Lawsuit Stalls Wild Horse Roundup

U.S. Bureau of Land Management uses a helicopter to round up wild horses in 2005.

As a result of a lawsuit filed by In Defense of Animals and ecologist Craig Downer, the Bureau of Land Management will delay the wild horse roundup in the Calico Complex Herd Management Area from December 7 to December 28. The Calico Complex lies within the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area in Nevada.

According to IDA, the roundup is illegal because:

The Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act, passed unanimously by Congress in 1971, designated America's wild horses and burros as "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West," specifying they "shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death ... [and that] to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of public lands."

The lawsuit also argues that the use of helicopters in a roundup is illegal because they "traumatize, injure and kill" some horses.

To their credit, BLM voluntarily agreed to delay the roundup, to give time for the lawsuit to play out.

BLM claims that the horses must be removed because of concerns about "range deterioration." So what is the solution to range deterioration? Stop allowing private ranchers to graze their livestock on public lands. While tens of millions of cattle and other livestock are allowed to graze on these lands, there are only 37,000 wild horses. Yet the horses are being blamed for the vegetation loss. Leases for livestock grazing are usually for ten years, so grazing plots could be phased out gradually as the leases end.

Many thanks to William Spriggs, Esq. of Buchanan, Ingersoll and Rooney, for taking this case pro bono for the animals!

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Suggested Reading:

• BLM Removes Thousands of Wild Horses to Make Room for Millions of Cattle
• What's Wrong with Livestock Grazing on Public Lands?
  
• What's Wrong with Grass-Fed Beef?
  

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