Return to Freedom Wild Horse Conservation, along with Front Range Equine Rescue and The Gila Herd Foundation, has called on the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to halt the removal of wild horses from Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona. They argue that the USFS’s classification of these horses as “unauthorized livestock” violates federal law, specifically the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, because the agency has not proven that the horses were introduced by private owners or that they have not intermingled with protected wild herds. The organizations contend that this designation is legally flawed, unsupported by science, and contradicts the agency’s own management plans.

The advocacy groups demand that the USFS rescind this classification and stop capturing horses within the federally designated 19,700-acre Heber Wild Horse Territory established in 1974. They urge the agency to conduct genetic testing, behavioral studies, and field surveys to accurately determine the horses’ status. Return to Freedom, a nonprofit dedicated to wild horse preservation since 1997, emphasizes the need for lawful and humane management practices that uphold congressional protections for wild horses.