CHWHA

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The Simple Math

Hello and Happy Wednesday to everyone!

Today we thought we would talk about MATH.

I feel like we have all had to “relearn” basic math. You know – the “new” math on paper products. Paper towels 6=12; toilet paper 48=72, etc.

Today we wanted to share some “advocacy math” with you.

Did you know that for every ONE call or email one of our US Senators or Congressman receives, they count that as 5,000?!

FIVE THOUSAND!!

AND

IF they consistently receive at least 10 phone calls on a subject, it catches their attention and becomes something that they watch closely.

Thank you to Heather Hellyer from Save Our Wild Horses for sharing this info on the ECI Zoom call yesterday.

This isn’t math that Heather made up. This information was shared at the 2022 Save Our Wild Horses DC Conference by Marty Irby, who is a leading Washington DC lobbyist.

Why am I sharing this info with you today?

I received an email from Congressman Armstrong’s office requesting that we reschedule our meeting due to a scheduling conflict on their part. The NEW meeting date is June 9^th at 10 am MST.

I don’t have a problem with the meeting being rescheduled. It gives us even more time to make an impact!

We will continue to send postcards to Congressman Armstrong. If you want us to send one for you, please click on this link: https://secure.everyaction.com/1UW4-jaDukaiSMO83dGHVA2

You can also stop in The Buffalo Gap Gift Shop located at 275 Pacific Ave in Medora, ND, Chasing Horses Gift Shop located at 312 Pacific Ave in Medora or Punky’s Bath & Gifts located at 218 N 4th Street in Bismarck, ND, to fill out your own postcard to mail to Congressman Armstrong. THANK YOU to these businesses for their support!

We have also asked that you send an email to Congressman Armstrong’s staff member, Nick, who we will be meeting with next week. Please send a simple email to Nicholas.Tortorici@mail.house.gov Your email can be as simple as “Please support the wild horses in TRNP.”

Lastly, we asked that everyone CALL Congressman Armstrong’s DC office: (202) 225-2611. Again, your message should be respectful and simple: “Please ask Congressman Armstrong to support the wild horses in TRNP.”

Yesterday we heard from several of you that do not live in the state of North Dakota. Some were able to have their message for Congressman Armstrong recorded. We heard from other followers in different states who were NOT able to leave their information because they are not ND residents.

We are asking that if you have this issue, please remain respectful. One of our followers added this information: I told him – very respectfully – this is a federal issue because it is a National Park that ALL taxpayers and visitors pay for. Therefore, Congressman Armstrong should at least hear our input.

I also think that if Congressman Armstrong’s office will NOT record your call, please call your own congressman! Ask that they please get a message to Congressman Armstrong that you would like him to support keeping the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Where there is a will, there is a way, right?!

If you are unsure who your congressman is or how to contact them, you can find that information here: https://www.house.gov/representatives

Based on today’s math lesson, can you be one of the 10 people that can commit to calling and emailing Congressman Armstrong’s office EVERY DAY from now until June 9^th?

The wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park are counting on you to be their voice. This fight is far from over, and we CANNOT let them down!

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT day!

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates is committed to advocating for a wild horse management plan and protection for these unique wild horses that call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home! We are fighting for a management plan that is guided by science especially when it comes to decisions regarding the removal of horses and the administration of birth control. Many other wild horse management plans have proven to be successful with their science-based plans. We are asking for the same for this amazing group of wild horses that call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home.

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NEW Call to Action 5/30/2023

Hello and Happy Tuesday! We hope everyone had a GREAT holiday weekend!

Are you ready to pull up your sleeves and get back to work?

We have a meeting with Congressman Armstrong’s office THURSDAY (6/1/2023)!

We have sent HUNDREDS of postcards to Congressman Armstrong’s office over this last week! THANK YOU!

Over the weekend, we asked that you send an email to Congressman Armstrong a simple message saying “Please support the TRNP wild horses” – you of course are welcome to personalize your message. We do ask that you be respectful. Please send your email to: Nicholas.Tortorici@mail.house.gov.

TODAY we are asking that TODAY AND TOMORROW you CALL Congressman Armstrong’s DC office: Phone: (202) 225-2611. Please remember, the person answering the phone is only taking a message. Be respectful and keep it short and sweet: “I am calling to ask that Congressman Armstrong support keeping the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.”

WHY does Congressman Armstrong matter? We are trying to get federal protection for the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. While we were in DC, every office we met with asked us “Where is Congressman Armstrong on this issue?” Representatives from other states will not be as eager to help North Dakota if our own representative is NOT willing to help with this issue. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LIVE IN NORTH DAKOTA TO SEND POSTCARDS, EMAILS OR CALL CONGRESSMAN ARMSTRONG’S OFFICE!

Please share this information!

The progress we have made all comes down to TIMING! We have 2 days to flood Congressman Armstrong’s office with phone calls and emails if you haven’t sent them already.

Thank you for your support and have a great day!

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YouTube and Call to Action Updates!

Hello and Happy Monday! Happy Memorial Day to everyone!

Did you get to see Dr. Dan Baker & Ginger Fedak’s Horse Talk from yesterday? It was pretty awesome! If you missed it, you can watch it on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/kdLHvgVmIuw

People are also STILL talking about our Horse Talk on Friday with President Roosevelt (Joe Wiegand) and Stephan Zacharias from the Moab Museum. You can view that video here: https://youtu.be/gCRBjiAcbDU

You might want to subscribe to our YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/@ChasingHorsesWildHorseAd-vj8hm

We have more fun and educational Horse Talks coming. Next up is Ecologist Craig Downer on June 11^th. Have you registered? https://secure.everyaction.com/nJ66bmHHqkC2Lf412LJftg2

Please don’t forget this Memorial Day weekend to take a moment to send an email to Congressman Armstrong’s office. We have a meeting with his office THIS THURSDAY June 1^st! We will have a NEW Call to Action for you tomorrow for the next couple of days leading up to that meeting!

You can get information in our blog from the other day: https://chwha.org/2023/05/27/lets-get-loud/

I PROMISE you that every little thing we are doing is making a difference! We CANNOT stop now. The just under 200 horses that call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home are counting on ALL of us to save them!

Can you be their voice?

We will have some things to share in the coming weeks. We PROMISE you will see your hard work paying off!

Don’t forget! We are holding a rally in July in Medora! We are updating the website regularly! https://chwha.org/the-bully-pulpit/ Do you have your tickets yet? https://secure.everyaction.com/PxHqB9hccEGGUpiO1TTxmQ2

Thank you for your support and have a safe holiday!

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Let’s Get LOUD!!!

Hello and Happy Saturday!

Someone said to me yesterday, “Aren’t you glad they saved the TRNP horses?” She was shocked when I told her we didn’t save them – YET!

On one of the posts to send a postcard to Congressman Armstrong to try to get his support, someone said, “What can I say that will change his mind?”

These are just two conversations that show just how much work ALL of us have to do if we are going to save the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park!

The truth is there is nothing that I alone, or you alone can probably say that will change Congressman Armstrong’s mind. BUT…

When HUNDREDS of people are saying the same thing TOGETHER – that one lonely voice or that one single postcard turns into a LOUD voice that is harder to ignore!

WE NEED TO GET LOUD!!!!

Every single day we send 25-100 postcards to Congressman Armstrong’s office. We will fill them out for you and even pay for the postage! You can sign up to send a postcard to him here: https://secure.everyaction.com/1UW4-jaDukaiSMO83dGHVA2

We have another postcard option for you! If you stop in The Buffalo Gap Gift Shop at 275 Pacific Ave in Medora or Chasing Horses shop at 312 Pacific Ave in Medora has postcards already addressed to Congressman Armstrong ready for you to add your personal message to! Hand the card back to a store employee and we will put a stamp on it and mail it for you! THANK YOU to both stores for carrying our brochures and helping to educate the public about the current plight of the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Of course, you can also send your own postcard to Congressman Kelly Armstrong: 2235 Rayburn Hob, Washington, DC 20515

TODAY we have a NEW Call to Action for you for Congressman Armstrong.

