“The Forest Service is not protecting the land and the native wildlife species that depend on it,” stated Robin Silver, the co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity.
The organization, along with other entities, is suing the U.S. Forest Service over the size of the Salt River wild horse herd that roams between 20,000 and 30,000 acres in the Tonto National Forest. The herd, which is currently estimated at just over 300 horses, is accused of eating up the vegetation that native endangered bird species eat and use as ground cover. The Center aims to decrease the herd to 50 horses.
Neotropical Songbirds, Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, Southwestern Willow Flycatchers, and the Yuma Clapper Rail, are the species the Center for Biological Diversity is most concerned with. This is the second attempt at a lawsuit, arguing plant life is limited in a desert ecosystem.
“A nonnative large grazing animal that’s doing just what cows do or sheep do... they take out the natural ground cover and so the native species can’t survive,” claimed Silver.
The Salt River Wild Horse Management Group, which is contracted to manage and maintain the herd, disagrees.
“They don’t put one single scientific study behind that. They can’t put any scientific evidence behind that, so it’s basically just their narrative,” argued Simone Netherlands, the president of the nonprofit group. “We believe the exact opposite. We believe that wild horses have a positive impact on their environment.”
The Department of Justice, which represents the U.S. Forest Service, is asking the court to dismiss the case. While the Center for Biological Diversity fights for a herd of 50, the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group says that number would make the herd inviable. The minimum number of horses in order to maintain a healthy herd, according to the organization, would be 200.
Netherlands stated the group is already working to decrease the size of the herd down to 200, with a birth control method, but the timeline will take an estimated 10 years to complete.
“We go out and we dart the mares. It’s just a dart, it pops in and out, we pick the dart back up and it makes it so the mare does not have a baby for one year. So we do have to do it again every year and it doesn’t make them infertile.”
The nonprofit says this lawsuit could prove deadly for the herd.
“Every horse rounded up is at risk for slaughter, and we don’t like that,” argued Netherlands. “It’s 2024 and we are proving that there’s a better way to manage wild horses in the wild.”
