“It’s pretty much a joke how the entire horse program is handled,” says Dale Tunnell, Special Agent in charge of the BLM’s division of Law Enforcement in Santa Fe. “They’ll run one herd into another management area and say it’s overpopulated. Then they’ll take a certain number of horses off the land. The cattle ranchers have a significant say on how those ranges are managed. The managers will do anything to keep those ranchers off their hind ends. The whole purpose is to remove wild horses from the public lands. If they could decimate the herds to where they could die out and become extinct, it would make the politicians and the bureaucrats extremely happy.” Horses to Slaughter, 1993 Investigation
Let’s go back in time. On December 15, 1971 Congress passed the WH&B Act of 1971. This was a “unanimous” situation, and as many Senators and Congressmen alike, explained, it was “. . . the will of the people.” Yes, saving America’s Wild Horses (Equus caballus) and Burros (E. asius) on Our Public Lands, and against ranchers, government tyranny, and ignorant and bias mind-sets – and from going to slaughter or rendering.
The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act (Public Law 92-195 – The Law) described these animals as “fast-disappearing symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the west” and indeed, cowboys are nothing without their horse – and it is the horse, not cowboys, that are the legend – Ironically, right now we have anybody with a cowboy hat, and even pretend to have one, talk about horses – although, many of us see through their contemptful “garbage in – garbage out” mind sets.
America Spoke – Congress listened (how unique), and for very significant reasons. The Wild Horses on our Public and Federal Land needed protection from scammers, liars, screamers and ranters, corporations, and yes, even non-profits at that time. Interesting here, as we start to see and understand the “corrupt nature” of our Federal government’s corrupt “Grazing Permit Program”, is that everyone wants their share of taxpayer money, or else.
Both the Bureau of Land Management (i.e. BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (i.e. USFS), as the law shows us, are responsible for administrating this exact Law – Need we remind these government agencies and their employees, America built on this foundation of Law – of responsibility and when Laws Broken, those who do so taken to task – and this Law specifies as to how the wild horses and burros are to be managed. . .
(of particular note: those that told people the U.S. Forest Service (i.e. MODOC Roundup) is not applicable, those people lied to you, corrupt people in corrupt times, who pose as knowledgeable Horse Advocates, and frankly the USFS have always been, by law, within the confines of the WH&B Act of 1971.)
Now, here is where the Act mentioned above gets interesting. “. . .designed to achieve and maintain “thriving” natural ecological-balance on public lands (Federal lands within this comment was understood). The current and ongoing management paradigm, unstated, from BLM Range Managers and those in the WH&B Program, assume a status of Single-Species Priority = Cattle, and ignores in total the WH&B Act of 1971 – which is illegal, and also biologically irresponsible and denotes corruption in total.
An Informant (from an Investigation in the early 1990’s)
BLM Agent interviews an Informant on the subject of stealing horses from the BLM Wild Horse Herd Roundups:
“. . . Agent: Is this a pretty good organization? This sounds like something that’s pretty well planned out, it’s a big organization.
Informant: Well, its very well set up, you know. There’s nobody that participates in it that isn’t well known and don’t know what’s going on.
Agent: Do you feel like there’s people inside the BLM that know about this practice, that are a part of this practice?
Informant: Sure. We can’t operate unless they’re standing there. . .” Investigation, Horses to Slaughter
Misinformation Lies and Incompetent Counts
Here is where things become even more interesting, especially for Horse Advocates, and simply the facts alone show us “No Need” for breed controls what so ever – rather, there is an extraordinary need for the government legal entities, the Checks and Balance System of Justice, to take over and re-establish this very corrupt government agency, and directly manage the Wild Horses by the Laws already in place and within the WH&B Act of 1971.
So, let’s jump forward, to 1993. The act required that BLM maintain an inventory of Wild horses and Burros on America’s Federal / Public (i.e. FP Lands) Lands. Every 3 years a census, and keep this term in mind, as recommended by the National Academy of Sciences (i.e. NAS remains nothing more than government researchers — more special interest corruption, keep this in mind as well) was to be accomplished.
