The Bureau of Land Management recently announced plans to catch wild horses in California to keep them safe.

The Bureau said it sees the horses as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West.”

“These horses are a safety hazard to high-speed traffic on the highway and are themselves in danger,” Craig Drake, manager of the BLM Applegate Field Office, said in a release. “We must take action to protect public health and safety and to protect the animals.”

In Wyoming, the BLM has enacted a similar practice and has captured 2,383 wild horses, a wild horse protection advocacy group said.

The American Wild Horse Campaign called for action, after the BLM released less than 60 horses back to the wild in Wyoming.

“In its attempt to hide from the public that too many horses are being removed from the Salt Wells Creek HMA and too few are being returned to their homes, the Bureau of Land Management once again proves that the public cannot trust them to follow their protocols or to protect and properly manage the wild horses in their care,” Carol Walker, a wild horse photographer who has been observing the round-up, said in a release from the AWHC.

Up to 25 wild horses may be removed from the Carter Reservoir Herd Management Area east of Cedarville, California, because the animals are roaming along State Route 299, looking for food and water, putting themselves and drivers in danger.

The horses will be rounded up with a bait and water trap - a gated corral that closes after the horses enter. They will also be placed in private ownership through the BLM adoption and sales program.