“It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.“
~ Mahatma Gandhi
Hello and Happy Saturday!
I know we are all a little bummed about SB 2331. I want to remind everyone that this is not over until it the final vote happens on the Senate floor. If nothing else, we just have some more work to do this weekend to try to get this bill passed!
We aren’t giving up yet!
SB 2331 is NOT on the schedule for Monday – that is good, it gives us time to work on this!
SCR 4006 IS on the schedule for Monday, but the legislators may hold it back for a vote WITH SB 2331. They asked my opinion and I reverted back to them!
The attached Op-Ed will run in the Bismarck Tribune Saturday & Monday!
I have created a smaller pdf file for anyone who wants to print this out, email it to people or post it on your social media pages! Email us if you would like a copy at info@chwha.org
We have created Facebook ads targeting people in North Dakota asking that they take action.
TODAY we will be at the Coffee with the Legislators. This will give us a chance to talk to some of our legislators and the community to try to get some help.
As members of the Medora Chamber of Commerce, we have emailed other chamber members asking that they take our one-click action and/or contact their state senator.
We are working on other creative solutions with Holly Bice and our legislators to see what else we can do to help get SB 2331 passed!!
We have sent messages to our contacts in the press.
We will be on the Jay Thomas Show on MONDAY at 4 pm (Central time) – you can listen live here: https://www.wdayradionow.com/podcast/the-jay-thomas-show/
How you can help:
1. Share our social media posts!
2. Take our one click action (ND residents only) to email your ND State Senator asking that they vote “YES” to SB 2331: https://secure.everyaction.com/SjddRw3YAEqfhttddUiopg2
3. If you are a ND resident who understands how the ND working group will work and would like to help make some phone calls to Senators this weekend, please email us at info@chwha.org
4. If you are a ND resident, CALL your ND State Senator and ask them to vote “YES” on SB 2331 If you go to: https://ndlegis.gov/ and click on the “Legislative Assembly” tab and then Senators – you will get a pdf file with all of our states senators contact info. You can also download the pdf file here:
5. EVERYONE can write letters to the editor to our ND papers!!! We listed contact info for some of our state newspapers in yesterday’s blog: https://chwha.org/2025/02/07/sb-2331-update/
Please let us know if you have any other thoughts or ideas! Feel free to comment below, send us a PM or email us at info@chwha.org
I also want to invite you to look at some of the incredible testimony that has come out of SB 2331! We will continue to share these over the next few weeks for sure!
Today, we ask that you look at SB 2331 bill sponsor Senator Josh Boschee’s testimony. He clearly outlines the need for SB 2331 (in case anyone needs talking points) and also discusses amendments made to the legislation.
It’s not over until it is over guys – so Chin up Buttercup 😉 Let’s roll up our sleeves and see how we can change this!
Thank you for your support!
Senator Josh Boschee
District 44
jboschee@ndlegis.gov
SB 2331 Testimony – Senate State and Local Government Committee – February 7, 2025
Chair Roers and Members of the Senate State and Local Government Committee, SB 2331 is the result of the work of many people throughout the state working in collaboration with former Governor Burgum, Senator Hoeven and others to make sure the wild horses who currently call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home can continue to do so for generations to come. The horses are truly a natural resource of our state, which is why two years ago Governor Burgum offered state support to help the Park manage the herd. To date, the Park does not seem interested in engaging the state as a partner. Hence the legislation in front of you.
The goal of creating a working group is to provide our Congressional delegation with an entity to direct the Park to consult with before taking certain actions with the horses. This would be done through Federal legislation, likely led by Senator Hoeven and modeled off what was done with the Colorado Wild Horse Management working group and the Federal Bureau of Land Management.
Last legislative session, Governor Burgum and Senator Hoeven invited the majority and minority leaders, as well as the Attorney General, to join them in a conversation with the National Park Service Director and the Theodore Roosvelt National Park Superintendent. In that conversa on, Governor Burgum offered North Dakota resources to partner with the Park in managing the horses. We all recognized that not only does the herd play an important role for tourism, but these horses are a natural treasure that have lineages to Sitting Bull and some of the original settlers of Dakota Territory.
With Governor Burgum confirmed as the Secretary of Interior, now is the me for us to establish the working group so he and Senator Hoeven can do what they need on the Federal side of things to ensure the Park is engaging and consul ng with North Dakotans on how the horses are managed. This provides the opportunity to strengthen a collaborative relationship between our state and the Federal government to manage our state’s natural resources in a way that benefits all Americans. Establishing this working group will ensure that the relationship will continue beyond Burgum’s tenure as Interior Secretary.
Before I invite proponents of the legislation up, I have a couple suggested amendments for the committee to consider, Madam Chair. Proposed Amendments
· Page 1, line 19 – strike the “.” and replace with “, unless the health or safety of a horse is compromised.”
· Page 2, line 27 – strike $50,000 and replace with $49,5000
I hope you’ll provide SB 2331 your support and I’m happy to stand for any questions or comments you may have.
Leave a Reply