The WH&B Board met every few years, and it is only within the recent decade that they started meeting every few months (see $$$$ waste of taxpayer money), which is “not” defined, nor by regulatory measure, meant to do so, as found within the WH&B Act of 1971. It has become nothing more than a cash-cow for the people on the board; nor, does this WH&B Board abide by the WH&B Act of 1971, which it was formed to assure the taxpayer’s the BLM / Forestry did abide by the Federal Laws (i.e. Public Law 92-195).
Flawed Wild Horse Counts and Misinformation
In 1993 we find the Wild Horse population to be, as BLM states, 46,500 — although even then we see very telling erroneous figures, and the necessity for Stallions and foals to give birth to more foals, as with the mares of all ages (the BLM employees have always been a joke, so to speak, and yet, extremely corrupt and quite obvious, which brings about many more questions about government integrity, government Law Enforcement, and Laws in general). . . quite clearly, I might add. . . they simply lie – nobody can truthfully be that bad at simple arithmetic. . . and nobody this dumb to assume the average taxpayer in America would consider these “Biologically Impossible Birth Rates” to exist – or do they?
It was also explained, within all documentation back then, that there exists a 15% error margin for the Wild Horse counts, and a 25% margin error on Burros. We also found 
no averaging, nor even attempts at considering “Birth Rate versus Death Rate” within their calculation of “census”, nor over the next few decades of doing the actual census / counts. So, we have very definitive questions, and certainly questions toward the credibility of these “census” figures at that time; and also now, for the matter of credibility, and for the similar reasoning of quantifiable-information and data, that would even come close to an accurate Wild Horse or Burro count.
And here is where we start running across the very questionable history of these supposed “Census” considerations toward the Wild Horse and Burro counts – as we use the term loosely here, as there exists no one, and I mean no research scientists nor accountants, nor statistician’s that will agree, within the slightest, that these counts are any type of “reality” what so ever; thereby, BLM employees only, and their credibility, over decades, simply unavailable and unbelievable – they lie and lie a lot.
Then we go to the 5% to 25% increase of Wild Horses and Burros yearly, so they say. And within the same paragraph, yes this is how ridiculous this is, they make the statement “. . . depending on the range and environmental conditions, with 15% being a long-term average. At this rate, the population of wild horses may double every 5 years.” One cannot make this up, and one also wonders about the qualification on becoming a BLM employee – Nepotism? Same Church group? Who knows? But that is the subject of yet another article, as well.
Wild Horse Population – Guess work and more guess work
Rather than myself ascertain what was said, I will take it off of a report – “. . . may be managed only on lands that existed on December 15, 1971 . . ., (unspecific — so to state they had particular HMA’s assigned is “garbage in – garbage out”, and simply does not exist within the WH&B Act of 1971, unless placed into a copy of it and left unratified) “. . . was estimated at 17,000 animals” (not horses or burros, but their term = animals???)“. . . however, at that time no formal inventory policies or procedures existed to conduct appropriate census populations. . .”
Within this particular discussion we can also look at the laws, “If you file a document that you know contains false, erroneous, or fictitious information or statements, you may be subject to criminal penalties under 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 43 U.S.C. 1212. The maximum penalty is 5 years in prison and/or a fine of $250,000.” From their BLM Legal Handbook –
One can also assume “Organized Crime” taking place – they know the Laws and actually breaking these Laws daily! But ironically, rather than subdue this paradigm of corruption, BLM employees and administrators very adamant in attempts at conducting a continuous stream of lies, misinformation, and confusing issues – is this purposeful, or just attrition? Quite obvious they could care less, as they go to court, they lose most often, and yet never change to abide by the Federal Judge Rulings, and very well documented as such – and where are the legislators, or legal entities to keep them in check?
