Home / Environment / Wild Horses Win Legal Battle Over Wyoming Habitat
Wild Horses Win Legal Battle Over Wyoming Habitat
27 Nov
Summary
- Court blocked BLM plan to remove wild horse herds from Wyoming.
- Agency failed to consider ecological balance, court ruled.
- Conservation groups fought for over a decade for this win.
Iconic wild horse herds in Wyoming have achieved a critical legal triumph, temporarily halting a federal plan for their removal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit determined that the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) strategy to remove horses from millions of acres violated the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.
The court specifically cited the agency's failure to adequately assess whether removing the herds would allow for a "thriving natural ecological balance" on public lands. This ruling came after a lawsuit filed by prominent conservation organizations, who have advocated for these horses and their habitats for over a decade.
The BLM's controversial plan involving helicopter roundups is now on hold. Conservationists argue that fertility control is a more humane and effective management method than invasive roundups, offering a pathway to coexistence for these historic symbols of the American West.
