The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has affirmed the district court’s ruling granting summary judgment for the U.S. Forest Service in its decision to approve the Ochoco Herd Management Plan.
The court rejected all of the plaintiffs’ claims according to the January 3 ruling, allowing the plan to go forward.
The agency is currently renovating a facility near Prineville that will house wild horses removed from the WHT.
Although the case cited the availability of winter forage as the limiting factor in setting the AML, there was no discussion of the forage assigned to livestock in the Reservoir Allotment, which overlaps most of the WHT.
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Western Horse Watchers Association 