Lawsuit Filed to Halt BLM's Sterilization of Idaho Wild Horse Herd

Boise, ID (January 4, 2016)— Today, the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign), The Cloud Foundation, Return to Freedom, and Virginia Marie Hudson filed aLawsuitin the Idaho District Court against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The lawsuit charges that the agency’s plan to permanently sterilize the entire herd of wild horses in the Saylor Creek Herd Management Area (HMA) violates the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 (“Wild Horse Act”) and the National EnvironmentalPolicyAct (NEPA).

The sterilization plan was approved as part of theBLM’s Jarbidge Resource Management Plan (RMP), which was finalized on September 2, 2015.

TheBLM’s plan to sterilize the Saylor Creek wild horses also harms the interests of American citizens, represented here by Virginia Marie Hudson, as castrating and spaying the entire herd would impair the public’s ability to enjoy and observe the wild horses' natural social behaviors.

The complaint charges that theBLM, through its Jarbidge RMP, authorized the precedent-setting drastic action of removing and sterilizingallthe wild horses in the 95,000-acre Saylor Creek HMA without presenting evidence ofanydamage to the range caused by the Saylor Creek herd and without making a determination that “excess” horses are present, as required by law. Additionally, theBLMfailed entirely to analyze significant impacts that this action will have on individual horses and the herd as a whole.

The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign)(AWHC) is a coalition of more than 60 horseadvocacy, public interest, and conservation organizations dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage.

The Cloud Foundationis a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of wild horses and burros on our Western public lands with a focus on protecting Cloud’s herd in the Pryor Mountains of Montana. Cloud is the subject of Foundation founder Ginger Kathrens' groundbreaking PBS/Nature documentaries.

Return to Freedom(RTF) is a national non-profit dedicated to wild horse preservation through sanctuary,advocacy, education, and conservation, and also operates the American Wild Horse Sanctuary in Lompoc, CA. It is also AWHC’s founding organization.

Virginia Marie Hudson is a private citizen and mustang owner who enjoys visiting federally-protected wild horse herds in Herd Management Areas throughout the West, including Saylor Creek.

The plaintiffs in this case are being represented by Nick Lawton and William S. Eubanks II ofMeyer Glitzenstein & Eubanks, LLP.

More information on the lawsuit can be foundhere.