Note to our readers: Within the next few days we’ll be posting an Action Alert with sample comments for the public to send to National Archives.

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NARA (ACRA) 8601 Adelphi Road College Park MD 20740-6001

request.schedule@nara.gov

fax: 301-837-3698

Statement on U.S. Department of the Interior Retention Schedules

RE: DAA-0048-2015-0003

November 17, 2018

Wild Horse Freedom Federation, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and is one of the major wild horse & burro advocacy organizations in the United States. Wild Horse Freedom Federation strongly urges the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to reconsider the proposed records retention schedule approved on or about Aug 2, 2018 (DAA-0048-2015-0003), relating to the disposition of a range of Department of the Interior records.

DAA-0048-2015-0003 should not be approved in its current form. In this letter we detail our reasons why many records scheduled for destruction are valuable to research and as historical records, and should be retained permanently.

Wild Horse Freedom Federation and it’s Vice-President, Debbie Coffey, have filed about 150 Freedom of Information Act requests in the past 8 years. One of our goals has been to provide the public with detailed information that is not available online regarding the management of America’s wild horses & burros on public lands by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse & Burro Program. We have shared information gathered from our FOIA requests with the media and the public, including on our documentation page on our website: http://wildhorsefreedomfederation.org/documentation/

We have also shared information from our FOIA requests with our listeners on Wild Horse & Burro Radio, an internet radio show that is an educational outreach program of Wild Horse Freedom Federation. We have had 50,000 listeners within the first 24 hours of our shows, which are then archived as an educational library. We have also had many experts regarding many aspects of public lands issues as guests on this radio show. http://wildhorsefreedomfederation.org/wild-horse-and-burro-radio/

Wild Horse Freedom Federation has also served the public with careful oversight of many aspects of the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse & Burro Program.

In July 2017, Wild Horse Freedom Federation issued a WHITE PAPER to members of Congress, the media and the public. Hundreds of pages of FOIA records were used as Exhibits.

WHITE PAPER: http://wildhorsefreedomfederation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/White-Paper.pdf

EXHIBITS: http://www.wildhoofbeats.com/White-Paper-Full-Exhibit-1-17-2.pdf

Unfortunately, the Department of Interior is now requesting the destruction of many similar documents within only a few years. There is much public interest in America’s wild horses & burros, along with resources on our public lands.

It is of great concern to our organization that not only does the schedule permit the Department of the Interior to dispose of these critical records, it permits the disposal of agency records going back more than 50 years and it also authorizes the agencies to stop saving these records in the future.

We are asking NARA not to destroy this history of America’s wild horses and burros, wildlife and public lands, and to permanently preserve as many records as possible.

Below, we give our reasons specific records have research and historical value, along with our request for the records retention of each set of records.

Proposed Item DAA-0048-2015-0003:

0013 – Intermediate/Reference Materials for Land Use Activities, Special Land Use Permit Case Files (denied), Wild Horse & Burro Non-Adoptions

Records Description

Wild Horse & Burro (WH&B) Adoption Files – WH&B Applications Which Do Not Result in Adoption – Consists of application, screening checklist, and related maps and correspondence. Documents are filed alphabetically by applicant name. Forms: 4710- 10. Confidentiality: Non-public record category

Our request to NARA regarding records retention for these records:

Although the BLM describes these records in the “non-public record category,” we receive adoption applications and other adoption records and correspondence in our FOIA requests, and just because these adoptions didn’t come to fruition, we should still be able to obtain these records through FOIA. The BLM seems to now be merging adoptions and sales applications. The BLM has been corresponding with individuals who want to sell/adopt our wild horses and burros overseas. The BLM rarely informs the public of these proposals, and we only learn about them through related FOIA records we receive. For instance, the BLM has been considering selling/adopting thousands of wild horses to a Siberian tiger refuge in Russia, where they would be used as prey. http://wildhorsefreedomfederation.org/blog/truth-7-blm-considered-sending-2000-wild-horses-russia-used-prey-siberian-tigers-amur-leopards-pilot-program/

It is important in our research to be able to obtain these “non-adoption” applications, correspondence and related records for our research and public education about the management decisions and activities of the BLM regarding America’s wild horses and burros. These records have research value to us. We request that NARA not destroy these records.

We request transfer of ownership to NARA 15 years after cut-off, and that NARA retain these records permanently.

