Oregon court limits horse removals as Wyoming gather gets underway
A federal judge has restricted BLM’s proposed emergency wild-horse gather at Riddle Mountain in Oregon, while a separate Wyoming operation has begun reporting removals.
U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut’s October 15 preliminary injunction prevents the Oregon gather from reducing the Riddle Mountain population below 278 horses. The order expressly permits gathering horses above that threshold.
Oregon Wild Horse Organization, Central Oregon Wild Horse Coalition and Western Watersheds Project challenged the operation. The court found serious questions about the scientific foundation for the herd’s management level, alleged predetermination under the National Environmental Policy Act and analysis of genetic effects. BLM argued that damage from the Bald Mountain wildfire justified emergency action.
The underlying case remains unresolved. The order applies to this operation; it does not establish a nationwide population minimum or change livestock grazing authorizations. The immediate management question is how BLM will protect forage, water and the burned landscape while complying with the injunction.
In Wyoming, BLM’s October 16 Red Desert Complex report lists 133 horses gathered, none shipped or released, and one stallion euthanized because of what the agency describes as a pre-existing limb deformity. The fall operation targets approximately 1,035 horses. BLM identifies Wheatland as the updated holding destination.
New Crow water law expands project flexibility—and leaves operating costs with the Tribe
President Donald Trump signed legislation October 15 amending the Crow Tribe’s 2010 water-rights settlement. The measure, S. 240, changes how designated settlement funds can support water infrastructure on the Montana reservation.
The law replaces the previous municipal, rural and industrial system framework with broader project authority. Eligible uses include planning, permitting, construction, rehabilitation, operation and repair of water-production, treatment, delivery and wastewater infrastructure.
After notifying Interior that the specified reservation projects are complete, the Crow Tribe may use remaining account funds to purchase reservation land with water rights.
The law keeps infrastructure ownership, control and operation with the Tribe. It also explicitly states that the federal government has no obligation to pay for project operation, maintenance or replacement.
That combination creates greater flexibility and a long-term financial responsibility. The practical results will depend on which projects the Tribe selects, available funding and how recurring costs are covered. The law’s enactment alone does not establish that additional water has reached households or agricultural operations.
Lamb-import investigation enters its next evidence round
The U.S. International Trade Commission’s October 16 lamb-import injury hearing brings producers and the meat trade to another consequential deadline: October 23.
That is the deadline for injury-phase post-hearing briefs and qualifying written statements from people who have not entered the investigation as parties.
The investigation asks whether increased lamb-meat imports are a substantial cause of serious injury, or threatened serious injury, to the domestic industry. Its scope covers fresh, chilled and frozen lamb meat, excluding live sheep and lambs and mature sheep meat, or mutton.
The Commission’s published schedule calls for an injury determination by November 13. A remedy hearing is scheduled for December 1 if the Commission makes an affirmative injury determination or is equally divided. Its report to the president is due January 11, 2027.
For sheep producers, processors and importers, the next stage is about the evidence: import volumes, prices, domestic production and the factors affecting industry losses. The hearing itself does not impose new trade restrictions.
Mi’kmaq Nation agreement supports maple production and flexible conservation funding
A $108,000 conservation agreement will support improvements to the Mi’kmaq Nation’s maple operation in northern Maine.
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service announced the agreement October 16, following its signing at the Nation’s Presque Isle headquarters on September 30.
The five-year Alternative Funding Arrangement, supported through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, covers energy improvements to sap-boiling equipment, management of maple stands and access for collecting and transporting sap.
Chief Sheila McCormack said the arrangement provides flexibility and earlier access to funding than traditional EQIP contracting. NRCS describes it as its first such agreement with a tribal nation in Maine.
The project connects food sovereignty with the practical economics of a working forest: energy use, access and production. Whether the arrangement delivers lower costs, greater output and fewer administrative delays will become clearer as improvements are completed.
Wisconsin weighs how to divide wolf-loss compensation if funding runs short
Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources scheduled an October 16 Wolf Advisory Committee meeting to review a proposed approach to prorating wolf-depredation compensation claims when funding is insufficient.
The discussion concerns proposed rule NH-10-26(E). Proration would raise the prospect that eligible claimants receive a proportion of their approved compensation when available funds cannot cover the total.
For producers, that distinction is important because having a loss recognized and receiving full compensation are separate financial questions.
The public notice establishes the proposal and scheduled discussion. It does not establish that the rule has been adopted, that funding is currently insufficient, or that any producer’s payment has been reduced.
The next documents to watch are the proposed formula, the committee’s feedback and any subsequent rulemaking action.
Colorado River Indian Tribes press for protection of senior water rights
Colorado River Indian Tribes leaders are warning against shortage-sharing approaches they say could weaken the legal priority protecting their water.
At an October 14 Ten Tribes Partnership meeting, described in an October 16 tribal media account, Chairwoman Amelia Flores called for meaningful tribal participation in Colorado River decisions.
CRIT water attorney John Bezdek argued that proportional reductions appearing in federal planning alternatives could undermine senior rights protected by the Supreme Court decree and federal reserved-water-rights doctrine.
The account also reports an important qualification: Bezdek said CRIT’s objections helped secure federal acknowledgment that shortages would be addressed through voluntary agreements or, without them, the existing priority system.
Those are CRIT’s reported positions and account of the federal response; they do not establish a new reduction in the Tribes’ allocation or a court finding against Reclamation.
CRIT’s account also identifies modernization of its aging irrigation system as a continuing concern.