BLM Forestry non-sense and evidence
After questioning many Oregonians, Washingtonian’s, and those in Nevada and Wyoming, we find no one, not one person, would back up these initial figures, or BLM figures from 1993 – and the truth? In all conversations, neutral people and living at that time as adults, in their minds the counts being way too many horses within the BLM counts, and considered false information, even back then.
So we have, at that time, Wild Horse and Burros “occupying”, a term untrue and very misleading — as if 17,000 horses would “occupy” 43 million acres or in reality simply be .00039535 of one horse per acres ––
The Universal Truth within Biology is birth-rates in the wilds, or as simple science shows us (yes, science always in the way of BLM and Forestry wild horse management situations) moderation of population in the wilds within healthy Ecological Zones does exist – ignored by BLM and Forestry, and devastation of our grasslands and our forests, does exist, but ignored for Special Interests, Pay-offs to District Supervisors and Range Managers alike – and on and on the corruption goes – honesty and ethics simply does not exist within these government agencies – their ethics and morals definitive of taking the Low-Road in life, Corrupt people making a lot of money off the tragedy and backs of America’s Wild Horses –
Breaking up this 43 million acres into each state — in Arizona 4 million acres, in California 6 million+ acres, in Colorado 800,000+ acres, in Idaho 450,000+, in Montana 55,000 acres, in Nevada 19 million acres, in New Mexico 150,000 acres, in Oregon 4 million acres, in Utah 2.5 million acres, and in Wyoming nearly 6 million acres. Keep in mind 17,000 horses on this entire spread of land – yes, again, this ridiculous and their use of terms to make the wild horses appear as more, i.e. “herds “rather than “bands”, “costly to taxpayers”, or the myths of being destructive or eating everything on our public lands = 43,000,000 million acres – as if millions upon millions of cattle do nothing, and remain harmless –
Yes, BLM and the Forestry very condescending, and their information is more assimilated toward talking-down to the very Taxpayer’s that pay taxes, that pays them – the Reality? They work for us – their lies extremely childish in many ways, and their outright disrespect toward taxpayers and American’s alike, shown within how they treat America’s Wild horses! Time for Change within these very Corrupt government organizations!
Conclusion
The growth in the Grazing Permit Budget, at the time escalated 10-fold, where at one time a mere few thousand dollars existed in the Range Land Management Budget and Grazing Permit Program, escalated to $-millions immediately, once ranchers and special interests started to populate the Administrative branches of the BLM and Forestry; whereas, at the beginning, no subsidies — to very little – existed, or went to the Welfare Ranchers holding Grazing Permits; then, escalated to several thousands of dollars, to those who were aware of the government hand-outs, and hardly any per-AUM Unit payment to the BLM or Forestry made at that time – and is still $1.35 per AUM Unit. Although, these payments simply disappear in the accounting system – with no Procurement Process to assimilate or be held accountable for the money taken into this account, or out. . .
But not only are there many questions here, but the overwhelming bad-attitudes from the government agency employees’ themselves, and toward the taxpayers as well as the wild horses, the growth of the Corruption exponential, dirty-dealings and lies out of proportion and very obvious, and within many other subsidies’, began during this time.
The reality? The Grazing Permit Program ran-out its usefulness (i.e. to supply beef and lamb product to the Spanish American War, WWI, and WWII, and Korea wars), and was going to be discontinued at that time, as beef was simply plentiful, and taxpayers were also growing tired of funding the Welfare Rancher endeavors, and obtain nothing from them, other than higher taxes. The discussions within Congress derailed, and the Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971 become the item of conversation, and even then, ranchers did not want Wild Horses on what they termed = “Their Lands.”
Photojournalist - Journalist 
Kathleen Hayden
February 23, 2019 at 6:49 pm
The following letter was sent to CA Attorney General Xavier Becerra in order to provide the framework for rewilding.
