Salt River Wild Horses Still in Jeopardy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASES
CONTACT: Simone Netherlands, President, SRWHMG, 928-925-7212

October 20 2015

Salt River Wild Horse Lawsuit Dropped in Effort to Create Public/Private Partnership

Phoenix, Arizona (October 20, 2015) — Based on recent statements by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) that it has NO current plans to round up the Salt River wild horses in the Tonto National Forest, the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group (SRWHMG), dismissed its lawsuit against the agency without prejudice, meaning that it can be refiled at any time. The lawsuit was filed to block the USFS’s plan to round up the horses, which was first announced by the USFS in their July 31 Notice to Impound.

The USFS has agreed to regularly meet with the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group (SRWHMG) to work in good faith toward establishing a long-term, humane plan for the horses. The agency has also committed to providing the Management Group with sufficient notice prior to any agency action to remove horses.

“We have dismissed our lawsuit as a sign of good faith and to promote further negotiations,” said Simone Netherlands, president of the SRWHMG. “It is and has always been our intent to work with Forest Service officials, not against. Although the horses are not safe yet, the USFS intent has changed from roundup and removal, to discussing and exploring options to protect the horses.”

The attorney for the Management Group, William A Miller explained, “As a roundup is no longer planned, there is no agency decision to challenge in court, but should the wrong decision be made in the future we can refile the lawsuit.”

“The Salt River Wild Horse Management Group is based locally, and our many members and volunteers are prepared to undertake the hard work necessary to keep the Salt River wild horses right where they belong,” Netherlands concluded, “in the wild”.

###The Salt River Wild Horse Management Group is an Arizona-based nonprofit organization established to preserve, monitor and scientifically study the Salt River Wild Horses. For almost 20 years, the group has maintained records of each wild horse and has presented the US Forest Service with a proposal to humanely manage their population numbers, while maintaining the herd’s genetic viability.