Return to Freedom: U.S. Forest Service must halt Arizona wild horse roundups

LOMPOC, Calif., April 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Return to Freedom Wild Horse Conservation on Friday demanded that the U.S. Forest Service immediately stop unlawful actions toward capturing and removing wild horses from Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona.

In a letter to U.S. Forest Service (USFS) officials, Return to Freedom (RTF) and fellow advocacy organizations Front Range Equine Rescue and The Gila Herd Foundation of Arizona outlined violations of federal law in the agency's decision to remove horses that it has classified as "unauthorized livestock" — an attempt to strip them of the protections afforded by the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

As outlined in the letter, the agency can only make the livestock determination if it carries its burden to prove that any particular horse is on public lands "by accident, negligence, or willful disregard of private ownership," and that the animal did "not become intermingled with wild free-roaming horses."

The agency's own documents demonstrate not just that it has not made this showing, but that it cannot make this showing. Thus, the "unauthorized livestock" designation, which is being used to get these horses off public lands without following federal law mandates, is fundamentally flawed, unjustified, and arbitrary and capricious.

"We will not stand by while the Forest Service removes wild horses from their federally designated habitat on the basis of a determination that is legally deficient, scientifically unsupported, and fundamentally at odds with the agency's own management plan and the mandates of federal law," they wrote.

"We urge the Forest Service to act responsibly and in accordance with the law. These horses deserve the protection that Congress mandated when it enacted the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, and we intend to ensure that protection is upheld."

The organizations demand that the USFS rescind or suspend a determination that all unclaimed horses on the forest are "unauthorized livestock." The agency must refrain from capturing horses in and around the 19,700-acre Heber Wild Horse Territory, which was established inside the forest in 1974 under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

"The Forest Service has clearly failed to satisfy the legal standard for classifying these wild horses as 'unauthorized livestock,' including demonstrating that these horses were introduced by private owners and that they have not intermingled with the federally protected Heber herd," said Neda DeMayo, founder and president of RTF, a national nonprofit wild horse and burro advocacy organization.

RTF and its colleagues demand that the USFS conduct genetic testing, behavioral studies, and field surveys to determine the actual status of the horses on the Sitgreaves National Forest.

Return to Freedom Wild Horse Conservation (RTF) is a pioneering wild horse conservation organization focused on the preservation of wild horses and burros since 1997. RTF operates the American Wild Horse Sanctuary at two California locations, caring for nearly 500 rescued mustangs and burros on 2,000 acres. The sanctuary hosts experiential learning in nature's classroom and models minimally intrusive management solutions that can be implemented on the range as an alternative to traumatic and costly roundups. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X, BlueSky, TikTok, and YouTube.

SOURCE Return to Freedom Wild Horse Conservation