{"id":79326,"date":"2025-05-02T14:50:47","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T18:50:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.saltriverwildhorsemanagementgroup.org\/?p=79326"},"modified":"2025-05-19T18:01:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T22:01:00","slug":"whats-happening-with-the-salt-river-wild-horses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.saltriverwildhorsemanagementgroup.org\/?p=79326","title":{"rendered":"WHAT’S HAPPENING with the Salt River Wild Horses?"},"content":{"rendered":"

🔹 WHAT’S HAPPENING with the Salt River Wild Horses? This is a picture of the vote for the Salt River Horse Act and a picture of the signing of it; note that Forest Supervisor Neil Bosworth was there, he actually has been an upstanding man of his word ever since… however, he is retiring and the AZDA has new management also. For those of you just catching up, here is the synopsis we want you to share:<\/p>\n

📰👉The Salt River wild horses are some of the most cherished animals in Arizona \u2014 symbols of freedom, history, and the Wild West. They roam 20,000 acres of the Tonto National Forest (TNF) and are loved by families, photographers, veterans, tourists, schoolchildren and well, everyone.<\/p>\n

In 2015, when they were threatened with removal, we sounded the alarm and the public rose up in one of the most powerful outpourings of support in state history. Tens of thousands of Arizonans spoke out, and as a result, the Arizona Legislature passed the Salt River Horse Act in 2016 with near-unanimous, bipartisan support. Even the U.S. Forest Service supported the legislation \u2014 Tonto National Forest (TNF) Supervisor Neil Bosworth personally attended the signing of the bill (see picture) and later co-signed the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) that put the law into effect in 2018.<\/p>\n

That law was clear: Salt River wild horses may only be removed for humane reasons \u2014 such as injury or suffering \u2014 not for population control.
\nThe law states in Subsection B:<\/p>\n

\u201cA person shall not interfere with, take, chase, capture, or euthanize a horse that is part of the Salt River horse herd without written authorization from either the department or the county sheriff. The department or the county sheriff may provide written authorization pursuant to this subsection only for humane purposes.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And in Subsection G, it further clarifies:<\/p>\n

\u201cA Salt River horse is not stray livestock as defined in section 3-1401 and is not subject to sections 3-1371 and 3-1402.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This was added as a double safety feature, so that there would be no law or rule under wich healthy wild horses can be removed. We always said, the Salt River wild horses are not safe, because all it takes is a change in leadership, be it at the Forest Service or the AZDA. So, here we are again, their protection is in jeopardy, here’s how:<\/p>\n

The Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) has issued a new proposal requiring the removal of three healthy adult horses for every foal born \u2014 a move that could wipe out the herd, especially if a new contractor would fail the fertility control program.<\/p>\n

The Salt River Wild Horse Management Group \u2014 a nonprofit operating with over 100 trained volunteers \u2014 has managed this herd humanely, successfully, and at zero cost to taxpayers for nearly a decade:<\/p>\n