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0014 – Short Term Land Use Activities and Wild Horse & Burro Operation Records

Records Description

Statistics on Visitors to Service Facilities – Statistics reflect information such as number or visitors, total visitor hours, types of visitor activities, visitor impacts on Service facilities, and modes of visitor transportation

Our request to NARA regarding records retention for these records:

These records are important for research as raw data. For instance, what if some facilities have thousands of wild horses but only have a few visitors a month? We might want to research if some facilities or areas of the country get more visitors than others. We might want to research if the numbers differ during different months or years. Data from these records would help the public be able to give informed public comments about the BLM’s adoption programs. These records have research value to us. We request that NARA not destroy these records.

We request transfer of ownership to NARA 15 years after cut-off, and that NARA retain these records permanently.

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0014 – Short Term Land Use Activities and Wild Horse & Burro Operation Records

Records Description

Special Land Use Permit Case Files. Documents the application and approval or denial of permits issued by USFWS for a variety of short or long term land use on refuges (such as agriculture, grazing, mining, utilities operation, and airport right-of-ways). May include permit application, field office

Our request to NARA regarding records retention for these records:

Many of the other land uses, including grazing, compete with wild horses and burros on public lands. It is important for us to be able to access the permit applications to evaluate the fairness of agency decisions in its distribution of land uses. These records have research value to us. We request that NARA not destroy these records.

We request transfer of ownership to NARA 15 years after cut-off, and that NARA retain these records permanently.

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0014 – Short Term Land Use Activities and Wild Horse & Burro Operation Records

Records Description

Wild Horse & Burro (WH&B) Adoption Files – WH&B Animal Preparation Case Files Documenting the physical examination, freezemarking, and treatment of animals in preparation for private maintenance by adopters. Consists of lab tests, certificate of veterinarian, veterinarian treatment records, health certificates, and other preparation records. Note: Duplicate copies are provided to adopters.

Our request to NARA regarding records retention for these records:

The preparation of wild horses and burros for adoption is a major aspect of the BLM’s Wild Horse & Burro Program. All preparation records, including the treatment of animals, veterinarian records, health certificates and other records, are of great importance to our organization and to other wild horse and burro advocacy organizations, who document the welfare of America’s wild horses and burros. We have requested these records in the past, and we plan to continue to request these records again in the future. These records have research value to us. We request that NARA not destroy these records.

Note: The public will not be able to use FOIA to access the “duplicate copies” that are provided to adopters.

We request transfer of ownership to NARA 15 years after cut-off, and that NARA retain these records permanently.

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0014 – Short Term Land Use Activities and Wild Horse & Burro Operation Records

Records Description

Wild Horse & Burro (WH&B) Adoption Files – WH&B Animal Shipping Case Files Consists of bill of lading, shipping manifest, vehicle inspections, instructions to truck driver, diagram of trailer, hauling permits/licenses. Documents are filed by date. Forms: SF-1103; BLM 4710-16. Confidentiality: Non-public record

Our request to NARA regarding records retention for these records:

Although the BLM has described these records as “non-public,” we have received Government Bills of Lading (GBLs) and shipping manifests in our FOIA requests. We used the data from both of these types of records in our WHITE PAPER presented to members of Congress in 2017. To give you one example, Government Bill of Lading D-4108131 showed that Ourada Truck Line, Inc. was paid about $4,872 to haul one truck load of approximately 32 horses from BLM’s Elm Creek, Nebraska facility to BLM’s Piney Woods, Mississippi facility, and that horses were picked up on Dec. 19, 2012, and delivered on December 21, 2012. But on December 21, the Piney Woods facility only received nine – not 32 – horses.

Bills of Lading indicate the dates of pickup and delivery, the pickup location and the destination, the approximate number or loads of horses, and the amount taxpayers paid for this service, and the name and address of the trucking company. Shipping manifests indicate the exact number of horses or burros, with identifying numbers (freezemark numbers) and descriptions (signalment keys) of each horse or burro in that shipment. These records are important to us for research and oversight of the BLM’s actions and for government accountability. We plan to continue to file FOIA requests for these records. These records have research value to us. We request that NARA not destroy these records.

We request transfer of ownership to NARA 15 years after cut-off, and that NARA retain these records permanently.

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0014 – Short Term Land Use Activities and Wild Horse & Burro Operation Records

Records Description

Wild Horse & Burro (WH&B) Adoption Files – WH&B Animal Training Facility Case Files Consists of agreements with prisons or other training facility, training evaluation forms, training certificates, daily training record. Confidentiality: Non-public record category 3.

