This memo is to establish the policy that there will be no paid advertising for wild horse and burro adoptions in Wyoming. The following outlines the reasoning behind this decision. Although the Department of the Interior Manual, Information Series, Public Expression states that paid advertising is not the general policy unless special legal requirements and authority exist, it is simply not good business for the BLM in Wyoming to purchase advertising for individual programs. Purchasing advertising for any program limits the capability of other Wyoming Bureau programs to receive unpaid media attention, and sets an unnecessary precedent that the Wyoming BLM will pay for media time. It is not accurate to state that other states purchase advertising.
Some states purchase ads in specialty publications, such as horse trade magazines or billboards.
This type of purchase does not interfere with other programs receiving unpaid media attention from radio, television, and newspaper outlets. However, in Wyoming, the risk of interference is too high. Since Wyoming is so spread out, we need to get the message out any way we can . This is true. But it is the small nature of Wyoming that creates the special concerns regarding media.