I have a meeting with Congressman Armstrong’s office on June 1^st. We are trying to show overwhelming support by EVERYONE (not just me!) so that we can FINALLY get his support!

Throughout this holiday weekend, we are asking that you send a simple email to his office, your message can be short and sweet: “Please support the TRNP wild horses.” Of course, you can personalize that any way you wish, just please be respectful. Please send your email to: Nicholas.Tortorici@mail.house.gov

We will have another Call to Action on Tuesday as we work to get Congressman Armstrong’s support for the TRNP wild horses! Be sure to check back.

Don’t forget! You can also keep commenting on his social media pages too! https://www.facebook.com/RepArmstrongND

Thank you for your support and have a great weekend!

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Sunday Horse Talk Update

Hello and Happy Friday!

We have an update about our horses talks THIS Sunday (5/28/2023)

Ginger Fedak from In Defense of Animals will NOT be doing her horse talk at 2 pm. Ginger feels that her talk is unnecessary since Dr. Dan Baker has agreed to speak with us and he was the lead researcher at Theodore Roosevelt National Park for the GonaCon experiment. Ginger will be on the zoom with us. You can sign up for Dr. Baker’s Horse Talk here: https://secure.everyaction.com/eiaLvZL6M0G6CJR31-pTnA2

Ginger has a huge list of topics she can cover with us, so we will definitely be rescheduling our Horse Talk with her!

Ginger will also be speaking at the Bully Pulpit Rally in July! Do you have your tickets? https://secure.everyaction.com/PxHqB9hccEGGUpiO1TTxmQ2

Thank you for your support and we hope to see all of you on Sunday!

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NEW Horse Talk Added for THIS SUNDAY! Dr. Dan Baker

Hello and Happy Thursday!

We have some EXCITING news to share with you!

First, we want to remind everyone that TOMORROW (5/26/2023) at 9 am MST we will be hosting a Horse Talk with President Theodore Roosevelt (Joe Wiegand) and Stephan Zacharias from the Moab Museum. This will be a very fun and educational Horse Talk for sure! If you haven’t signed up yet, you can register for the event here: https://secure.everyaction.com/zerY5yPAL0iGXwqU3gJCxQ2

On SUNDAY 5/28/2023, our fiend Ginger Fedak from In Defense of Animals will be joining us for a Horse Talk at 2 pm MST. Ginger will be talking about GonaCon and its impact on the Theodore Roosevelt National Park horses. If you haven’t signed up for this event, you can register here: https://secure.everyaction.com/p-zNKba5F0GkxUUc6eHuwQ2

In light of Ginger’s scheduled talk on Sunday and American Wild Horse Campaign’s documents they received from their FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request, we reached out to Dr. Dan Baker to see if he would be willing to share his side of the GonaCon story:

Hello! My name is Chris Kman. I am the president of Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates. We advocate for the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
As I am sure you are aware, the American Wild Horse Campaign has recently shared some documents they received through FOIA with us regarding the use of GonaCon on the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. https://americanwildhorsecampaign.org/media/foia-records-raise-questions-sterility-theodore-roosevelt-mares

We have been holding “Horse Talks” over zoom to help raise awareness about wild horses and this topic has come up several times. This Sunday, Ginger Fedak from In Defense of Animals will be joining us to speak about the impact of GonaCon on the TRNP horses specifically.

I would like to invite you to join us for a “Horse Talk” so we can hear your side of the story, how the research has gone/is going and answer some concerns wild horse advocates have about GonaCon.

Please let me know when you are available. We usually do these on Sunday afternoons, but we I can work this in any day and time of the week.

Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Christine Kman
www.chwha.org

YESTERDAY Dr. Dan Baker sent us a response:

Hi Chris,

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you. Thanks for reaching out to me for more information on our research with GonaCon-Equine in horses at TRNP. I would be available for a short visit with your group on Sunday as long as the conversation is focused on this research specifically. I’m available for a meeting with you any time after 1 pm.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,
Dan Baker

PS. I’ve attached background scientific publications regarding GonaCon-Equine in horses that might be useful for our discussions.

Dan L. Baker, PhD
Research Biologist
Colorado State University
Animal Reproduction &
Biotechnology Laboratory
Fort Collins, Colorado 80523

We have set up a SECOND horse talk for THIS SUNDAY (5/28/2023) at 4 PM MST with Dr. Dan Baker! All of our Horse Talks are FREE, but we do ask that you register in advance. You can register for Dr. Dan Baker’s Horse Talk here: https://secure.everyaction.com/eiaLvZL6M0G6CJR31-pTnA2 Also, please note that he stated he will be meeting to discuss the use of GonaCon on the TRNP horses SPECIFICALLY. If you have questions you would like us to ask Dr. Baker, feel free to email us those in advance at info@chwha.org.

We are also sharing the documents that Dr. Baker shared with us:

GonaCon-in-female-horses-at-TR-1 Download

Fertility-Control-Options-for-Management-of-Free-roaming-Horse-Po-2 Download

Ransom.2014-behavior-1 Download

GonaCon-Equine-PLoS-ONE-2018-1 Download

As we always say, if the tech gods are nice to us, we will continue to make all of our Horse Talks available on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeyTpwa2Y1yUsTaJ4TU-eNw

Thank you for your support and we hope to see you TOMORROW and SUNDAY for some exciting “Horse Talk”!

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Postcards & Emails

Hello and Happy Wednesday!

We wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who signed up to send a postcard to Congressman Armstrong! We have a follow up meeting with his office on June 1, 2023, and we are trying to get as many postcards as possible to his office before then! We have already sent a couple HUNDRED postcards!!! THANK YOU!

If people continue to sign up, we will continue to send postcards! You can sign up to have us send yours here: https://secure.everyaction.com/1UW4-jaDukaiSMO83dGHVA2

We also have another time sensitive ask for you…

Please send an email to your own members of congress and ask them to please support legislation that would protect/preserve the Theodore Roosevelt National Park wild horses.

A simple email or phone call saying just that simple sentence is all we are asking. We need to continue to bring awareness to our TRNP wild horses. We also know that timing is everything! Please send your emails to your own representatives NOW no matter where you live! We need EVERY member of congress we can get on our side to help save our TRNP wild horses!

You can find your members of congress here: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

DON’T FORGET! A great way to get the attention of your members of congress is to share the Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West trailer with the hashtag #istandwithwildhorses along with a hashtag for your senator and house members. You can share this link for the trailer: https://youtu.be/s8OuLAlkA08

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT day!

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Rally Updates

Hello and Happy Tuesday to everyone!

We are working hard to make the Fighting for the Spirit of the Badlands: The Bully Pulpit Rally GREAT! We have added some hotel information to the website and will be adding more as we hear back. If you are a hotel that would like to offer a discount, please contact us at info@chwha.org.

There is also some exciting news to share! We have been talking with Ashley Avis, the director of Wild Beauty Mustang Spirit of the West. As we mentioned, we will be playing her documentary all day on July 12^th. We are also in the process of working out a virtual Q&A with members of the Wild Beauty cast! How awesome is that?!!! More details are coming soon!

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates also reached out to the 3 nonprofit groups that advocate for the TRNP wild horses today and offered them time to speak at the rally. Their responses will be updated on the website with the other list of speakers that will be in attendance on July 13^th! Look for some EXCITING updates to the speaking list next week!

