There are just 8 days left to get your comments into Theodore Roosevelt National Park! Remember what the park is asking you: They have a proposed action they have introduced to the public that means total elimination of the 186 wild horses that call the park home. They DO NOT want your opinions, your thoughts, or your feelings. They simply want to know WHAT other alternatives they should be considering as they move forward in the NEPA process that they have committed to. The next step for TRNP will be to consider other alternatives they received and decide which of those they will take forward as they begin their Environmental Assessment. We have posted a sample comment letter here: https://chwha.org/2023/01/20/sample-comment-letter/
We spoke with Representative Josh Boschee over the weekend. He let us know that Superintendent Richman sent him an email acknowledging receipt of his letter requesting an extension to the comment period. We will keep you updated on the park’s response as soon as they reply.
ND State Senator Jay Elkin will be sponsoring the resolution, which is expected to come down from legal drafting this week. We will share more information when it becomes available.
Our North Dakota state legislators have listened to everyone who contacted them asking them to do what they can to help keep the horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park wild and free.
Since Theodore Roosevelt National Park is managed by the National Park Service, a federal agency under the Department of the Interior, any significant changes need federal support.
That federal support SHOULD come from the state of North Dakota! Please see our Call to Action #9: https://chwha.org/2023/01/16/15-days-call-to-action-9/
We are thankful to all of you who made phone calls and sent emails that made an impact on our North Dakota STATE legislators. Now we need to do the same thing to get the attention of North Dakota’s federal delegates.
More than anything, remember that the #1 CALL TO ACTION each one of us has is to get your comment letter to the park by January 31, 2023. THAT can only be done online through the PEPC website at: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/LP.
Or in writing to:
Superintendent
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
PO Box 7
Medora, ND 58645
Thank you for your support!
Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates is committed to advocating for a wild horse management plan and protection for these unique wild horses that call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home! We are fighting for a management plan that is guided by science especially when it comes to decisions regarding the removal of horses and the administration of birth control. Many other wild horse management plans have proven to be successful with their science-based plans. We are asking for the same for this amazing group of wild horses that call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home.
TO EVERYONE DISILLUSIONED AND HOPELESS ABOUT THE FATE OF THE WILD HORSES IN TRNP, I HAVE GREAT NEWS!! There is great public sentiment across the nation – and even internationally – that this Feels Like a Hopeless Fight because TRNP holds all the cards, sets the rules we must follow while they follow none, and no matter what we comment it feels like there is no assumption we will be heard. The Rules Make It Appear Any Comments ‘Deemed Unfit’ Will Be Dismissed and Unrecorded. NOT TRUE!!
HERE IS HOPE: I WAS TOLD BY A TRNP EMPLOYEE– “SEND IT ALL NOW!” Send your comments, questions, desires, ideas, wishes, demands — ALL OF IT. By mail or online OR BOTH!
SEND IT *EVEN IF* You Don’t Cite research, justification or supporting data.
You Can Remind TRNP – It Is Public Record That They Already Have In Their Possession – VAST AMOUNTS OF SCIENCE-BASED EVIDENCE ALREADY SUBMITTED REPEATEDLY to TRNP – by the public And equine experts And historical experts And also presented through the press, both last year and this year– SUPPORTING the value of KEEPING the wild horses in TRNP. *Volumes of research. *Decades of evidence. Put the burden back on TRNP where it belongs. Their Rules Have Already Been Followed!
Answer the TRNP INVITATION: Public participation is an important element of the planning process, and we welcome your comments, concerns, issues, suggestions, and potential topics for consideration. SO DO THIS IN WHAT EVER WAY YOU CAN MANAGE! Do not be intimidated by their rules. Your input will still count!
Be Respectful – YES – but communicate your passion, your questions, your demands, your desire to “Keep the wild horses in TRNP at a genetically viable number of 150-200 adult horses.” That Simple Statement Is Enough, if you wish.
This Employee Explained: ALL THE MAILED LETTERS ARE SCANNED INTO THE RECORD AND THEY ARE ALSO STORED – YES – PHYSICALLY STORED! So even though TRNP tries to intimidate us with rules, ALL the comments and letters submitted online or mailed during this public scoping period WILL BE READ BY A PERSON AND RECORDED. They notate and categorize each concern stated in every letter & submission. These categorized comments will be reported on in the Civic Engagement Comment Analysis Report TRNP will issue this spring.
THIS MEANS, as we continue this fight by speaking with the legislators and government officials, ALL Our Comments Are Undeniably Present in the TRNP NEPA Process!
Last, This Employee Confirmed YES, WE CAN COMMENT MORE THAN ONCE!! If you wrote before, but now you have more thoughts to add, send them. AND If you have sent emails, letters or comments to legislators, press, govt officials, park administration – SUBMIT A COPY to TRNP now, so they know what you have said and who you’ve contacted. This documents ALL the work you have been doing to keep the wild horses in TRNP!
IF we are intimidated by the TRNP rules and do not comment – Then TRNP gets to DO what they have already DECIDED they WILL DO while enduring less public indignation and protest.
SO SEND IT ALL – SIMPLE OR ELOQUENT – MAKE THEM READ AND RECORD YOUR VOICE!
The January 31 deadline looms. Flood them! Let’s Make Them Play This Game Our Way Instead!!