BLM Delays August 25 Wyoming Wild Horse Roundups in Wake of Court Ruling

Checkerboard Herds Get Reprieve from Federal Eradication Plan

(ROCK SPRINGS, W.Y., July 23, 2025) — In response to a lawsuit filed by American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC), the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), and other plaintiffs, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has informed the plaintiffs' legal team that it is postponing the wild horse roundups in Salt Wells Creek and the Rock Springs portion of the Adobe Town Herd Management Area (HMA). Originally slated to begin on August 25, these operations sought to “zero out” the areas—completely removing all wild horses and eliminating over one million acres of habitat from Wyoming’s wild horse population.

The postponement follows a landmark ruling last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in the case brought by AWHC, AWI, Western Watersheds Project, photographers Carol Walker and Kimerlee Curyl, and author Chad Hanson. The court found the BLM’s decision was arbitrary, capricious, and unlawful, reaffirming that the BLM must consider the thriving natural ecological balance when making decisions to remove wild horses from public lands.  

“This ruling confirms what we’ve long argued: the BLM’s effort to erase wild horses from the Wyoming Checkerboard is not just inhumane, it’s illegal,” said Suzanne Roy, executive director of American Wild Horse Conservation. “We’re relieved that the BLM is honoring the court decision by placing the Salt Wells and Checkerboard roundups on hold, but the fight to protect these federally protected animals is far from over.”

The case has been remanded to the lower court where the BLM could attempt to revise and potentially reinstate its plan in accordance with federal law.

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The ongoing Adobe Town roundup in the Rawlins portion of the HMA, which was not the subject of AWHC’s litigation, will continue as planned, removing the population down to the low Appropriate Management Level of 259 animals. 

AWHC’s humane observers are on site at this roundup and are raising the alarm at the conditions and treatment of the horses during the operation. So far four horses have died, including a 4-year-old mare found deceased on a trailer, a foal that died from capture myopathy, a condition foals often succumb to due to extreme stress and capture, and an 18-year-old mare who broke her neck during transport. 

AWHC’s observers also captured disturbing video footage of a collapsing mare, who was visibly sweating and struggling from exhaustion during capture. The footage also shows a BLM contractor repeatedly hitting the mare with flags and eventually grabbing her by the tail to try and hold her up.

The incidents renewed urgent calls from wild horse advocates and members of the public for the BLM to end its reliance on helicopter roundups, invest in proven fertility control programs, and install cameras on helicopters and in trap pens to provide the transparency that the public deserves. Recent actions in Congress to ban helicopter roundups,  prohibit slaughter and fund fertility control reflect these concerns.  

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the plaintiffs by the public interest law firm Eubanks and Associates.

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About American Wild Horse Conservation

American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) is the nation's leading nonprofit wild horse conservation 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.