Victory for Salt River Wild Horses: Court Rejects CBD's Latest Attempt to Undermine Protections

The Center for Biological Diversity has twice sued the U.S. Forest Service seeking to overturn agreements that provide for the humane management of the Salt River wild horses and burros. The CBD’s goal is the removal of the horses from the Tonto National Forest near Phoenix despite the state law protecting them. 

Twice in the last two years, the federal court in Arizona has dismissed the CBD’s lawsuits as meritless. Both times AWHC and the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group filed to intervene in the cases, bringing important information to support dismissal to the court’s attention. 

In the latest twist, CBD petitioned the court to alter or amend its August 2024 decision to dismiss the CBD’s most recent lawsuit, which alleged that the management of the Salt River horses is negatively impacting three endangered species - the southwestern willow flycatcher, the yellow-billed cuckoo, and the yuma clapper rail. In response, AWHC & the SRWHMG filed a friend of the court brief arguing against reconsideration and documenting that the management of the horses could not impact these species because their critical habitat areas are located miles away from the Salt River wild horse herd area. 

Earlier this week, the court rejected CBD’s latest motion! We’re grateful to our attorney Randall Weiner for his work defending the Salt River wild horses from the CBD’s attacks. Kudos also to Tandin Chapman, AWHC’s own Utah Conservation Manager, who compiled the map showing clearly that the Salt River wild horses’ habitat was nowhere near the critical areas of concern for the endangered bird species CBD claimed they were harming. 

AWHC fought hard along SRWHMG for the protections the Salt River wild horses now enjoy. This includes lobbying for state legislation to protect them via a bill that was signed into law by then-Governor Doug Ducey in May 2016.  

AWHC and SRWHMG hope that CBD will now stop spending donor dollars on spurious lawsuits trying to undermine state law and eradicate this iconic  wild horse herd that is beloved by the public and an important ecotourism resource for this area.