Devils Garden Roundup to Begin in September

The Devil's Garden Wild Horse Territory in the Modoc National Forest near Alturas, California, is home to one of the state's largest and most robust wild horse populations.

However, like other herds, the Devils Garden horses are targeted by livestock grazing interests, which aim to minimize the number of mustangs on public lands to maximize livestock grazing at below-market, taxpayer-subsidized rates.

Several years ago, American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) teamed up with the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) and advocate Carla Bowers to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service. The lawsuit challenges plans to divide the Devils Garden Wild Horse Territory into two sections, which would create two non-intermingling herds too small to be genetically viable. Oral argument on the case is pending at the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Meanwhile, the USFS intends to round up and remove 200 wild horses from the Devils Garden Wild Horse Territory. Since these horses are under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service, they are not covered by the appropriations rider that prohibits the Bureau of Land Management from selling captured wild horses and burros for slaughter. After the roundup, the Devils Garden horses will be taken to the BLM's Litchfield holding corrals near Susanville, CA. If adoptive homes are not found, the Forest Service can legally sell them at a slaughter auction, where they may be purchased by kill buyers and transported for slaughter in Canada or Mexico.

Read about the Forest Service plans for the roundup here and here.