“To get through the hardest journey, we need to take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping.”
 ~ Chinese Proverb

Hello and Happy Saturday!  What a week this has been!

As we mentioned in our blog yesterday, we had a great meeting with Senator Hoeven’s office yesterday.  We spent about a half hour talking to his office and I can say that I feel very good and very hopeful about the future of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park wild horses after our talk.

One thing I want to say before I continue is something that I have said before.  When we were setting up our nonprofit back in 2021, the nonprofit lawyer we consulted with said something to us that has really stuck with me:

“Nonprofit organizations belong to the community they serve.”

This is not MY organization to run in whatever way I see fit.  I want you to know we listen to your concerns and do our best to address them whenever we can, even if it is not talked about here.  We also have a board that votes on decisions that are made.  Your feedback is important, and we appreciate those of you that take the time to reach out with your concerns. 

We did bring those concerns to our meeting yesterday.

As far as the state process goes with legislation, there is a separation of state and federal authority, so Senator Hoeven’s office respects that separation.  That being said, they do appreciate us keeping them informed about the state legislation and would like us to continue to update them.

Our state legislation and plans for federal legislation make sense.  Everyone does need to understand that the federal legislative process is even more daunting than the state legislation.  It takes much more time and there are no guarantees, especially in our partisan society, what will happen when we present federal legislation to Senator Hoeven’s office. 

His office did say that what IS helpful, is having friendly leadership at the Department of the Interior and leadership that cares about North Dakota priorities.  As we move through the appointment process with Governor Burgum, they are hopeful that this gives their office more tools at their disposal to see what we can work on with the new administration. 

Senator Hoeven’s office – and all of the congressional offices – are looking at their priorities for the upcoming year.  His office said clearly that – the TRNP wild horses remain a priority.  They feel that we are in a much better place than we were 2-3 years ago when the park started going down what we all feel was the wrong track as they tried to eliminate the entire herd of wild horses. 

That being said, I told him having all of these people in all the right places is great, but we HAVE TO take advantage of having these people where they are otherwise, we will truly miss a great opportunity for change. 

There are things that Senator Hoeven’s office CAN do through the Appropriations process again.  We will talk more about that and how all of you can help too when the time comes. 

I know people cringe when I say things like “when the time comes” or “more on that later”.

I do apologize and understand I do say what I can when I can, but sometimes, we can’t show our full hand until the time is right.

For those of you not aware, Congress has NOT finalized the 2025 Appropriations.  That should have been done last year and now they are HOPING to have that finalized in March.  The 2026 Appropriations request process will take place in the spring.  So, when I say there is time, we do have a few months before we need to direct our focus there. 

My head spins on a daily basis between state legislation – and all this entails, Giving Hearts Day coming up, end of the year reports, 2026 budgets along with meetings, meetings and more meetings.  My goal is to NOT have everyone’s head spinning with mine lol  Right now I need all of you laser focused on the state legislation process and helping with that because that is where our immediate need for your support is.

We talked a lot about GonaCon and our concerns about the aggressive use of this sterilant on our horses.  They said this was good awareness to share with the senator’s office.  They do have the same concerns and there are ways that we can work with his office to address this.  More on that to come! 😉

I also talked about the collars – they are still on, and the public is STILL not happy about that either. 

This last part goes back to the beginning of this blog.  I hear all of you.  I really do. 

I will start by saying once again that it really DOES NOT matter WHO is in any specific position within the National Park Service, or any agency for that matter, if we don’t change the policies that those positions adhere to. 

I hear all of you calling for Blake McCann to be removed from his position.  While this is not a movement that CHWHA will start, again, this is your nonprofit and my job is to take your concerns to these meetings. 

That being said, our Vice President (and also my husband) Gary, sits in on most of the park meetings with me.  He can tell you that I DO challenge Blake’s narrative as much as I can with FACTS and KNOWLEDGE.  I DO NOT back down to him and at one point after an exchange between us at the last meeting, Superintendent Daniels simply took a breath and not knowing what else to say said “Well ok then.” As we moved on to the next topic. 

It is no secret that I am NOT a fan of Blake McCann.  But, again, it doesn’t matter who sits in Blake’s seat.  It’s the policies that we need to change.  We also will NOT simply agree with the park, as so many others do, when we know what they are doing is not right for the horses, does not follow proper NEPA protocols or has not had proper public input. 

I did share your concerns about Blake McCann with Senator Hoeven’s office AND with Governor Armstrong’s office in our meeting on Thursday. 

I let both offices know that while they are in search of the “right” superintendent for TRNP, it is not JUST the superintendent that is important in rebuilding the public’s trust.  It doesn’t matter who the new superintendent is.  As long as Blake McCann is at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the public will always have trust issues with the park. 

They said this was good awareness to share with their office.  Stable leadership with the park is part of the process we are all working on. 

I told Senator Hoeven’s office that transparency is still NOT happening.  FOIA requests are STILL not being answered.  There are still issues with this park. 

Again, I would do nothing more than write blogs all day, every single day if I shared all the details of every aspect of the work we are doing at CHWHA but we do continue to regularly communicate with the park – both in personal meetings and through email. 

Interim Superintendent Daniels has promised continued conversations with us on a list of concerns we have shared with them.  We followed our last meeting up with an e-mail last week.  I will share that tomorrow because it is quite long, and this blog is already getting longer than I thought it would be!

We are TRYING to have open and transparent communication with the park.  For those of you who see this as “harassing” the park, please remember this park is part of our federal government.  Our rights as taxpaying citizens include transparency from this government agency, in the same way we expect it from any other government agency.  Things being done at this park should NOT be secret.  The public has a right to know the plans being carried out and there are policies and procedures in place to make sure we have an active voice in what happens in OUR national park.

We are not currently getting that from Theodore Roosevelt National Park. 

All in all, we felt our conversation with Senator Hoeven’s office went well.  For those of you wondering what he is doing or how he is helping, know he plans to stay engaged on this issue and his office appreciates us taking the time to catch up with them. 

I will just mention quickly something we will talk about a lot this year.  Senator Hoeven’s office is ONLY making the horses a priority because of ALL OF YOU!  If you were NOT loud with your concerns, he would NOT know there was an issue.  The same is true for EVERY state or federal legislator.  We have to tell them what is important to us and how they can help.  If we are quiet – it seems like things are ok and issues are resolved. 

A new Congress started yesterday at noon.

I talked briefly to Holly at Bice Policy Group yesterday.  She was on “The Hill” all day. 

As you know, we have a new governor in North Dakota.  As Governor Armstrong took office, that meant that we needed someone to take his place in Congress.  Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak is his replacement.  We have plans to reach out to her office, now that she was officially sworn in.

While Holly made her way around Capitol Hill yesterday, she ran into Congresswoman Fedorchak’s legislative director.  Holly took the opportunity to speak with him and bring awareness to what we are doing in North Dakota.  She said he knows who I am specifically and all about CHWHA.  He is well versed on the TR wild horse issue because he too comes from Senator Hoeven’s office! 

Talk about a WOW moment! 

Please take a moment to take ALL of that in! 

We ARE making a difference! 

Our unified voices have been LOUD and are being heard! 

The wheels of progress move slowly, I know.  Just please know they ARE moving!  We just need to keep on doing what we are doing.  We are getting there one step at a time. 

Just under 200 wild horses are counting on us.  Those horses may not know exactly what we are doing, but they continue to remain wild and free in the only home they have ever known.  THAT is what is important and the biggest reward we get as advocates for them. 

Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for your support!

---