Our request to NARA regarding records retention for these records:

Although the Department of Interior has described these records as “non-public,” we have filed FOIA requests for the BLM’s agreements with prisons, and we have received copies of these agreements. There are currently only about 6 prisons being used to train or warehouse wild horses. We need to be able to access these annual agreements to compare them year to year for any changes in requirements, terms, etc. These records have research value to us. We request that NARA not destroy these records.

We request transfer of ownership to NARA 15 years after cut-off, and that NARA retain these records permanently.

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0016 – Planning and WH&B Adoptions

Wild Horse & Burro (WH&B) Untitled Adoption Case Files Non-serialized case files documenting approved adoptions for which a request for title was never received. Consists of private maintenance and care agreement, application, screening checklist, compliance record, body fat worksheet, receipts for payment of fees, facility certification for 5 or more animals, power of attorney form correspondence with adopters, reports of escape, theft or death of adopted animals request for replacement animals with vet’s statement and request to terminate agreement. May include additional compliance documentation as escribed in Titled Case (item a) above. Document are filed in case folders by date; case folders are arranged alphabetically by

Our request to NARA regarding records retention for these records:

We have filed FOIA requests for, and have received, responsive records of Private Maintenance and Care Agreements (PMACA) and applications, along with compliance documentation. These records are important, because many of the records we received indicated these PMACA adopters never requested title to the animals because they had already gotten rid of them. In many instances here were few compliance checks by the agency. These records are extremely important to us in order to insure that wild horses and burros are not being adopted/sold and then ending up in the slaughter pipeline. These records are crucial for our organization to access for oversight so that we can be sure there is government accountability for the welfare of wild horses and burros. As an example, one BLM PMACA adoption was to a woman who was arrested for animal cruelty. http://wildhorsefreedomfederation.org/news-alerts/truth-11-blm-authorized-adoption-wild-horse-woman-later-charged-animal-cruelty-although-wild-horse-survived-fact-horse-subjected-anima/

These records have research value to us. We request that NARA not destroy these records.

We request transfer of ownership to NARA 15 years after cut-off, and that NARA retain these records permanently.

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0016 – Planning and WH&B Adoptions

WH&B Titled Adoption Case Files, Individual or Group. Nonserialized case files documenting adoptions that result in title to the animal being transferred by the BLM to the adopter. Consists of private maintenance and care agreement, application, screening checklist, certificate of title, title eligibility letter, compliance record, body fat worksheet, receipts for payment of fees, facility certification for 5 or more animals, power of attorney form, correspondence with adopters, reports of escape, theft, or death of adopted animals, and request for replacement animals with vet’s statement. Includes additional compliance documentation such as reports of inhumane treatment, investigation reports, compliance checks, inspections, photos/videos, notice of need for corrective action letter, citations, maintenance and care agreement letter, cancellation of agreement letter, record of repossession of animal, notice of violation, decision letter,

Our request to NARA regarding records retention for these records:

We have filed FOIA requests for, and received, adoption applications, agreements and many of the records above. We plan to file FOIA requests for these records again in the future. These records are especially important for oversight now that large numbers of wild horses and burros are being “adopted” in larger numbers, and to organizations and to overseas destinations. We will need to access to these records in order to insure that wild horses & burros are not being adopted/sold and ending up in the slaughter pipeline. These records are crucial for wild horse and burro advocacy organizations to access for oversight so that we can be sure there is government accountability. These records have research value to us. We request that NARA not destroy these records.

We request transfer of ownership to NARA 15 years after cut-off, and that NARA retain these records permanently.

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0016 – Planning and WH&B Adoptions

Records Description

Resources Inventory, Study, Survey and Mapping Files. Documenting the accumulation, analysis, and interpretation of information about the existence and use of natural resources. Includes natural resource inventories, surveys, studies, appraisals, and the related summary reports and maps of agricultural, aquatic, archaeological, bird, cave, cultural, ecological, fish and fisheries, forests, geologic, geophysical, hazardous materials, lake, natural history, mammals, mineral, paleontology, plants, range, recreation, reptiles, reservoirs, riparian, rivers, soils, streams, threatened and endangered species, timber, vegetation, visual resources, water, waterpower, watershed, wild horse and burro , wildlife, wilderness, and other renewable or nonrenewable natural resources. Information is obtained via procurement contracts, cooperative efforts with other agencies and organizations, internal projects, and from the resource users. Information from these files is used in making land, mineral, or waterpower classification decisions, in developing resource management plans, and to support other leasing…

