Houston, we have a problem.  In this case the problem can be readily identified as the Federal Bureau of Land Management or BLM.

I’ve no idea who came up with the brilliant scheme to make a big profit for ranchers on the backs of the iconic wild mustang.  I don’t know if they are Republican or Democratic, conservative or liberal.  I do know they and their cronies have gotten away with it for way, way too long and far too many horses have died for their greed.

We have written numerous articles here at lunacanus about the roundup of the wild horses in the states of Nevada and California.  We have talked about how many of these beautiful animals are run to death by the helicopters herding them.  We have discussed their fate, gladly not a dog food or glue factory, and we have voiced our opinion on what we think of removing this symbol of our nation from the open range.

So we round up the herds of mustangs and burros in the states of Nevada and California from public land to control their population and make room for more cattle to graze on that land.  We supposedly do this for their own health and because they will overgraze the land and there is not enough water to go around.  Of course if there were a few less cattle then food and water for the mustangs would not be in such short supply.

After the roundups the horses that survive are offered up for adoption.  However, in these financial hard times like so many other beautiful animals around our nation, not many of them are being adopted.  So what exactly happens to all the captured wild mustangs?  Where do they go?

Our tax dollars pay to ship them to holding areas in the cattle and horse country of the states of Kansas and Oklahoma!  Yes, to make room for more cattle on public land we reduce the number of cattle that can graze on private land in other areas.

Oh, wait!  It gets better!

Not only do we ship them to horse and cattle ranches in the Midwest, we pay the ranchers there to keep the animals on their land and for the loss of cattle that may graze on that land. Win-Win for the cattle ranchers.  Lose-Lose for the wild mustangs and it is all paid for with our taxpayer money.  To play this little game with the cattle ranchers costs the American taxpayer $27 million dollars every single year.

Here are a few ideas.

First, run less cattle on the public land in the Southwest and run more on the private land in the Midwest.

Second, leave the wild mustangs alone.  Let them roam the range and run free as they have for hundreds of years.

Third, take the $27 million and improve the grazing land and watering areas for the wild mustangs.

This is like a big game of three card Monty played with a symbol of our nation.  Round and round the mustangs go, where they stop, nobody knows.

You can read more about this at The New York Times.