Conservation group calls for return of wild horses captured by BLM

CHEYENNE (WNE) — The American Wild Horse Conservation on Tuesday sent a formal letter to the Bureau of Land Management condemning the agency’s 2024 roundup in Wyoming’s White Mountain Herd Management Area, which reduced the wild horse population to just 79 animals — more than 60% below the legally mandated Appropriate Management Level, the group said.

AWHC is demanding that the BLM take immediate corrective action by returning at least 126 wild horses to the HMA to restore genetic health and bring the population into legal compliance.

“This is not just a misstep — it’s a violation of federal law and a direct threat to the future of the White Mountain herd,” said Suzanne Roy, AWHC’s executive director. “BLM’s own data shows that the current population is not only far below AML, but below the minimum threshold needed to sustain genetic diversity.”

The White Mountain HMA is in the Wyoming checkerboard, an area where the BLM has set in motion a plan to eliminate more than 1 million acres of wild horse habitat on federal public lands in Wyoming and that would eradicate over 3,000 wild horses from the area.

AWHC has been litigating over the BLM’s attempts to eliminate Wyoming’s wild horses for over a decade. In March, Eubanks and Associates argued against the plan at the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. AWHC is still awaiting a decision in that case.

AWHC’s letter cites binding legal precedent and the BLM’s own Resource Management Plan to demand that the agency return the White Mountain herd to at least its minimum AML of 205 horses.

The organization has given the BLM until April 29 to present a plan of action. If not, AWHC plans to explore all options to rectify this situation, including emergency legal action, to bring BLM into compliance with federal law.

This story was published on April 26, 2025.