Ruling preventing Idaho horse herd sterilization appealed

BOISE – The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is appealing a federal court ruling preventing the sterilizing of a herd of wild horses in southwestern Idaho.

The notice filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Idaho challenges a ruling in September ordering the BLM to revise its 2015 plan.

The plan calls for sterilizing the herd and replenishing it with wild horses captured elsewhere to maintain a herd of up to 200 horses.

The federal court ruled in September that the plan violated a requirement that the herd be able to produce healthy foals.

Wild horses far exceed U.S. government population goals, and officials say the herds can face starvation. Captured horses are offered for adoption, but 46,000 are being held at government corrals and pastures costing taxpayers $50 million annually.