Press Release from The Cloud Foundation
BLM uses MMS’s PR and Public Affairs agency to facilitate Salazar’s agenda at June 14th public workshop in Denver—protest on June 15th
R.T. Fitch, Elyse Gardner and Ginger Kathrens at Pryor Mt. Round-up
Denver, CO (June 14, 2010)—The Cloud Foundation has learned that the San Francisco based public relations and public affairs firm, Kearns and West, with ties to big energy and offices across the country, has been hired to push the Salazar Plan for Wild Horses and Burros through Congress in Fall 2010—despite public outrage. Kearns and West has expertise in crisis management as well as accomplishing policy and regulatory goals. Their clients range from Mineral Management Services (MMS) and PG&E to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The Department of Interior (DOI) has enlisted the firm using the Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (ECR) as the go between. Senior mediator of Kearns and West, J. Michael Harty will facilitate an unprecedented public workshop in Denver, Colorado at the Magnolia Hotel, 818 17th Street, on June 14th followed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Public Advisory Board Meeting on June 15th. Both days will be live-streamed and viewing available on www.thecloudfoundation.org. The public and members of Congress are encouraged to watch. The public will protest on June 15th from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with a press conference at noon.
BLM’s recently announced and highly polished but unsubstantial, “Strategy Plan” as well as their association with PR firm Kearns and West, appears designed to manipulate the public and marginalize the opposition to the Salazar Plan for wild horses and burros. The plan calls for the purchase of Eastern and Midwestern “preserves” populated by sterilized wild horses, captured from their Western ranges.
“This is ALL about manipulating public opinion. And ramming ONE thing – Salazar’s Plan – through” states author R.T. Fitch.
The Kearns and West Salazar Plan Executive Summary states, ‘The U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (‘Institute’) is assisting BLM in assessing stakeholder interests and developing an effective stakeholder engagement plan for the Strategy.’ Disturbingly, BLM often does not include the public as a stakeholder in their planning documents regarding the management of wild horses and burros.
“Who is the biggest stakeholder in the discussion of the public’s land and its wild horses if not the public?” asks Terri Farley, author of the Phantom Stallion series, adding “A public agency must represent the public and utilize taxpayer dollars responsibly—not spend excessively on another private contractor.”
According to their website, Kearns and West offers their clients (in this case the BLM) ‘A compelling credible, resonant case. True, high-impact support for your position.’ Advocates support a new direction that abandons the endless, expensive cycle of roundup, removal, and warehousing. BLM must adopt a far less expensive path that is kinder to the land and the wild horses legally living there, one that contains truly transparent solutions, not a slick, taxpayer-funded PR campaign.
“By hiring a high powered PR and Public Affairs firm, it seems that BLM is aiming to extinguish the opposition rather than solve the controversy over their management of our wild herds,” explains Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation. “The public by the thousands has shared their opposition to the Salazar Plan. I hope we can sit down at this public forum and seriously talk about a moratorium on roundups while we work to reinstate protections that are consistent with the intent of the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act.”
According to The Holmes Report, “Kearns & West recognizes the important value of collaborating both with our clients and their stakeholders. For more than 20 years, the firm has employed its unique brand of stakeholder-centric strategic communications and collaboration processes to design innovative, but pragmatic programs, achieving superior results for clients in the federal, state and local government, private and nonprofit sectors. Kearns & West works with tough issues and big ideas.”
Besides specializing in ‘accomplishing policy and regulatory goals’ Kearns and West also represents PG&E—a primary customer in the Ruby Pipeline natural gas project threatening public lands and five public herds with environmental devastation from Wyoming to Oregon. Kearns and West also represents Duke Energy, the Association of Western Governors and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, among others.
While Secretary Salazar vowed to restore the Interior Department’s ‘respect for scientific integrity’ he has failed to consider science, reason, or even the law when it comes to managing our wild herds. Kearns and West has been known to gather scientific experts and build a movement of common interest “stakeholders” to crush public outcry and true environmentalism. Wild horse advocates feel the Kearns and West prepared Salazar report for Congress will be biased in favor of big energy ties with DOI at the expense of federally protected wild horses who somehow are in the way of ‘The New Energy Frontier’.
