I think it’s because the BLM is passive-aggressive, just like I was when I was a husband – the first time around… but I’m better now. Lemme ‘splain. 

 It used to be, when I was handed a honey-do list, and I had conflicting or different priorities than my then-wife, I resorted to passive aggressive personality disorder (PAPD). According to the original Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, passive-aggression is described as “a pervasive pattern of passive resistance to demands for adequate social and occupational performance.” “Too clinical,” I mused. I delved further. 

My favorite description so far is on the website  www.straightdope.com.  Author Cecil Adams writes: “The term “passive-aggressive” was introduced in a 1945 U.S. War Department technical bulletin, describing soldiers who weren’t openly insubordinate but shirked duty through procrastination, willful incompetence, and so on. If you’ve ever served in the military during wartime though, or for that matter read Catch-22, you realize that what the brass calls a personality disorder, a grunt might call a rational strategy to avoid getting killed.” So what does that have to do with my honey-do list, the BLM, and 35,000 wild horses in captivity? 

According to my ex, I was a pain in the butt. I had my own agenda and little regard for others. And of course neither of us had any money sense. Toward the end, it was easier to be passively resistant. I thought it was a rational strategy.  

But since then, I have learned to be a little more attentive and focused, as a parent, as a horseman, and as a better husband to my second and final wife. I needed better priorities. I had to decide, “What is the most important contribution I can make to those whom I care about?” 

BLM director Bob Abbey writes, “The Bureau of Land Management’s top priority is to ensure the health of the public lands so that the species depending on them – including the nation’s wild horses and burros – can thrive. To achieve that end, the BLM’s wild horse and burro program must be put on a sustainable course that benefits the animals, the land, and the American taxpayer.” 

Lofty words, yet many are saying that Bob is a pain in the butt. They think he has little regard for what others want. In fact, the Government Accountability Office just wrote a big report and told BLM that they have no money sense. Three quarters of the BLM horse budget goes to feeding captive horses that should be and could be wild. Now they are planning to round up another 12,000 horses in the coming year, and I thought I had no money sense?

What we don’t see is Bob’s honey-do list. Everyone is vying for a piece of Bob and his BLM pie. This includes: agri-business that funds much of the cattle industry, our wild horses that are protected by a law called the 1971 Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act, and most recently, the El Paso Corporation, who wants to bury a 3 billion dollar natural gas pipeline smack dab through the middle of our northern wild horse country. Finally, there’s lots of stuff that Bob should do for horses, but he can’t, unless Congress says it’s okay. 

If I was Bob, I might also find passive-aggression to be the least vexatious way to handle my job, but he doesn’t have to be that way. He just needs some support from you and me. Bob and his boss, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar work for us. They are supposed to do what you and I think is most important. One way to get our views heard is to go to their bosses, President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. You can write to them at www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/ or call (202) 456-1111.  

If you and I don’t go to bat for our horses, corporate agri-business and energy concerns will have first dibs, because they talk to Bob and Ken all the time. But I think we need to tell corporate America and our president that our horses are important too, just like we did when congress passed the Wild Horse and Burro act in 1971. 

Respecting these horses is important for the soul, like a playground for your kid, or a place to fish, or a local store up the street where we can get penny candy… for a quarter.  We should be proud of our horses and treat them with reverence, but as individuals, it takes time and energy to advocate for what you and I think is right. 

I urge you to take time to decide on your priorities. If you are a teacher or a parent, wouldn’t this make a great research project and ethics discussion? On the web, it’s easy to learn about all sides of this wild horse debate. If you choose horses, I strongly encourage you to call the White House and let your feelings be known. Then we can help “BLM Bob” with his passive-aggression. I think we need to insist that Bob foster horse-friendly priorities so he can be a good boss for our BLM. We need to help him to know, “what is the most important contribution he can make to those whom he should care about.” 

Rick Larsen lives in Marshfield, Massachusetts where he enjoys both his own horses, and helping others with their horses. In 2006, Rick adopted and gentled a BLM mustang from Sulphur Springs, Utah. See more about Rick www.ricklarsen.net.