“The horses of Cumberland are struggling in an environment that is inhospitable to their survival,” the plaintiffs in the case say – The Georgia Equine Rescue League Ltd., the Georgia Horse Council Inc., Will Harlan, director of the Center for Biological Diversity Southeast, Carol Ruckdeschel, a resident of Cumberland Island, and even the horses themselves – wrote in a document last Friday (attached below) and asked for the necessary food and water for emergencies.

In support of their claim, the plaintiffs cited data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that showed last June was the driest in the region in 130 years, and natural seeps and ponds were either depleted or dried up. The 25-page complaint also alleged that Park Service employees hid the bodies of two dead horses.

The National Park Service is faced with a conundrum when it comes to managing horses in the national park system.

Horses have been a part of this landscape since the 18th century, and in telling this history, the Park Service acknowledges that they are not native to the island’s ecosystem.

Because the matter is before the courts, the Park Service has declined to comment on the horses’ condition or their impact on the national seashore. However, Park Service managers have in the past Traveler that the horses were in good health.

In an April 2023 email to the TravelerThen-Superintendent Gary Ingram wrote: “(T)The National Park Service has been monitoring horses at Cumberland Island National Seashore annually since 1981 using census methods. The condition ratings of the animals observed have been predominantly in the “good” to “fair” categories. At no time during the past 41+ years have there been any findings indicating that the overall health of the herd was in extremely poor condition.”

A 2018 Park Service report expressed concerns about the impact the herd of about 100 horses would have on the national coast:

Studies of the impacts of horses at the CUIS have found that grazing activities, including consumption and trampling of plants, significantly reduce plant cover, growth, and reproduction in these habitats (Turner 1986, Dolan 2002). Grazing also appears to alter plant species composition and likely increases the vulnerability of dunes and salt marshes to erosion and storm damage (Turner 1986, Dolan 2002). In addition to effects on vegetation, feral horses compact wetland soils, alter soil properties (e.g., infiltration rates), and disturb vital soil organisms (Noon and Martin 2004). The wastes produced by horses contribute to the nutrient enrichment or eutrophication of wetlands and water bodies and can contaminate water bodies with pathogens, including E. coli bacteria (Noon and Martin 2004). Together, these impacts make wetland habitats less favorable for native plants, fish, herpetofauna and invertebrates.

Read the National Park Service report on the impacts the horses are causing.

The Justice Department has tried to dismiss the lawsuit since it was filed, arguing, among other things, that it is not responsible for horses trampling on the nests of endangered species such as ringed plovers and loggerhead turtles.

“Defendants are not aware of any case in which a court has held that a federal agency is liable for the hunting of one animal by another animal,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in their unsuccessful motion. “Plaintiffs cannot prove that the horses were conducting a hunt or committing an offense under Section 9 of the (Endangered Species Act) because the hunting ban applies only to persons.”

However, the 2018 Park Service report noted that “wild horses will continue to pose a threat to the island’s native mammals unless their population is controlled.”

The plaintiffs highlighted this point in their latest complaint, pointing out that the Park Service “has refused to manage the horses, even though the NPS itself has acknowledged that ‘as long as the population is not managed,’ the horses will continue to have significant negative impacts on the (Cumberland Island National Seashore) ecosystem.”

The lawsuit also alleges that the park’s management fails to care for the horses and that as a result, “many of the horses on Cumberland do not live past the age of nine years, let alone the 30-plus years of the average domestic horse.”

The plaintiffs want the judge to order the Park Service to provide the horses with hay, fresh water and mineral blocks while the litigation continues. The defendants have until Friday to respond to the lawsuit.

To raise awareness, Wild Cumberland, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the long-term stewardship and conservation of the national seaboard, produced the following video.