A Wyoming corporation is asking a federal court to order the Department of the Interior (DOI) to remove wild horses that have strayed from federal lands onto privately held properties.

The Rock Springs Grazing Association (RSGA) is a Wyoming corporation that owns and leases approximately one million acres of private land within the Wyoming Checkerboard, which consists of both public and private lands. The area includes the White Mountain and Little Colorado Herd Management Areas on which Bureau of Land Management (BLM) animals reside.

According to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming on July 27, a 1981 federal court order requires the BLM to remove wild animals that had strayed from herd management areas onto RSGA lands. However, the RSGA voluntarily agreed to allow 500 BLM animals on its properties.

The current lawsuit seeks the removal of all BLM-managed animals from RSGA lands on grounds that agency failed to comply with the 1981 agreement