This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Wild horse advocates are asking a federal judge in Salt Lake City to dismiss a lawsuit by Utah ranchers seeking immediate removal of wild horses from the public range.

In a filing in U.S. District Court Tuesday, the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, The Cloud Foundation, Return to Freedom, and two individuals argue the Bureau of Land Management has not determined there are excess wild horses, and is under no obligation to remove them if there are too many.

Utah photographer John Steele and Lisa Friday, who adopts wild horses, are among the advocates making the argument against the Western Rangeland Conservation Association and 12 ranchers in southwestern and central Utah.

The ranchers and the association they formed with the help of Iron and Beaver counties, as well as the Utah Farm Bureau Federation and the national Public Lands Council, filed suit against the BLM last April. They want a judge to order the BLM to control the burgeoning number of wild horses that share the range with their cattle and sheep.

The lawsuit alleges the BLM has failed to comply with the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971 by not controlling the number of wild horses on BLM rangeland as well as on private and state lands.

Ranges are deteriorating as wildlife, horses and livestock compete for scarce grasses, brush and water, the ranchers claim.

Horse advocates, however, say in their new filing that the plaintiffs' claims "simply amount to attempts to elevate their private interests in grazing their livestock on public lands at BLM's discretion above the public's interest in ensuring BLM protects and preserves wild horses on the range."

BLM attorneys responded to the lawsuit last month, pointing mostly to laws, rules and environmental documents as reasons it should not be compelled to immediately remove wild horses.

The agency, however, did deny that damage to the range was caused by excess wild horses.

The case is assigned to Judge Dee Benson.

Twitter: @KristenMoulton