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Written by John Cox, Cascades
“I’ll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you’ll come to understand that you’re connected with everything.” – Alan Watts

We are at cross-roads today, with Public Lands and our Wild Horses. Both apparently attract criminality, large government misrepresentation and criminal conduct, large non-profits that see money to be made by misrepresenting the issues, corporations that see money to be made by paying off politicians, and States that see money to be made by attempting to coerce government managers’ into transferring ownership.

Good luck for the normal folks, the common folks of this land of ours’, who strongly affirm time and time again that the Wild Horses remain an Icon and symbol of Our Freedom — and finding a resolution rather than impose on them a road to extinction and with outright assaults on their bodies, or outright sent to slaughter, is mandatory.  This is not a question, and we are not asking, we are demanding America’s Icon, the Wild Horse, be left the hell alone!

Just as the Native American’s were almost wiped out toward extinction, it is quite obvious our government has the same mind-set toward our Public Lands and the Wild Horses. The term “Free” bothers’ our government often, doesn’t it – reference their actions. Yet, when pandering to endeavor in War, you better believe the term “Free” is used often, but nothing more than a ploy to establish hatred – yes, a misuse of the term entirely.

But we can also see how the term “Humane” has been lost, somewhere between Love Street and Hate Street there is Humane Street; but only God knows where it’s located, because none of us or our government can locate the truth of it at all.

In Luke 10:4 Jesus urges us to travel lightly: “Carry neither moneybag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. He is advising us to resist attachments to power, status, security, and wealth. The opposite of rich is not poor, it’s free. The more weighed down we are, the harder it is for us to move when the Spirit says move. When we are encumbered by baggage, such as credit card debt, mortgage, or whatever, we are in turn unable to follow the Spirit’s lead.

This society, this corporate image of itself and imposed onto American’s right now, wants the acceptable image to be, and forcefully remain, the Nuclear Family. It is creating catastrophe in all realms of the American landscape. Our fight for Our Public Lands and the Wild Horses exemplify this situation entirely. It is simply time to move away from this antiquated and unsafe mind-set, which benefits only the extremely wealthy of the world.

Then we can move back to our Creator’s mind-set, who indeed oversees our planet, created human and animal alike, and endeavored for us all to accept one another. The Creator has invested into all of us the capacity to cultivate deep bonds of love and compassion for anybody, and to enter into solidarity with all life on this planet.

We can one day, perhaps something of a wish upon wishes right now, I know, but define all life as one interconnected community. Certainly a radical act, but can become a reality as well – the sooner the better so to speak. Yes, a lot of definitive hoop-la in between, but direct explanation here is more than understood. Grass Roots efforts are Biblical and very successful throughout human-kinds centuries past.

But how can this be – how can something like this evolve? We are seduced into the idea that everyone has equal opportunity under capitalism – but in reality a contrary mind-set prevails: By Damn, I am going to get mine before that damn neighbor of mine takes it!

Yes, so much for Christianity, and welcome the nasty truth (horses to slaughter for pocket change, people buying horses cheap selling them profitably, people’s mind-sets corrupt in total, grab Public Lands for Profit, et al) . . . So here we are, the corporate or rich controls everything and shout loudly — you middle class damn well better feel privileged.

But wait, the poor has the same dream of becoming rich as well, and more incentive to do so . . . all the while the middle class is led to believe to fear the encroachment of the poor, immigrants, or whatever the politician who favors corporations wants to spew, which is truthfully more misinformation to the public. We are misled again and again.

What a wonderful and complex set of illusions. But the reality of fact remains, that economic growth – the goal of Capitalism – is always followed by the increase in disparity between rich and poor, and the withering of the middle class. . . the rich get richer, the middle class come close to disappearing, and the poor become extremely poor.

Meanwhile, the government conjures up the illusion of opportunity while keeping the upward class mobility to a minimum, which means simply the rich get richer. Wealth carries not only purchasing power, but also social and political power, obviously. This means our efforts, defending our priorities, the Wild Horses and our Public Lands, is negated by those who have the most money.

This also means that large non-profits and corporations instill in us, quite often I might add, a lot of buffoonery, or misinformation. Distractions from such organizations we deal directly with — the BLM, HSUS, many of the Non-Profit supposed Wild Horse Advocates (who really are not and can be defined as certainly anti-Wild Horse people) are a cumbersome lot to actually defend the Wild Horses from — but doable . . . but other than fear, we have condemned others, thereby convinced ourselves we cannot organize because we don’t trust each other – again, those mentioned above create this illusion, disenfranchised from the real Horse Advocates, and part of the buffoonery of misinformation, because the real Horse Advocates can trust one another – One Priority of One Mind Set – and that is a tough wall to break!