We are going to need your help and support to pull off an AMAZING rally in July! If you are interested in helping in any way with this rally, please contact us at info@chwha.org.

We are adding to the Rally page (https://chwha.org/the-bully-pulpit/) daily. Be sure to subscribe to our website to be notified when we update our site.

DON’T FORGET! We are sending all of the postcards to Congressman Armstrong TOMORROW! Are we sending a postcard to him for you? You can sign up to have us send your postcard to Congressman Armstrong here: https://secure.everyaction.com/1UW4-jaDukaiSMO83dGHVA2

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT day!

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Monday Gratitude

Hello and Happy Monday!

THANK YOU to everyone who participated in our Horse Talk with Scott Beckstead yesterday. If you missed it, you can view it on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/uxinDnxbIiw

One of the things that was noted from our talk with Scott yesterday is that NOW is NOT the time for silent advocacy for ANY of our wild horses! Scott’s message was to stay persistent and stay the course! We ALL need to do everything we can to help save our wild horses! Scott talked about fighting this fight from EVERY ANGLE – something Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates has been doing since the park’s announcement in December!

THANK YOU to everyone who has signed up and shared information about our campaign to send postcards to Congressman Armstrong. We tripled our numbers yesterday.

Still…can we make more of an impact than 75 postcards?

We are mailing off the postcards Wednesday morning. If you can share the link and help us get more postcards to Congressman Armstrong, that would be AWESOME! Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates is paying for the postcards, the postage and even mailing the post card for you! You can sign up for us to send your postcard here: https://secure.everyaction.com/1UW4-jaDukaiSMO83dGHVA2 People who are signed up by NOON (MST) on Wednesday (5/24/2023) will be included in this Call to Action.

We are working hard to get federal protection for the wild horses of TRNP. As our only elected US House representative, Congressman Armstrong is critical for us to get this support for the horses!

THANK YOU to everyone who has been sending their emails to the congressional staffers that we met with and/or left information with while we were in Washington, DC. We have sent over 200 emails and TOMORROW we will share the LAST of the email addresses with you! YAY!!!!! You can find the contact info and sample letters on our website: https://chwha.org/call-to-action-dc-follow-up/ – THIS IS making a difference! We ARE getting responses!

A HUGE THANK YOU goes out to all of you who made a donation yesterday to help us with our billboard! We raised enough money for our matching donation! That means the billboard is paid for through September! We still need help to keep the billboard up! You can make a donation to support our advocacy work on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/

Have you heard?

The Fighting for the Spirit of the Badlands: The Bully Pulpit Rally is ON! The event will be held at the Medora Community Center July 12^th & 13^th! We updated the speaking list and hotel information today. Please be sure to check back for more updates! We will also be showing Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West on July 12^th! We are firming up plans for the event and will be sharing ticket information with you soon! You can view the information we currently have on our website: https://chwha.org/the-bully-pulpit/

Please let us know if you would like to volunteer to help with the rally! You can email us at info@chwha.org

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT day!

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Cagney & Starlet

Sometime in December or January, when Mother Nature began crippling the state of North Dakota with unimaginable amounts of snow, Stallion Cagney somehow managed to take Mare Dolly and her daughters, Starlet & Summer, from Stallion Flax. The three have remained with Cagney ever since.

While we all know that Mare Dolly is a very stubborn mare, her 2021 Filly Starlet seems to be pretty smitten with their new stallion.

Is it possible that Starlet witnessed the great love we have all witnessed between Flax & his #1 mare Mischief? Could Cagney & Starlet be Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s next great love story?

The honest truth is, we may never know.

Cagney and Starlet, along with the other 190 horses that currently call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home, could be removed from the park at the end of 2023 or in 2024.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park announced their plans in December of 2022 to eliminate the ENTIRE herd of horses from the park. That is their proposed action. While support to keep the horses in the park has grown, the FACT that the park wants to eliminate every last one of the 190 horses from the park has not changed.

The park is currently putting together their environmental assessment (EA). Their Draft EA, we have been told, will be out this summer. There is no reason to believe that the Draft EA will state anything else but support for removing the horses from the park. THAT is STILL their proposed action.

Superintendent Angie Richman has started the narrative in recent news reports that EVEN IF the horses are allowed to stay, the number allowed would be the 35-60, as stated in the 1978 EA.

Which 35-60 of the 190+ horses get to stay? Will Cagney & Starlet get to stay? Auggie? Bluebell? Sidekick? Flax? Daisy? Nicols? Phoenix? Boomer? Amite? What happens to the 130-160 horses that will be sold on a government surplus auction site? How many of those 130-160 horses will end up going to slaughter? Those are REAL questions that weigh heavily on us every single day.

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates has been leading the fight to save these horses since the park made it’s announcement in December. With your help and support, we have helped draft, introduce, and get passed UNANIMOUSLY North Dakota Senate Concurrent Resolution SCR 4014. We have travelled to Washington DC to meet with and leave information for over 200 members of congress to help educate them on the plight of our TRNP wild horses. We have researched, designed and had a billboard installed on I-94 – visible to traffic heading west – TOWARD Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We have requested an audience with National Park Service Regional Director Herbert Frost. That prompted him to travel to Medora the week of July 10^th as he agreed to hold a “listening session” with us and other interested parties. We have answered that by planning a rally on July 12 & 13^th! We are also working with American Wild Horse Campaign for ways we can get these horses protected federally, since they are NOT protected under the Wild Horse & Burro Act.

Those are just some of the highlights of the last 6 months.

A week from Thursday, we will be having a follow-up meeting with Congressman Armstrong’s office. THIS is someone who is STILL NOT supporting the horses staying in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We need his support!

Yet, we asked for your help to send postcards to his office ahead of our meeting. To date, we have 25 people who signed up for CHWHA to fill out, pay for postage and send your postcard to his office. That is hardly the flood of postcards we were hoping to send. You can sign up to have us send yours here: https://secure.everyaction.com/1UW4-jaDukaiSMO83dGHVA2

We have asked for help to keep the billboard that is up on I-94. We had to commit to a 12-month contract. The billboard costs $975 per month. Based on our current response, the billboard will be coming down in July MAYBE August. We had a follower offer to pay for one month of the billboard IF we could get everyone else to match their $975 donation. We are still only about halfway there. There are several ways that you can make a donation on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/ With over a half million people following this herd over several different social media pages, keeping this billboard up should not be an issue.

The lack of support for those two items makes me wonder how many of you are sending emails to the congressional staffers we met while we were in Washington DC? We are asking that EVERYONE send emails to those people to help raise awareness throughout congress about the plight of our wild horses. We are trying to get federal protection for these horses, and we will need every member of congress that we can get on our side! The email list is updated daily. Have you sent your emails? https://chwha.org/call-to-action-dc-follow-up/

These horses CANNOT speak up and fight this government bureaucracy themselves. They need each and every one of us to be their voice.

Are you tired of this fight yet? I know I am EXHAUSTED! BUT this fight is far from over!

If we lose this battle, the horses won’t be the only ones to lose. Our children and our grandchildren will be among the biggest losers. They will never know the beauty of seeing wild horses running wild and free within the boundaries of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Once the horses are removed from the park, they will NEVER be brought back in. THAT you can bet on!

I’ll end my plea for your help and support with the words of Theodore Roosevelt:

“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.”
~ Theodore Roosevelt

PLEASE respond to our Calls to Action. PLEASE help support our advocacy work. PLEASE share our posts to help reach as many people as possible. After 6 months, believe it or not, there are STILL a lot of people who have no idea that 190 horses are in danger of losing the only home they have ever known.

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Rally updates and other news

Hello and Happy Saturday to everyone!

We have updated the email list for today for our DC Call to Action.

Do you realize that if you have been sending emails along with us, you have sent about 188 emails?!

