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How Much Of Your Heritage, Nobility, And Honor Are You Willing To Give Up, America?
As many Americans seemingly look the other way, American values, tradition, culture, and even living legends are literally under attack by government agencies–in this case, the BLM!
In America today, there are less than 41,000 wild horses according to the BLM–which is decimating the herds through their mismanagement, or worse. Wild horse advocates estimate there are less than 33,000 horses remaining in the wild. These remaining wild horses are all that’s left; and when they are gone, we will all be the lesser for it. And it will be a dark stain on the soul of our generation.
Image credit: Laura Simpson (my lovely wife)
In response to the outcry of millions of Americans prior to 1971, even the politicians in Washington, D.C. realized that the strength, nobility, and beauty represented by American wild horses running free represented a national treasure that was worthy of absolute Federal Protection; I am speaking of the ‘Wild Burro And Horse Protection Act’ (the ‘ACT’), which was promulgated in 1971 by the Congress of the United States of America.
Considering that politicians (lawyers) wrote this ACT and its Preamble, as opposed to horse advocates, the Preamble is quite meaningful:
Excerpt from Public Law 92-195 (An ACT).
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress finds and declares that wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; that they contribute to the diversity of the life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people; and that these horses and burros are fast disappearing from the American scene. It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands.
Fast Forward to Today:
The BLM currently manages approximately 245 million acres of public American land (not private land), according to this BLM report. And interestingly, they also claim to manage (a form of ownership?) 700 million subsurface acres of American public lands. Of these millions of acres, 53.8 million acres were set aside specifically for the Wild Horses under Congressional ACT in 1971. However, since then, the BLM has been complicit in undermining the spirit and direction of the ACT and has since, acting on their own devices, reduced that Federally (by the American People) mandated land area provided for wild horses to just 58% of what Congress had allotted; it’s now only 31.6 million acres. Why?
Image credit: Laura Simpson
Well, the BLM’s website has a bunch of ‘double-talk’ that really offers no legitimate explanation as to why they (on their own) re-allocated what Congress has provided to the wild horses. And after essentially stealing 22 million acres from the wild horses for ‘other’ allocations, the BLM has effectively reduced the area for the wild horses to just 31.6 million acres! And then, after essentially cutting the allotted area for the horses in half, they have the audacity to claim there are too many horses on the range area allotted!!
So what’s really going on, and why should all Americans be outraged by this? Well, if the BLM can sidestep the will of the American people (and its Congress) in this regard, what else have they done? And what will they try next?
As I write this article, the BLM is trying to steal the long-standing mining-mineral rights and claims of some American miners in Galice, Oregon! Of course, who can forget the BLM’s assault on the family-owned Bundy cattle ranch, allegedly over a desert tortoise (or was it past-due grazing fees)? The BLM seems to have multiple stories to suit any particular propaganda need! And as we can see, the BLM will not hesitate to selectively enforce their own policies by bringing out the machine guns for a ‘desert tortoise’; but when it comes to America’s treasured wild horses, they can’t seem to eliminate them fast enough to suit their policies in support of an illegal agenda contrary to a Federal ACT, and in violation of the will of the American People! This is a clear example of an ‘administrative fiefdom’. And in the case of the BLM, there are many instances where it has become autonomous and lawless.
There are serious problems
First, the BLM is allowing wild horses to be ‘harassed’, ‘captured,’ and, worse yet, killed during horribly inhumane roundups, all of which are in total conflict with the spirit and direction of the 1971 protection ACT, which specifically and strictly prohibits these actions. Here is a video that shows just how BLM contractors (with BLM oversight) treat wild horses and burros. In this case, a sad little wild burro that was exhausted after being chased and rammed by a helicopter for many miles is beaten by a cruel and evil man, who should be arrested and charged with animal cruelty:
However, after this video was seen on national television (NBC), we might assume that in the spirit of the ACT, the BLM would take immediate action; they have done nothing. In fact, instead of making certain that the man seen abusing the burro on video was properly punished, the BLM instead adopts a policy of denial (even when caught on tape!); and when that doesn’t work, they default to claiming it was an isolated instance. (Really? What about this video?) The tapestry of numerous illegal actions by the BLM paints a picture of lawlessness and corruption, not ‘isolated cases’. And as we consider these cases, we must also consider how many other issues and violations never reach the news media and are instead suppressed…
As we see (and hear) that the BLM is untrustworthy on so many levels and in many cases, it seems impossible to trust anything they say or do! They forget that trust is earned; it is not a right they have. BLM and U.S. Forest Service employees have in fact conspired and engaged in illegal activities to deprive Americans of their rights, as we read in this article, where a chief judge refers BLM and U.S. Forest Service employees to the U.S. attorney for civil and criminal charges in the Hage forage rights case!