Email: xavier.becerra@doj.ca.gov
Tom Frolli, US Forest Service Wild Horse and Burro Program Coordinator
Email: tfrolli@fs.fed.us
California Department of Food and Agriculture
Animal Health and Food Safety Services, Animal Health Branch
Email: ahbfeedback@cdfa.ca.gov
Attorney General Xavier Becerra,
Please take the necessary and imperative immediate action to enforce CA Fish and Wildlife mandate to add CA wild horse herds to their inventory of protected native species to halt the current adoption and sale of wild horses without limitation in the Double Devil Corrals in Alturas, California.
While the horses are in danger of being sold to kill buyers and sent to slaughter, an act that is unlawful in the state of California, the Devil’s Garden “protected” federal managed herd is an extraction of a Native Species under CA ESA definitions of special status species.
Since I requested CA Fish and Wildlife to add CA herds to the inventory of special status species current captures of our Ca native herds continue to reach genetic bottlenecks: a direct path to extinction.
The only effective way to re wild and save CA wild horses is through the CA Endangered species Act (CESA) and the inclusion all of CA wild horse herds to restore Optimum Sustainable Populations.
All gov agencies are subject to the Endangered Species Act yet they fail to protect the American Public by the extraction of non excess wild horses and burros from ranges diminished by politically motivated and technically fatally flawed Resource Management Plans.
CA has 45, 864,800 acres of federal lands and 100,206,720 acres of State Land.
It is a very small portion of the US federal government owned 640 million acres of land and about 28% of the nation’s total surface, 2.27 billion acres
Wild horse/burro populations constitute least of all the wildlife and livestock grazing on the public domain.
While Congress gave wild free-roaming horses “special” status based on their heritage of assisting man settle the “west,” CA has its own special claim to distinct Equus
population segments and/or evolutionarily significant units (ESU), first conceptualized by Ryder in 1986, of a population of organisms that is considered distinct for purposes of conservation. Delineating ESUs is important when considering conservation action. This term can apply to any species, subspecies, geographic race, or population.
An ESU might comprise single/multiple populations exchanging a degree of gene flow, such as meta-populations. Differences between ESU concepts lie more in the criteria used to define the ESUs themselves rather than in their fundamental essence.
Definitions of an ESU generally include at least one of the following criteria:
Current geographic separation,
Genetic differentiation at neutral markers among related ESUs caused by past restriction of gene flow, or
Locally adapted phenotypic traits caused by differences in selection.
Also refer to Feb 9, 2014 – (ACHP) executed the referenced national Programmatic Agreement with CA State Historic Preservation Office.
ON Feb. 15, 2017 I wrote to:
California Department of Fish and Wildlife 1416 Ninth Street, 12th Floor Sacramento, CA 95814.
Karen Miner Environmental Program Manager Karen.Miner@wildlife.ca.gov
Danile Applebee Recovery Coordinator Daniel.Applebee@wildlife.ca.gov
SWAP@wildlife.ca.gov
Dear EP Manager Karen Miner,
Please review our previous email conversations requesting incorporation of California’s rare and endangered Coyote Canyon wild horse herd into the state’s data base of special concern mammals.
I am amending the request to include all of CA wild horse herds to ensure Optimum Sustainable Populations. In some cases herds are far below optimum sustainable populations and have become extinct in the wild. AS such, immediate action by CA Fish and Wildlife is necessary and imperative.
While Congress gave wild free-roaming horses “special” status based on their heritage of assisting man settle the “west,” CA has its own special claim to distinct Equus population segments and/or evolutionarily significant units (ESU), first conceptualized by Ryder in 1986, of a population of organisms that is considered distinct for purposes of conservation. Delineating ESUs is important when considering conservation action. This term can apply to any species, subspecies, geographic race, or population.
An ESU might comprise single/multiple populations exchanging a degree of gene flow, such as meta-populations. Differences between ESU concepts lie more in the criteria used to define the ESUs themselves rather than in their fundamental essence.
