Hello and Happy Tuesday to everyone!

Today was THE day!  The Billings County Commission met to discuss their resolution regarding the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  You will also remember that they sent a personal invitation to Superintendent Richman requesting that she attend today’s meeting.

And attend she did!

Everything from the horses, the entrance/exit points, weeds, prairie dogs and the Loop Road were discussed. 

With regard to the wild horses:

The only document they have is the 1978 EA.  They expect talks to continue around that with Senator Hoeven’s office.  There are no plans for when decisions will be made at this time.

We were able to discuss our concerns about the 1978 EA and also shared the information about Superintendent Noel Poe increasing the number to 140 in the 1990’s. 

We did mention that we appreciated her coming to this meeting, but it should not have taken a request from the Billings County Commission to get her to engage with the public. 

With regard to the new under/over the fence rule:

They will be installing a gate with a parking lot at the Fryburg exit – POSSIBLY next spring or summer – so that there is an access point to the trail head there.  She did say that this was a miss for the NPS as this is the only trail head with no proper access point. This access point will also include a parking lot for approximately 20 cars and will resemble the Petrified Forest access point.  They have already had discussions on what this will look like, and she said that once construction begins, it should move pretty quickly. 

The Loop Road:

She wouldn’t say, because she didn’t want to jinx it – that the road would FINALLY re-open this year, but she did say that it has been “progressing REALLY well.”

There was also a lot of talk about concerns from neighbors of the park about prairie dogs and invasive weeds.

All in all, she answered questions and spoke for about 20 minutes. 

Before she left, she was given a copy of the following resolution and was told that it would be voted on later this morning:

The Billings County Commission DID unanimously pass Resolution No. 2024-15! 

Tonight, we will be attending the Medora City Council meeting to continue our discussion about a resolution with them as well. 

We have also stated that the whispers around the rumor mill said that Superintendent Richman’s last day with the NPS would be August 9^th.  When she returned to the office after the Billings County Commission meeting, she sent the Commission an email that stated:

“Nancy Finley the Midwest Region Associate Regional Director for Natural Resource Stewardship and Science has been selected to serve as acting superintendent at TRNP for the next 3 months starting 8/12/2024.”

We will share an update about the Medora City Council meeting either later this evening or tomorrow morning.

Thank you for your support and have a great day!

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