Secondly, Congress in its wisdom in executing the will of the American People (as opposed to edicts from any ‘agency fiefdom’ like the BLM) has mandated that the wild horses shall have 58 million acres to roam free, where the forces of natural selection and predation would allow the horses to come into a natural balance with the available resources, as is the case in all other naturally operating ecosystems. However, the BLM has taken it upon itself to make decisions absent proper public oversight by American voters, based upon motives (greed and power) arguably outside and contrary to the ACT. In addition to reducing the area allotted for the wild horses by nearly 50%, the BLM also sells grazing permits for cattle inside that even smaller area allocated for the wild horses, thereby allowing millions of cattle and sheep to graze the same areas allotted to the wild horses and burros. And this is what creates the ‘overgrazing’ problem that is continually cited and is the mantra of the industrial cattle industry, who never seem pleased with their allocations and access to public lands, no matter how large they may be.
‘Overgrazing’ of public range land is nothing more than the expected result of the BLM’s intentionally defective management policies, which are designed to scapegoat wild horses as a problem.
Image credit: Laura Simpson
Frankly, it seems that the industrial cattle ranchers clearly will not be happy until they have it all (uncontrolled greed)! And these same industrial enterprises raise beef and sheep cheaply outside the U.S. and then import that foreign meat (and any associated diseases) back into America, thereby unfairly competing with American family ranchers. American family ranchers pay local taxes for the lands they own and use in the production of higher quality American-grown meat, which has a higher cost of production. Unbridled greed leads to nothing but serious problems for everyone.
And finally, when all else fails in the ruse to disguise the planned extermination of American wild horses, both industrial ranchers and the BLM engage in propaganda that falsely claims that horses are more damaging to the range lands than cattle or sheep. This unsupported fiction attempts to paint wild horses as a current problem on public range lands. It is very well known that cattle and sheep operations have wreaked more havoc on U.S. range lands than all other species combined over the past 5,000 years, as cited by Professor Thomas L. Fleischner, Ph.D. to wit:
The most severe vegetation changes of the last 5,400 years occurred during the past 200 years. The nature and timing of these changes suggest that they were primarily caused by 19th-century open-land sheep and cattle ranching.
Added to which, the current ratio of cattle to horses (on lands allocated under the ACT for horses) is at least 300 cows to each horse. The BLM admits to issuing over 8.5 million grazing AUMs (one AUM is issued for each cow, and can include a calf weighing as much as 500 pounds). This means there are likely 10 million or more cattle grazing on the public range lands. If we do the cursory math, dividing 10 million cattle by 31,000 horses, we find that there are about 322 cows for each horse on the range; and the cows and horses are very close in body weight (about 800-1,000 pounds each).
Image credit: Laura Simpson
So a less academic analysis of the alleged ‘damage’ to range land could be explained by any rodeo clown; ‘it’s far better to be trampled by a single horse than 320 steers’!!
Even though the western United States may seem distant to those Americans who live east of the Mississippi River, the West holds many of America’s most esteemed treasures, including the legendary wild horses of America. We all owe some appreciation for the fact that horses literally helped to build the America we all enjoy today.
Image credit: Laura Simpson
How much of your culture, your heritage, your national treasure, and your honor and nobility are you willing to give up in exchange for a cheap hamburger? Americans need to stand up for what is right. Our Constitutional right to have our will carried out under the laws as directed by Congress, and not by some power-hungry or corrupt administrator of any government (fiefdom) agency, is not negotiable. Please, let’s make a stand for the noble wild horses of America; they have no voice, and the BLM is out of control. By supporting one of the wild horse protection organizations, you can be assured they will make your voice heard by the BLM, loud and clear.
Image credit: Laura Simpson
Featured image credit: Laura Simpson
This post originally appeared on Western Journalism – Equipping You With The Truth
Source: http://www.westernjournalism.com/how-much-of-your-heritage-nobility-and-honor-are-you-willing-to-give-up-america/
