As a wild horse advocate I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the Bureau of Land Management [BLM] and some of their staff, as does most anyone out here advocating to keep wild horses wild and free on their native lands, with some fairly strong opinions often voiced about the federal agency.

One of those opinions I see stated loudly, and often, is that the BLM should not be in the business of managing wild horses. Even that the agency should be disbanded.

But what would that look like.... something I think about often because for me - as the weirdo that took economics classes just for fun - it is necessary to look down the road and consider the result of any action taken, and as someone living in WY, I know that there are far worse options than the BLM, and we need to ask ourselves - if not BLM, then who? And - how do you successfully achieve that change....

I am going to say the thing that many think I am crazy for saying - there are good people working in the BLM, there really are, I swear!!

I have met them!

I have seen them in action in the midst of chaos, I have listened to them in quiet conversations, I have learned from retirees how it used to be and how they worked to combat negative actions in their time working in the agency - there are good people in this agency and they do not deserve to be vilified when they are trying to do the right and correct thing, often while under political pressure to do otherwise.

If we insist on putting all employees into the same bucket of horrible villains, those that are trying to achieve good things end up feeling beat up by us the public, as well as by their coworkers and superiors at their job.

Consider how you might function if you were the person attempting to follow policy correctly and with moral integrity, in an environment that is not always supportive of you, while also being told by the public that by effect of working for the agency you must be evil and unworthy of respect as a human.....

We must stop assuming that an entire agency has no good employees in it, if we refuse to see the good we will not find the good, and we discourage those trying to do good - when what they need is support so that they may continue looking for and finding ways to do the correct thing, for the horses and all else they are responsible for.

I know there are those out there who believe I am too kind in my thoughts of the agency.... I have lost friends for not being angry enough and conversely lost friends because of my vocal disagreement of BLM policy or actions.

My closest friends know that I deeply disagree with many actions of the agency, there are employees that I see as morally lacking (to put it mildly), I have had some very public reactions to particular BLM staff behavior, and I support those who challenge incorrect actions and bad behavior because we as the public are responsible for holding a public agency and its staff to expected standards.

But I also believe it is counter-productive to reactively hate an entire agency of people for the behavior of a few.

If you believe the BLM should be abolished, or at the least, no longer be in control of wild horse management - who do you see as taking over that responsibility?

Do you envision it being private individuals, an advocacy group or groups, a different federal agency, or the states for their respective HMAs?

If it is a private civilian agency that manages mustangs, who decides who runs the agency, and how do you decide that? And what will be the policy for managing wild horses in the wild, how is that policy decided on and established, and how will you ensure that policy is followed? And what will be the funding source - you will need a significant sustainable funding for employees and all else that comes with being a business or a non-profit entity. And how do you ensure this private group does not change course over time in how they assess and manage wild horses?

Some advocacy groups are great at the fundraising thing, but how is it decided which group assumes the lead, or is it several groups working together - if you have been around in the mustang advocacy world long you know there is some pretty serious contention between advocacy group beliefs and actions, there are some that used to be friends but are now divided despite having the same goal, unwilling to work together for that same goal because they deeply disagree on how to reach it.

If choosing a different federal agency, which one? Some have suggested that a new agency be created solely for the horses, I kinda like that idea, but it would still be under the umbrella of one of the larger federal agencies, possibly still under the Dept of Interior, which is where BLM is now.

And then there is the option of allowing states to take over management of wild horses..... this is something that is being pushed for by people advocating for mustangs and by people that want most or all of the horses gone from their native lands, as a Wyoming resident I can state with absolutely no doubt, that is the literal worst case scenario for any wild horse in this state - it will take Wyoming less than a year to roundup and sell off directly to slaughter every single horse they find on public lands.

So what is the answer!?!?!

Not a clue!

I think that some version or mixture of ideas is probably necessary.

BLM is absolutely conflicted when being tasked to manage wild horses in their native lands while also being tasked to meet public demand for more public use, whether that be rancher assigned grazing, guided and private hunting, or camping and other recreational uses.

And as a government agency BLM is always going to be forced to respond to whatever prevailing political party has the power and sway of the moment.

This blog is really just an opening discussion on what would need to involve ever SO many people and entities.... and each suggestion mentioned could and should be expanded on a great deal more than is done here, and of course there are other ideas that I don't know about.

My purpose in writing this blog?

To open the door for ideas and discussion... to ask you to truly sit and consider what a long-term sustainable change looks like and how to achieve that change.