The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has agreed to amend part of a contested plan to gather mustangs from herd management areas in central Nevada.

Under the plan the BLM would conduct three to four gathers over a six- to 10-year period from the Pancake Complex in order to reach appropriate management levels there. During the initial gather slated to begin on Jan. 12, the agency planned to remove approximately 800 to 1,000 of the estimated 2,200 mustangs residing in the Complex, including all the mustangs from the Jakes Walsh Herd Management Area. The plan also calls for increased fertility control use for mustang mares, the adjustment of herd sex ratios, and the castration of 200 wild stallions to create a nonbreeding herd of geldings.

On Dec. 14 a group of mustang welfare advocates and ecologists filed a federal lawsuit seeking a halt to the BLM’s plan on grounds that it violates the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971.

Chris Hanefeld, BLM Nevada spokesman, said that on Dec. 21 the agency agreed to amend the plan in order to give the court time to rule on the merits of the case