Last Updated on March 16, 2024 by adminahb
A decision on the fate of the TRNP horses is expected as early as April. In their previous calls for comments, the National Park Service received tens of thousands of responses asking them to not only keep the beloved wild horses in the park, but to maintain a genetically viable herd of over 150. In three separate comment periods over the past 2 years, NPS has analyzed over 45,000 comments. They stopped sharing how many comments were in favor of keeping the horses and how many against… But from the January 2023 call for comments, and the more than 19,000 received, only 45 of those sided with the Park’s desire to eliminate the horses.
That is less than one quarter of one percent.
And it’s not only the public standing on the side of the horses. Congress has firmly thrown their hat into the ring. Tucked in an appropriations bill recently approved by Congress is a measure from Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) that recommends the National Park Service allow wild horses to remain in the park. This measure may withhold any funds needed to complete a removal operation and make it necessary for NPS to reconsider their elimination plans.
“Our language in the annual appropriations legislation directs NPS to keep wild horses in the park and indicates that if the agency decides to remove them, we may come back with restrictions on their funding, like prohibiting any funding to NPS from being used to remove horses from the park,” said Alex Finken, a Hoeven spokesman.
You can read the entire bill here: https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/118th-congress/senate-report/83/1.
We will keep let you know when the TRNP Livestock Plan is released.
In the meantime, we can still make our voices heard. Send a letter to the editor at your local paper. Send a big THANK YOU to Sen. Hoeven. Keep sharing the story.
Most of all, we want to thank YOU for speaking up for wild horses and burros and helping to keep the TRNP herd where it belongs.
Make a “Thank you” call to Sen. Hoeven:
U.S. Federal Building, ND
Phone: (701) 250-4618
Washington DC Office
Phone: (202) 224-2551
Send a “snail mail” Thank you:
Sen. John Hoeven
338 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
TRNP, located in North Dakota, is dedicated in honor of President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt and his leadership in conservation policy. This herd has been a cherished cultural icon for decades. When Teddy Roosevelt was young, he visited the area and experienced the magnificence and beauty of the natural landscape, which included wild bison and wild horses living in family bands with stallions protecting their families — surviving and thriving in the rugged Badlands.
The Cloud Foundation
www.thecloudfoundation.org