Definitions of an ESU generally include at least one of the following criteria:
Current geographic separation,
Genetic differentiation at neutral markers among related ESUs caused by past restriction of gene flow, or Locally adapted phenotypic traits caused by differences in selection may be sufficient to list CA herds under the CESA as a native species. The State’s Wildlife Action Plan defines Species of Greatest Conservation Need as native species meeting certain criteria, CA herds are the most eligible for inclusion as a CA Mammal Species of Special Concern to receive protection under the California Endangered Species Act. by designations of ACECs.
In Mar of 2016, re: fossil evidence Karen Miner Environmental Program Manager Karen.Miner@wildlife.ca.gov stated “ When and if available scientific information convinces the experts that determine the checklist of native species to North America that Equus caballus should be considered as an indigenous species, they will make the change in the next revision to the list, and then we would take that fact into consideration for inclusion on our state animal lists. “
I replied that Equus Caballus may not be the fossil evidence that meets the criteria for the listing consideration. Instead “ the experts”may incorporate the following fact into the equation from The Surprising History of America’s Wild Horses http://www.livescience.com/9589-surprising-history-america-wild-horses.html (excerpt)
Many scientists once thought horses died out on the continent before the arrival of the ancestors of the American Indians, but archeologists have found equine and human bones together at sites dating back to more than 10,000 years ago. The horse bones had butchering marks, indicating the animals were eaten by people, according to “Horses and Humans: The Evolution of Human-Equine Relationships,” edited by Sandra L. Olsen.
According to to Steven Jones PhD, there is no conclusive evidence that the wild horse went extinct in N America (http://thewildhorseconspiracy.org/2013/07/02/exciting-article-about-by-phd-steven-jones-re-more-recent-surviving-native-horse-in-north-america/. and
In southern California, the species was replaced in the later Ice Ages by an anatomically distinct form.“That’s likely either a pulse of evolution – a speciation event – or else the immigration of a different species northwards into California from Mexico,” said Scott. “Either way, we can now clarify the timing and geographic extent of this episode, and the relationships of these two species, in a very exciting way. And it means we had as many as four horse species living in the American southwest at the end of the Ice Ages. Compared to horses today, that’s quite a lot of species! http://www.pe.com/articles/horse-667407-species-springs.html
Perhaps the most recent CA fossil find (http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-centuries-old-bones-of-horses-unearthed-in-2005jul17-story.html) is of interest. The finds are significant because native North American horses were thought to have been extinct more than 10,000 years ago, and these remains are older than the recorded conquests by the Spanish, who reintroduced horses to the New World. SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MUSEUM Published: May 22, 2013 Updated: Jan. 14, 2015
Changing environments and ecosystems were driving the evolution of horses over the past 20 million years. This is the main conclusion of a new study published in Science by a team of palaeontologists from Spain and Argentina. The team analysed 140 species of horses, most of them extinct, synthesising decades of research on the fossil history of this popular group of mammals. https://phys.org/news/2017-02-climate-responsible-rapid-expansion-horse.html#jCp
CASE decisions (Mountain States v. Hodel) The court found “ In structure and purpose, the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act is nothing more than a land-use regulation enacted by Congress to ensure the survival of a particular species of wildlife noting that wild horses and burros are no less “wild” animals than are the grizzly bears that roam our national parks and forests
As to their special status BLM states “The issue of a wild horse as an invasive species is moot since the 1971 WHBA gave wild free-roaming horses “special” status based on their heritage of assisting man settle the “west” ( May 2003 Proposed Nevada Test and Training Range Resource Management Plan and Final EIS Comment 87, BLM Response, pg. 7
AND, notably, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Ca. also recognized wild horses as native species, explaining that BLM “establishes Appropriate Management Levels (“AMLs”) for populations of native species – including wild horses, burros, and other wildlife – and introduced animals, such as livestock.” In Defense of Animals, et al. v. U.S. Dept. Interior, et al., No. 12-17804, *6 (9th Cir. May 12, 2014) (emphasis added
On Sep 28, 2011 (See Craters AR at 16698. Memorandum Decision & Order) The court addresses “sensitive” species pursuant to BLM’s 2001 Special Status Species Policy. This Policy requires that “sensitive” species be afforded, at a minimum, the same protections as candidate species for listing under the ESA. It called on BLM managers to “obtain and use the best available information deemed necessary to evaluate the status of special status species in areas affected by land use plans . . . .” See Policy at § 6840.22A. Under the Policy, those land use plans “shall be sufficiently detailed to identify and resolve significant land use conflicts with special status species without deferring conflict resolution to implementation-level planning.”
