Remove Island’s Horses, Judges Say

Perhaps sealing the fate of the wild horses that run free on Santa Cruz Island, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower-court decision Friday to remove the exotic equines from their island home.

In a seven-page opinion, the judges ruled that the horses must be removed because they are the private property of the Gherini family. The Gherinis owned the eastern tip of Santa Cruz Island until it was taken over by the National Park Service in early 1997.

The news came as a shock to the Santa Barbara-based Foundation for Horses and Other Animals, which says the horses are a unique breed descended from ranch animals brought to California by Spanish settlers in the 1800s. As such, foundation members believe the horses should stay on the island.

“We’re terribly disappointed,” said Lynne Sherman, a foundation director. “We feel the horses really are unique, and that they would be such a glorious part of diversity on the islands. The foundation has worked hard to try to preserve the horses. This has come as a definite setback.”

As part of its plan to restore the Channel Islands to their pre-European state, the park service has tried since last year to move the horses off the 24-mile-long Santa Cruz Island. The horses, along with thousands of feral pigs and sheep, are blamed for nibbling grasses down to the nub and denuding the island’s east end over the years.

But believing plans to deport the horses could threaten the rare breed, the foundation sued the park service and John Gherini, former part-owner of the island, to keep the herd where it is.

Foundation members argue that the long-isolated herd has no resistance to mainland diseases, and that the horses may be of scientific importance, in addition to having historical value.

Last January, the Gherinis and the park service prevailed in U.S. District Court, winning a summary judgment.

But the foundation appealed the case to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and obtained a stay of the ruling.

Reached Friday, Channel Islands National Park Supt. Tim Setnicka said he was satisfied with the court’s decision.

“The horses have been a big hazard to visitors,” he said. “They have been interfering with the sheep-removal operation. This will definitely help us in our efforts to move the sheep.”

But Setnicka said it is uncertain whether this is the final chapter on the horse issue. He said he would not be surprised if there was more litigation.

Foundation Director Sherman said she and her staff will talk to their attorney before making any decision about further legal action.

If no appeals are filed, Setnicka said the horses could be off the island by the end of the year.

Gherini said he is pleased with the decision. He said his family’s intention is to move the horses off the island to a sanctuary somewhere in the state.