June 7, 2019
Arizona’s Collaborative Efforts to Manage Salt River Horses
The Salt River Horse Herd are horses that have historically lived in and around the lower Salt River and Saguaro Lake areas in the Tonto National Forest, and do not have a brand or any other kind of mark that indicates ownership. The State of Arizona chose to protect these horses by statute in 2016 and entered into an agreement with the United States Forest Service in 2017 to share responsibility for their management after a public outcry following the Forest Service's decision to impound them. The Arizona Department of Agriculture has also entered into an agreement with the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group to help manage the herd.