Hello and Happy Monday to everyone!

As many of you heard, Stallion Alluvium was removed from the park last week.  We do not have any additional information on his owner and won’t unless that owner decides to share.  If you missed the story on Alluvium, please look through our blog as we covered the story and CHWHA’s actions to save him in great detail over the last 2 months. We also shared links to news stories that covered Alluvium’s story.

As one reporter said to me today, this story has now taken on a life of its own.  This story has become more than just about one wild stallion in a national park.

Alluvium’s story has called several things into question:

Are our national parks set up in a way that preserves wildlife as part of the natural resources they are charged with protecting?  If our national parks are home to wildlife and we, the general public, are visitors to the park, then why was Alluvium removed for simply being a wild stallion?  NDBH stated on their Facebook page that people have a right to camp without being harassed by wildlife.  If that is true, then why is this listed under the safety link on the park’s website:

“Animals
All animals in the park are wild and unpredictable. View them from a safe distance. Bison and other large mammals inhabit the park. They generally appear tranquil but may attack without warning if they are disturbed.”

It would seem that we, the general public, are the ones who need to be aware and give the right of way to wildlife in the park.  Camping and hiking is done at your own risk when you enter our national parks. 

Normal protocol when the park removes a horse from the park is to hold them for a week presumably to have a vet check them and get things set up with GSA Auctions.  In the past, the following week the park lists the horses on GSA Auctions website where the public is usually given a week to place their bids before the auction officially closes. 

Alluvium was held for 2 months during the hottest time of the year in North Dakota.  He was outside through hailstorms, thunderstorms, and heat indexes in the 100’s with no shelter.  The wildlife in the park know where to go to get relief from the elements. 

Why hold him for 2 months if the plan was to auction him off? 

While CHWHA and our followers were advocating first for Alluvium’s freedom, knowing the park’s protocol for auctioning off the horses.  Then the park stated that they opted for a “direct negotiated bid process”.  Many people are now upset that the park’s policy once again changed without giving the public any input.  From the park’s website:

The park transfers horses through the General Services Administration (GSA) to private citizens under a specific animal property management authority. Park staff capture horses using low-stress herding and tranquilizer darting techniques. The horses are held at park corral facilities where they receive veterinary care, brand inspection, and health certification.

GSA advertises and sells the captured horses through a federal government website auction. Online property profiles include photographs, a physical description, a statement of handling requirements (e.g., required holding facility dimensions and handling experience), and notification that the animals are untrained.

Before being allowed to place bids on auctions, all parties are required to sign a statement of intent (an online process associated with each auction) requiring that animals will be housed in a secure environment and that their health will be maintained. Successful bidders have two weeks from close of auction to pick up their animals from the park corrals. In order to bid on a horse, interested parties must register (button at top right of screen) on the GSA On-line Auctions website. Searching for keywords “livestock” or “horse” will display any horses currently being auctioned.

To the best of our knowledge and by the park’s own admission, Alluvium was never listed for the general public to bid on. 

Continued secretive behavior has caused serious concerns from the public many of whom are doubting that the park transferred Alluvium to a private citizen at all. There are questions about the amount of money Alluvium was sold for, as there is always a threat of kill buyers taking possession of wild horses.  Again, if normal park protocols were followed, the public would have been able to see this information as the bidding progressed. 

For everyone who called for a “let’s wait and see” attitude as to what the park was going to do next with regard to the future management of the wild horses, we hope you are seeing.  CHWHA and our followers see much of the same old same old. 

For those who see questioning a federal agency and asking for transparency from our government as harassment, please know we are not the only ones asking questions about the events that transpired around Alluvium.  Many other groups and organizations are also submitting their own Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to get answers that the park refuses to share with the public. One FOIA request has been received and it is the Categorical Exclusion the park used to justify Alluvium’s removal from the park.  You can download this document here:

Lastly, many of you are calling for the removal of Superintendent Richman.  Whispers are swirling that she will be leaving Theodore Roosevelt National Park soon.  We have yet to see a press release that speaks to that, so time will tell.

The big thing we have consistently said for years now is that it does not matter if Angie Richman or Mickey Mouse are superintendent of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  It is the policies not necessarily the people that need to change.  If we do not get policies changed, then the next superintendent can come in and perform the same actions.  The same is true if we do not get clarity on what the future management of the wild horses that call the park home will be.  After 2 very long years, these horses STILL do not have a proper management plan AND actions like what we just witnessed with Alluvium are not making the majority of the tax paying public feel any better about the future of these wild horses.

CHWHA and our followers stayed loud on this issue and because of our calls and emails, Senator Hoeven remains engaged.  Senator Hoeven has weighed in on this issue once again and stated:

“First and foremost, I’ve worked very hard to ensure we’re going to keep horses in the park. And I’ve continued to work on that, and we are going to keep horses in the park. And now the discussion has shifted to, you know, how many horses do you need for the right kind of genetic diversity and for the wellbeing of the herd? And what I’ve said is that it needs to be an open, transparent process with public involvement. So, the same would apply to any individual horse, whether it’s Alluvium or any other horse. Or any of these situations that come up. 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. So that it’s managed in the best way possible. “

We are very pleased that Senator Hoeven agrees with CHWHA and our calls for transparency and the proper management of the wild horses that call the park home. 

At the end of the day, we did what we could to try to save Alluvium.  As my good friend Wally always says, “You can’t win them all Chris.” 

Wally is right and now we move forward and do our best to make sure that no other wild horses in TRNP fall victim to these questionable management practices again. 

Thank you for your continued support! 

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