– – Comments Needed Immediately – –
Animal Welfare Issue at the Devil’s Garden Plateau Wild Horse Territory in Alturas, California
The Modoc National Forest is planning to gather 500 wild horses from the Devil’s Garden in September. Due to their overpopulation, there are major concerns for the horses’ welfare. The U.S. Forest Service reports that a recent aerial survey in and around the Devil’s Garden Plateau Wild Horse Territory estimated the current population at 1,802 adult wild horses, which is far greater than the appropriate management level of 204-402 horses. Their removal is essential to not only the horses’ wellbeing but also the ecological balance in the area. Removing these 500 horses is one step in the multi-year process to bring their population down to an appropriate number. These horses will be available for adoption soon after the gather. An application to adopt and additional information can be found HERE.
The current overpopulation of wild horses is negatively affecting the ecosystem, local rural economy, and ranching families in Northeastern California. There is a virtual meeting planned for August 20th at 4:30 pm PST to discuss the wild horse gather. According to Laura Snell, the Modoc County Director and Livestock and Natural Resource advisor with the University of California Cooperative Extension, “Due to COVID-19, the meeting has been moved online and negative feedback towards the gather has started pouring into the Modoc National Forest Office and USFS Chief Vicki Christiansen. They have received over 6,000 emails against the gather from all over the country”.
We would like to ask our community of followers to please take a moment to email The Modoc National Forest and Vicki Christensen with supportive comments. Just a few sentences will suffice, especially as non-form letter comments from individuals, which are worth much more in the grand scheme of things. Comments will only be accepted until August 20th, 2020.
Contact Information can be found here:
SM.FS.modoc_info@usda.gov
victoria.christiansen@usda.gov
We want to thank you in advance for your help in managing our public lands and supporting this community.
To learn more about the animal welfare crisis on American rangelands please read through our article HERE.
