Dept. of Justice refuses to take any action against Spur Livestock, BLM contractors who sold wild horses to a kill buyer

In this case, there was NO justice.  Wild Horse Freedom Federation did an investigation and found that a BLM long term holding contractor, Spur Livestock, sold wild horses to well known kill buyer Joe Simon.  R.T. Fitch, President of Wild Horse Freedom Federation, publicly presented an official government document with proof of this to the National Wild Horse & Burro Advisory Board at their meeting.  Joan Guilfoyle, Division Chief of the BLM’s Wild Horse & Burro Program, was present.

However, the Department of Justice (DoJ) only issued a letter of declination.  A declination decision is generally viewed to mean that the DoJ , in the exercise of its prosecutorial discretion, declines to prosecute or bring an enforcement action.  

So, the issue of a current BLM contractor selling wild horses to a kill buyer, most likely for slaughter, was just swept under the rug.

Joan Guilfoyle & Euthanizing Wild Horses on the Range

Debbie Coffey, Copyright 2014     All Rights Reserved.

V.P. and Director of Wild Horse Affairs, Wild Horse Freedom Federation         ___________________________________________________________________

As the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) facilitates unprecedented “uses” on public lands that use vast amounts of water from aquifers and drop the water table, Joan Guilfoyle, BLM’s Division Chief of the Wild Horse & Burro Program, issued an information memorandum that stated because of lack of water and forage (which are man-made drought conditions caused by BLM’s mismanagement of public lands), wild horses & burros could die, and recommended that the BLM euthanize wild horses on the range.

Photo of Joan Guilfoyle – NBC News

And, at the end of this memorandum (received in a Freedom of Information Act request), in case of large scale mortality of wild horses as a result of declining water (and thus, lack of forage) Guilfoyle wants to avoid “a public spectacle.”  Once again, the BLM seems to worry more about their public image than their mandate to protect the wild horses & burros.

(Note to Joan:  You may want to avoid a public spectacle, but this horse has already left the barn, as all aspects of the BLM and the Wild Horse & Burro Program are increasingly under public scrutiny.)

You can read this information memorandum by Joan Guilfoyle here.

Related articles

• Joan Guilfoyle & Euthanising Wild Horses in the Field
• BLM’s trend: manipulation of public
• BLM Honcho: “It’s not MY job- but I can sure doubletalk”

And, at the end of this

BLM’s trend: manipulation of public

 

Debbie Coffey              Copyright 2013            All Rights Reserved.

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“If the BLM ever sets up a collaborative/consensus meeting again, advocates should demand that Robert’s Rules of Order be used for the public meeting.  If the BLM refuses, leave and hold a real meeting in another room or outside, and then present your plan to the BLM.  Your tax dollars pay the salaries of these people, so don’t let them manipulate you or intimidate you.  This isn’t North Korea.”

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While Joan Guilfoyle (Bureau of Land Management’s Division Chief of the Wild Horse & Burro Program) continues to struggle to learn what she’s doing and continues to have difficulties being polite to and interacting with wild horse advocates, the BLM brought in a “facilitator” to the August 6 meeting in Reno to discuss shelter for wild horses & burros that are being warehoused in BLM facilities.

    Palomino Valley

The public’s first clue that smoke and mirrors would be involved in this meeting could be found online in the BLM’s Workshop Handout, which included “WORKING IN GROUPS,” which outlined that people would be working in groups, with a facilitator, and then reporting to the larger group.

In this BLM meeting, instead of just being able to use your own words and speak your own mind, you were led into talking about “trends.”  The BLM workshop handout suggested that “One or more members should ensure that the group stays with the assigned task.”  So much for free speech.

This is the Delphi method, which the Rand Corporation developed in the 1950s.  It has been used to manipulate people.   The goal of the Delphi method is to lead a targeted group of people to a pre-determined outcome while keeping the illusion of being open to public input.

Judith A. Talbot, the meeting facilitator, is an associate with California State University’s Center for Collaborative Policy, which describes collaborative policy making as “a process whereby one or more public agencies craft a solution to a policy issue using consensus driven dialogue with diverse parties…”

Yet, the only two “groups” at this meeting seemed to be BLM employees and wild horse advocates.  So, who were the “diverse parties?”