In 1971, Congress passed the
Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, (later codified at ,
et seq.) (WFRHBA). The act covered the management, protection and study of "unbranded and unclaimed horses and burros on public lands in the United States." The act requires the
Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of Agriculture to protect and manage wild horses as a component of public property of the United States. Free ranging horses are to be protected from "capture, branding, harassment, or death." The managing agencies are the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for
Interior and the
Forest Service (USFS) for
Agriculture. The state of
New Mexico challenged the federal government's authority to manage wild horses within the boundaries of New Mexico. A New Mexican rancher, Kelly Stephenson, found wild burros grazing on his land and on the federal land where he had a grazing permit. Stephenson complained to BLM, and when BLM refused to remove the burros, to the
New Mexico Livestock Board. The New Mexico Livestock Board, acting under state law then seized nineteen burros from federal land and sold them at public auction. The BLM asserted jurisdiction under the WFRHBA and demanded the return of the animals. New Mexico then filed suit in the
federal district court, claiming that the federal law was unconstitutional.
District court The case was heard by a three judge panel consisting of
Oliver Seth,
Edwin Mechem, and
Harry Payne. The panel declared the WFRHBA unconstitutional, stating that its authority was derived from the "territorial clause,"
Article IV of the
United States Constitution, but that animals do not become federal property simply by being on federal land. Citing cases where the federal government regulated deer populations based on damage to federal lands, but arguing that the WFRHBA presented no evidence that horses or burros were inflicting damage, the court enjoined the federal government from enforcing the Act, holding that the statute unconstitutionally exceeded the federal government's authority by protecting free-roaming horses and burros, rather than the land upon which they lived. ==Supreme Court==