Hello and Happy Wednesday!

We wanted to start a series talking about GonaCon.  This is the preferred method of birth control that Theodore Roosevelt National Park uses on the wild horses that call the park home.

I want to start by saying, as many of you have pointed out, that no, there is no mention of GonaCon or birth control in the current draft of legislation for federal protection for this herd.  There are good reasons for that.  We have plans to talk in great detail about the proposed federal legislation next week when we get more answers from Senator Hoeven’s office but in short:

1. The use of fertility control will be addressed in the management plan that the park will be mandated to complete once federal legislation passes.
2. Science changes.  If they add something in the legislation that says “Only PZP can  be used on this herd” if something better gets developed, they will be mandated to use only what is written in the legislation.  For example:  In the 1978  Management Plan, it states that they can do vasectomies on stallions and inject their testies with iodine.  There is no mention of birth control for mares because it did not exist or was not approved for use on wild horses in 1978. 

We also want to stress that just because it is NOT in the federal legislation, it does not mean that Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates is NOT working to stop the heavy-handed use of GonaCon on this herd.  This is something we are discussing our concerns with both to our legal team and Senator Hoeven’s office.  We hope to have more on this soon!

We also want you to know that we have taken all your questions and concerns about the federal legislation and put them into an email to Senator Hoeven’s office.  We hope to be able to set up some time to discuss those concerns with his office and bring you some answers next week.

In a perfect world, we could just leave nature alone, let it do its thing, survival of the fittest etc. 

The reality is that our world is far from perfect, and we are talking about wild horses in a fenced park.  These horses share the 46,158.57 acres that make up the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park with many other wildlife from bison and elk to coyotes, pronghorn, deer and prairie dogs as well as a host of other reptiles, birds and plant life. 

Some form of population control is needed to make sure this little slice of heaven we call Theodore Roosevelt National Park can sustain every living organism within those 46,158.57acres of fenced public land.

These horses are not managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ALTHOUGH both the National Park Service (NPS) and the BLM fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior.  These horses are NOT battling for land and forage with ANY cattle.  No ranchers are fighting to eliminate the horses.  In fact, the North Dakota Stockman’s Association testified in favor of keeping the horses in the park during the 2023 ND Legislative Session and during the park’s environmental management planning process. 

If you read Dr. Castle McLaughlin’s report on the TRNP wild horses (you can find it in the resource library section of our website) it is well documented that wild horses roamed the Southwestern part of North Dakota from at least Amidon to Williston (about 146 miles) and from Medora to probably past the North Dakota/Montana state line for hundreds of years.  Sadly, that land has been taken from the horses, and they have been left to make the 46,158.57 acres of land in the South Unit of TRNP work for their species. 

That leaves park management in need of a plan to control the wild horse population. 

THAT is exactly how and why Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates was formed. 

There are several herds of wild horses that are being managed responsibly and successfully.  All we have EVER been asking is for the same for the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Options for population control include:

• Vasectomies for stallions
• Injecting stallions testies with iodine
• Gelding stallions
• IUD’s for mares
• Spaying mares or other surgical procedures
• Fertility control like GonaCon or PZP
• Culling the herd

I am sure there are others I have not listed, but those are the most popular.

We have personally seen the negative impacts of culling the herd over the years.  We have lost generations of age classes and now irreplaceable genetics because of irresponsible culling. 

The easiest method for the management of the park is birth control for mares. 

We will admit and will discuss more in the coming days, this park has NOT used birth control responsibly by any means on this herd – EVER!

THAT is why our advocacy work will never be over. 

In our next blog, we will start discussing the birth of GonaCon on this herd – how GonaCon being used as birth control on horses made its way into the Theodore Roosevelt National Park wild horse herd and from there to wild horses all across the western range.  We will also share our years of research and knowledge as well as our documented insight as this series continues. 

Thank you for your support and have a great day!

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