A group of wild horse advocates have asked a federal court to prevent the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from removing more than 800 horses from their ranges in Wyoming. However, authorities in that state might have something to say about the court action thanks to a long-standing consent decree between the Wyoming state government and the BLM.

In a complaint filed on July 25 in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, the Western Watersheds Project and the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC), along with advocates Donna and Greg Duckworth and Carol Walker, have asked the court to prevent the BLM from gathering horses from the White Mountain and Little Colorado Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in Wyoming and returning only geldings to the ranges.

Approximately 1,000 mustangs reside on the two HMAs combined, according to BLM spokeswoman Cindy Wertz. Appropriate Management Levels (AML) for the White Mountain HMA are between 205 and 300 animals, and between 69 and 100 animals for the Little Colorado HMA.

In June the BLM raised the ire of some wild horse advocates after announcing that beginning in August it would gather animals from the two ranges to reach an AML of 205 in the White Mountain HMA and about 69 in the Little Colorado HMA. Following the gather, the organization would release designated numbers of geldings and spayed mares back in the HMAs. Sterile herds would reside on both ranges