The U.S. Forest Service plans to step up its assault on the Devil's Garden wild horse herd in California's Modoc National Forest. Its years-long battle against these historic wild horses began in 2012, when the agency attempted to reduce the size of their habitat by 22,000-acres. We went to court and we won. Pursuant to an appellate court ruling, the Forest Service must consider those 22,000 acres as an active part of the horses' habitat. 

Now, the Forest Service has released an “AML Implementation Plan” that is only being sent to “stakeholders”. The plan reduces the Devil's Garden wild horse population to just 206-402 mustangs (down from 1,900 today) to achieve an “Appropriate” Management Level that was set based on the illegal elimination of 22,000 acres of the horses' habitat. The plan does not evaluate the appropriate population size for the larger habitat and is based on the policy of allocating most of the forage in the area to commercial livestock. Indeed, the agency permits an incredible 3,700 privately-owned cows and 2,900 privately-owned sheep to graze in the mustangs' habitat! And if all of that wasn't enough, the Forest Service has rejected our offer to implement a humane fertility control program to actually manage the horses effectively in the wild, instead of relentlessly rounding them up with helicopters, penning them, and selling them for $1 apiece. 

AWHC is considered a stakeholder with the ability to comment on this plan, but we represent all of you — the American people — and believe that you should also have a say. So please join us in signing onto our letter opposing this inhumane and expensive management plan.