As you know, The Theodore Roosevelt National Park Wild Horse Protection Act just passed the US Senate! That brings us one step closer to getting the much-needed federal legislation that Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates has been working so hard for passed!
Please bear with us – today’s blog will be long. We will need everyone’s help to get this legislation not only passed but amended and it is important that you can speak to what we are asking as our NEW Calls to Action come out next week!
What happens now?
Our little bill heads over to the House and the WHOLE process starts ALL OVER AGAIN! The House received the legislation from the Senate this week. It will now be assigned to a committee, have committee hearings and then a floor vote in the House.
CHWHA is STILL working on getting the amendments we feel are necessary to give these horses the best federal protection possible. There is STILL A LOT of work to do!
The EXACT same version of the bill has to pass the House AND the Senate. If there are any changes, both chambers will come together in a committee meeting and discuss and (hopefully) come to an agreement on the final version of what our little bill looks like.
Once our little bill has passed BOTH the House AND the Senate then it is off to the President’s desk for his signature.
The President CAN VETO the bill.
For the sake of a happy ending to our story, the last step for us is that the President signs our little bill.
And then…
Our little bill becomes A LAW!
We have a long way to go to get to that last point.
It gets overwhelming, I know.
That is why we will continue to let you know step by step where we are, what needs to be done and when and how you can help!
The last three years have been rough! We almost lost this herd FOREVER! Because of the work of CHWHA and our followers, the park has been forced to revalue their plans to eliminate the herd and Superintendent Daniels has assured us that there is no scenario being discussed that includes NO horses in the park. I will be the first to admit, I NEVER want to have to repeat all that hard work we did over the last 3 years again!
Federal legislation SHOULD take care of that. 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.
What needs to be changed?
This legislation, as written, calls for the park to have “a population of not fewer than 150 horses.”
There are currently 198 horses that call the park home. The first issue we have with the legislation as written, is that the number of horses to remain in the park is subject to interpretation. We can all agree that EVERY SINGLE horse currently living in the park deserves to live out their lives in the only home they have ever known.
Without clarity added to this legislation on THIS herd of horses being allowed to remain in the park, the fear is that before the ink dries on this legislation, 48 horses will be rounded up and removed from the park.
54 horses are currently between the age of 15-27. The average life span of a wild horse in TRNP is 15-20 years old. Between the low number of foals being born each year and the fact that we will lose 54 horses in the next 5+ years means that the number of horses will be naturally adjusted. It is also important to note that over the last few years we have lost a number of young horses between the ages of 1 day old and 4 years old. As of June 2026, we lost 6 horses already so far this year.
Senator Hoven’s office believes that by saying “not fewer than 150 horses” that the current herd of 198 is protected.
We want this legislation to protect all the current horses in the park. That needs to be clarified in this legislation.
If our aim is to have a genetically viable herd of wild horses, leading wild horse geneticist, Gus Cothran, has repeatedly stated that we need 150-200 wild horses for genetic diversity. The legislation needs to be amended to reflect science and allow for a range of 150-200 horses to remain in the park. This will allow all horses currently in the park to remain. This simple range inclusion clarifies the population expectation and leaves less to interpretation.
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.
This legislation is modeled after the Shackleford Banks Wild Horses Protection Act. This was passed into law in 1998. This piece of legislation protects the wild horses in Cape Lookout National Seashore, which is another park within the National Park Service.
One KEY point in the Shackleford legislation is this:
Within 180 days after enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall enter into an agreement with the Foundation for Shackleford Horses (a nonprofit corporation established under the laws of the State of North Carolina), or another qualified nonprofit entity, to provide for management of free roaming horses in the seashore. The agreement shall—
“(A) provide for cost-effective management of the horses while ensuring that natural resources within the seashore are not adversely impacted; and
“(B) allow the authorized entity to adopt any of those horses that the Secretary removes from the seashore
This key point is missing from the legislation written for the TRNP wild horses.
Why is this important?
Some of the biggest issues with the management of the wild horses at TRNP throughout the history of the park include the lack of accountability on the part of the park to the public they serve. It was also noted throughout the 2025 ND Legislative Session that there appears to be a lack of equine knowledge among the TRNP staff.
We at Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates KNEW that federal legislation was next on our “To Do” list for these horses. With that in mind, we worked with our state legislators to try to form a wild horse working group to help the park manage the wild horses.
That bill failed in our 2025 state legislature.
HOWEVER…
We have not given up on our goal to get a working group formed. We have been actively working on the formation of this group since the bill failed. This is something we have discussed with Senator Hoeven’s office, other members of Congress, as well as Superintendent Daniels.
This working group is something, that as the Shackleford legislation states, can be done at an agency level with Theodore Roosevelt National Park itself.
When I spoke with Superintendent Daniels about this, I emphasized that CHWHA has already spoken with local university equine study programs, as well as local veterinarians, historians and people in the commerce industry in North Dakota. We have qualified people very interested in being a part of a group like this. We also shared that we do not believe that this group should be made up solely of advocates. This group needs to be made up of people who will be guided by science, history and commerce to do what is best for this herd, for the park and for the state of North Dakota – especially the community of Medora.
Why wouldn’t the park welcome help from local and knowledgeable college students, especially at a time when looming federal cuts continue to threaten park staffing?
Why wouldn’t the park welcome the opportunity to work with the community and the state of North Dakota?
A few other small things in the legislation that we believe should be amended include the monitoring and assessment part of the legislation. This part requires the park to provide a yearly report on the wild horses entrusted to their care. We believe this is a wonderful addition but also do not want this to inhibit the park from being transparent with the public the other 364 days of the year. This is something that can be easily remedied through the partnership with the wild horse working group.
The legislation also requires the park to provide a management plan within 120 days. In my meeting with Superintendent Daniels, she agreed that this is an impossible ask. The new management plan should include public input and follow current NEPA rules. The park needs an ample amount of time to properly research the best management for these horses. Also missing from this aspect is how often the management plan should be updated. The last one hasn’t been updated since 1978 – 48 YEARS AGO!
Management plans SHOULD be updated every 10 years or when new science is being considered as a tool to manage the wild horses.
Next, and this topic is a big one – BIRTH CONTROL. This is an even bigger issue because members of this herd have been permanently sterilized because of the aggressive use of GonaCon on this herd since 2009.
This too can be easily remedied through collaboration with the wild horse working group.
We hope that this helps clarify where we are with federal legislation for the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the amendments CHWHA is working to have added as well as why we would like them added.
Up next…Calls to Action so you can help us get this legislation amended and across the finish line!
We hope you will consider making a tax-deductible donation to help support our work on this federal legislation. We are lobbying Congress, sending them information and also working on putting together a brochure to help inform people on this process and what we are asking from Congress with regards to this legislation.
You can make your tax-deductible donation to us here: https://secure.everyaction.com/pIMNkwr21021HO0xWm0UOg2
You can also make a donation through PayPal here:https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=XNYNCNVLTULGC
Thank you for your support and have a great day!
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