Bill that would let state control Salt River wild horses passes House panel

• Bill would assert state ownership over Salt River wild horses
• State officials could capture them for treatment or population control
• Horse advocates want federal government to preserve herds

Arizonans who last summer passionately defended the rights of wild or feral horses to roam the Salt River brought their protest to the statehouse Wednesday in opposition of a bill requiring the state to manage horse numbers and health.

They wore T-shirts depicting wild horses and insisted that the horses are grand symbols of the West, not livestock. That's how they say a bill passed by a House committee would treat them.

Most of the roughly 75 people who packed a hearing room wanted to see the 100 or so horses tromping along the river live undisturbed by veterinarians or auctioneers.

Some of the horse advocates insisted that the herd be left alone, even from roundups for vaccinations. Richard Bernard of Phoenix said the horses are part of God's creation and must be preserved.

"We will stand before our creator and we will give an account of what we did here with our public lands and resources," he said. "We don't need to demonize the horses."

They lost Wednesday's vote. But lawmakers assured them the bill was a "work in progress" and they were welcome to suggest improvements as it heads to the full House and Senate.

Arizona would assert ownership of the Salt River wild horse herd under House Bill 2340, approved 5-2 in the House's federalism and states' rights committee.

Last summer, the U.S. Forest Service announced it would round up the horses and sell them to protect the river and forest environment near Mesa. The resulting protests included calls from Arizona's congressional delegation, and federal land managers backed down.

Rep. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, introduced HB 2340 to authorize the state Animal Services Division to contract with a private entity or work with the Forest Service.

She also filed a companion bill, HB 2572, that would establish a committee to study the herd's environmental effects. Both bills advanced in committee Wednesday.

"These horses belong to the land," Townsend said. "They were here before us."

What's next for the Salt River horses?

Her intent is to ensure federal agents won't remove the horses, she said, and that the state's livestock experts can manage them. That would include vaccination and other veterinary care when needed, or population controls.

Most horse advocates in the room, though, opposed the bills because they want to keep up the pressure on federal land managers to preserve the herd.

They told the committee they fear that future state administrations could decide to eliminate the horses, and that there's no guarantee that potential state sales of excess horses won't go to those who intend to slaughter them.

"This bill does not protect the horses," said Simone Netherlands, a leader of the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group. "Kill buyers do not wear signs on their heads."

The horse advocates want federal recognition of the horses as a wild herd worthy of federal protections — something Townsend said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has rejected.

Barring that, Netherlands said, the Forest Service could be persuaded to manage the horses like other resources on the Tonto National Forest. Federal law requires a "multiple-use" approach, she said, and the horses should be treated as a recreational use.

Environmentalists, including the Maricopa Audubon Society, have argued that the horses chew up willow shoots and other vegetation important to endangered native species including the Southwestern willow flycatcher.

Technically the horses are in a legal blind spot, left unprotected under a 1971 federal horse management act because at the time they were considered feral bands instead of a long-established wild herd. Their removal by federal authorities could therefore be similar to removal of cattle illegally grazing on public lands, rather than managing them for a continuing presence.

Mesa marchers aim to keep Salt River horses free

Horse supporters said they believed federal officials could be pressured to maintain the herd. But Townsend said she wants to avoid federal roundups such as what the Bureau of Land Management conducts across the West. Those roundups frequently anger horse advocates who want the horses in the wild instead of at federal corrals.

Kate Dionne of Phoenix said she wants her 15-month-old daughter to grow up seeing the Salt River horses.  She said she supports the bill because she trusts the state to ensure that more than she trusts federal managers.

"If they are Arizona's horses, we need to take care of them," she said. "I don't want to see them left to fend for themselves."

Rep. Bob Thorpe, R-Flagstaff, backed the bill but said the state also should demand federal funds to reduce wild horse numbers statewide. He told of a friend's discovery of dozens of dead horses on the Navajo Reservation, evidently victims of starvation, and said horses and burros near the Grand Canyon have overgrazed the range.

"We have a statewide problem with feral horses," Thorpe said.

The "no" votes came from Rep. Darin Mitchell, R-Litchfield Park, and Rep. Ceci Velasquez, D-Litchfield Park. Mitchell said the bill could overburden the state's livestock officials; Velasquez agreed with horse advocates that a federal solution would be better.

Townsend amended the bill Wednesday to provide for a safe migration corridor around the river.