SCR 4006 – YOU ARE HERE ->

Hello and Happy Friday to everyone!

Yesterday was an exciting day! If you did not hear, the North Dakota House Agriculture Committee gave a “DO PASS” to SCR 4006 – a resolution asking for federal protection for the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

What does that mean?

What does ANY of this mean?

Let’s start at the beginning….

Over a year ago, Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates began having meetings with our North Dakota state legislators. We discussed what has become SB 2331 and SCR 4006. REMEMBER: The first part of the “I’m just a Bill” videos say that citizens contact their legislators and say “We think you should do this” THAT is what we did with BOTH SB 2331 and SCR 4006. State and federal legislators take action when their constituents as them to.

SB 2331 was the bill that would have had the state of North Dakota put together a working group to help Theodore Roosevelt National Park manage the wild horses. That bill FAILED the North Dakota Senate.

SCR 4006 is a resolution that was drafted by Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates and Holly Bice of Bice Policy Group, that is asking for federal protection for the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

SCR 4006 received little to no editing by our legislators or legal counsel. The resolution reads:

A concurrent resolution urging Congress to establish federal protections for the wild horse herd at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
WHEREAS, Theodore Roosevelt was an American statesman, conservationist, historian, and writer, who served as the twenty-sixth President of the United States;
and WHEREAS, in 1978, Theodore Roosevelt National Park became the only national park named directly for a single person;
and WHEREAS, the wild horse herd, which was present during Theodore Roosevelt’s era and contributes to the historical setting and the culture of North Dakota, should be preserved as part of our state’s history;
and WHEREAS, the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park bring tourism and economic benefits to the state;
and WHEREAS, there are significant concerns regarding the management of the wild horse herd by Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the long-term health and preservation of the herd;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF NORTH DAKOTA, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN: That the Sixty-ninth Legislative Assembly urges Congress to enact legislation establishing federal protections for the wild horse herd of Theodore Roosevelt National Park to ensure the long-term health and preservation of the herd for generations to come;
and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary of State forward copies of this resolution to the Secretary of the Interior, the Director of the National Park Service, the Superintendent of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the House Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation, the Senate Subcommittee on National Parks, and to each member of the North Dakota Congressional Delegation.

A resolution is a request. This is NOT a bill. THIS DOES NOT GRANT FEDERAL LEGISLATION.

If it doesn’t DO anything, then why is it important?

It is important because we also elect our federal delegates to represent us in Washington DC. That means IF we want federal protection for this herd, that must happen through our federal legislators, like Senator Hoeven. This resolution not only lets him, and our other federal legislators know that the state of North Dakota wants federal protection for this herd. It also helps Senator Hoeven when he goes before his peers, that the state of North Dakota is now on record that they want him to work to get federal protection for the wild horses of TRNP.

REMEMBER: When we lobbied Congress in 2023, we were told that our resolution – SCR 4014 – was a very powerful tool in our advocacy toolkit.

Here is the path of SCR 4006 – including where we are now:

CHWHA meets with state legislators to discuss what would become SCR 4006.
CHWHA works with Holly Bice at Bice Policy Group to draft SCR 4006.
CHWHA works with state legislators to find a primary sponsor of SCR 4006 and Co-Sponsors.
CHWHA works with Senator Josh Boschee as the primary sponsor of SCR 4006. CHWHA and Senator Boschee work to get co-sponsors: Senator Rummel, Senator Patten, Representative Mike Lefor, Representative Vicky Steiner and Representative Jeremy Olson. THIS IS IMPORTANT AS THE RESOLUTION NOW HAS BIPARTISAN SUPPORT!!
SCR 4006 is submitted to legal counsel for approval.
The marked-up version of SCR 4006 is released and assigned to the North Dakota Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee gives a “DO PASS” to SCR 4006.
SCR 4006 moves to the ND Senate floor for a full Senate vote.
SCR 4006 passes the ND Senate UNANIMOUSLY!
Crossover begins – all bills/resolutions that passed the Senate move to the House and all bills/resolutions that passed the House move to the Senate. ALL BILLS/RESOLUTIONS MUST PASS BOTH CHAMBERS!!!
SCR 4006 moves to the ND House Agriculture Committee
The House Agriculture Committee gives a “DO PASS” to SCR 4006
WE ARE HERE –>>> North Dakota House Floor vote for final passage of SCR 4006 <<<— WE ARE HERE
Upon passage of SCR 4006, North Dakota Secretary of State signs SCR 4006 and sends copies of the resolution to: the Secretary of the Interior, the Director of the National Park Service, the Superintendent of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the House Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation, the Senate Subcommittee on National Parks, and to each member of the North Dakota Congressional Delegation.

As you can see, this has been quite a long process for Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates!

I also want to note that as we have said many times, our North Dakota state legislators have a record number of bills again this session. They have to be finished with this session at the beginning of May.

To help streamline the process, and save much needed time, the ND House has been taking all passed resolutions and putting them on the “Consent Calendar”. This means when they assemble on the House floor, they can take all the resolutions that committees gave a “DO PASS” to and the House can vote on them all at the same time. Since SCR 4006 was given a “DO PASS” our legislators COULD add it to the Consent Calendar.

THEY CHOSE NOT TO!

SCR 4006 will stand alone for a full House vote!!

We believe this is significant and shows the importance of the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park to the state of North Dakota.

The vote is scheduled for TODAY – Friday, March 21, 2025. We have been told that SCR 4006 is also pretty far down on the agenda for today so it is possible the vote will be pushed to Monday.

The House will meet at 12:30 (central time) TODAY.

You can watch the vote on the legislative website here: https://video.ndlegis.gov/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20250321/-1/33617

You can also watch the recording of the committee testimony and vote from yesterday here: https://video.ndlegis.gov/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20250321/-1/33587?startposition=20250320105110

Of course, we will keep you posted as this progresses!

We also want to note, Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates has NOT been waiting for SCR 4006 to pass to continue our work for federal protection for this herd. We have already had several meetings with our legislators with more to come! There continues to be A LOT happening at CHWHA so be sure to check back for updates!

THANK YOU to all of you for your continued support! We appreciate each one of you!

Have a GREAT weekend!