Fed’l Govt Slashes Wyoming Wild Horse Herd Below Legal Limits

‍Fed’l Govt Slashes Wyoming Wild Horse Herd Below Legal Limits

Leading Wild Horse Conservation is demanding return of captured horses

(CHEYENNE, WY., April 23, 2024)  — Yesterday, American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) sent a formal letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) condemning the agency’s 2024 roundup in Wyoming’s White Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA), which reduced the wild horse population to just 79 animals—more than 60% below the legally mandated Appropriate Management Level (AML). 

AWHC is demanding that the BLM take immediate corrective action by returning at least 126 wild horses to the HMA to restore genetic health and bring the population into legal compliance.

“This is not just a misstep—it’s a violation of federal law and a direct threat to the future of the White Mountain herd,” said Suzanne Roy, AWHC’s executive director. “BLM’s own data shows that the current population is not only far below AML, but below the minimum threshold needed to sustain genetic diversity.”

The White Mountain HMA is in the Wyoming Checkerboard, an area where the BLM has set in motion a plan to eliminate more than 1 million acres of wild horse habitat on federal public lands in Wyoming and that would eradicate over 3,000 wild horses from the area.

AWHC has been litigating over the BLM’s attempts to eliminate Wyoming’s wild horses for over a decade. In March, Eubanks and Associates argued against the plan at the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colo. AWHC is still awaiting a decision in that case. 

“Reducing the White Mountain horses to such low numbers is just another part of the BLM’s elimination plan at the behest of the Rock Springs Grazing Association,” added Roy. “It’s yet another clear example of the agency prioritizing livestock industry interests over its legal responsibility to protect wild horses. These Wyoming herds are not only ecologically significant—they’re a symbol of the public’s stake in our shared public lands.”

The Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act mandates that wild horses be managed to achieve a “thriving natural ecological balance,” and limits removals to only “excess animals.” 

Despite AWHC’s formal warnings last year that the BLM’s population estimates and removal targets were based on flawed data—including inflated growth rates and the  inclusion of that year’s foals—the agency proceeded with a removal that has left the White Mountain herd in critical condition.

AWHC’s letter cites binding legal precedent and the BLM’s own Resource Management Plan to demand that the agency return the White Mountain herd to at least its minimum AML of 205 horses. 

The organization has given the BLM until April 29, 2025, to present a plan of action. If not, AWHC plans to explore all options to rectify this situation, including emergency legal action, to bring BLM into compliance with federal law.

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‍American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) is the nation’s leading nonprofit wild horse conservation organization, with more than 700,000 supporters and followers nationwide. AWHC is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse and burros in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. In addition to advocating for the protection and preservation of America’s wild herds, AWHC implements the largest wild horse fertility control program in the world through a partnership with the State of Nevada for wild horses that live in the Virginia Range near Reno.