logo
Wild Horses Roundup Deaths
FILE - A wild horse stands on a hillside on the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Indian Reservation, April 24, 2023, near McDermitt, Nev. Wild horse advocates in Nevada scored a rare legal victory when a federal judge in Reno, Nev., ruled Thursday, March 28, 2024, that U.S. land managers failed to adopt a legal herd management plan or conduct the necessary environmental review before 31 mustangs died during the roundup of more than 2,000 animals in Nevada the previous summer. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

US judge in Nevada hands wild horse advocates rare victory in ruling on mustang management plans

Wild horse advocates in Nevada have scored a rare legal victory

By SCOTT SONNER
Published - Mar 29, 2024, 07:39 PM ET
Last Updated - Mar 29, 2024, 07:39 PM EDT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — In a rare legal victory for wild horse advocates, a judge has ruled U.S. land managers failed to adopt a legal herd management plan or conduct the necessary environmental review before 31 mustangs died during the roundup of more than 2,000 horses in Nevada last summer.

U.S. District Court Judge Miranda Du in Reno ordered the Bureau of Land Management to complete a formal herd management plan for the Pancake complex in eastern Nevada by next March 24. She also ordered the agency to reopen an environmental assessment to include the potential impact of roundups on wildfire risks.

Du specifically rejected the argument the agency has made for years that its broader resource management plans combined with individual roundup plans for overpopulated herds satisfies the requirement that it adopt a formal herd management area plan (HMAP) for the long-term health of the herds and the rangeland in a particular area or herd complex.

"The court finds that BLM must be compelled to prepare a herd management area plan (HMAP)," Du wrote in the 29-page ruling issued Thursday.

Our Offices
  • 10kInfo, Inc.
    13555 SE 36th St
    Bellevue, WA 98006
  • 10kInfo Data Solutions, Pvt Ltd.
    Claywork Create
    11 km, Arakere Bannerghatta Rd, Omkar Nagar, Arekere,
    Bengaluru, Karnataka 560076
4.2 12182024