The Funeral = Resolution

We have a definitive spiritual impoverishment within us all. We are and continue to feel deadened, and many convinced we are and always will be – so we need to have a funeral for this deadness within us – to bury it once and for all, the dead that is in us and our culture! Bury this so-called deadness, and then we can all come back to life, come back to the authenticity of what our Creator wanted of us, the interconnection of all on this planet — Human, Animal, and Earth . . . Alive Again!

If we cannot critique our environments, our wildlife, and our planet within a fact given truth, which is a reality toward resolution, we cannot create transformation or change. The truth is we need to come back to life, to what life is all about, to look at ourselves and feel we are alive once again . . .

The Wild Horses give us that Freedom to do so, and become the antagonists’ to provide us a better future. Let’s Save them, and not allow a few to destroy such a profoundly beautiful animal such as the Horse and our Earth – which indeed are both one and the same.  — 9/6/2015 John Cox

“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.” — Arthur Conan Doyle

We are currently seeing a few interesting situations transpire with the Bureau of Land Management. Their constant, one can say far beyond a doubt consistent, chain of factual misrepresentation; lies actually, to the American Public & Taxpayers. Budgets are created from many of these lies, and many American’s think this can, and does, exemplify fraud . . . it certainly meets the criteria.

The undeniable elephant in the room is their extreme budgets increase exponentially. One has only to read an Environmental Assessment, often copied for example from an EA developed e.g. four years earlier, and understands the misguided rationality and taxpayer expense that assuredly develops.

But need we assume, and does this happen abundantly?

Well, let’s check their history just within the past 8 months, well referenced via G.A.O. Reports (i.e. Government Accountability Office), and stick with the year 2015.

Here we find the Government Accountability Office investigating or doing research on BLM employee’s misrepresenting situations quite often, not only in the Wild Horse and Burro Program but many energy situations – oil, gas, coal, solar, with mining, ranching / grazing permits, and recreational situations – it almost appears to be the Devil’s Playground in regard to our government, our taxpayer dollars, and exemplified by neither Oversight or Regulatory situations that could stop such activity . . .

The summaries of BLM activity following found within GAO Reports – all within in 2015

1. BLM employees outright caught in lies about situations on Public Lands, via Congressional Hearings and responses to Senator’s and Congressmen alike . . . as well as misrepresenting statistics, or using false statistics beneficial for research or budgetary concerns only, with no apparent resolution to the false representations of facts, which continues to cost taxpayers in the millions of dollars yearly;
2. Missing pertinent application or permit paperwork or the total disregard of the regulatory or process guidelines for qualifications, in particular friends of friends motives of hiring private contractors, same church groups, et al;
3. Essential paperwork being destroyed – ooops accidentally of course and by-golly with a shredder most often (gee wiz those damn shredders) it’s not the shredder it’s the person at the button – but entire packages of legal documents as well as other research pertinent to resolution of projects – gone and supposedly shredded accidentally;
4. Inappropriate Bonds set underestimating procurement and monetary income for leasing of Public Lands to commercial businesses, or such items as Clean-up Bonds, etc., totally ignored and often missing from government paperwork, with no money – or money that mysteriously has disappeared from the Bond Payment Accounts;
5. Inappropriate reports filed, by BLM employees, to cover up the misuse of America’s Public lands by commercial corporate and grazing situations, and mostly cattle, oil, and mining situations that had devastated or destroyed Public Lands, and Reports Filed, then lost or shredded accidentally—so the stories go to investigative panels;
6. Regulatory standards and reports falsified continuously – found via investigators and other office personnel;
7. Budgets further falsified with misinformation, lack of information, or information meant to cover up criminal or negligent activity, continually – also private contractor applications, vouchers, payment information, and inventory often lost or falsified, helicopter pilots found ineligible and documents falsified to make eligible, and on and on;
8. Rangeland studies fail to include cattle, their habits and destructive manners to specific rangelands, with falsified cattle-counts abundant, or cattle placed onto Public lands with no Permits or paperwork showing them as counted or even permitted to graze on Public Lands – overage of cattle on Public Lands not reported, or covered up within weekly and monthly reports;
9. False and outright fake Environmental Assessments, ironically left unsigned which means the situation cannot move forward legally, but projects go forward in abundance, with legal documents and permits simply ignored, then BLM employees pass off the questions as “Did Not Know” or “. . . Was not aware”;
10. Missing Wild Horses from BLM Inventory sheets (right now estimated costing taxpayers in excess of $4.2 million in funds for capture paid to contractors, even though no horses to show for it – obvious is obvious, and yet there will be a BLM employee right there saying you are not seeing what your seeing – yes, a conundrum of irresponsibility and theft, and within the past two years;

And the list goes on and on — at an estimated 4,984 + occasions this year alone of all sorts of questionable activites done by BLM Employees. . .

