“Learn from the past, but don’t live there. Build on what you know so that you don’t repeat mistakes.”

~ Harvey Mackay

Hello and Happy Thursday to everyone!

It is time for us to start wrapping up 2024 as we set goals for 2025. 

What a year 2024 was!

Together we accomplished so much! 

Notably: WE STOPPED THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE FROM REMOVING THE WILD HORSES FROM THE PARK!!!

The work to accomplish that was 2 years of hard work!  We told you in April to take a moment to celebrate but to stay focused! We still have A LOT more work to do!

Our words rang true when Theodore Roosevelt National Park was back at it as they announced that they would round up EVERY horse in the park just 6 months later!  Their plan was to remove non-responders to GonaCon and hand inject EVERY mare with GonaCon.  The public was ONLY given 2 WEEKS notice to this underhanded attempt by the park. 

We called on each one of you again to help the wild horses that call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home.  While we were not able to stop the roundup, together, we were able to make sure that NO wild horses were removed from the park.  According to park records, ONLY about 1/3 of the herd received a hand injection of GonaCon.

As we said in April, the ONLY way this herd will ever truly be safe is with federal protection.

After the horrific roundup that injured 5 and killed 1 of our beloved wild horses, Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates went to Washington DC where we met with Senator John Hoeven’s office and also National Park Service Deputy Director Frank Lands.  In both meetings we brought your voice and your concerns to the table.  We feel that both meetings were productive, and our voices were heard. 

We have had meetings with 3 DIFFERENT SUPERINTENDENTS AT THEODORE ROOSEVELT NATIONAL PARK THIS YEAR!  The latest one, Superintendent Daniels, is expected to be in her temporary position for not more than 120 days as the park CONTINUNES to search for a new superintendent.  We have been told that we will more than likely see another temporary superintendent before a permanent replacement is assigned.

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates has worked hard over the last few years to establish relationships with our North Dakota state legislators.  Through those relationships, we have two pieces of legislation submitted into the 2025 session.  We checked in with a couple of our legislators this past week and there are currently over 1400 pieces of legislation being introduced in 2025!  We are currently waiting for our legislation to come out of legal counsel.  They are understandably backlogged!

We have also worked with local and county legislators in Medora and Billings County.  With your help, we had 3 resolutions passed this year with the Medora City Council and the Billings County Commission.  Those resolutions will be critically important as we testify during the 2025 North Dakota legislative session.

Remember: EVERY LITTLE THING MATTERS!

CHWHA has also worked hard to establish relationships with the press.  We have worked hard to keep them informed and keep the Theordore Roosevelt National Park wild horses in the news.  This included our work as we advocated for our beloved Stallion Alluvium, who very sadly lost his freedom this summer!

Things do get quiet here once in a while, but that does not mean that nothing is happening!  We have several meetings this week with state legislators and other state offices.  We are also still working on getting a meeting with the newly elected Governor Armstrong’s team. 

We are hoping to hear from legal counsel soon to share the legislation we have submitted.  Once that comes through, we will explain what is happening, the current process and how you can help! 

The legislation will most likely start in the ND Senate, and we anticipate that testimony will be in February.  We will have to convince the committee at the hearing to give a “Do Pass” to our legislation so it can move on to the ND House. 

Remember, the North Dakota state legislators are ONLY in session for 80 DAYS every TWO YEARS!!! This legislation, and our work to get this passed, is critical!

We have a lot of work to do!  The session starts January 7, 2025!

Why am I sharing all of this with you today?

Those are only highlights of the year!  So much more happens day to day that never gets mentioned!

We want to remind you that even when its quiet here, so much is still happening and our days are filled! Also, just because the park is quiet does not mean the horses are any safer than they were in October when the roundup happened.  There is still work that needs to be done to get these horses the protection they need to remain wild and free!

Lastly, as this year comes to a close and we review our 2024 goals and budget, we are about $9,000 short of our fundraising goal for this year. 

It is easy to generate donations when things like roundups are happening.  As our organization continues to grow, so do our expenses.  We have subscription fees for things like Zoom, website fees, general office expenses, membership fees to our local Chamber of Commerce organizations, website work that still needs to be completed and paid for as well as professional expenses for legal fees, grant writing and more.  We also plan to keep advertising to help bring awareness to the current issues facing the TRNP herd.

We are hoping you can help us get closer to our goal over the next 12 days.  As a 501(c)3 organization, any donation you make is 100% tax deductible. 

You can make your tax-deductible donation here: https://secure.everyaction.com/cBmDbRA6cUuzERpShcQOCg2

Thank you again for your continued support!  We appreciate your hard work and dedication to the TRNP wild horses!

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