THAT IS INCREDIBLE!!! THANK YOU!!!

We are ALMOST done with our list!

WHY are we doing this?

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates met with over 200 congressional staffers while they were in Washington DC. We are asking that EVERYONE send emails to those people to help raise awareness throughout congress about the plight of our wild horses. We are trying to get federal protection for these horses, and we will need every member of congress that we can get on our side! The email list is updated daily. Have you sent your emails? https://chwha.org/call-to-action-dc-follow-up/

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates will be holding a rally on July 12 & 13^th! Details are still being worked out, but we are updating our website as new info comes: https://chwha.org/the-bully-pulpit/

TODAY we started adding hotels with discounts for you! We will have more to add next week when other calls we made are returned. July is a BUSY time in Southwestern North Dakota! Medora is sold out on their hotels, so we are reaching out to other hotels in neighboring towns. If you are coming and need a room, we suggest you book ASAP! You can find more on the “Places to Stay” section of the Bully Pulpit Rally 2023 page on our website: https://chwha.org/places-to-stay/

When we started planning this rally, we started envisioning what these days would look like. We crossed our fingers and made some wishes!

YESTERDAY, we had the extreme pleasure of speaking with Ashley Avis via email! We are EXCITED to announce that we will be showing Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West on July 12^th as part of our rally! HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!

We will have more to share about activities being planned for the 12th! We will also be updating speakers as we get commitments from them. The best way to stay up to date is to sign up to receive notifications when we update our website. This can be done at the bottom of the home page of our website or on the Bully Pulpit Rally page https://chwha.org/the-bully-pulpit/

Our Billboard went live yesterday! Have you seen it?!

We need your help to keep this up! The cost is $975 per month and we had to commit to 12 months! Please help us if you can: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/

As a 501(c )(3) organization, your donation to Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates is 100% tax deductible!

We will have more Rally information to share as well as ticket information next week so be sure to check back!

DON’T FORGET! TOMORROW we will be talking to Scott Beckstead in our Sunday Horse Talk at 2 pm MST! The event is FREE, but we do ask that you register in advance: https://secure.everyaction.com/y-j5SpBz9k2WMRyzRd3jMw2 Scott will be talking about WHY every wild horse advocate should have Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West as part of their advocacy toolkit!

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT weekend!

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Call to Action: Postcards to Armstrong!

Hello again!

We just got an email from Congressman Armstrong’s office. We will be having a follow up video meeting with them on June 1^st! We will be discussing the information we left with them while we were in Washington DC and the additional information they requested from us. Here is hoping we are able to get his support!

Congressman Armstrong is North Dakota’s ONLY US House member! While we were in Washington DC, in office after office we went to asking for help and support for our horses, we were repeatedly asked “Where does Congressman Armstrong stand on this issue?” Other states do not want to tell our congressman what he should and should not be doing. This only reiterates that we NEED his support!

Congressman Armstrong was elected to be the voice of the people of North Dakota. The people of North Dakota have spoken ALONG WITH Governor Burgum and our North Dakota legislators as well as our two federal senators: Cramer & Hoeven.

Can you help?!

#1 – Please send a follow up email to Congressman Armstrong’s Congressional staff member: Nick Tortorici at Nicholas.Tortorici@mail.house.gov. A sample letter is listed here, but please feel free to RESPECTFULLY personalize your message:

Hello! I am writing to you today as a member of Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates. Our organization advocates for the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, ND. Our organization’s president, Christine Kman stopped by your office while she was in Washington DC a few weeks ago and left a packet of information for your review. I am hoping that you have had a chance to look over the information.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) recently announced their plans to eliminate the entire herd of 190 horses from the park. They are currently in the process of formulating a Draft Environmental Assessment, which is expected to be completed this summer.

History has shown us that even if we are able to save the horses from the parks’ most recent attempt to eliminate them, nothing stops TRNP park management from coming back and making the same attempts again. Wild horses in our national parks are NOT protected under the Wild Horse & Burro Act. This is why we feel that they should be protected under federal public law, similar to the way the wild horses at Cape Lookout National Seashore are protected under Public Law 105-229.

We do not currently have a sponsor for this bill. Please let us know if the Congressman would be interested in sponsoring or co-sponsoring legislation to help protect our wild horses in TRNP. We would be happy to work with your office to draft this legislation.

We are also asking for a moratorium on funding for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and their wild horse and burro program. We strongly oppose the use of our taxpayer dollars being spent to support the current program. We believe that the lack of transparency and accountability within the BLM in reference to their Wild Horse & Burro program warrants a confessional hearing.

I encourage your office to participate in the congressional screening of Wild Beauty in June. This documentary clearly shows the reasons why congress needs to be active in changing the way we manage our wild horse and burros.

I look forward to hearing about follow-up meetings between your office and Christine Kman on June 1^st! The information that was left with you has been added to the CHWHA website. You can view the files here: https://chwha.org/media-info/.

Thank you again for your consideration.

Sincerely,

www.chwha.org

*****Be sure to add your name after “Sincerely”! *****

#2 – Please sign up to send a postcard to Congressman Armstrong’s Washington DC office: https://secure.everyaction.com/1UW4-jaDukaiSMO83dGHVA2 We will fill out and mail the postcard for you!

Thank you for your support!

Please help support our advocacy work!

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Answering Your Questions About An Update On the TRNP Horses

Hello and Happy Thursday to everyone. I had a lot of questions yesterday that came about from a post on another page. Instead of responding to the same individual questions, we thought we would just answer them here:

What is currently happening with the park?

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is in the process of completing their Draft Environmental Assessment (EA).

What is a Draft EA?

A Draft EA is a document that is produced after the park analyzes what the impacts of their “proposed action” is. In this case, the parks “proposed action” is total elimination of the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) requires that the park look at a “No action” alternative to their preferred action – in this case that goes back to the 1978 EA which states that 35-60 horses is what the park will allow. They also need to consider other REASONABLE alternatives. That is where all of our comments came in for the comment period that ended on January 31, 2023. They received over 6,000 UNIQUE comments. We will not know what other reasonable alternatives they considered until the Draft EA comes out.

What happens next?

The park has stated that the Draft EA would be out in the Spring of 2023. That has recently been updated to Summer 2023 per our email conversation with National Park Service Regional Director Herbert Frost. Once the Draft EA is out, there will be a chance for the public to comment again. Last time they asked us to comment on other alternatives to consider. This time the comments will be directed at the Draft EA report that is presented to us.

Recent local interviews by TRNP Park Superintendent Angie Richman seem to be setting up the narrative that IF they allow the horses to remain in the park, ONLY 35-60 (of the current 190+) horses will be allowed to stay, which is NOT enough for a genetically viable herd of horses.

What did SCR 4014 do?

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates worked hard to get North Dakota Senate Concurrent Resolution SCR 4014 drafted, introduced and PASSED (UNANIMOUSLY IN BOTH THE ND HOUSE AND SENATE)! THIS is simply an ask from the state of North Dakota that the horses be allowed to stay.

HOWEVER!

While we were in Washington DC, we were told by SEVERAL congressional staffers that having that signed resolution from our state in our advocacy toolkit was a VERY POWERFUL tool!

What about Federal protection?

Federal protection takes A LOT longer to get than the state resolution that was passed. TIMING is also EVERYTHING! We ALL learned that lesson as timing was on our side several times during the process of SCR 4014. THAT is why we are asking EVERYONE to email ALL of the names on our DC Contact list (https://chwha.org/call-to-action-dc-follow-up/) . We NEED to make members of congress aware of the plight of our horses NOW.

TIMING.IS.EVERYTHING!

