Posted on 08/04/2015 7:19:42 AM PDT by originalbuckeye
If you're lucky enough, you'll catch a glimpse of them while traveling along the Salt River or visiting Saguaro Lake. The Salt River wild horses offer visitors an awe inspiring view, one that's in danger of being erased.
The beloved Salt River wild horses are being removed from the place they have called home for decades and may even face death, according to a notice from the Tonto National Forest.
The forest service says it will begin removal of the more than 100 horses on Aug. 7, stating they are "unauthorized livestock" and therefore cannot be there.
The removal will continue for an entire year, so as horses migrate to forest service land from nearby reservations, they will be removed.
"This may be the last footage we're ever going to get," said Simone Netherlands, president of the Salt River Wild Horses Management Group.
Netherlands and other volunteers have tracked and researched the herd of horses for years, on Monday a group of 10 to 15 were hanging around Saguaro Lake.
"This is an absolutely inhumane thing that our government is planning," Netherlands said.
This week the group was devastated to learn the Forest Service was planning to round up the herd for removal.
The horses were never given a wild horse territory and therefore aren't protected by federal law. The U.S. Forest Service also isn't allowed to manage them so the animals are considered unauthorized livestock.
According to a public notice issued this week, if the horses aren't claimed by their owners, who will need to provide proof of ownership, by August 7, they can be captured, auctioned off and even disposed of.
"They're going to kill them, that's what disposed of means," Netherlands said.
The full notice from the forest service states:
"Any unauthorized horses. May be impounded by the United States Forest Service on or after 8/07/2015, unless said livestock is permanently removed from the above described lands.
"After the impoundment, owners of unauthorized livestock may regain possession thereof only by first showing proof of ownership and reimbursing the United States in full for the expense incurred in impounding, feeding, and caring of such livestock, or if impoundment costs exceed fair market value, by a payment equal to the fair market value of the impounded livestock. All impounded animals not redeemed withing 5 days after notice of sale of impounded livestock has been published in a local newspaper, posted in the county court house and in one or more local post offices, will be offered for sale at public auction.
"Livestock not sold at public sale may be sold at private sale or condemned and destroyed, or otherwise disposed of as provided by Regulations 36 CFR 262.10(f)."
The forest service says the horses appear on lands within the boundaries of the Mesa Ranger District in the Tonto National Forest but it is unclear where the horses originated from. It's been an issue of debate - supporters say the horses have been in the forest and on the land for hundreds of years, but the forest service says the animals have wandered from nearby properties.
A representative from the Tonto National Forest Service told 12 News the agency isn't authorized to manage the horses and removing them is for public safety. The spokesperson cited highway accidents involving horses and also said because the animals are known to frequent a popular recreation area, they fear visitors will end up getting hurt. So far, no injuries have been reported.
The representative went on to say the last thing anyone at the Forest Service wants is for the horse to end up in a situations where they could be killed.
They added that while the public notice listed this Friday as a deadline for the removal process, the U.S. Forest Service has no intentions to begin a roundup that day and have up to a year to finalize plans.
Lake goers 12 News spoke with on Monday seemed surprised that the forest service wanted to remove them.
"They're just peaceful, I think they're pretty, not worth getting rid of them," said Kirsten Bluth who was with her family at the lake.
"I haven't seen them running around kicking cars or anything, so they'll be fine," Jacob Bluth said.
The Salt River Wild Horses Management Group and other advocates have been fighting the roundup for the past few years. They say they were hoping the government would choose a more humane option or at least work with them on ways to allow the horses to stay with population control.
"It's madness, it's madness," Netherlands said. "That attitude has to change before there are none left."
The group created a Change.org petition in an effort to stop the forest service from removing the horses.
Yeah, when they auction off the horses they round up, the only ones worth buying are the young ones or the pregnant mares. The adults definitely are wild and are quite dangerous to attempt to work with. Since they haven’t been around humans, they’d just as soon kill a man if they can’t run away. I think most end up at rendering plants. Some people get all emotional about the romantic image of feral livestock, and because of those laws passed, frequently a rancher who has paid for an allotment for his cattle can’t do anything about the mustangs eating all the feed. Many years ago I seriously considered buying some of these animals through the BLM adoption program. They had some fairly strict requirements regarding the conditions needed for their new home. The reason I passed on the idea was because these animals are very difficult to tame, but not only that, they are all inbred with not so desireable traits. Many people don’t relize all the problems created by these feral animals, primarily the issues of overgrazing, both competing for food with native species and in other areas, livestock too. Then there’s the original issue of the article: destroying the riparian areas through overgrazing. There’s just not enough food for some of these herds.
Monroe was a fox, but watching that film, and the fact that she was, by today's standards, bottom heavy, shows how much damage Twiggy did to our culture.
The other star was Montgomery Clift, I think. He is allegedly to have been a homosexual at a time when they had the good sense to keep it concealed.
Man. I miss those days.
As soon as I read the name Marylin Monroe coupled with the term “bottom heavy”, my mind began a detour and it never got back on track to finish the article.
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