Formal Protest Filed Against Bureau of Land Management Plan to Eradicate One-third of Wyoming's Iconic Wild Horse Population 

Management plan amendments would “zero out” Salt Wells Creek and Great Divide Basin Herd Management Areas in Wyoming Checkerboard while slashing the size of protected habitat in Adobe Town

ROCK SPRINGS, WY (June 7, 2022) — Yesterday, the American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) and the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), along with wildlife photographers Kimerlee Curyl and Carol Walker, submitted a formal protest opposing amendments to two Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Resource Management Plans (RMPs) that would result in the largest-ever eradication of federally protected wild horses and their habitat. 

The protest is the culmination of a more than decade-long battle to defend the wild horses of the Wyoming Checkerboard against demands by the Rock Springs Grazing Association, whose own livestock roam freely in the area, for the eradication of these federally-protected animals from more than 2 million acres of land in the southwestern part of the state. 

“The unprecedented and draconian wild horse reductions proposed by the BLM violate the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act,” said William S. Eubanks II, of Eubanks & Associates, which filed the protest for the groups. “The plan sets a dangerous precedent for private landowners to dictate whether federally protected wild horses will be allowed to live in their designated habitats on public lands, and threatens to undermine federal protections for wild horses across the West.”

The RMP amendments, published last month in the Federal Register, would eliminate 2.1 million acres – or 43 percent of wild horse habitat – in Wyoming and slash by one-third the maximum number of wild horses allowed in the state (from 3,795 to 2,576). 

• Changing the status of the Salt Wells Creek and Great Divide Basin Herd Management Areas (HMA) to Herd Areas with a maximum population limit of zero wild horses across 1.9 million acres of land. This would result in the removal of every single wild horse from areas that are popular destinations for wild horse watchers and photographers. 
• Slashing the size of the Adobe Town HMA by approximately half and reducing the wild horse population to below the number that the BLM previously determined to be at a “thriving natural ecological balance” with other uses of the land.  

“This would be the largest eradication of wild horses and their habitat in the 50 years since the federal law was passed to protect these iconic animals,” said Suzanne Roy, Executive Director of the AWHC. “ We are committed to pursuing all legal avenues to challenge these amendments and preserve the magnificent wild horses that are an integral part of the landscape in southern Wyoming.” 

The final amendments would preserve the White Mountain HMA as habitat for wild horses. The BLM dropped its plan to convert the population to a non-reproducing herd via surgical sterilization after local officials objected, citing negative impacts on this important ecotourism resource in the area.  

The amendments are the results of a lawsuit filed over a decade ago by the Rock Springs Grazing Association (RSGA) against the BLM demanding the removal of wild horses from all sections of the Wyoming Checkerboard, including those alternating public land parcels that are owned and managed in trust for the American public. RSGA members graze private livestock on the public lands within the Checkerboard and view wild horses as competition for cheap forage available through tax-subsidized grazing fees. In 2013, the BLM settled the suit with a consent decree, which mandates only that the agency consider amending the governing RMPs to eliminate wild horse populations from all Checkerboard lands in the area. 

AWHC has been involved in litigation in the Wyoming Checkerboard for more than a  decade and successfully secured two 10th Circuit Court of Appeals victories affirming that the BLM is not required to remove wild horses from public lands just because their populations exceed the “appropriate” management levels and that the grazing association’s demand for the removal of wild horses from private land does not also authorize the agency to remove wild horses from public lands. 

About the American Wild Horse Campaign

The American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) is the nation's leading wild horse protection organization, with more than 700,000 supporters and followers nationwide. AWHC is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse and burros in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. In addition to advocating for the protection and preservation of America's wild herds, AWHC implements the largest wild horse fertility control program in the world through a partnership with the State of Nevada for wild horses that live in the Virginia Range near Reno.

About the Animal Welfare Institute

The Animal Welfare Institute (www.awionline.org) is a nonprofit charitable organization founded in 1951 and dedicated to reducing animal suffering caused by people. AWI engages policymakers, scientists, industry, and the public to achieve better treatment of animals everywhere – in the laboratory, on the farm, in commerce, at home, and in the wild. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter , and Instagram for updates and other important animal protection news.

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