Hello and Happy Sunday to everyone!
It is time to have a hard conversation, but it is necessary at this time.
As you know, on December 12, 2022, Theodore Roosevelt National Park announced their plans to eliminate the ENTIRE herd of horses from the park. At that time, I, as president of Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates, discussed this with my board and reached out to other groups that specifically advocate for the TRNP horses asking that we put aside our differences and work together to save these horses. Those requests were flat out denied by everyone except recently by Wild in North Dakota.
Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates then began advocating from every angle possible to fight for these horses.
When we noticed that there was nothing being mentioned on our local news, we contacted every news outlet in North Dakota. That included freelance writing for local newspapers. We have kept them informed of developments and talked to them every time they reached out to us to help raise awareness about the plight of these horses and keep them in the news. You can view most of the news stories here: https://chwha.org/chwha-in-the-news/
We also reached out to our North Dakota legislators. We attended weekly local meetings and got to know them. We created several “Call to Actions” asking all of you to contact them. Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates and their supporters sent out so many phone calls and emails to our North Dakota legislators that we were personally asked to let all of you know that they were on our side! CHWHA worked together with our local legislators and drafted a resolution that has been given the number SCR 4014. Because of your hard work, this resolution passed UNANIMOUSLY in the ND Senate and now moves to the ND House.
The attention that we got from our state legislators was critical in getting the attention of North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and our United States senators: Cramer & Hoeven.
We created easy to follow “Calls to Action” for all of you and together WE HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE!
We have reached out to local businesses and organizations as well as attended local meetings in an effort to gain support and continue to raise awareness.
We have a complete list of how we have been fighting listed on our website. https://chwha.org/what-chwha-is-doing-to-save-the-trnp-wild-horses/
NOW that all of us that have worked so hard for MONTHS to make a difference for these horses, WE FINALLY have some traction going! NOW those advocacy groups that refused to work together with us FOR the horses, are taking credit for the hard work we have done here at CHWHA while we continue to fight to save these horses.
EVERYONE now seems to also be doing fundraisers – asking you to help save this herd.
PLEASE ASK THEM WHAT THEY ARE DOING TO SAVE THE THEODORE ROOSEVELT NATIONAL PARK HORSES! You have a right to ask where your money is going and how SPECIFICALLY it is helping these horses!
NONE of these organizations are working with us or offering us financial support!! We have repeatedly asked them to work together with us to save these horses. The positive results of what is happening has come from the hard work and dedication of Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates and their followers. Our Board has worked 8-12 hours a day – EVERY DAY since December 12, 2022, fighting to save this herd. And now all of these other groups that wanted NOTHING to do with helping us, are trying to reap the benefits of our hard work. PLEASE ASK THEM WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING!!
Where is our money going?
We have right around $10,000 in legal fees that we have accumulated during this management planning process. We have been working with Eubanks and Associates long before the management planning process even started. They helped us write our comment letter that was sent with our supporting documentation. They also drafted the original letter that our North Dakota State House Minority Leader Josh Boschee sent to the park asking for an extension for our state legislators. Our ongoing communication with them has been instrumental in helping us fight for this herd.
We have bought a software program that will make future calls to action, like our current one, easier for all of you to answer! https://chwha.org/calls-to-action/
As CHWHA President, I was personally invited to speak at the Save Our Wild Horses conference in Washington DC this April BECAUSE of the hard work and dedication of our organization and the change that has been brought about because of our work. I already have 3 appointments set up with federal legislators and am waiting to hear from others. This will require handouts for attendees as well as packets for federal legislators as well as travel expenses not to mention a 30-60 minute presentation (YIKES!).
Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates is looking at other ways to help keep the plight of these horses in the forefront. We have joined our states newspaper association and will be sending in press releases monthly that will be distributed to ALL of the newspapers in North Dakota. We are negotiating a best price for billboard signs in North Dakota to help raise awareness. We continue to meet weekly with our state legislators at local chamber events. We write daily blog posts both to keep our followers (and theirs!) informed and also let them know ways they can help!
We have set up, supported and even led presentations with other wild horse advocacy groups. Presentations that these other organizations have attended in their attempts to educate themselves on this management planning process BUT that they have not shared with their followers so that they can be educated as well.
We also speak regularly to our state legislators, our federal congressional office and are working to speak with tribal leaders in our state.
We are LITERLLY doing everything we can to fight for these horses.
It is extremely upsetting as we pinch pennies at every corner to see other people work to capitalize on our hard work.
PLEASE help support our advocacy work. We have always been transparent with what we are doing and are happy to answer any questions you may have.
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.
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