Tenth Circuit Rejects BLM Plan to Manage Wild Horse Populations as Arbitrary and Capricious

Denver, CO – July 16, 2025 – In a significant victory for wild horse advocates, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has struck down a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plan to remove thousands of wild horses from public lands in southwest Wyoming, deeming it “arbitrary and capricious.” The decision, issued on July 15, 2025, halts the planned roundup of approximately 3,600 wild horses across 1.1 million acres of the Wyoming Checkerboard, a region of alternating public and private land ownership between South Pass and the Colorado border.

The Tenth Circuit’s ruling, authored by Circuit Judge Timothy Tymkovich, found that the BLM failed to adequately consider the “thriving natural ecological balance” required by the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. The court criticized the agency for not substantiating how the proposed roundup would maintain ecological harmony, a core mandate of the Act, which protects wild horses and burros as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West.” The decision remands the case to the U.S. District Court in Wyoming for further review, urging the BLM to reassess its approach in alignment with federal law.

The lawsuit, brought by a coalition of advocacy groups including the American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC), Animal Welfare Institute, Western Watersheds Project, and wildlife photographers Carol Walker and Kimerlee Curyl, challenged the BLM’s 2023 decision to eliminate protections for two wild horse herds and reduce a third in the Wyoming Checkerboard. The plan, supported by the Rock Springs Grazing Association (RSGA) and the State of Wyoming, aimed to remove horses to prevent them from straying onto private lands, where ranchers graze livestock at subsidized rates. Critics argued the decision prioritized commercial interests over the ecological and cultural value of wild horses.

“This ruling reaffirms that the BLM cannot sidestep its legal obligation to protect wild horses,” said Suzanne Roy, executive director of AWHC. “The agency’s plan was driven by livestock interests, not science or the law, and this decision ensures these iconic animals remain on our public lands.” The court noted that private landowners are prohibited from fencing off their land to block wild horses or other wildlife, complicating the BLM’s justification for mass removals.

The Tenth Circuit’s decision builds on prior victories for wild horse advocates, including a 2016 ruling that halted a similar BLM roundup in the same region for violating the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). The BLM’s current plan, which relied on outdated Appropriate Management Levels (AMLs) capping wild horse populations at 27,000 across 27 million acres, was criticized for lacking scientific grounding. Advocates argue that AMLs disproportionately favor livestock, which are allocated over 75% of forage resources on these lands, despite wild horses occupying just 17% of BLM rangelands.

The BLM had postponed the roundup, originally set for October 2024, pending the court’s ruling. The agency now faces the challenge of revising its plan to comply with the Act’s ecological balance requirement. Meanwhile, advocates are pushing for humane alternatives like fertility control vaccines, such as PZP, which have proven effective in stabilizing herd populations without costly and traumatic roundups. The BLM’s own data shows a decline in wild horse populations from 95,000 in 2020 to 73,520 in 2024, yet critics argue the agency underutilizes non-lethal management tools, spending less than 1% of its budget on fertility control.

The ruling has sparked renewed debate over the BLM’s management of the Wild Horse and Burro Program, which costs taxpayers approximately $80 million annually, largely for holding facilities housing removed animals. “This decision is a wake-up call for the BLM to prioritize science-based, humane solutions over catering to special interests,” said Joanna Grossman, equine program director at the Animal Welfare Institute. As the case returns to the district court, the future of Wyoming’s wild horses hangs in the balance, with advocates hopeful that the Tenth Circuit’s precedent will safeguard these herds for generations to come.

For more information on the Wild Horse and Burro Program, visit the BLM’s official website or contact the National Information Center.