“The fact is the BLM and Welfare Ranchers are now stooping to levels of coercion and bully tactics to keep functioning as they have in the past. But the truth has an odd way of seeking power over misinformation, lies, and criminality. . .” — John Cox, Horse Advocate

Many people assume, since most of the western landscape is given over to livestock production, that ranching must be economically important. But, as economist Thomas Power points out “. . . the livestock industry contributes almost nothing to western economies, even at the local level.”

The western rancher is dependent on what can be classified as no more than a welfare program. Not so ironic, the low fees paid by ranchers to graze upon federal lands only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

“Other subsidies include taxpayer-supported research at western land grant universities, as well as agricultural exemptions that lower property taxes paid by ranchers. Most often Welfare Ranchers pay no tax at all on their subsidies, even though nothing more than profit. 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.

Even many of the fences crisscrossing the West’s “open” spaces are paid for by American taxpayers, and not so surprising, the maintaining of those fences costs taxpayers millions of dollars a year in subsidies, going directly to the Welfare Rancher Grazing Permit Holder. Scam!

Seeing the actual Welfare Rancher invoices and budgets simply makes one’s head spin, with a big neon-sign in the brain that screams — SCAM – SCAM – SCAM.

Bureau of Land Management and Welfare Ranchers

If this is not enough to make one’s disappointment in our government and welfare ranching programs questionable as authentic-necessity, the big lie, it goes much further. Ranchers are literally mortgaging the public’s resources for their private benefit. There exists a connection between the banking industry and public lands ranching, and ranchers are able to take out loans based on the “value” of their grazing permits. This certainly 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.

Beyond the economic subsidies are the health, social, and environmental costs of the animal agriculture industry in general – the larger context within which public lands livestock grazing is properly viewed, but awkwardly at best. Welfare Ranching’s non-essential aspects sticks-out definitively.

Situations such as loss of arable land, wild horse assassination and evacuation, wildlife killed, ecosystems destroyed, land desertification, tropical deforestation, simply add to urban overcrowding, and poverty, may appear unconnected to problems of ecosystem degradation in the arid West – but in reality — it is all connected.

It is all enshrined into the chaos of government mismanagement and awkward loop-holes in law, which is not confronted by our lawmakers in Congress at present. One has to wonder why this is, so obvious and yet ignored so much – and costing taxpayers billions of dollars – SCAM!

“The important situation here is a disgusting fact that all these difficulties are linked-directly or indirectly to an international system of meat production and an increasingly global pattern of meat consumption.” Welfare Ranching is simply a part of these destructive worldwide trends. But the despicable fact that taxpayers should be especially attentive toward, is the unqualified and unproductive resource of Welfare Ranching itself and on Public Lands, especially in the west.”

In reality it is and remains today and as stated earlier, simply a Welfare Program, or what many refer to as a Monetary-Scam, to obtain taxpayer money. The fact is Welfare Rancher’s, as well as the Bureau of Land management, do not want taxpayer’s to know or acknowledge that they would not exist in the commercial world of ranching, and for several legitimate reasons. And that indeed, their entire scheme or rancher landscape virtues, are based on acquiring a Grazing Permit for what one can term, pretending to be a rancher, but in reality they are not at all. They are simply profitable-posers, based on misinformation and lies – Yes, this simple.

Burdensome to the Bureau of Land management, as well as Welfare Ranchers, is the fact their less than 1% of domestic sales figures, more than demonstrate the unnecessary need for Welfare Ranching. And yet, American Taxpayer’s subsidies this supposed non-industry in the $$$Billions. The latest estimated figure of one pound of not so good hamburger from these Welfare Rancher’s in the west would cost in excess of $942.00 per pound. Wrap your mind around that figure (GAO Report)

Burdensome as well, is the fact this situation requires a tremendous amount of lies, innuendo, misinformation, intimidation and coercion, and throw in many facets of criminal conduct in the pile as well, and we have a situation that actually disrespects’ the American Public and Taxpayers tremendously.

Scenario

It becomes very obvious to many of us who endeavor into the research and writing about Public Lands and Wild Horses that Welfare Ranching is simply an unneeded necessity in America.

The fact is, if a rancher has 10 acres near Public Lands, perhaps running 10 AUM Units of cattle – 1 Unit = 1 cow/1 calf, and obtains a Grazing Permit, that another millionaire is made purely from taxpayer subsidies. We can also make the statement another way, and simply state what it really is = Welfare.

