The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated federal law by failing to assess whether changes to wild horse management plans met the statutory requirement of maintaining a thriving ecological balance under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. The government acknowledged it did not make any findings regarding the ecological balance, which the court found to be a legal oversight.

As a result, the court sent the case back to a Wyoming district court to determine the appropriate remedy. The decision highlights the necessity for BLM to properly evaluate and document the ecological impacts of its wild horse management strategies, which involve managing horses across a mix of private and public lands.