Our team is working very hard and stretching as far as we can go. There has never been this level of legal challenges against BLM in the history of the program. This is not easy work. Unfortunately there isn’t “one case” we can bring to address all of the issues. In addition we also have to fight herd-by-herd (decision-by-decision) because that is the only way legal challenges are allowed.
A big thank you to our team members taking on this vital task!
Wild Horse Education spent this week fighting for wild horses in three different legal arenas (administrative appeals, Federal District Court, Ninth Circuit Court) while team members continue to track newly captive wild horses and range conditions in the field.
On Monday we filed a major brief in our case challenging the Juniper Mine expansion in Nevada, and by Friday we had also filed a new brief in the Carter Reservoir case and the first round of legal arguments in the Callaghan Complex administrative appeal. Over the weekend we are working on the first briefs due Monday in the Ninth Circuit to defend Stone Cabin/Saulsbury wild horses.
There will be news in other lawsuits as well coming next week.
In the Juniper Mine case, we are asking a federal court to overturn a decision that threw out our earlier challenge to the mine’s expansion in the Triple B Complex claiming we had no right to stand for wild horses facing a massive impact from a mine.. Our brief shows that Laura Leigh and Wild Horse Education have long‑standing, on‑the‑ground ties to the Triple B, Maverick‑Medicine, and the Cherry Springs Wild Horse Territory, and that the mine’s growth is already harming the lands and horses we document. We explain that the Interior Board of Land Appeals ignored key facts about how far these horses travel and failed to grapple with the mine’s cumulative impacts on habitat, future roundups, and the integrity of the Complex.This is the last set of briefs in this case. We now await the ruling of the court.
Callaghan Complex appeal
For the Callaghan Complex (Callaghan, South Shoshone, Bald Mountain, Hickison north of Highway 50, and North Shoshone), we filed a Notice of Appeal and Petition for Stay to stop BLM’s new “HMAP/Gather Plan” from going into effect while it is reviewed. The plan uses outdated, poorly supported “appropriate management level” numbers to justify deep removals across more than a million acres, and it tries to treat a short Environmental Assessment as both a long‑term management plan and a large‑scale gather decision. Our filing explains that BLM skipped required steps, lumped together areas that are not a true biological complex, refused to re‑evaluate old AMLs, and downplayed cumulative impacts from other uses on these shared public lands. Right now, BLM plans to remove over 5000 wild horses from these areas in central Nevada and all of the burros.
Carter Reservoir federal case
In the Carter case, we filed our response to the government’s motion to dismiss in federal court in California to challenge decades of decisions that have chipped away at habitat and numbers for the Carter Reservoir, Buckhorn, and Coppersmith herds. The complaint details how BLM shrank the original New Years Lake herd area, locked in extremely low AMLs that favor livestock, failed to ensure secure year‑round water, and then relied on those same numbers to justify a 2025 gather and population control plan that could permanently remove most Carter‑area mustangs. Together with local partners and individuals who know these horses by name, we are asking the court to halt the gather plan, set aside the faulty underlying decisions, and require BLM to re‑evaluate habitat, boundaries, and AMLs using honest science and full public disclosure.
Stone Cabin/Saulsbury goes to the Ninth Circuit!
Over the weekend we are working on the next chapter in the fight to protect the Stone Cabin and Saulsbury wild horses by taking our case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In this appeal, Laura Leigh and Wild Horse Education are asking the court to hold that BLM cannot treat Herd Management Area Plans for the Stone Cabin/Saulsbury Complex as optional paperwork while permanently removing wild horses under a gather plan. A case that reaches the Ninth Circuit matters far beyond one gather or one herd, because rulings from this court bind federal agencies and lower courts across the western states where most wild horses live. If the Ninth Circuit agrees that BLM must follow and meaningfully apply its own Stone Cabin HMAP before green‑lighting removals, that precedent will strengthen protections for every HMA in the region by making clear that wild horse planning documents are enforceable commitments, not empty promises.
Stone Cabin
USFS:
Our team is also working on other cases. We are reviewing the Administrative Record in Devil’s Garden (CA) before we enter the last phase of the fight to stop the 2025 plan that threatens to set the herd on the path of disappearing forever. Our attorney has also sent letters regarding the trapping set to begin at Heber (AZ).
Next week we will update you on burro centric cases we are working on. Pancake will also be in briefing as BLM moves to take 300 in a bait trap operation without waiting for the court to review the case.
Tassi-Gold could easily meet the criteria for wild burro Range
Every mile we travel to cover roundups or assess a herd, every court case we bring, every win, every action we take is only possible because of your support.
