A federal judge decided Friday not to rein in the roundup and capture of wild horses in eastern Nevada, rejecting advocates’ claims the federal government was “needlessly and recklessly” killing free-roaming mustangs in violation of U.S. law.

With a little more than four weeks to go for federal land managers to complete what they call a drought-prompted “gather” near the Utah state line, U.S. District Judge Miranda Du said she wasn’t convinced groups trying to stop the process would win their underlying lawsuit.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management insists it must round up the mustangs before the end of February — one of several operations scheduled on an expedited basis due to historically dry conditions on the Western range.