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates is working with American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) to get federal protection for these horses. We will share more as we can, but to answer the questions, NO ONE else is working with us to get federal protection for these horses. If other groups say they are working on federal protection, this is a point where working together and sharing strategies would be helpful so that we aren’t hurting each other’s efforts. I also do not see any Calls to Action from other groups/pages asking their followers to contact anyone. Strength is numbers is another lesson we have all learned during these last 6 months. There are a couple of pages that share our posts and Calls to Action, and we are thankful to them for their support.

THIS is how the Wild Horse & Burro Act got passed. REAL change happens when voices are UNITED AND LOUD! Google Wild Horse Annie! Imagine if she decided to “quietly” advocate for wild horses behind the scenes! She had THOUSANDS of school children write letters. There was NOTHING quiet about what she did. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr told us: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

These horses matter to ALL of us and ALL of us need to let OUR government know this!

Should we wait to take any action?

To quote my good friend Dr. Castle McLaughlin: “The park has already announced their preference to remove the horses and without push back, they will.”

This week, we had 2 phone meetings with our lawyers to discuss strategy and also meetings with other wild horse advocates, like AWHC, to make sure we are doing all we can EVERY STEP of the way and from EVERY ANGLE to save these horses. Those of you who have been following us can easily see that there is A LOT that can be done while we wait for the park’s response.

Are any other local groups working with you?

We get asked this question A LOT. The answer is NO. As we stated, there are a few groups/pages like Wild in North Dakota, Ode to the Wilds and recently This Mustang Life that share some of our posts. Any fundraisers being done on other pages DO NOT support our advocacy work. They DO NOT pay for our billboard. They DO NOT pay for our legal fees. We also want to add that we extended an olive branch to all of the groups that document these horses. The ones listed here are the only ones that are actively sharing our posts.

Who are the “officials” that other groups are talking to?

We have no idea, but they are apparently NOT anyone from Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Per Superintendent Angie Richman’s email to us last week:

“Thank you for the response. Although your questions are not directly connected to the livestock plan we have continued to respond to all communication pertaining to horse and cattle management through the online communication portal. Our hope is to maintain transparency, information consistency, and equitability among the public and park stakeholders.

The portal is regularly updated to provide information about park horse and cattle management actions and answer commonly asked questions. Many of the FAQs on the portal currently answer your questions including the use of GonaCon. We updated this page as recently as April 14 and are working to respond to the recent inquiries that came in through this website. We have been including the dates of updates to answers to maintain a record of changes for site user reference. We plan to continue to use this portal found here: https://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/nature/mammals.htm to respond to questions.”

How will the rally help?

Herbert Frost, NPS Regional Director, informed us that he will be in Medora the week of July 10^th. We have planned a Bully Pulpit Rally on July 12^th! We plan to have experts in different areas show the positive reasons why the horses should be left in the park including their cultural, historical, ecological, biological, genetic, and economical benefits to both Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the tourist town of Medora as well as the state of North Dakota as a whole.

Our national parks were set aside for US – the taxpaying public. These are OUR parks. They are paid for with OUR tax dollars. WE get to decide what happens in our parks and to the wildlife that call the park home. THAT includes the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. THAT also includes questioning the continued use of GonaCon (A STERILANT) on our horses.

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates is LITERLALLY Fighting for the Spirit of the Badlands. We have been leading this fight since the park made their announcement on December 12, 2022, and we will NOT stop until there is a management plan in place for these horses that allows for a genetically viable herd AND federal protection for these horses so that they and all of us NEVER have to go through this again!

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The Bully Pulpit

From Wikipedia:

“A bully pulpit is a conspicuous position that provides an opportunity to speak out and be listened to. This term was coined by United States President Theodore Roosevelt, who referred to his office as a “bully pulpit”, by which he meant a terrific platform from which to advocate an agenda. Roosevelt used the word bully as an adjective meaning “superb” or “wonderful”, a more common usage at that time.”

As you know, we have reached out to National Park Service Director Herbert Frost requesting an audience to discuss American Wild Horse Campaign’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) findings regarding the sterilization of some of our mares with GonaCon.

Director Frost responded to my request with this email:

“I plan to be in the park the week of July 10, 2023 and I would like to suggest we meet in person. We would also plan to invite other interest groups to attend this listening session. We would be interested in hearing your views as well as others invited, however we would not be making any decisions or commitments. This would just be a listening session where you would have the opportunity to express your views and opinions.

The Livestock Management Plan / Environmental Assessment will be out for review this summer and will be open for public comment. We also encourage you to continue to engage in the formal opportunities to provide input.”

We are in the process of working out ALL of the details BUT we can tell you this….

The Fighting for the Spirit of the Badlands: The Bully Pulpit 2023 rally will be held in Medora North Dakota on July 12 & 13, 2023.

This rally will bring together experts on cultural, historical, scientific, political, legal and economic benefits to having wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We already have some GREAT speakers working out their schedules to be here! We also plan to allow time for members of the public to respectfully speak up about your concerns about the removal of the horses and/or reasons why you want them to stay. We will also be inviting members of the National Park Service to attend and “listen”. They will also have an open invitation to speak to the assembled public as well.

We are STILL working out ALL of the details, but we will be adding a page on our website for updates as we work them out.

If you have thoughts and ideas on how to make this event even better, please email us at info@chwha.org.

We are going to NEED volunteers all along the way to make this event as successful as possible! Please email us at the address above if you are interested in volunteering in any capacity.

We also need corporate sponsors for this event! Please email us at info@chwha.org if you would like to help co-sponsor this event!

MOST IMPORTANTLY – MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR JULY 12 & 13, 2023! DESTINATION: MEDORA NORTH DAKOTA!

Thank you for your support and stay tuned for more details coming soon!

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The FIGHT Continues….

Hello and Happy Tuesday!

It has been a CRAZY day!

We had two very good – VERY encouraging meetings today.

Someone asked me probably back in January if I thought we would be able to save the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I said then that if I didn’t think we could, I would not be wasting my time.

As support for these horses continues to grow, I find myself getting more and more hopeful that together WE really can save these horses!

There is STILL A LOT of work that needs to be done, but today I started seeing how things that seemed so small months ago, are starting to come together into a larger picture to save these horses!

I CANNOT stress enough how important sending these emails to our congressional contacts is! TIMING IS EVERYTHING! We have seen that repeatedly throughout this fight!

PLEASE make sure you are sending your emails and please share our posts so that as many people as possible are also sending in emails and getting educated about the plight of our wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

We added more names to the email list today: https://chwha.org/call-to-action-dc-follow-up/

We also need financial help to support our advocacy work. We have been leading the fight to save this herd from Day 1 and we won’t stop until they have a proper management plan that allows for a genetically viable herd of horses AND federal protection so none of us – ESPECIALLY THE HORSES – ever have to go through this again!

Thank you for your support and have a great day!

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WHAT Are You FIGHTING For?

Yesterday we made a post asking you WHO you are fighting for in this Theodore Roosevelt National Park wild horse herd. We have started a campaign to collect photos and stories from you for our 2024 calendar. You can find info on the post pinned to the top of our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ChasingHorsesWHA). Photos and stories can be emailed to us at info@chwha.org.

Today we are going to ask WHY you are fighting for these horses.

More than that. WHAT are you willing to do to help them?

We travelled to Washington DC a few weeks ago and talked to and/or left information with over 200 members of congress. We are about halfway through our list. Have you been sending your emails? We have the list of email addresses and a sample email on our website here: https://chwha.org/call-to-action-dc-follow-up/

I am sending my own emails every day. I am just one person. There is a significant difference between a congressional staffer receiving an email from me and receiving emails from 10, 20, 50 or even hundreds of you!

What is the goal?

We are working to get federal protection for the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. These horses are NOT protected under the Wild Horse & Burro Act. Federal protection will help make sure that we never have to go through an announcement from the park saying they are eliminating the horses! History shows us that they do this pretty regularly!

