“This is the moment to speak up about things you care about.

You are going to see voices increasingly start talking about the same things.

THIS is literally how it works – how you get political change. People who are unhappy with the system speak up about it.  Politicians hear that – ESPECIALLY the ones running for office (not necessarily IN office – but running for office).  They are going to listen and put together policy packages that reflect what they are hearing in their districts. 

THIS is the period when that happens.”

~ Heather Cox Richardson (you can hear her whole speech about this on her YouTube channel here: https://youtube.com/shorts/stGKccUH90c?si=mcSFIXAX0H4dJZsv)

Hello and Happy Wednesday to everyone!

In case you haven’t heard, the organizations that filed a case against the BLM with our amazing legal team at Eubanks and Associates WON!  The Checkerboard herds will NOT be eliminated – at this time!

From our friends at AWHC:

“But this isn’t a slam dunk. While the court decision is a powerful check on the BLM’s overreach, the appellate court sent the case back to the lower court, and the agency could try to remedy the legal violations and attempt to remove all the Checkerboard horses again. Continued vigilance is essential, and we will continue to be there to fight back.

The ruling comes today, July 15, as the BLM launches a helicopter roundup in Adobe Town, Wyoming, targeting 1,675 wild horses through August 23. An additional 1,922 wild horses, including rare wild curlies, will be at risk from August 25 through October 23 in Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek. This roundup was not the subject of our litigation since it will not completely zero out the Herd Management Area and revert it to a Herd Area. For the roundups slated for August, we expect the BLM to heed the court’s ruling and consider the ecological implications of removing all the wild horses from these public lands.”

This is important to realize.  As great as this moment is – we can’t stop fighting for these herds!  As always, take a moment to celebrate.  This moment belongs to EVERYONE who took a moment to discuss this with your legislators, to anyone who signed a petition, attended a rally, or did any of the many Calls to Action that have been out by various organizations to try to save this herd. 

We started this year with our virtual summit.  The purpose of the summit was to help educate advocates so that as the year went on, everyone would be comfortable starting a relationship with their elected officials to educate them on issues facing our wild horses and burros. 

Have you established a relationship with your elected officials?  This may not be with your federal legislators personally, but do you have a contact in their office you can reach out to?

If you have done this, THANK YOU! 

If you have NOT – please start today! 

We have had a good week as wild horse advocates!  We also know that advocating is like a roller coaster, right?  We have our highs and then we have our lows.  No matter what, we have to keep moving forward. 

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates is continuing our critical advocacy work for the wild horses that call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home. We are advocating for them through meetings with the new Superintendent, as well as our state and federal legislators.  We are also waiting for a follow-up response from our meeting with Secretary Burgum’s office.  We will share updates as we can!

We sent out our petition with beautifully colored pages from our Coloring Campaign to President Trump, Secretary Burgum and Wyoming Governor Gordon.  We asked each office, as well as state and federal legislators, for time to talk about the Checkerboard herds.  The court ruling does NOT change our meeting requests.   

Our easy Calls to Action for the Checkerboard herds are also still active.  You can send emails every day!  You do not have to be a US resident to take most of these actions:

1. Contact your own members of Congress and educate them on this issue!  This is ESPECIALLY TRUE if you are a resident of Wyoming!  We created a one-click Call to Action that will email your legislators directly.  We also strongly suggest that you also CALL your legislators directly.  You can do ALL of these Calls to Action EVERY DAY! You can take this one click action here: https://secure.everyaction.com/GwZbUw4vr0ulNtzoZ7mOjw2
2. We have a list of Wyoming state and federal legislators for you in our blog: CALL TO ACTION – PLEASE HELP WYOMING’S WILD HORSES! – CHWHA.  We also have a one click email action you can take.  We are urging you to DO BOTH!!! 
3. Please email Wyoming’s state and federal legislators.  Again, this is even more important if you are a resident of Wyoming. We have listed phone numbers for Wyoming’s legislators below and have also created a one-click email: https://secure.everyaction.com/pMzBUGAfOEOKxYvYE0QnFg2  AGAIN, we are urging everyone to DO BOTH!

You can also learn more about our Coloring Campaign here: Coloring Campaign – CHWHA

The response to this campaign has been incredible!  We just had another 1100 coloring pages printed!  We expect the summer in Medora to stay busy!  If you are able to help us with printing and mailing costs, you can make your tax-deductible donation to CHWHA here: https://secure.everyaction.com/wnK6YjHlTkCC2Aq57_7srQ2 We will continue to send out these coloring pages every week all summer long! 

We also ask that, as you are talking to your federal legislators, you ask them to join the Wild Horse Caucus.  Ask them to support the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2025.  We are all still waiting for a bill number, but it is never too early to start talking about things that are important to us.

The times for waiting for someone else to speak up on issues important to you personally are over.  We need every single person out there speaking up for our wild horses and burros!  When we come together on the issues that unite us, we become a powerful force that can’t simply be pushed aside and ignored. 

Thank you to everyone who has been sharing responses from their legislators with us!  Remember – IF you get what seems like a form letter that is NOT answering your questions or concerns, don’t be afraid to email them and let them know.  Our elected officials are put in office to be our voices and help bring about the changes their constituents want to see.  If we don’t tell them what we want, we can’t complain when they don’t read our minds and do what we want.

Thank you again to everyone who took a moment to speak up for Wyoming’s wild horses!  Take a moment to celebrate and then make sure you come back to continue our critical advocacy work!

Today’s photo is of 2019 Stallion Applewood living wild and free in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, ND.

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Please help support our critical advocacy work. Click our logo below to make your tax deductible donation to Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates