Court Rules BLM Cannot Treat Public Land as Private

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) cannot treatpublic landsas private, according to a recent ruling by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. This decision, which overturned a previous ruling, has significant implications for land management practices, particularly in Wyoming's checkerboard region.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling on October 14, 2016, declaring theBLM's 2014 roundup of wild horses in the checkerboard region illegal. The court's decision, released on Monday, clarified that theBLMviolated the Wild Horses Act by treatingpublic landsas private due to the logistical challenges of rounding up horses in an area where public and private lands alternate in one-square-mile plots.

Judge Monroe McKay, in a concurring opinion, stated, “Its methodology was to treatpublic landsas private lands. But, though theBLM’s solution to the problem presented by the checkerboard may seem reasonable, it is not in accordance with the law.”

The case began in 2013 when the Rock Springs Grazing Association sued theBLM, demanding the removal of wild horses from their land in the checkerboard. TheBLMagreed, determining that the only way to keep horses off the grazing association land was to also remove them from public plots, given the unfenced nature of the area.

However, horse advocates, including the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign) and the Cloud Foundation, sued theBLM, arguing that while the agency can remove horses from private land, it must undergo an extensive review process before removing them from public land. A U.S. District Court in Wyoming initially sided with theBLM, but the 10th Circuit decision overturned that ruling, agreeing with the horse advocates.

The appeals court ruled that theBLMlacked the authority to treat the entire checkerboard as private, despite the “unique land management situation.” The court emphasized that there is “no basis forBLMto construe the terms ‘privately owned land’ and ‘private lands’ to include the public land sections of the checkerboard.”

The ruling halted theBLM’s checkerboard roundup planned for October 18 and may set a precedent for similar cases across the West. The groups that sued theBLMargued that treatingpublic landswithin the checkerboard as private could lead to broader implications for public land management.

The 10th Circuit decision reassures that there is “simply no ambiguity in the terms ‘public lands,’ ... and ‘private lands,’” reinforcing the distinction between the two.

Originally posted by Casper Star Tribune