Law360, New York (August 7, 2017, 3:22 PM EDT) -- The D.C. Circuit held Friday that the U.S. Forest Service did an ill-explained “about-face” when it redrew the boundaries of territory it manages for wild horses in part of the Modoc National Forest in Northern California, handing a win to animal advocates battling the agency’s move to shrink the area.

In a sharply worded opinion, a unanimous panel of three D.C. Circuit judges revived the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, Return to Freedom and Carla Bowers’ lawsuit challenging the Forest Service’s 2013 decision to redraw the...