Federal Court Mandates Consideration of Scientific Evidence in Wild Horse Management

Introduction:In a significant legal development, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has mandated the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to consider scientific evidence in itswild horse managementstrategies. This ruling challenges theBLM's plan to castrate wild stallions in Nevada, emphasizing the importance of scientific input in decision-making processes.

Judge Rejects Government Attempt to Ignore Expert Declarations on Negative Impacts of Plan to Castrate Wild Nevada Stallions

Washington, DC – The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has rejected an attempt by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to withhold and ignore critical scientific evidence in its decision-making process for the implementation of a precedent-setting plan to castrate wild stallions. At issue were expert declarations submitted to theBLMfrom leading experts in wild horse behavior and biology outlining the devastating impacts that castration would have on the health and natural behaviors of wild free-roaming stallions and wild horse herds.

The ruling is part of litigation filed in December 2011 by the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign) (AWHC), Western Watersheds Project, and The Cloud Foundation challenging theBLM’s illegal plan to castrate hundreds of wild stallions in eastern Nevada’s Pancake Complex, as well as to eliminate wild horses from the Jake’s Wash Herd Management Area, which lies within the Complex. The ruling on this case will have widespread implications for thousands of the remaining wild horses living free and wild onpublic lands.

The Honorable U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell stated in her23-page opinionthat the agency “may not simply remainstudiously ignorant of material scientific evidencewell known to the agency and brought directly to its attention in timely-filed comments.” (Emphasis added.) She decisively rejected theBLM’s attempt to exclude the expert declarations from the agency’s decision-making process and affirmed that the Court would consider the “material scientific evidence” contained in the declarations as in future rulings in the case.

“TheBLMwent to great lengths to avoid considering scientific information provided by leading wild horse experts,” said Suzanne Roy, director of AWHC. “The agency is not interested in science. TheBLM's only interest is clearing ourpublic landsof wild horses to make room for livestock grazing and other commercial interests.”

“This is yet another example of the agency’s epidemic refusal to incorporatesciencein its management of wild horse and burros herds,” said Ginger Kathrens, executive director of The Cloud Foundation. “We commend Judge Howell for seeing through theBLM’s thinly-veiled excuses and standing up for science and the right of the public to have input into government management decisions.”

Among the scientific evidence submitted by Plaintiffs and ignored byBLMwas a declaration from Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick, the Director ofScienceand Conservation Biology at Zoo Montana and a foremost authority on wildlife reproductive biology. He stated:

The other declarations, submitted by Dr. Allen Rutberg of the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine; Dr. Anne Perkins of Carroll College in Montana; and Dr. Bruce Nock, a faculty member at Washington University School of Medicine provided further scientific information about the impacts of castration on wild stallions and wild horse herds.

Other plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit challenging aspects of the Pancake roundup include wildlife ecologist Craig Downer and photographer Arla Ruggles, who enjoy wild horse viewing in the HMAs and whose professional and aesthetic interests will be harmed if theBLMmoves forward with its plan. The plaintiffs are being represented by the Washington D.C. public interest law firmMeyer Glitzenstein & Crystal. A previouslawsuitfiled in July 2011 by the firm prompted theBLMto withdraw a similar plan to release hundreds of castrated wild stallions in two HMAs in Wyoming.

The complaint alleges that theBLM’s plan for the Pancake Complex violates the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the National EnvironmentalPolicyAct, and the Administrative Procedures Act. The complaint can be readhere.

About the PlaintiffsThe American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign)(AWHC) is a coalition of more than 45 horse advocacy, public interest, and conservation organizations dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage.

Western Watersheds Projectis a non-profit conservation group dedicated to protecting and restoring western watersheds and wildlife through education, public policy initiatives andlitigation. The group works to influence and improvepublic landsmanagement in 8 western states with a primary focus on the negative impacts of livestock grazing on 250,000,000 acres of westernpublic lands.

The Cloud Foundationis a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of wild horses and burros on our Westernpublic landswith a focus on protecting Cloud’s herd in the Pryor Mountains of Montana.