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

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 7:35 PM EDT, March 29, 2024


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. Horse advocates who cheered the ruling said that while it comes too late for the horses that were captured or killed last summer, it sets a precedent that will help provide more protection for mustangs roaming federal lands in the West going forward.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/wild-horse-lawsuit-roundups-nevada-public-lands-30d0699be6bf8e1776608cd8834ff4c8

[et tu]

1. long over due

and more protections are needed.
the supposed needs of the ranchers have far
exceeded in stripping away what is good stewardship
and what is truly needed for good management. not only
of mustangs but other species too, such as burros and wolves.

[Bayard]

2. Good news!

It's a start.

[ThoughtCriminal]

3. We have some wild horses in my part of Arizona

A few hundred in the nearby National Forest. A couple of years ago, many of them were illegally shot by someone - probably a local rancher.

I am constantly amazed by ranchers who claim that the horses are destructive to public lands, but somehow, their cattle are not.

[prodigitalson]

4. aren't mustangs an invasive species

or was there some wild horse prior to the arival Europeans and the Columbian exchange?

[maxsolomon]

5. There were wild horses in North America millennia ago.

They originated in the Americas and moved to Eurasia, then went extinct here.

The West is big enough to contain bands of wild horses. Ranchers need to bugger off and stop killing Bison who come down off the Yellowstone while they're at it.

[prodigitalson]

6. I didn't know that

thnks

[rollin74]

7. The wild horse population in Nevada today are actually feral horses

which are descendants of horses that were abandoned or escaped captivity over the last 150 years or so