Have you ever drafted a federal law?

Neither have we!

That is why TOMORROW, we will be meeting with our lobbyist friends at American Wild Horse Campaign to talk about the BEST strategy forward for this part of our advocacy work.

So please, send your emails! These horses need every single one of us to be their voice!

We ARE making a difference! We just can’t quit now!

Thank you for your support and have a great day!

HELP US KEEP OUR BILLBOARD UP!!

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The FACTS Don’t Lie…

Hello and Happy Thursday!

There is so much happening with our TRNP herd. We don’t want American Wild Horse Campaign’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents to get lost. Those FOIA documents have shown that Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Colorado State University KNOW that they permanently sterilized 19 out of 24 mares that were given GonaCon in 2009 and again in 2013. To add insult to injury, Theodore Roosevelt National Park was asked this question SPECIFICALLY during their 2 “civic engagement meetings” with the public. Both times they lied to us! You can read all of this in AWHC’s blog: https://americanwildhorsecampaign.org/media/foia-records-raise-questions-sterility-theodore-roosevelt-mares

There have been 8 live births in Theodore Roosevelt National Park this year. So some are saying “See! The mares ARE NOT permanently sterilized! Babies are being born!”

I want to share again something that I shared with a reporter a few weeks ago:

In 2020 there were 42 live births. NOTE: 2020 was the year they decided to start giving EVERY female horse 8 months old and up birth control.
In 2021 there were 26 live births
In 2022 there were 15 live births.

Yes, some mares are foaling. 8 to be exact so far.

What about these mares who have not foaled in years?

2019 Filly Amargo
2007 Mare Angel (last foaled in 2020)
2019 Filly Anisak
2019 Filly Antice
2019 Filly Archer
2017 Mare Aurora (last foaled in 2020)
2007 Mare Autumn (last foaled in 2020)
2006 Mare Betty Blue (last foaled in 2019)
2005 Mare Blondie (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2007 Mare Blue (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2014 Mare Blue Velvet (has not foaled since 2016)
2000 Mare Busy Blue (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2010 Mare Cassie (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2007 Mare Cedar (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2010 Mare Cowgirl (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2006 Mare Daisy (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2013 Mare Dawn (has not foaled since 2016)
2006 Mare Diamond (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2014 Mare Dixie (has not foaled since 2016)
2006 Mare Ember’s Girl (has not foaled since 2020)
2014 Mare Emmylou (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2006 Mare Escape (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2011 Mare Esprit (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2013 Mare Faith (has not foaled since 2020)
2000 Mare Flame (has not foaled since 2020)
2004 Mare Freckles (has not foaled since 2020)
2011 Mare Juniper (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2010 Mare Lakota (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2004 Mare Little Brother’s Girl (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2007 Mare Maddie (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2007 Mare Maggie (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2013 Mare Mischief (has not foaled since 2016)
2005 Mare Mist (has not foaled since 2020)
2014 Mare Opal (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2014 Mare Paige (has not foaled since 2019)
2014 Mare Paisley (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2001 Mare Pale Lady (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2018 Mare Patience
2014 Mare Penny (has not foaled since 2020 – her foal “failed to thrive”)
2004 Mare Rosie (has not foaled since 2019)
2006 Mare Ruby (has not foaled since 2020)
2014 Mare Skipper (has not foaled since 2020 – her foal “failed to thrive”)
2007 Mare Smokey (has not foaled since 2018)
2001 Mare Snip’s Gray (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2005 Mare Spotted Blue (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2005 Mare Sundance (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2001 Mare Tanker (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)
2014 Mare Taylor (has not foaled since 2020 – her foal “failed to thrive”)
2005 Mare Twister (has not foaled since 2018)
2014 Mare Valentina (has not foaled since 2017)
2010 Mare Whiskey (has not foaled since 2017)
2004 Mare Winter (has not foaled since we started documenting this herd in 2016)

We kept off any fillies born from 2020-2022. Some, if not all of them, have probably been given GonaCon.

Also, remember it is believed that 2 doses of GonaCon can lead to permanent sterilization. If you look at when the BLM releases mares, they ALL receive 2 doses of GonaCon before they are released back on the range. That is because based on the experiment on our horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, they believe 2 doses will lead to permanent sterilization.

8 live births, 2 deaths so far in 2023. 52 mares that have not foaled in 3 years or more.

We think you can draw your own conclusions on the effectiveness of GonaCon as a STERILANT. The photo below is from the documents AWHC received from their FOIA request. The handwritten notes are from Paul Griffin from the BLM. These notes are records of meetings between Paul Griffin and Blake McCann from TRNP and Dan Baker from CSU.

On May 28^th, Ginger Fedak from In Defense of Animals will be joining us for a Horse Talk. We had the pleasure of meeting Ginger at the Save Our Wild Horses conference in DC. Ginger lives near Colorado State University and as a research scientist, she was invited to MANY meetings about CSU and their experiment on our TRNP horses. Make sure you are signed up for this Horse Talk! Our Horse Talks are FREE but we do ask you to register in advance: https://secure.everyaction.com/p-zNKba5F0GkxUUc6eHuwQ2

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT day!

HELP US KEEP OUR BILLBOARD UP!!

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I Am Just One Person

Hello and Happy Monday to everyone!

We have been adding names to our Washington DC Call to Action. Have you been sending your emails? We set up a special page on our website just for this call to action: https://chwha.org/call-to-action-dc-follow-up/ We have over 200 contacts from Washington DC. Everyday I spent some time adding them to an excel spreadsheet. Then I add their emails to the website.

What is the goal?

To get the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park protected under a federal public law similar to the way that the wild horses at Cape Lookout National Seashore are protected under Public Law 105-229. We feel that this sets a precedent and makes this a VERY attainable goal!

IF we are able to save the TRNP horses and get a management plan that allows for a genetically viable herd of horses, NOTHING stops the park from coming back and trying to eliminate this herd again. History shows us that the park does this every 10-20 years. Since the horses are NOT protected under the Wild Horse & Burro Act, they need federal protection.

My voice is JUST ONE VOICE. So, I am also sending emails to the congressional staffers I either met with or left information with. My one voice won’t make a difference. We have seen a few times now that ALL of our voices combined DO make a difference.

TODAY I received this email from one of our congressional staffers:

Hello Christine!

It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Unfortunately, we did not get to meet in person, but I was able to go through the packet you left for me. While western Pennsylvania is not known for wild horses, our state is home to several national parks, historic sites, and scenic trails, and supporting animal protections, wildlife, and biodiversity are important to us. We would be excited to work with you and your organization on drafting legislation to federally protect wild horses in national parks, as well as reviewing and text you may already have.

Thank you for reaching out, and I looking forward to hearing from you soon.

First, HOW GREAT IS THIS?!

This process will be similar to what we all worked so hard for with our North Dakota legislators. We need someone to sponsor legislation and then we need all the support we can get to make this happen! It looks like we have a potential sponsor!

Expect this process to take YEARS! BUT we have to start somewhere, right?

What do you say, do you have a few minutes to send some emails today to help save the historic wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park? https://chwha.org/call-to-action-dc-follow-up/

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT day!

HELP US KEEP OUR BILLBOARD UP!!

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New Call to Action 5/5/2023

Hello and Happy Friday to everyone!

We took this photo yesterday. This is Stallion Flash’s band. While I was photographing another band, these guys came literally out of nowhere. The thunder of their hoofs hitting the ground as they ran by was so powerful!

This photo seemed fitting because that is what I am going to ask each one of you to do in our next Call to Action.

It has been a week since we got back from Washington, DC. Now, as we follow up on meetings we had and information that was left for review, we need ALL of you to be the powerful thunder of hoofs to give more power to our voice.