“We hope Monday’s workshop will be a productive one rather than a demonstration of BLM’s inability to change,” concludes Kathrens.
Links of interest:
Interior Department Wild Horse Public Workshop, Livestream June 14, 8 a.m. -4 p.m. and Advisory Board Meeting June 15, 8 a.m. -5:00 p.m. http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/
Fact Sheet on Wild Herds & The Salazar Plan http://bit.ly/bfdX1y
Kearns and West http://bit.ly/deT894
CNN Report, Issues with Jane Valez-Mitchell, March 25th http://bit.ly/dvl7NE
Disappointment Valley… A Modern Day Western Trailer- excellent sample of interviews regarding the issues http://bit.ly/awFbwm
Rolling Stone: The Spill, The Scandal and the President. June 2010 http://bit.ly/d3Bjcm
Vanity Fair: A Solution to America’s Wild Horse Crisis? June 2010 http://bit.ly/a7Esyd
Wild Horses: Management or Stampede to Extinction? Reno Gazette Special http://bit.ly/stampede2ext
Ken Salazar’s “candy shop”: Denver Post Guest Commentary, June 2010 http://bit.ly/aNbLz9
‘Herd-Watch: Public Eyes for Public Horses’ http://bit.ly/9Wvh58
Roundup Schedule- updated May 2010 http://bit.ly/a0xcq7
Informative Blog: American Herds http://americanherds.blogspot.com/
Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation ~ makendra@thecloudfoundation.org
The Cloud Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to the preservation and protection of wild horses and burros on our Western public lands with a focus on protecting Cloud’s herd in the Pryor Mountains of Montana.
107 S. 7th St. – Colorado Springs, CO 80905 – 719-633-3842 www.thecloudfoundation.org
Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
More of my tax dolllars down the drain using my money to spin and spin. Geezzz–Wish I could be in Denver–give em hell Advocates and watch out for their dirty tricks!
Thanks to the Cloud Foundation for making the meetings available to us who can not attend.
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Shows how far we have come. They are, at least, paying attention. Let’s just keep on keeping on with what we have been doing. Press on.
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how can we get our money away from them, I don’t want to pay these people to ram this unacceptable plan through. this is more of the same from the US govt.
they did this with the Native AMericans, “you can have this land forever”( sorry, there’s oil/gas/water/minerals on it so now we want it back and you have to move HERE, where we PROMISE you can stay forever…..) sound familiar, because the “preserves” in the east, west wherever, are only for the horses until DC finds another use/need for them.
then the horses will be gone from there, too.
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Ain’t that the truth! I want my money NOW! Paying for a PR firm just sickens me.
President Obama, please fire this whack job, reorganize the DOI, give the Native Peoples their own Department, give the wildlife their own caretakers, not users and abusers, give energy, mining to DOE with a resolution board to hammer out differences and conflicts between woldlife and energy. Oh, and keep the bovines/ovines off the land until this mustang/burro problem is fixed and state/county agengies don’t get a separate plan option to layer on to the wild horse/burro abuser strategic extermination plan.
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Louie, thank you for your optimism, you put a new and important note to what they are doing. You only bring in the hired guns when you feel like you are losing. I find it particularly offensive that a govt agency hire a PR firm to spin their agenda–even if it was an agenda I personally believed in. The govt is big enough to be its own PR firm. I don’t know have they hired a PR firm on Afghanistan? I’ll listen to the live stream today but its going to be with a jaded ear. I had actually hoped that maybe, just maybe the BLM was actually reaching out to the citizens. But this little move shows what they are really up to, just part of the spin.
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How can J. Michael Hartley, the man who authored the Kearns & West report, be allowed to be the facilitator? A facilitator is supposed to be a totally independent and unbiased person who’s only job is to oversee the meeting, making sure all interested parties have their say in equal measure, and moving the meeting along if things get bogged down or out of hand. Hartley has a vested interest in how the meeting is run and the eventual outcome.
