I find myself once again in a place of angry helpless frustration..... sitting in front of my computer reading an email response to my latest FOIA request, stunned and angry frustration spilling out in unkind words and tears.
After the jumbled mess of field notes that had been provided to me in response to my first FOIA request regarding range measurements and land health reports for the McCullough Peaks, I submitted a second FOIA request asking for Land Health Evaluation Reports for each of the grazing allotment pastures in the McCullough Peaks.
This week I was sent a letter notifying me that my case was closed along with an explanation letter with this particular paragraph jumping out at me:
"The Assistant Field Manager for the Cody Field Office Bradley Tribby stated that a thorough search was conducted and no Land Health Evaluation Reports for the grazing allotments named above were found. Therefore, it has been determined that we have no documents to provide."
Here it was... the proof, the admittance in writing, they did not do their job.
As I stared at this paragraph that is the thought that ran through me over and again - THEY DID NOT DO THEIR DAMN JOB!!!!
And those horses taken away, those wild McCullough Peaks horses, they still should be running wild and free across their wild hills, they should still be in the place they were born and that they called home, they should still be there in the McCullough Peaks.
Excerpt from FOIA Response
I am that person, I believe that all things are possible, I believe in the benefit of the doubt, and this part of me, the part of me that always allows room in that there is a chance..... that little corner of my brain thought - maybe - they have this information and the reports, and they are just being obnoxiously stubborn for whatever god-only-knows reason in not producing it without a FOIA - but maybe they have somewhere the proof that the horses were actually causing degradation to the range - the one and only actual reason, per BLM agency written policy, to remove wild horses from their lands.
But the Cody office does not have that proof.... they did not do their work, they did not even apparently pull together what information they did have on file, they failed completely and absolutely to show that those horses were doing any kind of damage to the lands - they apparently are not monitoring and assessing if the cows or horses are doing any damage to the land.
Staring at that paragraph in the final response letter made it all very real to me - they failed at providing this required thing, they tossed this responsibility into the wind, they gambled that they could get away with skipping this step and not be challenged by anyone, and unfortunately for the wild horses - they won that bet.
BLM Handbook - Agency Written Policy
As upset as I am at the Cody BLM field office, they are not to me the ones that truly betrayed these horses... no, I am most angry at those that could have fought a legal fight and chose not to for the reason that the possibility or chance of winning was too slim and too expensive - not only was this winnable litigation, but the failure to challenge this has set a precedent and will result in a domino effect outwards to all other wild horse herds - this is not and never was 'just about' the McCullough Peaks, this is about every single wild horse herd and the EAs written, approved, and acted on from here forward.
This allowed yet one more precedent in favor of allowing easier removals without really having to do their job thoroughly, that a horrifically badly written EA could be passed off and published as final, that the information that has historically been a required part of the EA clearly showing an actual need for removal beyond AML can be skipped, why would other field offices not follow this example, why not press the easy button for future wild horse removals!
No, this fight always was about every single wild horse herd in any and all wild horse lands, and what is coming because this precedent was not challenged at the level it needs to be fought.
The Cody office did not do their job and no one challenged it at a legal level.
McCullough Peaks in Captivity - photo credit Carol Walker
I can hear you as you read this, a few particularly harsh words, tears of anger and frustration, and then the question - what can we do now!?!
I don't have an answer for you today... not really.
There will be a few more chances to get this right, to challenge future EAs in which this required data and reports are not provided, I know some are trying desperately to find help with EA decisions that are coming soon, and I can only hope that this time those with the ability will step into the legal gap and take on this thing - if they don't it will be the horses that pay the price as removals march on faster and faster until we have nothing left for which to fight.
There is of course the fact that Congress could take BLM to task for not ensuring their field offices are not only skipping over and ignoring written agency policy, but that are also failing at a morally ethical level that is embarrassing to the entire agency.
But that will take time and a huge public outcry, one so large that elected representatives begin to fear for their elected positions if they continue to do nothing to change the very culture of this agency... and please do not get me wrong - I do think you should speak to your elected representative, you are their constituent and they should be listening to you as a voter, but we need a really big number of elected national representatives quickly on our side to see these changes in time.
Today I am just putting one foot in front of the other.... sharing with you what I have been shown and learned along this journey.
Even though I have no answers as to what is next, I also know that I cannot quit this fight yet, because they need us to keep going - one step at a time on days like today, one step at a time will keep us moving forward, and I hope will open a pathway that holds the answers so many of us are seeking, hopefully bringing to us partners that can help us in ways we do not yet envision or have not yet imagined, allies that can fight the fight we need fought now.
Me with Wild Ones - Our Truest Allies & Partners