Remember, I am just one person like each one of you. The changes and support we are realizing comes from the unity and strength in our combined voices. One of my all-time favorite quotes is this one:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the
world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

~ Margaret Mead

It might be a while before we realize the full extent of the changes we are creating as we fight for the proper management of this herd. I do know that I go to bed every night knowing that I did all I could to help save this herd. THAT is all any of us can really do.

Are you ready to add your energy to our THUNDER?

This Call to Action will be a long one in many aspects.

This Call to Action is the start of a congressional request to have the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park protected under a Federal Public Law. What we are asking for has already been done with the wild horses at Cape Lookout National Seashore. If it can happen for one group of wild horses in a national park, then why can’t it happen for ours?

WHY do we need this?

History has shown us that even if we are able to keep a genetically viable herd of horses IN Theodore Roosevelt National Park, they still are NOT protected under the Wild Horse & Burro Act. They have no federal protection and their rights to stay wild and free are at the discretion of the local and regional NPS management. A federal public law is all we can ask for from our government to make sure this never happens to these horses again!

The state level resolution took us 4 months to get passed. I don’t think that I have to say that Federal action will take a lot longer. We have to start somewhere!

I started sending emails to the people I personally met last week, thanking them for their time and requesting a meeting to follow up. You can imagine where ONE lonely email will end up. THIS is where ALL of you come in. You may have not been able to be in Washington DC last week, but I was there representing each one of you that makes up our non-profit organization, Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates! I am asking that each one of you send an email as well.

I am in the process of getting my over 200 contacts added to a database. I feel like the best way to do this is to do a little every day!

We have created a couple of NEW menu tabs on our website. We hope this helps you navigate easier. One is a separate Call to Action for the DC Follow up emails. We will add NEW email contact info every day until we get through the over 200 congressional contacts we made in DC. We ask that you check this daily and please send the emails: https://chwha.org/call-to-action-dc-follow-up/

Second, we added a media page. This has all of the information (and then some) that we added to our folders that we took with us to Washington DC. This will be helpful for those of you trying to get national media attention (FYI this will be one of our next Calls to Action). It is also a place where you can direct people that you talk to where they can find specific information about this herd. You can view the media page here: https://chwha.org/media-info/

Please feel free to message us on social media or email us at info@chwha.org with any questions you may have or any responses you want to share!

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT day!

P.S. – we STILL have sooo much to share from our DC trip AND exciting events that have been happening since we returned! There are only so many hours in a day so please be patient! If you are interested in volunteering with us, please send us an email at info@chwha.org.

HELP US KEEP OUR BILLBOARD UP!!

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MHA Nation Resolution

Hello and Happy Tuesday!

Thank you to everyone who has gone to Congressman Armstrong’s Facebook page to add your comments! Have you sent your email to Nick at his office yet? Please see yesterday’s blog post for contact info and a sample email for you to send https://chwha.org/2023/05/01/new-call-to-action-2/

We have some exciting news to share with you today!

We reached out to the MHA Nation a while ago and talked to them about the possibility of them advocating with us for the wild horses in TRNP. They told me then that one of the things that they could possibly do was draft their own resolution, similar to the state of North Dakota’s SCR 4014, asking the park to keep the horses.

I am so excited to announce today that the MHA Nation has drafted and passed their own resolution! Theirs is entitled “Supporting the Free Running of the Wild Horse Herd at Theodore Roosevelt National Park”

We have added a copy of the resolution here for you to view.

Support for these horses keeps growing! THANK YOU to the MHA Nation for this resolution! We appreciate your support!

We still have a lot of work to do but moments like these just reiterate that we are doing the right things!

Thank you for your support!

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NEW Call to Action~ 5/1/2023

Hello and Happy Monday to everyone! We hope you had a GREAT weekend!

We want to take a moment to reiterate to you feedback we received during the Save Our Wild Horses Conference: WE ARE DOING IT! We are creating change needed to help save the TRNP horses. People feel that we are doing the right things and getting the right attention. There are several things we are doing that other groups will now be trying to incorporate into their own advocacy work.

THAT is not ME – that is a result of all of us and our tireless efforts to fight to save the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park!

It is equally important for you to understand that WE ARE NOT DONE YET! Despite the growing support these horses are receiving, THEY ARE NOT SAFE YET!

Our first goal is to get a proper management plan written that allows for a genetically viable herd of horses. All we can do about that (for now) is to continue to raise awareness about these horses while we wait for the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) to come out. According to the email we received from NPS Regional Director Herbert Frost, the Draft EA is now expected to be out this summer.

To continue to raise awareness, we are doing things like adding a billboard along I-94 to help educate people traveling to Theodore Roosevelt National Park about the current plight of our iconic wild horses. We have been advertising in horse expo programs, like The Minnesota Horse Expo. We are holding “Horse Talks” that give different perspectives to these wild horses and wild horse advocacy in general. Daily blogs, meetings with congressional staffers, – whatever we can do with literally whoever will listen to save this amazing herd of wild horses.

The bigger picture is to get these horses protected under a FEDERAL PUBLIC LAW.

Why?

If we are successful in saving these horses NOW – through this management planning process, NOTHING stops the park from coming back again at another time with the same attempts to eradicate this herd. They are NOT protected under the Wild Horse & Burro Act – so their right to live wild and free in the only home they have ever known is literally at the mercy of the National Park Service.

There is a 75-year history showing us EXACTLY what that looks like!

This was a BIG part of why we were in Washington DC. We lobbied members of congress for help and support to get these horses protected under public law, like the way the wild horses at Cape Lookout National Seashore are protected under PL 105-229.

Now it is time to follow up our Washington DC trip!

I personally walked over 90,000 steps in Washington DC talking to as many congressional staff members as possible about the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park and wild horses on the western range.

It is important to explain that I can now send follow up emails and said I/Me in a singular sense, or we can add power to those 90,000 steps and let those contacts know that I was only there representing the concerned followers from Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates. I was one voice speaking for all of you.

We will have some NEW Calls to Action coming from that perspective.

I also want to address that I know many of you are EXTREMELY upset with Congressman Armstrong for NOT coming out to support the horses staying in the park ~ YET!

THAT is the #1 thing we are going to address. The #1 question I received in my over 200 talks with congressional staff members last week – what is Congressman Armstrong’s position? It did not matter if I was in a US Senate or US House building.

I also want to share that we were told before that congressional members do watch social media and other news outlets for mention of their names. Congressman Armstrong’s staffer that I spoke with, Nick, shared that he heard me on one of the ND morning radio talk shows. He is in Washington DC. That speaks to how much they do pay attention.

So, for those of you who are upset about Congressman Armstrong NOT showing support for the horses, we have a few things you can do to help.

One, I have sent a follow up email to Nick with Congressman Armstrong’s office. I am asking that you also send the email below to Nick as well (feel free to customize it – just stay calm, respectful and focused) . You can email Nick at Nicholas.Tortorici@mail.house.gov

Hello! I wanted to take a moment to thank you again for taking the time to discuss the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) wild horses with Christine Kman while she was in Washington, DC last week. Christine was there representing all of us at Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates. I am one of the voices she represented in her meeting with you. I hope that you have had the chance to discuss your meeting with her to Congressman Armstrong, along with the additional information that was emailed to you after the meeting.

As you are aware, Governor Burgum did a ceremonial signing of ND Concurrent Resolution SCR 4014 last Friday. This reiterates Governor Burgum’s commitment to keeping a genetically viable herd of wild horses IN TRNP.

