Good morning!
I chose a different photo today.
The skies in this photo look pretty gloomy over Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the wild horses in this photo (Stallion Half Moon’s band)
BUT if you look you will see there is a small rainbow peeking through the gloomy sky.
A rainbow is a sign of hope we have been taught.
I am asking you today to hold on to that hope!
I was up until about 11 pm last night reading through the Draft Environmental Assessment. I had to take several breaks to either give myself a moment, to yell or scream, to talk to other advocate friends who have been through this process and to talk to some of our North Dakota state legislators.
Yesterday was rough. As I said in yesterday’s post, we expected this, but I think all of us were wishing for a better Environmental Assessment (EA).
We didn’t get that.
Half Moon and his band didn’t get that. Neither did any of the just under 200 wild horses that call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home.
But we STILL only get one chance to save them.
This isn’t over.
I woke up this morning and have already talked to several members of the press, our North Dakota House Majority Leader, Mike Lefor, and very soon I have a phone call I have to hop on with Senator Hoeven’s office.
Representative Mike Lefor said to me this morning, “We’re not giving up on this!”
No Representative Lefor, we are not. I will be meeting with him later this week to discuss this further.
Representative Lefor also thanked me for all of our hard work and dedication. I share that because I don’t want any of you to lose sight of that.
Together, Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates and our followers have accomplished A LOT! We took this story about a wild horse herd in a small southwestern North Dakota town to a national level! We have supporters all across the world fighting with us!
Stand tall. We have accomplished A LOT.
As you can see, and as we have repeatedly said, there is still A LOT of work to do to save this herd.
If you have not read the Draft EA yet, please do. https://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=167&projectID=105110&documentID=132035
We are asking that you hold back from commenting. We will be picking apart this EA for you in the coming days and I think what we have to share will help you make an educated comment – one filled with FACTS & SCIENCE. We will also go over the legal aspects of what is happening. Emotional comments are not going to be considered. Neither will form letters. Also PLEASE remember – this is NOT A VOTE!
NONE of the proposed actions are acceptable for the future management of these amazing wild horses.
As we said last time, please take a moment to scream, yell, even write a letter to the park telling them exactly what you think of their Draft EA with all of the emotions you are feeling. And then rip it up. Burn it. Take a breath.
THEN
Please, say a prayer, light a candle, send positive energy for the just under 200 amazing wild horses that call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home. Hold on to that small glimmer of hope. It’s there.
As Representative Lefor said to me today –
“We’re not giving up on this!”
We hope none of you are either.
There are still several ways you can help TODAY:
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Please do this ESPECIALLY if you live in North Dakota AND/OR if your newspaper covered the AP article.
Share our posts! Keep talking about these amazing horses and the current plight to remove them all from the only home they have ever known.
Please, don’t forget that we are in the middle of our silent auction. We need every penny we can scrape together to continue to fight for this herd. Please share the link to our online silent auction. There are so many amazing items to bid on. https://chwha.betterworld.org/auctions/chwha-september-2023-silent-auct
You can also make a donation directly to us: https://secure.everyaction.com/FbY2_tNxQU6Ehc9K2RsjZw2. Our lawyers are getting a cost together for us on what it will cost to have them write our next round of comments. We will share that with you as soon as we have it.
Don’t forget, we have a NEW horse talk this Friday 9/29/2023 with Dr. Ross MacPhee! How timely! You can register for that event here: https://secure.everyaction.com/raUfLDfuJka1morvD0YaGg2
Watch our website for updates – you can subscribe on our home page to be notified when we post a new blog.
THANK YOU for your continued support and for continuing to fight with us!
