“The middle is messy but it’s also where the magic happens.”
~ Brene Brown
Hello and Happy Sunday!
I am not sure if we are in the “middle” exactly! We are NOT quite at the beginning, and the end is still a ways away – but things ARE brewing for sure!
Last week, Holly and I finished up our legislation for the State of North Dakota’s legislative session that will start in January of 2025! We have been working on this for a while now and it is FINALLY ready to be passed on to our North Dakota state legislators!
I was so nervous, but I shared it with one of our legislators who only suggested the smallest change! We do have 1 sponsor and 1 co-sponsor so far. The legislation was sent to the legislator that we are working with to sponsor it. He will look it over and decide if we need to meet or if he will send it off to the legislative council. The legislative council will clean up anything they feel is necessary and then I believe we will be on the books for North Dakota’s 2025 Legislative Session!
As soon as we have a final copy, we will share that with all of you here! We believe you will be as excited as we are!
Getting this into the legislative session is NOT the end of this story. It is really just the beginning! This will require meetings, testimony and calls and emails to our North Dakota state legislators asking them to support this legislation.
Monday, we have a meeting with Governor Burgum’s office to discuss this legislation. We know he is not coming back for another term, but that doesn’t mean his office can’t help!
We expect to have a meeting with state legislators this week as well.
Next…
We will be packing our bags and heading off to Washington DC to meet with Senator Hoeven!
While we are in Washington DC, we will be setting up meetings with other members of congress, to try to help ALL of our wild horses. We are working with Heather at Save Our Wild Horses on who to target and the message we want to give along with information to leave with key members of Congress.
This is where we need your help to make the MAGIC happen!
First – if you have NOT already signed our petition asking that the collars be removed from the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park – PLEASE SIGN IT NOW!! If you have already signed it, THANK YOU! Now, please ask your friends and family members to sign this as well. You can sign the petition here: https://secure.everyaction.com/x-5WrjPo20Cb4LGbj5PD-A2
This is ONE of MANY topics we will be discussing with Senator Hoeven. We are also trying to get an appointment with the National Park Service when we are in DC. It goes without saying that we really need strength in numbers here to get these collars of these horses! We have over 2500 signatures so far!
We KNOW from the March 2024 report that these collars are unnecessary! The park ALREADY did observations on the horse’s movement through the park and they have documented it in this paper. Several of the collars are also rotating on the horses’ necks and we feel this is an added safety concern. The park has yet to share any answers they have received from the USGS on this.
It doesn’t matter – THE COLLARS NEED TO GO!
Please take a moment to sign our petition to get rid of the collars here: https://secure.everyaction.com/x-5WrjPo20Cb4LGbj5PD-A2
One of the biggest things we asked during our postcard campaign was that Congress STOP giving the BLM money for the permanent sterilization of our wild horses. Almost 900 of you sent postcards asking this!
We want to follow-up on this and are asking that you do 3 things to help:
- Sign our petition asking them to stop funding the permanent sterilization of our wild horses! We will hand deliver this petition to Congress this month. You can sign the petition here: https://secure.everyaction.com/TDodlCKidU68M1sjsNQWJA2
- Write a Letter to the Editor to YOUR own local newspaper. We have a sample message you can customize below.
- We have taken the sample letter in our LTE action above and also added it to a one-click email that you can send to your members of Congress. You can send the email here: https://secure.everyaction.com/KpGnE7odVkG2_LuFlzncPg2
We are asking that you customize this letter and send it to your local newspaper. Please make sure that you call out your members of Congress – feel free to list multiple names! IF you have a member of Congress that is on the Interior Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee – please call them out in a single Letter to the Editor. You can check the committee members here: US House Appropriations Committee: https://appropriations.house.gov/subcommittees/interior-environment-and-related-agencies-118th-congress US Senate Appropriations Committee: https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/subcommittees/interior-environment-and-related-agencies
(Member of Congress) I am asking that you do your part to protect our wild horses! The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has once again requested money in their budget for the permanent sterilization of America’s wild horses. This is in direct conflict with The Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the law that was enacted to protect our wild horses on our public lands. If the BLM continues to receive funding from Congress – WITH OUR TAXPAYER DOLLARS – to permanently sterilize our wild horses, this will mean the end of these majestic animals.
The continual funding being granted to the BLM for the permanent sterilization of our wild horses is a total waste of taxpayer dollars and I am asking for your help to stop this act of destruction against our wild horses.
This advocacy method DOES get the attention of our members of Congress! They watch closely to see where their names are mentioned on social media or in the newspapers.
Lastly, we hope you will consider supporting our critical advocacy work! We have A LOT of work left to do and we will need everyone’s help to make sure that the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park are always allowed to be wild and free within the boundaries of the park!
There are a few ways you can help THIS WEEKEND!
One, you can always make a tax-deductible donation to us by clicking here: https://secure.everyaction.com/cBmDbRA6cUuzERpShcQOCg2
You can bid on some really great merchandise that was donated to us for our Online Silent Auction that ends TODAY! There are over 100 AMAZING items for you to bid on! The auction ends at 8 pm Mountain Time TODAY. You can check out the items and place your bid here: http://chwha.betterworld.org/auctions/2024-fall-silent-auction
Lastly, this weekend ONLY – until midnight on Sunday November 3rd, MyGivingCircle is giving away $5,000 for the first 5,000 new people that vote at MyGivingCircle. For each new voter we get at – mygivingcircle.org/chasing-horses-wild-horse-advocates/vote MyGivingCircle will give $1 to Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates! Please take a moment to vote for us before MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!
Thank you for your continued support and watch for some more exciting updates coming soon!
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