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Would be very much like going before arbitration–neutral party with no connection to either side. Sure would like to see an out and out debate with BLM’s finest against our finest.
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I would love to see a real debate too, but that ain’t gonna happen. I don’t feel very optimistic I have to admit.
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Can someone find out how much the Department of Interior is paying Kearns and West? This should be public knowledge.
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Maybe we should consider ‘spin doctors’ of our own. All the empirical evidence provided by foot soldiers, scientists, wildlife & environmental experts, horse men & women, professionals representing all aspects of Wild Equine life – all of which falls on deaf ears and blind eyes (bob abbey admitted, in the video by Vanity Fair contributor Kurt Brungardt, that there is NO program in place to study either herd behaviors or dynamics).
Being articulate, intelligent & well-armed with facts & data apparently isn’t as important as a PR firm’s take on your capabilities.
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I thought it was obious at the meeting today that the moderator kept trying to cut karen sussman and the freedom run lady off…they do NOT want to hear or have a discussion about sustainable herds, or to put that idea out in the public domain..
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They sure did let SS jump in with her completely off topic remarks on slaughter being the answer during “adoptions” topic for crying out loud. I was wondering how long it would take her to get there, she didn’t let me down. I wish we could have heard the rest.
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all i can say is thank god I wasn’t there or I would have been spending the night in jail….People actually applauded for her slaughter ideas..want to bet she brought those cattlemen with her that spoke?
I was wondering how many people had to be held in their seat when she said that crap??
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Spot-on, Lisa.
That’s exactly what we need and we need the help fast. The issue is lack of funds as we are paying the BLM our tax dollars to do exactly what we don’t want to be done.
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It KILLS me that we would need a spinner of our own. We should be making progress on the merits of our arguments & the validity of DECADES of independent research by professionals who know what the hell they’re talking about and the animals & ranges they study.
I want my DAMN money back. Give me and the organizations I support the land & the resources to put those observations into practical application. Give the Wild Ones back their 20 Million acres and relieve the pressure on them to subsist on less. Keep livestock OUT of HMAs; there will be MORE forage for Wild Ones & wild life. Stop killing every predator – feline or canine – that might even whistle at a stock animal.
Give us these things and we will take our Wild Equines out of your hair so you may give your full attention to those whose interests you find more important.
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Unfortunate that is kind of true. Success is as much in the marketing as it is in the value of the commodity.
If the populace could have access to equal lobbyists it would be a much better world. We often contend that lobbyists only represent special interests, when in fact our interests are also special interests
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Excellent aricle, but I need more about their “ties” to big energy please – it is a little vague on some use of terms and motives.
That they may have worked for big energy on some internal or external crises management does not constitute “ties”. That is like saying that, in my city for example, the University was hired to do crises management between the construction community and the city services (paid for by the city, through increased permit fees, which was asked for through city council by construction to solve some issues) almost exactly the same layout as we see for the public/BLM project today, makes the University “tied” to either side. Kerns and West “represents” PG&E or anyone? Is that word in their documents or contracts in this particular context? I think they are “hired” to conduct a standard process. Seems standard to me anyway as I have been through these a few times. This is not some new rocket science, it is a pretty fundamental tool used throughout industry and government for a few decades now. They have been “hired” by both private and public organizations. A reputation for twisting data and facts would spread like wild fire and would do nothing for their bottom line, so I can’t imagine that would ever occur. Mistakes occur, but intentional stuff would be a pattern that would stick out like a sore thumb.
Maybe it is correct, but I need more “proof” of these statements. We have plenty of factual stuff to go on.