Our request to NARA regarding records retention for these records:

Raw data from population inventory surveys are key to public oversight of management of wild horses and burros on public lands. We need all data from all past inventories to compare with present numbers. In most Land Use Plans, many wild horse and burro herds are not even allowed in numbers large enough to sustain genetic viability. We need to be able to review raw data (notes from aerial inventory flights, hours flown and grid maps of flights with population counts, photographs, etc.) to ascertain if population estimates are being skewed with whatever population modelling is currently being used by the agency. This is important because the BLM has claimed, in its own data, that some herds have increased by as much as 750% to 1,250% in only one year. This is biologically impossible. Our organization need to be able to access these records to see how the BLM determines their population estimates from their inventory surveys. We have filed FOIA requests for this data in the past and have received it. We plan to file FOIA requests for this data in the future. These records have research value to us. We request that NARA not destroy these records.

Mapping files are also important for their historical value. To give you one example, I filed a FOIA with the BLM for the first Herd Area map after the passage of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses & Burros Act of 1971. They didn’t have it, but suggested I file a FOIA with the Office of the Secretary of the Interior (OS). The OS didn’t have it, and suggested I file a FOIA with NARA. NARA couldn’t provide it, but suggested I look through boxes of wild horse and burro records at one of their locations. Where is this very important historical document? Was it destroyed? Will it be destroyed with this round of retention requests by the Department of the Interior? The loss of this important historical record would be a major loss.

We request transfer of ownership to NARA 20 years after cut-off, and that NARA retain these records permanently.

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Our organization is also actively educating the public on wildlife and public lands issues, and we write and post articles and do radio shows on these topics. Therefore, we are including requests for records retention for these records:

0015 – Land Title, Operations, and Realty

Records Description

Airborne Hunting Reports – Annual reports from states filed under the provisions of the Airborne Hunting Act and 50 CFR 19 on permits issued by the states for airborne hunting or harassing of wildlife. Reports contain names and addresses of persons issued permits, permit numbers and…

Our request to NARA regarding records retention for these records:

We plan to file FOIA requests for airborne harassing of wildlife in the future, not only to learn more and inform the public about this issue, but to see if this is being done in any areas with wild horses and burros. These records have research value to us. We request that NARA not destroy these records.

We request transfer of ownership to NARA 15 years after cut-off, and that NARA retain these records permanently.

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0013 – Intermediate/Reference Materials for Land Use Activities, Special Land Use Permit Case Files (denied), Wild Horse & Burro Non-Adoptions

Records Description

Resource Management Plan (RMP) Files. Plans to guide and control management actions and the development of subsequence, more detailed and limited plans for resources and their use. RMPs apply to all BLM lands even when the only public land interest is the mineral estate. c. RMP Working Files and Reference Material. Nonrecord reference copies of official documents; notes, drafts, and preliminary or interim data used in preparation of final documents; preliminary or intermediate technical and scientific data and working maps which are…

Our request to NARA regarding records retention for these records:

These records are the backbone of the history of our public lands. Resource Management Plans (RMPs) are the BLM’s framework for all Environmental Assessments and other land use planning in each BLM district. Each RMP is updated about once every 15-20 years. The BLM outsources the preparation of some RMPs to private companies. Our organization has filed FOIA requests for some of the records listed above, and we plan to do so again in the future. To give you an example of why these records are important, records we obtained regarding the preparation of one RMP, showed that the BLM’s Winnemucca office in Nevada was using a company called Tetra Tech. Tetra Tech’s Board of the Directors at that time included their Chairman, Hugh M. Grant, the President and CEO of Monsanto, and J. Kenneth Johnson, a Director of Alaska Air Group, which owned Coeur D’ Alene Mines Corp. , which owned the Rochester Mine in the BLM Winnemucca District. So, records used in preparing RMPs are needed for oversight to be sure that special interests aren’t skewing RMPs to benefit their commercial interests. These records have research value to us. We request that NARA not destroy these records.

We request transfer of ownership to NARA 15 years after cut-off, and that NARA retain these records permanently.

