CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A federal judge in Cheyenne has ordered the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to re-evaluate plans for a wild horse roundup in central Wyoming.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal told the BLM on Monday to reconsider how the roundup would affect wild horses with traits inherited from horses used by Spanish explorers and settlers hundreds of years ago.
The BLM planned to round up more than 2,000 wild horses from an area one-third the size of Yellowstone National Park. The agency says wild horses have overpopulated the area.
Friends of Animals sued, saying the roundup’s scale required more analysis including how the roundup would affect the herd’s genetics.
Freudenthal agreed with that argument. A BLM spokesman says the agency has reviewed the decision and is considering its next step.
