USFS Reignites Its Assault on Devil’s Garden Wild Horses

A resumed roundup, GonaCon research, and continued lack of transparency

By Mary Koncel

In an unprecedented move, the United States Forest Service (USFS) has resumed the fall helicopter roundup on the Devil’s Garden Plateau Wild Horse Territory (Territory) that supposedly ended less than three months ago.

Credit: Mary Ellen Kelly

Although the agency did not issue a press release on its website, a January 14th post on its Facebook page stated that the operation will begin again on January 21, 2025, for a short duration “in order to continue moving toward the appropriate management level of 206-402 horses on the territory as prescribed by the 2013 Devil’s Garden Plateau Wild Horse Territory Management Plan.”

As in the fall operation, CD Warner Livestock LLC is the contractor.

In response to a January 17th email asking for additional details, the Modoc National Forest (MNF) Wild Horse and Burro Specialist explained that the operation would last “approximately 7-10 days or until the contract is complete”; daily reports from both the helicopter roundup and bait trapping would be posted on the MNF webpage; and observation is being limited to two days and four members of the public to “decrease resource damage and public safety due to road conditions from inclement weather.” 

So far, however, no daily reports have been posted, and the reasoning for limiting public observation is suspect because the roads and trails in MNF are open year-round.

The Ranchers and the Resumed Roundup

In 2017, the Devil’s Garden Preservation Group et al. (DGPG), a collection of vocal and entitled local ranchers, filed a complaint against the USFS because it failed to remove enough wild horses from the Territory to “restore and maintain a thriving ecological balance and meet multiple-use objectives.” In other words, the DGPG was pissed that the USFS decided to eliminate livestock grazing from grazing allotments where wild horses were present – among other things. Ironically, across the Territory, the agency issued 26,880 Animal Unit Months (AUMs) of forage consumption to private livestock compared to just 5,789 AUMs to wild horses.

So, in typical USFS fashion, the agency capitulated to ranching interests and agreed to remove no less than a minimum of 500 horses until low to mid AML is reached.

Credit: Mary Ellen Kelly

But, since the 2021 settlement, helicopter roundups in 2022 and 2023 have only netted 389 and 240 horses, respectively. During last fall’s operation, 341 horses and foals were captured, once again falling short of the 500 who were targeted. Hence, the USFS called out the helicopter and opened the bait traps for a second round in order to, according to the MNF Wild Horse and Burro Specialist in that January 17th email, “gather up to 500 horses.”

Why the need to hit 500 and reach the Appropriate Management Level this year, however, is still the big question, with pressure from the DGPG being a possible answer.

Credit: Mary Ellen Kelly

GonaCon Research

While the rush to round up more horses is bad enough, two GonaCon research projects that involve both Devil’s Garden mares and stallions raise further concerns.

Back in 2023, the United States Geological Survey vaccinated 31 mares at the USFS’s Double Devil Wild Horse Corrals who hadn’t been adopted or sold with GonaCon, which is rumored to be the Bureau of Land Management’s and USFS’s fertility control drug of choice because of its growing reputation for causing sterility. After being fitted with tracking collars, the mares were released back to the Territory to study, according to the MNF, the “demography of the Devil’s Garden herd to better understand growth rates, movement trends, and bolster the aerial survey population.” Notice no direct reference to GonaCon. Several of the mares were rounded up last fall and were scheduled to be released.

Then there’s Wildlife Services’ study that vaccinated an undisclosed number of stallions with GonaCon at some undisclosed time. Wildlife Services is a program in the United States Department of Agriculture that killed 375,045 animals in 2023 as its way “to manage conflicts between people and wildlife so they can coexist.”

Where exactly the stallions were released is also undisclosed, but most likely it was in the Territory. The purpose of the study was to determine if GonaCon would sterilize stallions. (When MNF staff were asked for the protocols for both projects via email, they refused to provide them and said that a Freedom of Information Act request had to be filed.)

But here’s the kicker. The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s label for GonaCon specifically states that “Accidental injection of males will result in infertility.”

So why is Wildlife Services conducting a study to determine if GonaCon will sterilize stallions when it’s already known that it will? Such research appears to cross multiple ethical boundaries, but then again, it’s the Wildlife Services.

Just as important is how removing more horses along with treating mares and stallions with GonaCon affects the population of the Devil’s Garden wild horse herd.

A Possible Scenario

Bear with a little math here.

According to the 2024 spring census of the Territory, there were an estimated 723 horses. After the removal of those 341 horses this fall, that brings their numbers down to about 382. If an additional 160 or so horses are removed in the next few weeks to meet that mandated 500-horse minimum, that would bring the estimated number of horses to about 220, which is low AML and well below mid AML.

Of the remaining horses left on the Territory, remember that 30 mares – one of the original 31 was killed by a mountain lion – and an unknown number of stallions were vaccinated with GonaCon. If the horses experience a dramatic drop in numbers, which appears to have occurred between 2023 and 2024, how would they recover when a significant number of its mares and stallions are now nonreproducing or sterilized?

Obviously, it would be difficult as herd health and viability would be greatly challenged. But doesn’t that seem to be the goal of the USFS and local ranchers for what was once California’s largest wild horse herd.

Sources:

 USFS/MNF Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/ModocNF

 2017 Lawsuit

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.caed.324385/gov.uscourts.caed.324385.1.0.pdf

 2021 Settlement

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.caed.324385/gov.uscourts.caed.324385.112.0.pdf

 2013 EA for Devil’s Garden

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd1031857.pdf

 GonaCon Label

https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/ppls/056228-00040-20151119.pdf