Chuck Grassley attempted to mislead

To the editor:

In response to an inquiry on wild horse and burro management, Sen. Chuck Grassley provided me with a 'fact sheet” from the Bureau of Land Management which outlined how the agency balances the needs of the horses with other legitimate 'public rangeland ... use”, which I took to mean 'cattle ranching” given BLM's nose-to-butt relationship with big ag. So I did some fact-checking of my own.

The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 dictates that wild horses and burros are not to be subject to 'capture,” 'harassment” or 'death.” Yet BLM appears to devote an inordinate amount of effort scheming to illegally kill them.

An investigation reveals, 'Two reports issued by BLM for internal use only ... contain astonishing proposals to ... eliminate the wild horses and burros altogether from the wild, and until they can be euthanized or sold most likely for slaughter, sterilize them and place them in feedlots paid for by rescue organizations duped into thinking the animals are in private ‘preserves.'”

At one point, BLM team members ask themselves, 'How many could be euthanized at gathering without having a NEPA (a required environmental review)? ... People willing to put down healthy horses at gather site could be a problem ... Provide counseling due to stress for employees and contractors that have to euthanize healthy horses ...”

So thanks, Sen. Grassley, for attempting to mislead a constituent with such blithe disregard. As for the BLM, it probably should be confined to one of its wretched holding pens until it can be euthanized.

Cindy Adhikari

Cedar Rapids