Something to Review when discussing the Bureau of Land management:

(For the entire informative packet and interview see Horses Led To Slaughter, Anatomy of a Cover Up in the Wild Horse and Burro Program, PEER White Paper, Number 14, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Washington D.C. 20009-1125, http://www.peer.org/pubs/whitepapers/1997_horses_to_slaughter.pdf , 1997.

No Credibility What So Ever

There are many BLM employees under investigation for misuse of taxpayer’s money.  They have used BLM Credit Cards illegally, have at least three more investigations ongoing due to similar illegal/fraudulent activity, and investigators are looking into several BLM offices in different states for illegal activity as this is written . . .

Credibility? Doesn’t exist with the BLM! This was a couple years back, only one person found guilty, and she only used a few thousand dollars of an estimated $650,000 other BLM employees used – Unauthorized – for private use and expenses.

A few years ago the FBI, over a several year investigation, found misappropriations of funds and corruption in the millions of dollars, by BLM employees and private contractors.  The fact is we are discussing here fraud and theft of several millions of dollars which includes paperwork, processed by other BLM employees, that had to be signed, releases given for payment, contracts verified by many rather than just a couple of people, contracts and those involved in contracts checked-out by mandatory background checks, and payment situations checked before an actual check is issued.

Within the scope of the investigation mentioned above, BLM Special Agent interviews an Informant (see Horses Led To Slaughter, Anatomy of a Cover Up in the Wild Horse and Burro Program, PEER White Paper, Number 14, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Washington D.C. 20009-1125, http://www.peer.org/pubs/whitepapers/1997_horses_to_slaughter.pdf , 1997.)   on the subject of stealing horses from the BLM Wild Horse Herd Roundups, et al. . .

“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. . .”

BLM Credibility?

Now we go to Wild Horse Herd Counts done by the BLM. Frankly, this is useless, as accurate information is not available, and never will be to G.A.O. or other investigators. It is averages and figured in percent per population of supposed wild horses in a given area. Randomly 20% to 28% is added to the non-logistical computer software program, and a robust of wild horses supposed counted, on computer screen only, exists.

There exists much to-do that surrounds this wild horse counts/population situation, and extremely expensive to taxpayers. This supposed horse count illegitimate, obviously, but used in a diversity of situations, especially to obtain taxpayer money to do so. The actual figures staggering, and in the amount of several millions of dollars per year just for the roundups alone, in the name of these very wild and extravagant wild horse counts —

BLM did hope above all else we would never find out about the Wild Horse Herd Counts done in the late 1980’s, and using telemetry and aerial photography Infra Red combined – Extremely accurate Wild Horse Herd Counts prevailed – BLM discontinued the project.

The problem was not with the Horse Counts, but with the accuracy of them and disputed directly BLM percentages and statistic, their awkward at best 20% to 28% increase yearly of Wild Horses, when everyone else, to include this telemetry project, showed beyond a doubt and in real time only a 6% to a not so often 12% increase overall (which neither the telemetry counts or BLM counts contain birth fatality (i.e. a very large number / percentage in the wild), as well as predatory or accidental injuries leading to fatalities on the range (which are also very large percentages). The overall rates of 20% to 28% also do not include fatality rates – ironically, they pay contracts $1,000 to $1,200+ per horse rounded up, and padding the situation with dead-horses sometimes, as we have found within BLM Inventories, $49,000 to $75,000 dollars over the amount actually rounded up wild horses and collected. This is also a situation where BLM and Forestry personnel have to do the inventory counts, so they are involved with the private contractor – money obviously p[asses from hand-to-hand in these cases.

Special Interests and Antiquated Laws no longer needed!

Listed here are only 10 issues, of many more, showing BLM’s documented illegal behavior (i.e. via : Horses Led To Slaughter, Anatomy of a Cover Up in the Wild Horse and Burro Program) . . .

