The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has abandoned its plan to round up and castrate wild horses in Wyoming following a federal lawsuit from environmentalists. The BLM had planned to convert the White Mountain and Little Colorado Herd Management Areas (HMA) in southwestern Wyoming to "minimally-reproducing" herds comprised primarily of geldings.

The agency's plan had been to round up and castrate every mustang it could in the two HMA's, an estimated 900 mustangs. The BLM then planned to return about 200 geldings to the range and put the rest up for adoption or sale, or send them to a holding site.

The announcement to scrap the plan was made during a status conference call on Tuesday about the lawsuit, which was filed in Washington, D.C. last week on behalf of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, the Western Watersheds Project, a local Wyoming couple and wildlife photographer Carol Walker.

By galloping ahead with this destructive plan, the BLM ignored over 10,000 public comments and the opinion of experts who warned of the irreparable harm that would be inflicted on these wild horse populations, but the agency could not ignore a federal lawsuit.
-Suzanne Roy, Campaign Director of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign

Roy indicated that the plaintiffs would now consider their options for further action once the BLM issues the new decision record. It will be the fourth action proposed by the BLM's Rock Springs Field Office for these HMA's and the third decision record issued for this roundup plan. The roundup had been scheduled to begin on August 16, but the agency has agreed to postpone any roundup activity until September 1 or later.

The BLM's plan to sterilize Wyoming mustangs made clear the agency's intent to manage wild horses to extinction, in flagrant violation of the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act. It's a shame that citizens must turn to the courts to force this agency to respect and uphold federal law.
-Suzanne Roy

 A new plan will be issued by the BLM by Friday according to the Associated Press, which reports the Wyoming Attorney General's Office as saying that the agency will attempt to remove the same number of horses from the range in the new plan.

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