Wyoming Lawsuit

On August 1, 2014, The Cloud Foundation, American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, Return to Freedom, Carol Walker, Board Member of Wild Horse Freedom Federation and Kimerlee Curyl filed a lawsuit to stop BLM's proposed roundup of more than 800 wild horses from the Adobe Town, Salt Wells Creek and Divide Basin Herd Management Areas in Wyoming. The roundup had been scheduled to begin on August 20, 2014, but has been postponed as a result of the lawsuit until at least Sept. 1.

September 10, 2014: The Court of Appeals denied our emergency motion (see below). The Court did not address any of our arguments but simply issued a one sentence decision stating that “We conclude that Petitioners-Appellants have not shown that the balance of these factors favors granting the motion.”

Even though both the District Court and the Tenth Circuit denied the emergency motions seeking to stop the roundup in the Wyoming Checkerboard, the case will still proceed to merits after the roundup occurs.

On March 3, 2015, U.S. District Court of Wyoming Chief Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal issued an order stating that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it conducted a massive “Checkerboard Roundup” last fall. The Court remanded the NEPA violation back to the BLM to "remedy the deficiencies" while at the same time denied Plaintiffs' claims that the BLM, in the Wyoming roundup, violated the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA)

Legal Documents Related to this Matter:

Complaint - 8/1/2014
Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and/or Preliminary Injunction
Memorandum in Support of Motion
Opposition to State of Wyoming's Motion to Intervene
Emergency Injunction - 8/28/2014
Denial of a Motion for a Preliminary Injunction - 8/28/2014
Appellants' Rule 8(a) Emergency Motion for an Injunction Pending Appeal - 9/2/2014
Order Vacating Order to Grant Emergency Stay - 9/3/2014
Decision Denying Emergency Motion - 9/10/2014
Notice From Government Regarding Roundup - 10/14/2014
Declaration of Gavin Lovell - 10/14/2014
Motion to Intervene 1/5/2015
Petitioner’s Reply Brief 2/3/2015
Memorandum Decision and Order Affirming BLM's Actions Under WHA and FLPMA and Remanding BLM's Actions Under NEPA 3/3/2015
Petitioner's Opening Brief 11/20/15