The First Monument Manager of the Carrizo Plain National Monument Santa Margarita, California

View the Facebook Memorial For Marlene View A Moving Tribute -- priceless photos and music

Her many friends recall her brilliance, kindness, deep appreciation of the natural environment, and her loyal friendship. To all of us, she was a Best Friend. We offer our sympathies and love to her mother, Rita Braun, in Cincinnati; to her sisters Judy and Phyllis and her brother Marc; and her Uncle Earl Hartmann in California. We will continue to fight for justice for Marlene and we will love her forever.

Signed by her friends, colleagues and supporters

A Tale of Bullying and Suicide

The Workplace Bullying Institute is proud to assemble news reports, government reports, essays, and commentary to tell the hidden story of Marlene Braun's May 2, 2005 suicide and the subsequent government attempts to obliterate her legacy.


It is a tale of an abusive work environment (akin to the traditional profile of bullying cases described at this website) that Marlene described as her inescapable hell caused by her tormenter, bully boss Ron Huntsinger, coupled with dramatic reversals in conservation policies by the federal government executed by Huntsinger and BLM as mandated by the anti-Clinton, anti-environment Bush administration. Huntsinger was promoted in the aftermath of her suicide in the spirit of "heckuva job brownie" incompetence rising.

The site: the Carrizo Plain National Monument in California, see map, home to the highest concentration of endangered and threatened species in the nation.

The employer blamed Marlene for her troubles with Huntsinger, though his cruelty and undermining tactics certainly could not have been desired by anyone. Cowardly co-workers like Shane Barrow branded Marlene the bully! Is there no personal or institutional shame over conditions that could drive a competent, professional woman to suicide? The report absolves Huntsinger and management of charges of wrongdoing (an expected whitewash, CYA, no duh! outcome) and implies that Marlene deserved her fate!

There has been no employer accountability. After the release of the official Office of Inspector General (OIG) report into the matter,
it seems there may never be justice. Shame on BLM, the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Government!

News Accounts

In reverse chronology ...

• May 5, 2007 LA Times account of the final OIG report exonerating Huntsinger. Published 3 days after the 2nd anniversary of Marlene's death
• New hope for Carrizo Plain after Huntsinger reassignment to Washington, DC
• The final OIG "Report of Investigation", dated April 19, 2006 in .pdf format
• Post OIG Report article, blaming Marlene, Aug. 14, 2006 Bakersfield Californian AND See related IG summary.
• Jan 11, 2006 Op-Ed about Marlene and bullying + list of resources
• Nov. 17, 2005 article telling a more complete story, San Luis Obispo New Times
• Aug. 20, 2005 Los Angeles Times article explaining the clash in conservation policies between the Carrizo Monument manager (Marlene) and the bully boss Ron Huntsinger
• Aug. 25 Billings Outpost (Montana) article putting Marlene's life in perspective
• Oct. 18, 2005 Bakersfield Californian: BLM Inspector General investigation
• Nov 11, 2005 Bakersfield Californian: And now oil/gas drilling in the Carrizo?

The Bully: Ron Huntsinger

• Comments from Huntsinger's former boss and others (Rev. 11/18/2006)
• Huntsinger, as BLM National Science Coordinator, testifies to Congress on April 26, 2007 as expert on climate change. He concludes that science has not yet answered the question regarding human influence on climate change! Read his testimony in .pdf format.
• Huntsinger left the Bakersfield office in 2006 after OIG "investigation" (where he lorded over Marlene Braun, driving her to suicide). Gets promoted to Washington DC BLM headquarters.
• The official OIG investigation report exonerating Huntsinger and BLM management and partly blaming Braun for her own work environment. The "Report of Investigation", dated April 19, 2006 in .pdf format
• Earl E. Devaney, Inspector General's August, 2006 letter summarizing the report. Letter responds to an unidentified requester.
• Nov. 17, 2005 letter to Bully Boss Huntsinger rips him; supports Marlene
• Huntsinger Comes to Bakersfield, BLM official announcement & bio
• Marlene's opponents voice opinions (Rev. 11/29)

Information from Marlene's Supporters

• Questions unanswered by Dept of Interior/BLM coverup
• May, 2007 Overview of the tragedy from a third-party observer
• Connecticut employees need protection from workplace bullies now! An April, 2007 essay by Braun estate trustee coupling Marlene's experience to the 2007 state Senate bill SB 371
• April 20, 2007 Op-Ed, Hartford Courant
• April 30, 2007 Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) response to OIG report with release titled: "BLM Suicide Underscores Bureaucratic Inhumanity"
• Dec. 28, 2005 Op-Ed article in the Waterford, CT Republican-American
• Marlene's friend and estate trustee blames Huntsinger's abuse
• Sierra Club pledge to Marlene, the Champion of the Carrizo Plain
• Marlene as seen from a BLM partner organization perspective
• Reader responses to the original Billings article

The Toxic BLM workplace that fosters & sustains bullies

• The final OIG "Report of Investigation", dated April 19, 2006 in .pdf format, which does somewhat criticize the workplace culture
• Dec. 26, 2005 Interior Dept (BLM's parent org) makes employees work in illegal toxic conditions, "let 'em drop dead!"
• Cronyism Opportunity Alert, Nov. 9, 2005: Bully Huntsinger gets to pick "his" public Advisory Committee
• BLM Office of Inspector General to investigate
• Opinions from Observers Witnessing BLM Pattern & Practices

Suicide Context: Privatization Policies

• Dec. 16, 2005 news from environmental groups revealing BLM's killing Marlene's public-approved plan for the Monument, opening area for exploitation -- Huntsinger's orders/motive? (in .pdf format, right click this link to download)
• Nov. 28, 2005 article from MediaTransparency.org revealing privatization
• Nov 11, 2005 Bakersfield Californian: And now oil/gas drilling in the Carrizo?
• Opinions from Observers Witnessing BLM Pattern & Practices