The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California has granted a preliminary injunction halting a planned federal roundup of wild horses in northeastern California. The legal order, issued by United States District Judge William B. Shubb, blocks the Bureau of Land Management from removing wild horses from three specific areas.
The court decision directly halts the scheduled September 2026 gathers across the Carter Reservoir, Buckhorn, and Coppersmith Herd Management Areas. The federal agency had previously planned to remove 470 wild horses from the Carter Reservoir area, 273 from the Buckhorn area, and 113 from the Coppersmith area between September 1 and September 30, 2026.
In the official memorandum and order, the court concluded that the plaintiffs showed a likelihood of success on the merits under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. The court found that the federal agency relied on an assumed annual population growth rate to justify the removal, despite its own environmental assessment showing that actual herd growth rates had departed significantly from that figure and had even been negative in recent years.
The legal challenge also addressed older management decisions, pointing out that population limits were based on planning documents dating back to 1981. The court noted that the Bureau of Land Management reduced the Carter Reservoir management acreage in 1985 without clear analysis or discussion while leaving the herd limits unchanged, allowing plaintiffs to challenge those older decisions as part of their current lawsuit.
The preliminary injunction requires that federal defendants stop the implementation of the 2025 Gather Plan for these specific herd management areas pending further legal proceedings. The plaintiffs in the case include Carter Reservoir Mustangs, Inc., Wild Horse Education, and individual advocates, who are all represented by the California-based firm Greenfire Law, PC.
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