Appeal Filed Against Ruling Preventing Idaho Wild Horse Herd Sterilization

BOISE, IDAHO

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is appealing a federal court ruling that prevents the sterilization of a wild horse herd in southwestern Idaho. Opponents of the plan fear it could set a precedent for future management of wild horse populations.

The notice, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Idaho, challenges a ruling from September that ordered the BLM to revise its 2015 plan. This plan involves sterilizing the herd and replenishing it with wild horses captured elsewhere to maintain a population of 50 to 200 horses.

"They are taking habitat designated for wild, free-roaming horses and turning it into an on-range holding area for captured and sterilized mustangs," said Suzanne Roy, executive director of American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign). "Part of our concern was that this would set a precedent."

The group sued in January 2016, and Roy stated it will "vigorously defend" the September ruling at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The federal court in its September ruling stated that the BLM plan violated a requirement that the herd be able to produce healthy foals. The judge also noted that the BLM did not consider "the significant impacts its decision may have on the free-roaming nature of the herd nor explain why its decision is appropriate despite those impacts."

Heather Tiel-Nelson, a spokeswoman for the BLM, declined to comment on the lawsuit itself but provided information on the wild horses roaming in the Saylor Creek Herd Management Area. The BLM states that the range can support 50 horses. The herd has been rounded up twice since 2006 due to wildfires destroying rangeland forage.

The most recent capture involved 195 horses following a wildfire in August 2010. In September 2011, the BLM released 30 of those horses—13 females and 17 males—back onto the range. A count this spring found the herd had nearly tripled, with 71 adults and 12 foals.

Wild horses far exceed U.S. government population goals, and officials warn that the approximately 73,000 free-roaming horses could face starvation. Captured horses are offered for adoption, but 46,000 are held at government corrals and pastures, costing taxpayers $50 million annually.

"It's very emotional for many, many people," Tiel-Nelson said. She mentioned that her family adopted a horse captured off the range in 2009, as have many of her co-workers within the wild horse and burro program at the BLM.

Originally posted by Idaho Statesman