Judge: BLM Broke Law in Plan to Sterilize Idaho Wild Horses
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A federal judge says the U.S. Bureau of Land Management violated environmental law in its plan to sterilize a herd of wild horses in southwestern Idaho. U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge ruled last week the BLM failed to analyze consequences of the action and ordered the agency to reconsider its decision. Wild horse advocates who filed the lawsuit had also argued the BLM adopted a plan that failed to protect wild horses. However, Lodge said he wouldn't rule on whether or not the BLM violated the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act. Instead, he instructed the BLM to better articulate its reasoning for using sterilization. The BLM in 2015 released a plan for the Saylor Creek Herd Management Area that calls for wild horses to be sterilized and the herd to be kept between 50 and 200 horses. A BLM spokesman was not immediately available for comment.