PHOENIX — A lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service that claimed the wild horses at Salt River were destroying the habitats of endangered species, and the forest service wasn't doing enough to prevent it, has been dismissed.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix in April 2023 by a coalition of conservationists including the Center for Biological Diversity, Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation, and Arizona Wildlife Federation. It claimed there are too many horses living in the area to be sustainable and there was not enough food for the horses to survive on their own.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Desestimada demanda en contra del Servicio de Bosques de EE. UU. por caballos salvajes de Salt River
“They are eating everything and anything they possibly can because there is no nutrient-value food out there for them currently,” John Koleszar with the Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation previously told 12News.
About 400 horses roam 20,000 acres in Tonto National Forest.
The lawsuit was dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Phoenix Division in December, according to a press release from the American Wild Horse Campaign.
“We commend the USFS Tonto National Forest for filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and for continuing to work with the state on the humane management of these beloved wild horses,” said Simone Netherlands, president of the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group. “The court's decision will allow us to continue to manage and care for the Salt River wild horses, who are beloved by the Arizona public and an important part of our state’s history.”
When previously asked by 12News about population control, Netherlands said she believes there is plenty of land for horses and other wildlife. Her group has implemented a fertility program, where licensed volunteers shoot horses with darts that make them unable to reproduce for a year.
The goal is to get to below 200 wild horses within ten years.