By Barbara Liston, Reuters



(Reuters) - Wild horse advocates for the second time in two separate federal courts beat back an attempt on behalf of ranchers to force the federal government to thin the herd which competes with livestock for food and water on public land in the U.S. West.



Wins in two jurisdictions should deter ranching interests from adding to the four lawsuits making similar claims currently in the court system, said attorney William Eubanks of Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal in Washington, D.C., who intervened on behalf of horse interests in all four cases.



The horses are protected under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act as a "national esthetic resource." In the most recent decision, U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal in Wyoming on April 21 granted a motion to dismiss a lawsuit which had been filed by the state of Wyoming against the federal Bureau of Land Management. Wyoming unsuccessfully argued that the bureau had a duty to remove horses when their population exceeded an optimal number established by the agency. Wyoming complained that wild horses' consumption of forage was hurting the value of land which the state leases to livestock owners.



Freudenthal agreed with the bureau, American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign and other conservationists that the bureau is not required to act just because the population of wild horses surpasses the optimal number.

Eubanks said the bureau had wide discretion to consider a host of current conditions, including precipitation and availability of forage in deciding whether to remove horses. "This court lacks both expertise and information to resolve whether it is necessary to remove any or all of the wild horses to preserve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance and a multiple-use relationship" on the federal land, Freudenthal wrote.



Similarly, on March 13 in the U.S. District Court in Nevada, Judge Miranda Du agreed with horse interests that she lacked jurisdiction to order the bureau to remove horses. Eubanks said plaintiffs in the Nevada case, which included ranchers and several counties, have appealed Du's dismissal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Wyoming's lead attorney did not respond immediately to a request for comment on whether the state would appeal. A third similar federal lawsuit filed on behalf of ranchers in another part of Nevada is pending before Du. A fourth case is pending in Utah, Eubanks said.



The 2015 population of wild horses and burros was estimated by the bureau at 49,209 over 32 million acres of public land in 10 western states, according to the agency website. The case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming is State of Wyoming v. U.S. Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management, Case No. 14-0248.



For plaintiffs: Blake Anthony Klinkner and Michael James McGrady of Wyoming's attorney general's office.



For intervenors: William Eubanks and Caitlin Zittkowski of Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal in Washington D.C., and Timothy Kingston for American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, Cloud Foundation, Return to Freedom and to individuals; Jennifer Barnes and Michael Ray Harris of Friends of the Animals, and Megan Hayes of Corthell & King for Friends of the Animals and Protect Mustangs

For respondents: Alison Finnegan of the U.S. Department of Justice, and Nicholas Vassallo of the U.S. Attorney's office.

Originally Posted By Reuters