“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
~ Margaret Mead
Hello and Happy Friday!
For those of you paying attention – I am starting this blog in the same place the last one left off.
What happened tonight?
A small group of thoughtful, committed citizens changed the outcome for the Theodore Roosevelt National Park wild horses!
WE WON!!!!
Wait….
DID we win?
Let’s look at the entire situation:
2 weeks ago, Theodore Roosevelt National Park announced the roundup of the wild horses that reside in the South Unit of the park. Here is what we knew about their proposed actions both from the press release and our TWO personal meetings with Superintendent Finley and Chief of Resource Management, Dr. Blake McCann:
- They would be using helicopters to round up the horses
- They would be hand injecting EVERY mare with GonaCon
- They would be removing up to 15 horses which would include mares not responding to GonaCon and their offspring.
- They would be putting collars on the horses to track their use of the park
- They would be collecting DNA through blood samples and hair pulls
While we STILL have A LOT of questions about the press release this evening, here is what we DO know, after 2 weeks of fighting hard for these amazing and historic wild horses:
- They will be using helicopters to round up the horses
- They will NOT be hand injecting EVERY mare with GonaCon – they will treat the mares listed in #3 and mares needing a booster with GonaCon
- They will NOT Be removing ANY horses – these mares WILL instead be treated with GonaCon
- They will be putting collars on the horses to track their use of the park
- They will be collecting DNA through blood samples and hair pulls
- They will be taking mares that can contribute to the genetic diversity of this herd OFF GonaCon
No horses removed, a compromise that ALL mares are not treated with GonaCon AND mares being taken off GonaCon.
I think we won.
This is much more than they were willing to even consider when I met with them last week.
Last week, I asked Superintendent Finley how we could trust that if they agreed to NOT give GonaCon to some mares that they wouldn’t? Her response was that she was a woman of her word – if she said she was not going to treat certain mares, she meant it.
I did send the following email to the park after seeing their press release:
Superintendent Finley ~
Hello and I see that a compromise appears to have been reached between the NPS and our state and federal legislators.
In the spirit of the promised transparency, can you please elaborate on who the mares are as listed on your website: mares that GonaCon previously did not work on that will be retreated, and additional mares who will receive a scheduled booster and the subset of mares that will be released from the GonaCon treatment.
A small number of mares that did not successfully respond to previous contraception will be retreated with GonaCon, an immunocontraceptive. The park wants to ensure that these few mares are not skewing the population’s genetics by their breakthrough reproduction. Additional mares may receive a scheduled booster.
Another subset of horses previously identified as having above average genetic diversity will be released from GonaCon treatment, anticipating that they will contribute this diversity to the population through reproduction.
I would be happy to stop by your office and pick up a hard copy if an electronic version of the list is not available.
To be clear, the park is stating that they will no longer move forward with your previous plans to hand inject EVERY mare with GonaCon?
I also wanted to be sure that no stallions will be treated with GonaCon while the horses are rounded up?
I trust, as you stated in our meetings, that the list you provide are the only horses that will be treated, as you gave me your word that your actions will match the decision shared with the public.
Thank you for working on a resolution to this with our state and federal leaders. We appreciate the park taking a bold step to help repair the public’s trust.
Sincerely,
Chris Kman
Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates
www.chwha.org
We will share her response with you when we get it. I will also say if anyone has additional questions they would like me to ask, please email me at info@chwha.org or send us a PM on Facebook.
I also want to look at the bigger picture:
In two VERY SHORT weeks, we moved mountains! I hope everyone will take a moment to realize that. Did we get every single thing we wanted? No. That is called compromise, right?
What we did get was confirmation that Senator John Hoeven and Governor Doug Burgum are STILL in The Arena with us!
HOW AMAZING IS THAT?
More than that: the press pulled together, gave us airtime, asked hard questions and if you didn’t see the editorial in the Fargo Forum today, please make sure you read it!
THOUSANDS of you sent emails, made phone calls and added your name to a petition letting North Dakota’s state and federal legislators know how you felt about what the park was planning.
MANY of you wrote Letters to the Editor – AND our ND newspapers published them from all across the US! I believe that not ONE day went by in 2 weeks without a Letter to the Editor about the horses was published!
