Superintendent Richman ~

Thank you for your response regarding the nuisance animal that was captured by the park in the middle of May this year.  The “animal” you refer to has a name: Alluvium.  I can’t imagine through the public outcry that has emerged for him over the last two months that you truly did not know his name.  Even when the Wall Street Journal contacted us about a possible story this week, they called Alluvium by name. 

It is no secret that the tax paying public as well as fans of the wild horses that call the park home from all across the globe currently have some serious trust issues with Theodore Roosevelt National Park management after your attempts to eliminate the entire herd of horses for the last two years.  Alluvium could have been a way to start to repair relationships with the public and start to rebuild our trust.

Instead, you informed us that the park opted for a “direct negotiated bid process”.  To be clear, the park’s process for the last few years has been to list horses on GSA Auctions for at least a week for the public to openly bid on.  The park once again changed the rules and decided that Alluvium’s life would be negotiated behind closed doors, without proper public notice of auction and without other members of the tax paying public who were following this story being allowed to bid on him as well.  Many people had no idea that they simply had to contact the park and state they wanted this wild horse to be able to have a chance to buy him. 

Inquiring minds rightfully want to know what Alluvium’s price was?  How much did his new buyers pay for him?  An open auction on GSA Auctions would have let us at least know that.  There is a peace in knowing that the price paid was over what is worth the effort to kill buyers.

To add insult to injury, you now want us to believe that the park worked so hard for the best possible outcome for Alluvium.  The BEST possible outcome would have been for you to do the right thing amid the conflicting stories and allow him to return to his home.  It was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt in the court of public opinion that Alluvium was guilty of nothing more than acting like a wild stallion. 

In the spirit of “ensuring a positive outcome” for Alluvium, it was stated in your press release that “This horse will also eventually be placed with the other horses on the buyer’s property, which is critical for the overall health of the animal as horses are social creatures.”  A statement we have made as wild horse advocates for 2 months, as Alluvium sat literally in solitary confinement, and we were concerned about how that was impacting his overall health and wellbeing.

“Oh, the tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!”

What a truly missed opportunity to begin repairing the public’s trust after all that was lost for the last two years.  Our organization, Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates, has asked almost weekly since April 25^th for an audience with you to discuss both Alluvium’s fate and overall management concerns regarding the wild horses entrusted to your care.  Our requests were not acknowledged even once by you or your staff. 

The good news is that the public outcry that resulted from this situation with Alluvium has gotten the attention of Senator Hoeven.  He has stated: “The park service must be open and transparent in terms of what they’re doing and engage the public so that North Dakotans know and have an opportunity to weigh in as to how that herd is managed.”

We fully intend to continue to communicate with his office to ensure this is standard protocol moving forward.  Especially since the park’s actions have left the tax paying public to wonder when the next TRNP “nuisance” horse will take Alluvium’s place in the capture pens.  Rest assured, as calls from the WSJ this week have proven, the world truly is still watching what is happening in our little corner of the world in Southwestern North Dakota.

Maybe as a start to this new transparent relationship with the public, the park can issue a statement regarding the 4-month-old colt named Magnum that was euthanized by the park last week.  Prior requests by our organization on this topic to Chief of Resource Management, Blake McCann, have gone unanswered. 

Sincerely,
Christine Kman
President
Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates

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