Arizona Daily Independent
Rep. Kelly Townsend want to officially claim the Salt River horses as state property, hoping to protect the animals from being removed in the future.
Townsend has introduced HB2572, which would give the state jurisdiction over the Salt River horse herd, which lives in the Tonto National Forest.
For her concern, Townsend has become the subject of a campaign by the same group that tried to claim the horses were dying of dehydration.
Wild horses are a national icon and deserve a place in our ecosystems. However overpopulation can cause them to suffer when resources are thin, which also taxes the balance of our wild ecosystems. If the state is going to claim ownership of the herd, it would prudent to do so with a plan for managing the herd. Inevitably this will cost money, and so any such plan should involve programs to educate the public about the horses, which would generate funds to finance herd management activities.
~Adam Trenk, Rose Law Group equine attorney
