Singer Willie Nelson joins wild horse effort, Associated Press / RGJ, April 18, 2008

Lacy J. Dalton News, Topix, April 18, 2008

Sentinel takes care of his family, Dayton Appeal, April 18, 2008

(The Nevada-Appeal's Willie Nelson story was not on-line yet. We'll post a link when it comes on-line.)

If you're concerned about this wild horse issue, we strongly urge you to visit these sites, see what's being said, and post your opinion to the news story blogs should you feel so inclined.

Lacy is receiving requests for radio interviews on the horse issue and other things are going on today which will be reported as soon as the facts are established.

A Communique from Dr. Larussa

Note: A number of advocates received a communique from Dr. Larussa calling for a meeting to develop horse management ideas. The problem, however, was this. We'd already met, Dr. Larussa himself indicated that he had no authority to implement anything we decided on, and while we were being told that the Department wanted to work things out with the wild horse groups Director Lesperance was developing his plans -behind our backs- to gather lots of horses.

In the meanwhile Lacy J. Dalton caught Dr. Larussa in what we'll politely describe as "discrepancies." After consulting with some of the leaders, I responded to Dr. Larussa explaining that the Department had a credibility problem and used a train wreck analogy in my message.

Dr. Larussa tried to turn our lack of interest in being used in this charade into a suggestion the horse groups were disinterested in working with the Department. Perhaps Dr. Larussa's name should be Dr. Spin. Characterizations aside, here is his message followed by my response.

Willis,

Thanks for the note. As I mentioned to you before, my goal is to move toward a positive solution with input from the interested groups. The suggestion for us to get together was due to a couple of positive developments.

1. The Interim Finance Committee approval of $15,000 was meant for improvement of program and facilities for the benefit of the horses. I desired to provide you with information on some of those accomplishments.

2. Lacy informed me that John Tyson had suggestions for a new program direction. I wanted to bring John to join us so we could view his suggestions and decide if they were worth our time to pursue.

3. Due to your statement in the press, I wanted to share with you that I did a survey of 100% of the employees of Animal Industry. No one indicated to me that they were either interested in retirement or moving to a different agency.

4. I also wanted to share information that I have not received orders to remove horses - as compared to the information that I have read, heard, and observed.

Certainly, it would not be beneficial for us to get together, if you are not interested in working with me for positive solution. I hope at some time in the future we can meet in the interest of the horses. It appeared to me, that this would have been a great time to propose change.

On a personal note, I appreciate your honest feelings of the current situation. Your reference to credibility did concern me though - as I have never lied to you. I sincerely hope we can work together for a solution. The time is right.

Let me know if your groups are willing to talk.

Phil

The following is my response. (Larussa's original comments are posted to my reply in italic.)

Dr. Larussa,

Here is my response to your reply, point by point.

Thanks for the note. As I mentioned to you before, my goal is to move toward a positive solution with input from the interested groups. The suggestion for us to get together was due to a couple of positive developments.

The Interim Finance Committee approval of $15,000 was meant for improvement of program and facilities for the benefit of the horses. I desired to provide you with information on some of those accomplishments.

According to at least one member of the Interim Finance Committee, the Department offered pretty much what the April 11th A.P. story of the meeting reported - a pitch that the horses were ruining the range and that the you are "going to bring the number of horses down as rapidly as we can." It was a removal strategy that required additional funds for holding and feeding the extra horses you were going to bring in. Are you saying that the media got this whole thing all wrong?

Plus, if you're not actually intending to bring in large numbers of horses, why does the Department need to "improve" conditions for the horses by doubling its holding capacity?

I asked a couple of reporters to review the Committee proceedings in case an error was made in the A.P. story, and I haven't received any indication of any such errors. However I was told that both you and the Director appeared to be present at the Committee meeting and presentation. Please correct any part of what I just said that could be incorrect with whatever facts you may have.

Lacy informed me that John Tyson had suggestions for a new program direction. I wanted to bring John to join us so we could view his suggestions and decide if they were worth our time to pursue.

OK. Lacy was just on the phone about this and she described your statement as "pure bullshitspeak." Her explanation is that Tyson told her that Director Lesperance, described as hard pressed to find a solution to the mess he created, contacted Tyson. According to Lacy, you and she discussed the fact that while Tyson certainly meant well, his proposal wasn't anything new. Lacy also indicated that she asked you if you had ever read the proposal the wild horse groups submitted to the NDoA back in 2007 which was to great degree the same as Tyson's idea.

Due to your statement in the press, I wanted to share with you that I did a survey of 100% of the employees of Animal Industry. No one indicated to me that they were either interested in retirement or moving to a different agency.

I see you framed your answer so that it is cleverly limited to Animal Industry, a small division within the Department. I stand on my remarks.

I also wanted to share information that I have not received orders to remove horses - as compared to the information that I have read, heard, and observed.

Clever phrasing. (I refer you back to the Interim Finance Committee proceedings and the Director's public statements as to what this issue is really all about.) I would accept the argument that the Department might be reassessing its strategy although I have seen nothing to give me any confidence that the Director's intentions have changed at all.

Certainly, it would not be beneficial for us to get together, if you are not interested in working with me for positive solution. I hope at some time in the future we can meet in the interest of the horses. It appeared to me, that this would have been a great time to propose change.

