US Judge Rejects Nevada's Bid to Force Mustang Roundups and Sell Excess for Slaughter

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a coalition of rural Nevada counties that sought to force the government to sell or otherwise dispose of tens of thousands of mustangs in U.S. holding facilities. This decision marks a significant victory for wild horse advocates.

U.S. District Judge Miranda Du in Reno ruled in favor of wild horse advocates who argued that the effort, backed by the Nevada Farm Bureau Federation, was organized by ranchers seeking more forage for their livestock. They contended that it would have led to the sale of federally protected mustangs for slaughter.

In a nine-page opinion dismissing the lawsuit, Judge Du described it as an unsubstantiated, broad attack on the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) wild horse policy across 10 western states. She noted that the suit lacked the specifics necessary to compel the BLM to round up more horses and dispose of those already gathered in compliance with the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

The Nevada Association of Counties filed the suit against the U.S. Interior Department in December 2013. They sought an injunction to force the BLM to immediately round up excess horses on public lands, determine statewide population levels every two months, "sell or dispose of" excess animals in government holding, and "stop interfering with Nevadans' water rights," according to Du's ruling.

"Plaintiffs essentially ask the court to compel compliance with the act and refashion the federal defendants' management of wild horses and burros in Nevada," Judge Du stated. She referenced a 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a Utah case, which established that they "cannot seek wholesale improvement of this program by court decree."

The BLM also requested the judge to dismiss the case. Judge Du stated that the motion was moot following her decision to grant the dismissal sought by the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign), Reno-based author Terry Farley, and wild-horse photographer Mark Terrell of Dayton, Nevada.

"The frivolous bid by cattlemen to round up and slaughter America's iconic wild horses to clear the public lands for commercial livestock grazing has now been soundly rejected by the federal court," said Suzanne Roy, director of the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign).

The case had made the BLM and horse advocates rare allies in a larger, ongoing legal battle over the mustang roundups, which the horse advocates argue are illegal and should be stopped. Nevada Bighorns Unlimited had sided with the Farm Bureau and the rural counties.

Lawyers for the BLM, in their motion to dismiss the case in January, agreed with the ranchers' contention that current herds are overpopulated and threaten the ecological integrity of the range, much of which has suffered from multiple years of drought. However, they stated that the agency is constrained by budget cuts, and a congressional ban on the sale of excess horses for slaughter has pushed their holding facilities to the brink of capacity.

As of March 3, the BLM estimated there were 40,815 horses roaming BLM lands from Colorado to California — nearly twice as many as the agency maintains the range can sustain. More than 47,000 mustangs gathered in recent years remain in holding facilities — an estimated 31,250 in long-term pastures and 16,203 horses in short-term corrals, according to the BLM's website.

Originally Posted By Associated Press