At one point, our website traffic was up almost 2000%!!!!!
What we accomplished in 2 weeks was nothing short of a miracle! I have said it before and I will gladly say it again: I am sooo very thankful for each and every one of you!
Your actions saved this herd!
Please don’t lose sight of things. What happened these last 2 weeks is EXACTLY why we need state and federal legislation to protect these horses. THAT is why we have hired Bice Policy Group to work with us on that. We NEVER want to go through what we did the last 2 years OR these last 2 weeks AGAIN! Federal legislation is the ONLY way to make sure of that!
The cost of the legislative work that Bice Policy Group is doing will cost CHWHA about $20,000. We are a VERY small non-profit. We hope that you will consider making a donation to help us raise that money. This can be done through direct monetary donations by clicking this link: https://secure.everyaction.com/cBmDbRA6cUuzERpShcQOCg2 You can also help by supporting our upcoming silent auction! You can donate merchandise here: https://chwha.betterworld.org/donate-an-item?_gl=1 You can also participate in the auction by bidding on items when the auction opens on October! I have a lot of work to do to get the items that have been donated on the page, but you can view the items before the auction here: https://chwha.betterworld.org/auctions/2024-fall-silent-auction?_gl=1*1riaer6*_gcl_au*ODIwOTE4MzI0LjE3MjU2NDc1NDguNTA2NTY3MTE2LjE3MjczMTczODUuMTcyNzMxNzQwNA..
One last note:
I want to talk briefly about North Dakota Badlands Horse (NDBH). I bring this up because there has been talk about them on our Facebook page.
It is no secret that we do not get along with NDBH. We do not share the same concerns about almost everything and anything. To say there is “bad blood” between us is an extreme understatement. We are currently taking legal action against them for harassment, defamation, and tortious interference with business relations. They were served a cease-and-desist letter that includes their president, Marylu Weber, their board members, active volunteers and anyone who chooses to collaborate with them. We have evidence that they were contacting members of the press with the intent of ruining our relationships with them as they tried to spread lies about us and discredit us. We worked hard to establish our relationships with the press, and we believe that the last 2 weeks have shown just how important those relationships are to our critical advocacy work. While we cannot discuss this case in detail for obvious reasons, I can say that CHWHA intends to pursue this to the furthest extent of the law.
So, no, there is no love lost between CHWHA and NDBH. No, they did NOT help in ANY way these last two weeks or these last two years as we fought to save the TRNP wild horses. Yes, they have outwardly spoken about how much they support whatever the park’s decision was, no matter how many times things changed from the original press release 2 weeks ago.
CHWHA and NDBH could not be further apart in what we will “tolerate” from TRNP with regards to their wild horse management.
That being said, I will not have our followers sharing their angry thoughts on our social media pages about NDBH or any other organization. Comments that were posted this evening will be hidden. I am respectfully asking that you not comment about them on our page.
Why?
You are a part of CHWHA for a reason. The work we are doing resonates with you. The work they are doing resonates with their followers.
Simply put, if you do not agree with what they are doing, then don’t be a part of their group. I say similar things when people come to criticize the work we are doing. Respectfully, if you are not happy with what we are doing at CHWHA, I am sure that one of the other organizations is probably a better fit for you.
Believe me, we have much bigger things to worry about besides NDBH and where they will be when the helicopters go up next week.
Besides, the only thing I really want everyone to focus on is the gratitude you should be feeling in this moment.
Exactly 2 weeks ago, I was literally brought to my knees. I know many of you were down there with me.
WE – me, you and everyone who makes up CHWHA just pulled off the miracle of miracles!
Choose to celebrate the amazing work we did and don’t let the people who were NOT in The Arena with us take this moment away from you.
Again, the words THANK YOU do not seem strong enough to express how grateful I am to each one of you who stood here in The Arena with me these last couple of weeks! From your participation in our Calls to Action, your kind words and emails, your donations and every post you shared – THANK YOU! EVERY SINGLE LITTLE THING MATTERS ~ ALWAYS!
Take a DEEP breath! We DID it!
We really did.
Sleep well tonight and we promise to share updates as we get them.
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