Hello and Happy Tuesday!
We are continuing our conversation on the proposed federal legislation for the Theodore Roosevelt National Park wild horses. This is the 3rd blog in this series.
As we stated in our previous blogs, the legislation, as it is currently written, does not protect the unique herd of wild horses that call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home. This is something we are hoping can be corrected as the legislation moves through the process.
One of the key issues we have is for the historic herd of wild horses that currently reside in the park be allowed to remain.
The legislation calls for the park to allow a genetically diverse herd of horses to remain. We would like that to be changed to genetically viable.
Here’s why:
- Definition of Genetic Diversity: It is the range of genetic variation present within and between populations of organisms, reflecting their evolutionary history. Genetic diversity is a fundamental concept in biology, variation in genetic characteristics within and between populations of organisms.
- Genetic viability is the ability of the genes present to allow a cell, organism or population to survive and reproduce. The term is generally used to mean the chance or ability of a population to avoid the problems of inbreeding.
An article I read stated that genetic diversity is the foundation for genetic viability.
We all want the current herd of horses – the descendants of iconic horses like Red Face, Satellite, Curious George, Lindbo Blue, Thunder Cloud, Sidekick, Singlefoot, etc., to be the horses that thrive for generations to come.
The park has tried and failed many times to introduce outside horses. It has been an epic failure every single time. The current horses that call the park home have evolved to not only survive but thrive in the badlands of North Dakota. This is important for everything from the way they are able to navigate through the rugged terrain to the extreme weather patterns in North Dakota and everything in between.
Please be sure to read our previous blogs on federal legislation. You can find them on the homepage of our website at http://www.chwha.org We will be back in a few days with another segment of this blog series.
Thank you for your support and have a great day!
A few notes:
If you participated in our online silent auction, please check your email for an invoice to cover the shipping fees for your item(s).
We also are running low on our CHWHA 2026 calendars! Grab yours while you can here: https://chasinghorses.com/products/chwha-13-month-2026-calendar
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