1. BLM Management personnel have authorized the transportation of wild horses to group adopters at the expense of the government;
2. BLM management personnel have authorized the fee waiver and/or fee reduction of wild horses without delegated authority;
3. BLM management failed to inspect and prepare written reports for group adopter facilities and property prior to receiving adopted wild horses;
4. BLM personnel publicly and openly promoted the commercial us of wild horses, i.e., bucking stock and slaughter house;
5. BLM personnel in concurrence with BLM management, entered false information regarding the wild horse documents into BLM DPS-8000 data base;
6. BLM personnel through their government positions, arranged for special privileges and allowances pertaining to wild horse adoptions;
7. BLM personnel and management knowingly converted to the use of another, wild horses belonging to the United States;
8. BLM personnel and management did knowingly attempt to interfere with an ongoing investigation by discussing privileged information regarding the Investigation with other BLM personnel, some of whom were subjects of the Investigation;
9. Many, many more “lack of document” charges, especially in regard to the Wild Horse Herd Counts and the financial income and expenditures mandatory at each BLM facility, were not completed, lost, or unavailable for confirmation – in order to appropriate funding for each facility;
10. Several more listings expressed concern toward illegal activity, and lack of following directorial and mandated training and compliance of Inspectors, Wranglers, and Field Level Administrators of the Wild Horse and Burro Program.

BLM employees apparently think the current Horse Advocates that question their activities are “Dishonest”.  These Advocates they are calling dishonest are typical Americans, many Veterans of Wars, middle class wives and husbands who pay their taxes on time and all the time, union and non-union workers alike, plumbers, electricians, clerks, accountants, doctors, lawyers, ditch diggers, truck drivers, waitresses, delivery people, mailmen and mailwomen, and other honest folks of this nation who pay their taxes, are dissatisfied with this particular agency and the ongoing and obvious abuse of Wild Horse Herds as well as their run-amuck budgets, misrepresented information, and all around criminality – a non-regulated agency with no oversight, which indeed needs oversight.

Rather than resolve the apparent issues, BLM employees lie!  Yes, we as Americans are speaking up and combating innuendo, misinformation, and outright lies with something as simple as “The Truth.”

BLM Complacency and Arrogance

Because there is abuse within the BLM, we can now perceive where the “acceptable abuse” standards are obtained.  Basically, they have none, as there is no acceptance of responsibility toward their actions.

There is no one policing the BLM employees and their irresponsible conduct.  “We can hold as a truth the BLM is morally and ethically corrupt, by their consistent and habitual chain of misinformation,” stated Stan Dimmick, NSA Research Scientist-Retired, “. . . as there information is mostly false, or obviously a lot of information left out that would certainly compromise their tasks or projects.”

Today’s Advocates are backed by solid and truthful reference material, just as in this article and well referenced from the Government Accountability Office, and previous investigations.

This same reference material has shown consistently the facts in regard to outright abuse of wild horses, destruction of America’s Public Lands, as well as taxpayer money being stolen or completely wasted on numerous occasions.

The reference material has shown fraudulent activity by government employees in order for them to make a buck, and has shown beyond doubt through grasslands research, or the vast amount of appropriate research, the Wild Horse and Burro Program is unnecessary. But need we not forget, taking cattle out of Grassland’s Research was simply to cover-up the amount of cattle on Public Lands, as well as the destruction cattle pose on not only landscapes, but within air quality as well.

So the BLM, backed by no valid reference material what so ever, rather innuendo, political agendas, agendas that serve only a small and specific special interest group, certainly a long list of questions to be asked and a longer list of criminal activity that has not been approached yet, and studies that are filled with misinformation and, well, lies, are making millions upon millions of dollars using criminally as well as unethically taxpayer’s money.

Their funding by taxpayer money needs to stop!  There are no taxpayers wanting them to continue abusing the wild horses, or spending taxpayer money frivolously, nor to purchase new private, nor vehicles and trips to Europe that currently many District and office Supervisors enjoy yearly, plus oh so much more illegal money they spend!

Right now the BLM and their conduct does not represent America what so ever!  Although, their conduct represents everything that is wrong with our “spend without parameters” and “lack of ethics” government of today!  It is time to change that situation. It seems I recall a lot of BLM Law Enforcement taking an Oath to the Constitution, BLM of course making a big deal out of it.  If that’s so, they are also in violation of their Oath, of being an American, and have disrespected out Constitution as well.  Change!  It’s What’s Needed.  American’s Must Demand IT!