“Years from now, this moment will have passed.
And our children and our grandchildren will look in our eyes and ask us:
Where were you when the stakes were so high?
They will ask us, what was it like?
And we will tell them. We will tell them, not just how we felt.
We will tell them what we did.”
~ Kamala Harris
Hello and Happy Friday!
That quote came across my path earlier this week. It caused me to pause to reflect for a moment and take in the profound message in such simple words.
It reminds me of another favorite quote of mine by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Last Friday, the world looked pretty bleak. Over the last week, to quote my husband, we have been through every range of emotions that a person can experience. It’s been a long, but pretty incredible week!
Many of you commented and emailed us after our last post and said, “Please, don’t trust the park!”
We don’t! We made that perfectly clear in our meeting this with the park this week. We let Superintendent Finley know that they have a long way to go to regain the public’s trust. We did give her some ideas on how they can do that, and part of that includes stopping this roundup, stopping their plans to inject EVERY mare with GonaCon and stopping their plans to remove ANY horses this fall. We have not heard from Superintendent Finley since BUT we do know that she HAS heard from our state legislators.
I also want to let you know that Superintendent Finley also seemed to take my message to heart about contacting members of the Medora Community to discuss the park’s proposed actions (as NPS policy dictates). I see she has been added to the agenda of the Billings County Commission meeting next week.
It is a start, right? Their true intentions on how willing Theodore Roosevelt National Park is to work with the state of North Dakota and the City of Medora will be seen ONLY by the ACTIONS the park shows us over this next week.
I have received literally hundreds of emails, PM’s and messages all week thanking us for our hard work and dedication to saving this herd. You guys have filled my heart and given me the umph I needed in so many “right” moments, to continue looking for ways that we could change the outcome for these amazing wild horses!
In all honesty, it is me that wants to take this moment to personally thank all of you! WE moved mountains this week!
No matter what the outcome is for this particular situation, one thing is for sure: We did not stay silent on such an important issue! We ABSOLUTELY Dared Greatly!
More than that!
We took the Bully Pulpit!
We got LOUD!
I can PROMISE you – our state and federal legislators are taking note of the THOUSANDS of emails they received over this last week! I heard that directly from them!
Those THOUSANDS of emails are making them not only take note, but it is making them take action! There is A LOT happening that even I am not fully aware of, but as soon as I know, you will know ~ I promise!
All of your voices also helped the media realize how important this issue is! The Dickinson Press is a weekly newspaper in North Dakota. This week, EVERY Letter to the Editor they printed was about the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park! Every newspaper in North Dakota has printed YOUR letters EVERY SINGLE DAY for the last week! A friend of mine messaged me yesterday and said “Do you see where these letters are coming from? Not JUST North Dakota but from as far away as Arkansas and California. How impressive!”
How BEAUTIFUL it is for those of us here in North Dakota to see how far the love for these horses is pouring in from!
THANK YOU!
All those Letters to the Editor let the press know that this current story about the horses IS important to the public. Stories about these horses have been printed in every newspaper in North Dakota this week. We have been contacted by every reporter in the state and have appeared on every news station.
Our petition has grown from the 1,640 signatures we presented to the Medora City Council on Tuesday to the over 3,300 we currently have at the time of this writing! FYI: I have emailed our growing petition to our legislators several times this week and will do it again today.
Our combined voices on that petition that continues to grow speaks VOLUMES in this situation. This takes this from being just my voice and amplifies it to represent the voices of 3,300 people from all across the globe!
The numbers on this petition continue to grow because other advocate friends have seen what is planned for this herd and continue to share our petition and are urging their followers to sign our petition and send emails! We are so thankful for all of our advocacy friends!
The number of people who have come together to stand WITH us is heartwarmingly overwhelming!
As I was preparing for the Medora City Council meeting, how GREAT is it that I can send an email to our friends and allies like Dr. Castle McLaughlin and ecologist Craig Downer and ask for their help? Their statements that were presented to the Medora City Council along with the petition with all your signatures, DID make a difference!
We do believe that we will have a letter to share soon from our North Dakota state legislators formally requesting that the park suspend this proposed roundup, and the actions associated with it.
They are taking this action because they see the Letters to the Editor. They see the Medora Resolution. They are personally seeing or are hearing about the THOUSANDS of emails. They see what is important to not only their constituents, but to those of you who visit our beautiful state with the hopes of getting at least a glimpse of these amazing wild horses!
Imagine – so much more than we ever thought was possible happened in ONE WEEK mostly because YOU took a second to press a button and say THESE HORSES MATTER TO ME!
THANK YOU!
No matter what happens or what the final outcome is, please take a moment to pat yourselves on the back for showing up – AGAIN – for these amazing wild horses! Standing in the arena is NOT easy but here we are!
And just wait until you see who else is standing in the arena with us!
As always…stay tuned!!
P.S. If you have not signed the petition yet, or have a friend of family member you can have sign, here is the link: https://secure.everyaction.com/4dmUjJg8pk2-feWZLe8-pg2
You can email our legislators EVERY DAY on this issue! Don’t forget to find a friend to send an email too! Here is the link: https://secure.everyaction.com/yd5efKrSlkawCMSXp97IvA2
Link to the blog with info on where to send your Letters to the Editor can be found here: https://chwha.org/2024/09/28/call-to-action-6/
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