PHOENIX (AP) – State and federal agencies have reached an agreement on the management of a herd of wild horses living near Arizona’s Salt River.
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office officially approved a partnership Thursday between the Arizona Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service. The pact fully enacts legislation signed by Gov. Doug Ducey in May 2016 making it illegal to harass, shoot, kill or slaughter a horse that is part of the herd.
State Rep. Kelly Townsend, who sponsored the legislation, said Friday that now people can continue enjoying the horses knowing they are protected.
About 100 horses are in the herd that has historically lived around the lower Salt River and Saguaro Lake east of Phoenix.
ABC 15 Phoenix, Posts a YouTube Video About the 6 Secrets and Myths of the Salt River Horses
Shake, Rattle & Troll is about FACTS: Like most left wing media outlets, truths are not a part of the dialog and what’s presented is intended to sway to public along the lines of “those poor animals”. After you watch this video, the Facts vs Fiction are outlined point by point below. ABC15 got ONE right.
#5 & 6: They’re not wild animals they’re feral livestock. This is humorous at best and deceitful at worst. I don’t disagree that the Spaniards brought them in the 1600’s and have called the Lower Salt River home since the 1800’s, thus they were fair trade to the Indians and when the Conquistador’s withdrew, the Indians took control of the horse. In about 1871 the Indian reservation was establish and so went the horses with the Indians. The Salt River basin has been part of the reservation system and would suggest the livestock escaped the reservation and have been running feral along the Salt River Fort Apache Indian Reservation ever since.
Last Count There are 430 horses along the Salt River!
#4: Of course there’s valve in manure anyone can see and smell the benefit along the river banks and campgrounds, heck you can even step in it.
Yes, Horses do drop a lot of manure. Horses are stripping away forage at an incredible rate. In the desert, Burros hoard water holes and are a menace to other wildlife. Horses will soon become that way in the Salt River area. Why isn’t the Audubon Society enraged with the lack of action?
#3: Let’s be clear, Bald Eagles are wildlife and have been nesting in the wild long before the horses arrived. The Eagles don’t have a choice and will inhabit anywhere suitable to them not because of the horses. Frankly, the eagles just don’t care; In Dutch Harbor the eagles are nesting on the dock! What no horses?
The relationship between Eagles and horses is non-existent. There is no relationship. That’s like saying there is a relationship between elk, deer, Javelina and rattlesnakes. It is a “Feel Good” statement.
#2: Really, rare accidents? Just how many accidents with horses (same scenario with the burros) does it take to be creditable enough for ADOT to install fence barriers on AZ highways including the Bush Highway? How many millions of dollars have been spent already and on any AZ highway to protect feral horses?
#1: Oh no, you can’t go roaming with the horses. You may pay your park fee and look at the horses and trampled habitat, smell the horses and step in their piles of manure but oops, manure is a fertilizer. This pure horse crap. To do anything more will violate the “Ye shall not haze, harass or not bother the feral livestock that has morphed into “wildlife”.
And then finally we need to question the failed management of the State of AZ(hard to manage federal land) but most certainly the federal agencies starting with the DOI and downstream to the BLM, USFS, USDA, EPA and our elected officials that have turned a blind eye to the failed management of the Indian reservations i.e. the BIA resulting in extremely high suicides rates, substance abuse, murder and violent crimes failed health care, education and school systems and failed infrastructures and livestock containment fences.
Where’s Senator McCain been on all the Indian Affairs issues, this certainly is one.
The governor was lead to believe that the Salt River horses were merely a band (25+-) of strayed poor defenseless horses which turned out to be, according to a 2017 aerial head count, 430 horses were identified. This band of feral livestock needs to be managed and removed from the landscape. They can be placed with the already 50,000+- head of wild horses already boarded by the BLM at a tax payers’ expense of $70+ million dollars per year.
The politico’s beating the drum “save the horses” are the same democrats that profess to be environmentalist yet are opposed to secure borders. In doing so they facilitate UDA’s and illegal human trafficking, drug trafficking and lend an open door to terrorist bent on destroying the USA.
The State of Arizona has been dealt severe blows to the environment and the true wildlife that habits southern AZ. Our border states have been trashed by illegals and at the same time has put our citizens at risk. So when will the environmentalists come in and help us save this state?
Closing Statement
These horses are NOT wildlife, key word is “Wildlife”. They are unauthorized Livestock. If they were Wildlife, then the AZGFD would be in charge of them and they are not. The ABC15 video is a great PR piece that the horse lovers have “sold” to the media… We need to get one that shows the damage.
Questions Yet to be Answered About the Salt River Horses Management Plan
1. Who is going to pay the bill and cover the costs of “managing” these animals?
2. Will the size of the herd be limited? We understand there are over 430 horses there now.
3. Will the area they inhabit be confined? If these animals can roam wherever they want, our sensitive desert and riparian landscapes are in trouble!
4. Will the Department of Agriculture be working with the Game & Fish Department to mitigate and control the damage to native wildlife?