Major Legal Victory for Wild Horses and Burros

The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) has achieved another significant legal victory in its ongoing efforts to protect wild horses and burros on public lands. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the Nevada Association of Counties (NACO) and others against the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This decision marks a crucial win in the fight to prevent the mass removal and potential slaughter of these iconic animals.

Our dedicated legal team continues to secure victories, with the latest ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit by NACO, the Nevada Farm Bureau, and others against the BLM.

Read our news release about this latest legal victory.

The lawsuit aimed to force the government to round up and remove thousands of wild horses and burros from public lands in Nevada and to sell captured animals without limitation, potentially for slaughter.

AWHC, Nevada-based author Terri Farley, and Nevada wild horse photographer Mark Terrell were intervenors in this case, supporting the government in seeking the case's dismissal.

The Ninth Circuit ruled that NACO's request for judicial oversight of the federal wild horse and burro management program in Nevada was beyond the judiciary's role.

This decision is the second major setback for rancher-led legal actions against wild horses and burros. On October 11, 2016, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver dismissed a similar lawsuit by the State of Wyoming on behalf of ranchers. AWHC, along with coalition partners The Cloud Foundation and Return to Freedom, and photographers Carol Walker and Kimerlee Curyl, were intervenors in this case.

Together, these appellate court decisions halt rancher-led legal actions claiming the BLM must remove wild horses as soon as their populations exceed the agency's arbitrarily imposed population limits, known as Appropriate Management Levels (AMLs).

Opponents of wild horses are shifting their legal strategies in response to these court decisions. We continue to defend wild horses in the following federal courts:

• In Utah, AWHC and coalition partners have been granted the right to intervene in a rancher lawsuit seeking the removal of hundreds of horses from six Herd Management Areas. Oral arguments will be held in Salt Lake City on April 11.
• Also in Utah, we filed to intervene in a lawsuit by Beaver County seeking to block BLM's management plan in the Sulphur HMA, which aims to reach AML over ten years through removals and fertility control. The county seeks immediate removal of hundreds of horses to reach the low AML of 165 horses on over 500 square miles of public land.
• In Idaho, we and our coalition partners have filed suit against the BLM over plans to destroy the wild horse population in the Saylor Creek HMA by surgically sterilizing every mare and stallion.
• In California, we await a U.S. Court of Appeals DC Circuit ruling on our lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service over its decision to reduce the Devils Garden Wild Horse Territory. After a favorable hearing, we are hopeful for a positive decision.

We are fighting for wild horses and burros on all fronts and need your help to continue these legal battles. The legal fees required are significant, but funding these critical court battles is one of the best investments you can make to save wild horses and burros from mass roundup and slaughter. Our top-notch legal team has amassed a string of victories, so please consider supporting our litigation program to keep these wins coming for mustangs and burros!