Let's cut to the chase, Dr. Larussa. The wild horse groups have repeatedly saved the Department's backside. We can present the Department's history with respect to the Virginia Range yet again if anyone doubts my statement. We developed the basis for a workable management plan where the groups could more formally shoulder both manpower and costs. We got 55 horses out of your corrals that the Department was crying over the costs of feeding. We took the weanlings and yearlings that were too young to go back out on winter range. We covered veterinary costs for injured range horses.

What did the Department do? You (the Department) - without so much as an email or phone call - blind-sided us, snuck behind our backs, contrived a phony crisis to get money from the Interim Finance Committee, categorically stated your intention of pulling horses off the range as fast as you could, found you created a storm that is escalating every day and called on John Tyson to come to the rescue. You're the paid professional while we're all volunteers spending our own time and money, and you expect us to want us to meet with you - a person who in your own words has no authority to make any decisions - to discuss some new concept which is little more than a reprint of an old idea we had already presented to the Department and to provide the illusion of friendly relations with the Department?

We expect honesty, accountability, respect for the citizens of this state whom you work for, respect for the wild horse groups that have spent countless hours and dollars actually working with the horses on the range and we will not be party to some window dressing meeting so the Department can suggest to the Governor and the citizens that we're somehow some happy family.

On a personal note, I appreciate your honest feelings of the current situation. Your reference to credibility did concern me though - as I have never lied to you. I sincerely hope we can work together for a solution. The time is right.

The first thing a con man does is protest how honest he is. Maybe if the Department walks the walk, we'll believe you when you talk the talk. The record pretty much speaks for itself.

Let me know if your groups are willing to talk.

Let us know when the Department is going to start telling the truth.

Willis Lamm

Press Release from Lacy J. Dalton

County music legend Willie Nelson, along with country songstress Lacy J. Dalton, and a growing legion of country recording artists have kicked off a national radio campaign to save Nevada's wild horses that could well be at risk to going to sale for slaughter.

"It is a precious part of our western heritage that will be gone forever," said Nelson in a telephone interview Wednesday, talking about the plight of the Nevada horses. "I think everyone should call Nevada Governor Gibbons and urge him to intervene on behalf of the horses," the recording legend said from his studio.

Last week, fascinated foreign film crews took videos of wild horses frolicking on the Virginia Range just east of the fabled Comstock Lode of Bonanza fame. The horses were among those Tony Lesperance, the newly appointed Nevada Department of Agriculture Director, had stated that he would remove from the range as rapidly as he can. Lesperance cited the costs of feeding wild horses as one justification for removing them.

Wild horse advocate and spokesman Willis Lamm of Least Resistance Training Concepts, a group that helps manage the herd, explained that the state doesn't feed horses out on the range. "The wild horse groups, mainly the Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association, put up hay every winter in case severe weather threatens the herd. The allied groups have a whole storehouse full of hay."

Lamm denied Lesperance's claim that the 1,200 Virginia Range horses are "starving." Lamm said that wild horse advocacy groups that monitor the herd reported the Virginia Range horses to be robust. While new grass was appearing throughout the range, "Quite a bit of last year's grass crop can still be found."

Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association (VRWPA) President Jeanne Gribbin, a plant expert, dismissed claims that the range had nothing left but cheatgrass, a non-native grass species. "Someone is trying to convince the public that everything they see is cheatgrass. If you look , you will see many beneficial varieties of grasses and broadleaf plants on the Virginia Range. Last year we didn't see much cheat grass. We did see more of the native vegetation."

The VRWPA contracted with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in the late fall of 1999 to do a study of the Virginia Range. The range had gone through an extended period of drought and the VRWPA was concerned about possible lack of vegetation for the wild horses. The NRCS only studied 85,130 acres of the more than 200,000 acres of wild horse range. "The results of this study have been on our web site for years," Gribbin explains, "and to have the Director of Agriculture try to change the results to suit his agenda is just wrong. The result of that study told us that 550 horses can live on the 85,130 acres studied, not 550 horses for the entire 200,000 acre horse range.

Austrian filmmaker Antonia Umlauf Baroness von Lamatsch and two videographers following her travels spotted a number of Virginia Range horses on the range's southern slopes. The baroness had swung through Northern Nevada to view the wild horses and get an idea for a film project on her way to receive numerous awards for her documentary filmmaking at the prestigious Houston International Film Festival. The baroness was incredulous at hearing of the proposed the fate of the horses. "They are the last living monument to America, and it is the greatest to see them free."

Wild horse advocate Lacy J. Dalton agreed. Dalton who founded the Let 'Em Run Foundation with a goal for providing sanctuary on the Virginia Range, was busy rounding up a posse of fellow recording artists to advocate to save the horses. Dalton said, "Nevada is being extremely short-sighted considering the competition from California's Indian casinos for Northern Nevada tourist dollars." Dalton sees the development of designated sanctuary and the creation of viewing vistas as a way to encourage more visitors to the Comstock Historic District. "With increased competition from out of state casinos and rising gas prices, the last thing we need is for the Department of Agriculture to propose something viewed as deplorable in the eyes of potential vacationers." Dalton, who works in the entertainment industry is aware of the contribution tourist dollars have to the Nevada state budget.

Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons, under the constraints of immense budget cuts, is being asked to spare the horses, not send them to slaughter, and to use the money earmarked for gathering and holding horses to fund more vital services. Although Lesperance was not available for comment last week, his spokesperson Ed Foster confirmed Lesperance's claim that his department would be within its rights to sell the horses for slaughter.

Transmission date: 4/19/2008 17:04:31

When people think that animals don't feel, then animals will feel that people don't think.
- Antonia Unlauf Baroness von Lamatsch