“The Forest Service is not protecting the land and the native wildlife species that depend on it,” stated Robin Silver, the co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity.
The organization, along with other entities, is suing the U.S. Forest Service over the size of the Salt River wild horse herd that roams between 20,000 and 30,000 acres in the Tonto National Forest. The herd, which is currently estimated at just over 300 horses, is accused of eating up the vegetation that native endangered bird species eat and use as ground cover. The Center aims to decrease the herd to 50 horses.
Neotropical Songbirds, Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, Southwestern Willow Flycatchers, and the Yuma Clapper Rail, are the species the Center for Biological Diversity is most concerned with. This is the second attempt at a lawsuit, arguing plant life is limited in a desert ecosystem.
“A nonnative large grazing animal that’s doing just what cows do or sheep do… they take out the natural ground cover and so the native species can’t survive,” claimed Silver.