The BLM has agreed to postpone a plan to castrate hundreds of wild stallions in Nevada pending a federal court review.
After a coalition of conservationists and wild-horse defenders sued the government to block the plan's implementation a compromise was reached by both sides and approved by the court, the agency will be allowed to begin a long-term removal of wild horses from the Ely area beginning on January 12.
In response to the lawsuit, the agency also agreed to drop its plan to remove all mustangs in the Jakes Wash Herd Management Area within the 855,000-acre complex.
Wild horse proponents point out that the BLM has continued to authorize thousands of sheep and cattle to graze the public lands where the wild horses have lived for many years.
The law suit was filed on December 14, 2011, by the Western Watersheds Project, the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign and the Cloud Foundation and follows the BLM decision in July to back off a similar plan to castrate hundreds of wild stallions in Wyoming.
Activists complain the agency's ongoing removal of mustangs from public lands has resulted in the stock piling horses in long-term facilities in the Midwest at growing taxpayer expense.
Currently, more horses are in holding facilities than are free-roaming in Western states costing tax payers many millions in costs.