450 wild horses face Sierra roundup despite years of fight

On July 8, the Inyo National Forest will begin a roundup of 450 wild horses from the Montgomery Pass herd, relocating them to the Modoc National Forest for adoption, a move environmentalists and local tribes say could harm animals and erase Indigenous ties—eve

By the time the date was set, the heartbreak had already started to spread—among the people who know these horses by sight, by habit, and by what they’ve watched them become.

On July 8. the Inyo National Forest plans to begin rounding up and relocating 450 wild horses from the Montgomery Pass herd roaming beyond the roughly 200. 000 acres designated for them along the California-Nevada border. according to a recent news release. The horses would be loaded into trailers and transported to a corral in the Modoc National Forest. where they would be readied for adoption. Contractors would use helicopters and other vehicles to drive the horses into a large catch pen with holding corrals.

Officials say the use of helicopters is humane and carried out with measures to protect the horses. Animal welfare advocates dispute that, arguing the method can lead to injury and even death. The operation is planned for one to two weeks, but it may finish sooner.

The announcement lands more than a year after the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management approved a plan to remove hundreds of horses that had wandered beyond their designated territory. In 1971, there were 50 horses within the area. By 2024. a federal census found roughly 700—more than three times what officials say the land can support—most of them outside the territory.

The Forest Service says the herd’s origins are unknown, noting it may be linked to mustang drives between Owens Valley and Nevada. But other accounts suggest the horses descended from mustangs lost in the High Sierra in 1871 during a wrangler’s trek from Stockton to Texas.

That deeper uncertainty has fueled a dispute that has reached the courts. In August. a documentary filmmaker. a primary care physician. and a wildlife ecologist sued the government over the plan. saying federal officials were reneging on their duty to protect the horses under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

The 1971 law declared wild horses and burros “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West” and made it illegal to harass. capture or kill them on public land. Federal officials. including the Forest Service and BLM—now responsible for managing the animals—can remove “excess animals” to preserve the health of the range.

The lawsuit delayed the roundup, also called a gather. But in February, a U.S. magistrate judge ruled in favor of the government, clearing the way for it to proceed. Cherie Tobin. the physician among the plaintiffs. said her group plans to appeal and ask the court to halt the gather. She also said they would argue federal officials improperly redrew the territory boundaries—shrinking it and depriving the horses of year-round water sources.

Tobin lives near Pasadena. In October 2022. she visited the Eastern Sierra town of Lee Vining to learn landscape photography and ended up hearing about the herd—then photographing it. She kept coming back. spending more than 360 hours with the horses. according to the account described in the lawsuit filings and her statements.

When Tobin heard about the coming gather, she called it “frightening.” “I know the different horses and their babies, and I’ve watched the babies grow up; I’ve given them names,” she added. “So to hear this, and then to have it sprung on us with only two weeks to prepare, that’s just so cruel.”

For her and others opposed to the plan, the conflict isn’t just about numbers or logistics. Two local tribes say the roundup echoes older campaigns to expel Native people from ancestral lands—an effort they described as starting with attempts to portray people as “feral and wild. ” and then shifting to eliminate the horses for the same reason.

Rana Saulque. vice chairwoman for the Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe. said. “They wanted to get rid of the Native American people for being feral and wild. and now they want the wild horses gone because they’re feral and wild — and free.” Ronda Kauk. of the Mono Lake Kootzaduka’a Tribe. recalled a dream in which people were rounded up by helicopters. “Some people would say it was a vision,” she said.

Saulque and Kauk are part of an Indigenous-led coalition seeking to help manage the horses they call “family.” They propose running a pack station and orchestrating equine therapy. They say the Forest Service has not responded to their requests and that Indigenous voices have been sidelined in discussions over the herd’s future. The agency declined an interview and did not respond to written questions by press time.

Other residents describe the gather as overdue—especially after they say the horses’ presence visibly changed the landscape.

Steve Heimlich. a retired state employee who worked for roughly 40 years at a California Department of Fish and Wildlife hatchery. said he first remembers seeing only a few dozen horses on the east side of the White Mountains. Over time, he said, the herd pushed west and grew. By 2021, he said, the horses reached South Tufa, where tourists congregate to gaze at the rock formations. In spring 2023. as epic winter snows melted. Heimlich said horse carcasses emerged along the shores of South Tufa and nearby Navy Beach.

On the remote east side of Mono Lake. Heimlich said the animals ate grass and roots down to the vegetation. and deprived certain birds of the worms living in the vegetation—describing it as a disruption to what those birds rely on. He also said the horses displace antelope and other species. “It’s upsetting the biological balance,” he said.

While Heimlich supports relocation, he questions how effective it will be over the long term. He noted wild horse populations can increase as much as 20% a year. a growth rate some experts say is greater than the capacity to remove horses. “I’m not in favor of shooting some of these beautiful animals. but euthanizing them might be the only thing that works. ” Heimlich said.

Heimlich’s view runs into another hard line in federal policy: the 1971 law allows healthy horses to be euthanized for management purposes, but Congress forbids it through the annual budget process.

Others point to ways the problem could be handled without removal. One proposal is darting horses with birth control, a method used elsewhere in the U.S.

Dave Marquart. part of a team that monitored the wetlands rimming Mono Lake for 36 years. said he witnessed a shift “from some of the most thriving. pristine wetlands in the state to just being trampled.” Marquart has experience with the area’s outreach as well: as a former interpretive naturalist for the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve. he led a field trip for the Forest Service. BLM. and State Parks to highlight ecological damage. Asked why nothing was done until now. he speculated that it’s a “big issue”—emotionally charged and logistically challenging—so the agencies may have avoided it.

In the end. the dispute comes down to what each side believes the horses represent and what the federal plan will change. For Marquart and others who back the gather, the relocation offers a chance for recovery. He described the operation as a win for everyone: “The horses get moved. and adopted. and the wetlands get an opportunity to rebound — hopefully.”.

450 wild horses Inyo National Forest Montgomery Pass herd Modoc National Forest Mono Lake Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act helicopter roundup Indigenous tribes Cherie Tobin federal lawsuit Wild horses roundup contested plan