His co-workers in the corrals and their families adopted 54. McDarment said he could not account for the whereabouts of all the horses. Some ended up with Dennis Gifford, a Lovell, Wyo., rancher and rodeo contractor who said he has tried to breed them for rodeo stock. He said he is sure some of McDarments horses were slaughtered. They have to end up somewhere, Gifford said.
Federal law prohibits U.S. government employees from using public office for private gain.
The U.S. Office of Government Ethics said this means BLM workers are not allowed to profit from BLM programs. But Gabriel Paone, the Interior Departments ethics official in Washington, said there is nothing wrong with BLM employees adopting wild horses and then selling them for profit. They're not doing this as public officials. They're doing this as private citizens. The federal government is conducting several reviews of the Wild Horse and Burro Program, with two audits and two reports to Congress expected to be completed in 1997.