Compare Kerns and West offer of “compelling credible, resonant case. True, high-impact support for your position” to the actual project publication for the BLM project. They did not do BLM any favors, kind of tore them a new one as I read it, it was very critical of BLM and very favorable to public outcry. So I guess I am implying that there is some “credibility”. When my city entered into a huge reorganization there was no way to know whose personal agendas were going to be hurt, either construction side or government side. My experience is these projects (I have been through 4 or 5 of them, at least 2 on the private sector side) are pretty good at getting the hidden monsters out from under the table, and washing away the smoke screens on both side. Perfect? NO, but better than the status quo. Anyway, I personally would need some proof, or at least some evidence to produce doubt, of some under the table collusion between Kerns and West with clients.
So beat me up now if I need it.
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So what is your feeling on this subject after watching and listening to the meeting? Where Sue Wallis was allowed to ramble on off topic…did someone say up frount slaughter and death was off the table???? talking about a slaughter option when the topic was adoption improvements seems about as far off topic as you can get…Yet those that brought up a moritorium while we find solutions were cut off and called off topic..what does that say to you?
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Exactly what it says to you Sandra. This whole meeting is a farce, same old tired lines from BLM and their supporters. The die was cast before they even rented the room if you ask me. Jay who was running the live stream said that the hotel and the blm wouldn’t allow a some sort of hook up. Well, I called the hotel and told the management that this meeting impacted future legislation and they went down and upgraded the sound to what we ended up hearing. The hotel management told me they had not contracted for this a/v hook-up when they booked the room. So BLM never intended for us to hear it–the hotel in their good graces improved the link.
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Hugs to you morgan! This is what they are up against by god..we will not be denied..YOU ROCK!
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Wasn’t able to watch the morning so decided to catch the replay or the minutes. Sounds lively! Can’t wait. I would have gone bonkers anyway not being able to hear parts.
Sorry if I misrepresented. I was not posting a concrete support of Kerns and West, just asking some questions on semantics and using terms in context. I do support the “idea” of the project and just wanted to share my own experiences – getting to the down and dirty was good, though painful – not everything benefited me in the end – caused me some hardship actually, but the change was needed, though not all perfect either.
I think I have been as cynical about BLM as anyone can be. Just trying to follow Vickie’s idea of being factual at all times and being able to back up what I spread around. Its ok, if not preferaable, to make mistakes here, and that will happen as we all learn. I don’t want to make mistakes “out there” though and turn away newcomers.
By the way, I have inadvertently gotten caught up on a political blog. I have been able to sedgeway (how is that spelled?) into BLM and wild horses every day since. New advocates out there? We’ll see – maybe never know.
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Hugs to makendra..she brought up the Moritorium anyway! This is a very narrow agenda-since a moritorium is the one thing all of us absolutely agree on and yet cannot be brought up? That tells me the BLM set the guidlines for this..when one party sets the rules how can it be anything but biased.
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Who was “holly” the dark haired gal who said she had worked in the federal gov? She was right on! She said that using pzp was putting the cart ahead of the horse before they had accurate data available and had considered alternative plans..I like the way she thinks
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No one could figure out where she comes from but she was well informed a good speaker who brought in her facts and succinctly said what she wanted to say. She made some really good points. Everyone was asking who is she?
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“Holly, where are you? Come back!”
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I am sooo disappointed we couldn’t hear the input on the scientific portion of the meeting..hope we get a detailed report from those there…
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You didn’t miss much. There was no science. At all. Rather, it was just a vague jumble of “We’re talking about having scientific discussion enter into the conversation”. Their idea of science was that we should now sterilize both the mares and the stallions! Though there is a supposed genetic diversity study “in development”.
My personal favorite was when someone asked what science was behind which horses were removed from a gather – age, valued herd members, etc. A handbook will supposedly be online this week but the actual response is that “there is no scientific basis, just a philosophy. The horses chosen for removal are a management choice.”
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Science is not equal to management choices. I cannot believe they actually get away with operating this way. Their decisions are supposed to be based on science. ARRRGH!
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Oh hell now instead of wild horse managers they are now wild horse philosophers??