Attorney General Xavier Becerra please take the necessary and imperative. immediate action to enforce CA Fish and Wildlife mandate to add CA wild horse herds to their inventory of protected native species
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen Hayden
Co founder Coyote Canyon Caballos d’Anza
Perspectives from the Field: Wild Horses Are Cultural …
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1017/S1466046616000363
grandmagregg
February 23, 2019 at 7:13 pm
Thank you, John!
More: https://rtfitchauthor.com/2018/05/30/false-statements-are-a-federal-crime-punishable-by-prison-time-blm-releases-false-population-statistics-for-wild-horses-and-burros/
Barbara Warner
February 23, 2019 at 7:44 pm
With all of this evidence this crime is still going on. How can we ever get it stopped before all of our wild horses are extinct ?
Louie C
March 2, 2019 at 9:01 am
The Hugely Profitable Bureau of Land Management
John J. Cardillo
My evolution from Bundy supporter to critic came after much research. That same research also shed a very bright light on the BLM, and only reinforced my initial perception of them as an unchecked out of control agency with far too much power and control of lands in the western United States.
n fact, the BLM appears to be little more than hugely successful for-profit business wing of the Department of the Interior, masquerading as a conservation agency. Even worse, they employ nearly 300 armed agents to enforce their receivables and collections.
And you thought the Internal Revenue Service was scary. At least we see the IRS coming. Enter the BLM, an agency most Americans know nothing about.
An excerpt from the Interior’s semi-annual report to Congress for the period Oct. 1, 2012 – March 31, 2013 reads:
“The Federal Government has effectively controlled the market for helium for almost a century through its position as a predominant supplier—BLM provides about 40 percent of the Nation’s helium and 30 percent of helium to the world market.”
So basically, you can thank the BLM for four out of 10 of the balloons floating at your next birthday party. If that isn’t government reaching into your every day life in the sneakiest ways imaginable, I don’t know what is.
https://www.theblaze.com/contributions/the-hugely-profitable-bureau-of-land-management-3
Louie C
March 5, 2019 at 7:39 pm
Have you ever taken burrs out of your horses’s mane or tail? You right away find out that you have to pull the hair away from the burr.
Same thing applies to cleaning up corruption…pull the hair away from the burr
How much taxpayer money has been just handed over to the livestock contractors that capture, abuse, and remove America’s Wild Horses & Burros from their legally designated lands.?
The Upcoming Explosion in Government Contract Litigation
We are entering a period of unprecedented oversight of federal government contractors. New laws, regulations, and policies are adding layers of complexity to an already overly complex system. There is a growing tendency to point to government contractors of all types as the source of widespread waste, fraud, and abuse. In addition, the government is substantially increasing not only the number of employees dedicated to contract oversight and enforcement but also the authority of investigators. The one “certainty” surrounding the many changes being made is that contractors will be increasingly forced to defend themselves in both administrative and judicial forums. This article presents an overview of some reports issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), executive orders, and statutory changes that have emerged over the last two years and will result in a significant increase in government contract disputes and litigation.
Click to access The-Upcoming-Explosion-in-Government-Contract-Litigation.aspx
Maureen Rueffer
February 9, 2022 at 6:29 am
Protect the wild mustangs! Let them run free and wild. Stop the BLM and the helicopters and spending our tax dollars.