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0014 – Short Term Land Use Activities and Wild Horse & Burro Operation Records

Records Description

Resource Activity Plan (RAP) Records. Documenting individual programs of action designed to reach a given set of objectives for a specific geographic area of the public lands. RAPs are prepared once an RMP is approved and address the activities of specific BLM programs, such as grazing, forestry, fish and wildlife, wild horse and burro , recreation, archaeology, soil, water, air, visual resources, and wilderness. RAPs provide more detailed and specific data than are found in the RMP. d. RAP

Our request to NARA regarding records retention for these records:

Wild horses and burros “compete” with other uses on public lands, so all of these records are important for comparison of fair usage by wild horses and burros. These records have research value to us. We request that NARA not destroy these records.

We request transfer of ownership to NARA 15 years after cut-off, and that NARA retain these records permanently.

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In conclusion, Wild Horse Freedom Federation is extremely concerned that the Department of the Interior’s records retention request will have a negative impact on government transparency. This disposition schedule covers thousands of records about critical environmental work. The destruction of many of these records would hamper environmental and scientific research. Records about endangered species determinations, public land use, energy production are critical to many scientific and policy endeavors. Authorizing this records disposition schedule would be disastrous for research and would erode environmental transparency in the U.S.

There can only be true government oversight if the records of raw data are available to researchers and the public because finished reports can easily be limited in scope and omit important data.

The Department of the Interior includes the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, US Geological Survey, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and Bureau of Indian Affairs. Together, these agencies run the lion’s share of public land use and Endangered Species Act programs in the U.S

Natural resource planning and development case files include

Operational mission records related to fish and wildlife species management

Critical habitat designations

Assessment reports and surveys

Federal onshore and offshore production audits and inspections

Energy lease applications and issued leases

Energy resource analysis and evaluations

Land use planning, activities, and permit records

Land title, operations, and realty, and land status records

Reciprocal use and license agreements

Water analysis and water use permitting

Non-historic water and power projects and facility records

Water quality records.

This records disposition schedule will lead to the destruction of gigabytes of digital documents and trash thousands of cubic feet of paper records, including many that should be preserved and publicly accessible for scholarly and commercial use in the future.

One big question we are asking about the destruction of records is “Why is there a need to destroy digital records?” Can’t many of these records be saved permanently on the Cloud?

The information in these records tells the public how Endangered Species Act mandates are being carried out by the government, how public lands are being used, where mineral extraction is happening nearby, and more. This type of information is both historically relevant and important to track changes in our land and the flora and fauna living on it, through generations in the future.

We are concerned that the re-categorization of records from permanent to temporary could thwart government accountability. there is a special interest in preserving records about our environment. Water quality data, information about oil and mineral extraction operations near people’s homes and cities, and information about preserving our fish and wildlife profoundly impact the public health, and ultimately, the survival of all Americans.

While the initial NARA appraisal indicated many of these records had “little to no research value,” we are hoping that our additional comments and insights will give NARA more information about how there is much research value, historical value and public interest in these Department of the Interior records.

And, while the Department of the Interior’s records retention request included many requests to “Destroy when no longer needed,” we wanted to remind NARA that public lands issues are complex and inter-connected, with multiple uses on public lands. Private commercial uses are also encroaching on public lands more with each passing day, and there is more water usage. Droughts and climate change are also factored into the public lands equation. It is therefore almost impossible to determine what researchers will “need” in the future.

Interim documents are the best record of the processes forming government policies. These records are the best record of historical processes of great interest to historians, and the influence on policy-making by special interest groups, which has also been important to legal proceedings involving the government. We are asking NARA to keep government transparency and accountability in mind when making decisions about records retention.

We are also asking that NARA make decisions to have government agencies retain records for a longer period of time before transferring them to NARA (especially records regarding wild horses and burros). I have visited a National Archives facility, and I was very impressed with the assistance I received in locating documents. However, it is much more time consuming and labor intensive looking through boxes of unrelated documents than it is to file a FOIA request with the government agency that generated the records and can locate specific documents easily. Many researchers and members of the public don’t live near a local NARA office. And hard copy records may not be at a nearby location. Even if people file a FOIA with NARA, NARA employees likely don’t have days to look through boxes of hard copy records in storage to find the specific documents that may be requested. Please keep in mind that once records are transferred by government agencies to NARA, specific records become much harder for many researchers and members of the public to find.

We appreciate the consideration of NARA of our comments and records retention requests, and we again ask that you to keep government transparency and accountability in mind when making your final decision. Thank you.

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