ground who are trying to do the right thing – I’ve read different wild horse advocates who have been able to work with them, but I cant imagine how hard that must be with the blm bureaucracy actively working to do just the opposite. Unless & until the change is forced upon the BLM from the top down – the good guys don’t have much of a chance and neither to the horses & burros.

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    • GG, I wouldn’t try to convince you that bad apples aren’t. The question really is why they are still employed? How do we get accountability from the people we pay with taxes from our own paychecks? Why aren’t crimes being prosecuted at all, from bottom to top?

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  6. The BLM has only themselves to blame for the extremely poor confidence and heightened skepticism from yesterday’s and today’s public. It is clear that the BLM has had a wanton disregard for science, evidence and best-practice. What level of self-deception, ignorance, and incompetence must have existed for the BLM to believe for so long it was doing a good job? What sort of unprofessional ethic must exist for a tax-payer funded government agency to knowingly use dubious data to meet public interest and defend its policy in the face of public concerns?

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