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ALL these smokin mirrors make ya wonder what are they doing back on the ranges while they distract us ? Remember Dec 7th, 2009. They rounded up those Wild Horses without any of the notification the public was supposed to have, then said it was a mis communication. OLD SLOPPY SUE is getting more attention then she deserves. Best medicine for a grand stander is to not watch their show,ignore her ! Keep up the fight against her & her canines. I heard she nor her Poet old man can’t even ride a horse!
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I was at the meeting today and agree 100%. I’m about to blog based off my notes on it, but ultimately it was a 10 hour long dog and pony show where the BLM paraded out pretending like they cared. The BLM was trying to make themselves out to be such a wonderful group that’s doing their best and actually cares about our opinions… but it was all in one ear and out the other.
The mediator seemed like an okay guy but also shot down a lot of discussion about before it could begin. The agenda specifically said there was no debate allowed. I translated that to mean that if you aren’t allowed to debate then logically it is a perfectly acceptable response to punch Slaughterhouse Sue in her self-righteous, weasly little nose every time she alluded to or directly talked about humanely slaughtering our treasured wild horses. (I resisted… barely)
Frankly, even with all the assistance, the BLM still looked ignorant, uncaring, and vaguely annoyed that they had to listen to all the silly advocates.
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Little, weasely nose, I’ve had the great unpleasure of meeting and smelling her in the past? My ferret would take great offense in being named in the same family group as SHS. There is or has never been anything small about SHS other then her IQ, intelligence and brain size. Please don’t defame the poor weasels with a reference to her. LOL. thanks for being their and doing what you could.
P.S. Of course they were annoyed, you took up a lot of their golf and cow roasting time. LOL
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That’s the way it came off during the portion that was live streamed. But it is important that we be there and I thank you and the others. Its difficult to put out the time and money and then sit there when you know the dice have already been rolled and the horses lose again. I can’t listen tomorrow, altho I doubt I’ll miss much.
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Lisa brought up predators again. My logic tells me that the only reason to get rid of predators is twofold – they decrease cattle and sheep stock and hunting.
We are not going to abolish hunting through legislation. That would be like the days of abolishing alcohol. Just creates illegal activities that have no oversight. We’ve got a pretty good system now to regulate most hunting activities to be as humane as hunting can be and create sustainability of species.
So I’ll give the Nevada Safari Club, et al, the hunting part. And I will counter point any argument with – isn’t there enough land to hunt on without going into the tiny amount of land, comparably, intended for wild horse primary use?
If cattle and sheep did not exist on the wild horses’ portion of the public lands, then predators would only be a problem on the fringes. So, I’ll even give the hunters free humane rein over the predators on the fringes to protect stock. Also gives hunters a never ending supply of targets as those in the middle move outward?
I’d take the Salazoo money, through in some extra if needed, use it to buy land for cattle, move the cattle, build new houses and barns, windbreaks for the plains, move the stock for them, give it to the cattle ranchers – it’s their land now, no annual payments to be made to BLM or Forest Services, etc. Even give them a nice additional tax break that slowly graduates to bring them in line with the rest of the non welfare cattle industry. All in exchange for cattle to never return to wild horse land designated in 1971 (plus some). To be designated for their use in perpetuity. Create a new agency to run that, still multiple use. Even energy – no reason they can’t cohabitate with a little effort. Run it all like parks, charge entrance fees. Parks will become viable again when the economy rebounds. Promote it as our own Serengeti for international tourism. Taxpayers will gladly pick up the rest at a much reduced cost than current BLM “management programs and philosophies”.
Only question is how much land can Salazoo buy for cattle ranchers, at least the 20 million acres? If more, don’t stop at 20 million, just keep going and give more land to the horses, as we all know that original designation in the 1971 Act was conservative. If less, I’d chip in a few more tax dollars. We already know some of that land has been purchased. The court has said it is illegal to move horses there. So what is to become of that land?
And let the purist animal right groups continue the battle through education to reduce or halt hunting as they choose.
Win win? Good compromise? Oversimplified? I’ve lost my mind? Consensus on that last one appears to be yes.
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