Coalition Sues Over Decimating Wild Horse Protections

Wild Horse Protections Under Threat: Coalition Takes Legal ActionWild Horse Protections Under Threat: Coalition Takes Legal Action

A coalition of groups has filed a lawsuit to stop the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) from eliminating thousands of acres of protected territory for wild horses, the largest area of its kind in California. This legal action, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, aims to prevent the USFS from rounding up nearly 80 percent of the wild horses in northeast California near the Oregon border, many of which could face slaughter.

In August 2013, the USFS authorized a decision to eliminate more than 25,000 acres of wild horse territory that has been protected since 1971 under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. This area, known as Devil’s Garden Wild Horse Territory in northeast California’s Modoc National Forest, has been home to wild horses for over 150 years.

According to the coalition, the USFS failed to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for their 2013 decision. The current horse population is about 1,100, and the USFS's plan would remove about 900, the lawsuit alleges. They also claim that if the protections are stripped, horses will be rounded up, separated from their families, and likely sold for slaughter in Mexico and Canada.

Horse advocates argue that the plan is supported by livestock ranchers who wish to use the land for cattle grazing. The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation) states:

The Devils Garden Plateau WHT is currently used by 10 different private ranchers who are permitted to graze the annual equivalent of 2,240 cow/calf pairs; actual use averaged 1,546 cow/calf pairs during 2006-2011. In 2012, the USFS increased private livestock grazing, bringing the annual equivalent of livestock on the WHT up to 1,605 cow/calf pairs.

“Wildlife depend upon federal agencies for protection; instead, the Forest Service is protecting the private interests of ranchers,” Stephen Wells, executive director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, said in a press release. “Wild horses have a historical right to territories designated and protected by acts of Congress.”

The coalition includes the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation), the Return to Freedom horse sanctuary, and advocate Carla Bowers.

Originally posted by The Dodo

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