A very common example: Just as quick as a rancher receives a Grazing Permit, he then receives a loan substantial enough to purchase 3,000 AUM Units of cattle, in order to graze his cattle on America’s Public Lands, and within his allotment of several hundred thousand acres. Often another problem does arise, and the land-issue and ecological system, most often will not support this amount of cattle – so as mentioned above many circumstances develop, and also quite costly to taxpayers.

The misinformation and lies remains substantial, to keep cattle on Public Lands, which overburden the entire Environmental System. Good science also references this quite abundantly — except BLM, who demanded cattle be taken out of any research data that they may fund — so they can blame wild horses and other hooved animals for the tremendous ecosystem-destruction that cattle indeed do …

Now the Bureau of Land Management, because the Grazing Permit has secured this situation of the loan, their land management perspective changes entirely. Now this incompetent government agency’s paradigm, toward this also incompetent Welfare Rancher, has changed, and has to make sure the rancher does not default on their loan. And worse, this non-ending funnel of extravagance and very profitable to Welfare Ranchers, this fellow can also purchase a water well within his allotment – yes, Public lands. And it gets worse . . .

Need we not forget this is on Public Lands, and the Grazing Permit gives them the right to purchase the water-well within their Grazing Permit allotment (i.e. By Policy). This rancher, in this scenario and very true of most Welfare Ranchers, now have control of water, an extravagance in the desert arid areas, that they also sell-back to the government.

Ironically, this rancher will invoice and charge taxpayers, within the realm of subsidies, the amount of gallons used from their purchased water-well to water his own cattle. No one is there to monitor the water used, so an unethical situation turns into an even Large and unmonitored, unchecked, and unregulated money-stream for the Welfare Rancher.

The above is often in the amount of several hundred thousands of dollars to the Welfare Rancher. In Oregon, for example, one Welfare Rancher receives $638,000.00 dollars in subsidies yearly – simply from maintaining a fence-line, that taxpayers subsidized as well, and in total; and also he had purchased a water-well, on Public Lands, and sells it back to himself to water his cattle and pasture lands within his Grazing Permit allotment – his mortgage, which is subsidized through the Grazing Permit as Security to the bank, is $22.4 million dollars, and he had purchased not just a ranch home, but new equipment every few years, a plane, a helicopter, and lord knows how many extravagant vacations and much more.

Conclusion

So it is of no surprise that during a Public meeting in Reno, Nevada the other night, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) personnel blocked any attempt from Wild Horse Advocates to speak. This was a Public Meeting, and “Open” to the Public at large — specifically to question and make suggestions to the BLM in regard to future plans of America’s Public Lands Use.

Welfare Ranchers spoke, Bureau of Land Management personnel spoke and controlled the meeting, and even BLM advocates spoke, as they spoke within the contrived-situation of supporting BLM and Welfare Ranchers.

But the American taxpayers of this land was not represented what so ever and never has been in such meeting as this – and in truth one can say the American Taxpayer was coerced, even bullied off the stage when an attempt was made. So one can honestly can make the statement that BLM, as a government agency, as well as Welfare Ranchers, are out-of-line in total – Both remain a waste of taxpayer money – and both out-of-control and need to be scrutinized as too their necessity and any benefit what so ever to America. From those of us who have studied Public Lands for years now, find no benefit to America’s Public Lands for either the Bureau of Land Management of Welfare Ranching on Public Lands.

We are now confronted with not only misinformation, but bully tactics and coercion tactics from a government agency, and toward the very American Public that pays their tax money yearly, and honestly, and are finally questioning the use of that money. Truthfully, it is about time American’s start questioning the BLM about how frivolous and misguided our tax money is being used!

Just from the fraud, and waste, and misinformation, we are speaking about $-billions upon $-billions of dollars – perhaps why it existed for so long – but now is the time to stop enabling such activity, such criminal behavior, and such unethical actions taking place on America’s Public Lands and by BLM and Welfare Ranching.

The things we have to look at is the necessity — and that can be measured easily — Would America be better off without both the Bureau of Land Management and Welfare Ranching on Public Lands? I posed this question to many biologists, blue-collar workers, veterans, and many other American Taxpayers alike — After discovering the truth — UNEQUVICALLY THE RESPONSE WAS ABOSULTELY YES — AMERICA WOULD BE BETTER OFF WITH BOTH GONE IN TOTAL — American’s have had enough!