About 60 wild horse advocates from the region converged on the Nevada State Capitol to protest the conduct of Department of Agriculture Director Tony Lesperance. The day's theme was "Clean Up the Department of Agriculture." At issue was continued untruthfulness from the Department's Director and other staffers.

As expected, the Department claims that it is doing everything right and it's the wild horse advocates who need to change. So what's new?

Of course Governor Gibbons' office is telling hoards of callers that a study is underway. The study is supposed to have wild horse group and public input and will take three to six months. No action will take place until a plan is adopted based on the study. That statement seems reasonable.

However... Meanwhile Director Lesperance and Dr. Phil Larussa cooked up a scheme with John Tyson to try to advance their own management plan and slip it through the back door. A lot of back chatter suggests Tyson may have been baited with an offer of a job to motivate him to play. (Just what we need, another new employee during a massive budget crisis.) The horse groups weren't about to touch this tactic with a ten foot pole. Lesperance is now trying to portray the groups as being uncooperative. What the horse groups are demanding is that the Director of Agriculture follow the instructions issued publicly by his boss. Either get with the program or get out.

Either Governor Gibbons' staff is lying - or John Tyson is lying - or Lesperance is continuing to do what he damn well pleases no matter what anyone says.

Perhaps it would be useful for members of this administration to read the plaque on the base of the Rotary clock at the entrance to the State Legislature.

These guys apparently don't qualify to be Rotarians. What we do know is that the Democrats are salivating at the opportunity to expose what they see is rampant dishonesty, incompetence and cronyism in the Gibbons administration.

Here are a few photos from the protest.

Here are some media coverage links.

Horse advocates protest in Carson City, Nevada Appeal, April 24, 2008.

Wild horse demonstration at Nev. Capitol, Reno Gazette-Journal, April 24, 2008.

RGJ Photo Gallery associated with the story.

Interested observers might just keep a watch outside the Republican State Convention in Reno on Saturday. There may be a few folks out in search of the last honest Republican.

Why We Do What We Do

For an explanation with photos as to what motivates the "boots on the ground" volunteers to help preserve Nevada's wild horses, Click Here.