As North Dakota’s only elected federal congressional delegate, Congressman Armstrong was elected to carry the voice of the people of North Dakota to Washington on federal issues. The people of North Dakota have spoken loud and clear on this issue. We want the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park to be allowed to stay IN the park. There are valid historical, scientific, cultural, and economic facts that support what we are asking from the park. The recent FOIA documents shared with us from American Wild Horse Campaign also call into question the lack of transparency and accountability from Theodore Roosevelt National Park management.

We are asking again that Congressman Armstrong support the wild horses staying IN Theodore Roosevelt National Park. If this is not something that the congressman can do at this time, then he owes the public an explanation as to why he chooses to stand apart from the rest of our local, state, and federal legislators who want the wild horses to remain IN Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

I look forward to the congressman’s response.

The second thing you can do is comment on Congressman Armstrong’s social media posts. It doesn’t matter what the topic of the post is – simply saying “Please support the TRNP horses” on his posts will also help get a message across. You can view Congressman Armstrong’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/RepArmstrongND

As always, feel free to contact us with any questions or ideas you may have on how we can effectively advocate.

Remember, we went to over 200 offices while we were in DC. We – COLLECTIVELY – have A LOT of follow up emails to send!

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT day!

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SCR 4014 – What does it mean?

Hello and Happy Sunday to everyone!

We keep getting new people following our page and there continues to be misinformation being shared, so we thought this would be a great time for a recap on where the advocacy efforts of Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates are, what SCR 4014 is all about and what our next steps are in our Fight for the Spirit of the Badlands!

SCR 4014 is a resolution that was drafted by the legislators in North Dakota. Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the horses in the park are managed by the National Park Service (NPS), a federal agency under the Department of the Interior. The state of North Dakota CANNOT tell the federal government what to do. This resolution is a request by the state asking that the horses be allowed to stay in the park. The resolution passed the ND House & Senate UNANIMOUSLY! It was signed by the ND Secretary of State on April 17^th and Governor Burgum did a ceremonial signing on April 28^th. While we were in Washington DC, several congressional staffers told us that this signed resolution was a powerful tool in our advocacy toolkit. When we spoke with Governor Burgum on Friday, he told us that Senator Hoeven told him the same thing.

SCR 4014 is the state of North Dakota advocating WITH us to help save these horses.

That does NOT mean that the horses are safe ~ yet!

This effort was something that took every single one of us FOUR MONTHS to see realized! I cannot fully explain how excited our North Dakota legislators were when we all met on Friday for the ceremonial signing. THIS issue is important to North Dakota and our legislators are happy to be a part of efforts to save the TRNP wild horses.

So, what’s next?

Long term plans are to fight to get these horses protected under public law. Federal protection is what they need to prevent something like this from happening again. Since wild horses in national parks are NOT protected under the Wild Horse & Burro Act, we believe they need and deserve their own federal protection. The wild horses at Cape Lookout National Seashore are the only wild horses on NPS lands that ARE protected under public law. That just proves that not only can this be done, but the precedent has already been set.

THIS will be a long process! We will need your help and have one HUGE Call to Action coming that will be broken down in a bunch of smaller pieces for you coming this week!

Remember, I am just one person. It is the strength and unity of our combined voices that have been making a difference in the support coming in for these horses. After a week with advocates from all over the world, I can’t tell you enough how refreshing it was that they are not only taking note of what we are doing for our TRNP horses, but they believe that this herd has the best chance at being saved. We HAVE to keep the momentum going!

Immediate plans, we have are to keep banging the drum! We need our billboard on I-94 this month. Some of our followers sent us an email with some wonderful constructive thoughts on the message we need on our billboard. We have sent some new messages to the billboard company and hope to have a NEW rendering of the billboard for you soon! Please help support our billboard! This will be a GREAT way to reach some of the 800,000 people who will be travelling to TRNP this summer!

We will have some NEW Calls to Action coming soon to try to help get some national attention on the plight of our horses!

We are also working out some details for some NEW Horse Talks! I can tell you next Sunday (5/7), Christine McGowan from the Nokota Preserve in Chester Springs, PA will be doing a Horse Talk with us on the importance of the horse herd as demonstration for healthy social systems: community, family, schools, workplace and how the precision of a successful herd dynamic offers a great model for humans. Look for details coming later today or tomorrow! I just need Christine’s picture for the event graphic!

We have also reached out to TRNP Park Superintendent Angie Richman and NPS Regional Director Herbert Frost about the extremely upsetting information that was shared with us by American Wild Horse Campaign from their FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request about the use of GonaCon and the possible permanent sterilization of our horses! We are happy to let you know that Director Frost HAS responded to us, and we are in the process of setting up an in-person meeting with him! We also sent him a copy of our petition that was signed by 300 of you! If you have not signed the petition yet, please feel free to add your name! https://secure.everyaction.com/1oIlqHkuUUStdjb0KjsiXg2

There is so much more happening and so much we are working on! Things like our full-page ad went into the Minnesota Horse Expo program happening this weekend! We have follow-up calls and emails to our congressional contacts to work on. There are a couple hundred business cards from congressional staffers to add to our database! More Horse Talks with people we met this week to finalize and tell you about! We also want to have a silent auction fundraiser (hopefully) in May!

We need your help! We need help financially to help continue our fight, but we also need help to be able to DO everything we can to help save this historic herd of wild horses.

There are several ways you can make a donation listed on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/

There are also a couple of ways you can volunteer with us:

Through our Giving Hearts Day website: https://app.givingheartsday.org/#/charity/1669

Let us know how you can help by following this link: https://secure.everyaction.com/6xS7i5nc70mzvKF-gTvjcA2

Remember, sharing our social media posts is a GREAT way to help support our advocacy work!

Thank you for your support and be sure to check back tomorrow for a NEW Call to Action!

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Following SCR 4014 – One LAST Call to Action!

Hello and HAPPY Friday!

One week ago, I landed in Washington DC for what turned out to be an INCREIBLE week of advocating for our wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park AND wild horses on the western range.

I landed back home last night COMPLETELY exhausted! I truly gave everything I had in Washington DC!

As you know, North Dakota Senate Concurrent Resolution SCR 4014 passed BOTH the ND House AND ND Senate UNANIMOUSLY! Because this is a resolution, the governor does NOT have to sign this. The ND Secretary of State signed the resolution on April 17^th, and we were given signed copies to take with us to Washington DC. One congressional staffer that we talked to said that SCR 4014 was a VERY POWERFUL tool for our advocacy toolbox!

I CANNOT stress enough – WE collectively made this happen! Our voices working together gave strength to my lone voice here in North Dakota and TOGETHER we are creating REAL change! I will talk more about feedback I received ALL WEEK at the Save Our Wild Horses Conference on our advocacy work in the coming week as I pull my thoughts together.

I am extremely honored to have made a friend through all of this in our ND House Minority Leader, Josh Boschee. He shared with me the day before I left for DC that he was interested in what we were doing because grass roots advocating is how he got his start in politics. He has offered some wonderful advice and I look forward to sharing what we learned in DC and hearing any feedback he has for us! Representative Boschee has been working hard to get Governor Burgum’s office to do a ceremonial signing of SCR 4014.

Representative Boschee contacted me Wednesday and said he knew I was coming back Thursday, was it possible to be at the ND Capitol building at 4:15 Thursday for the ceremonial signing of SCR 4014? I was crushed! I would STILL be in the air at that time! He said, “No worries, let me see if it is possible to have the signing on Friday.”

TODAY at 4:15 pm CST Governor Doug Burgum will be signing North Dakota Concurrent Resolution SCR 4014! The ceremony will take place in Memorial Hall, where the great seal of North Dakota is!

Our “Call to Action” today is for our wild horse advocates that can make it to the ND Capitol Building TODAY by 4:15 pm CST to be there for Governor Burgum’s ceremonial signing of SCR 4014! Remember, the resolution has already been signed, sealed and delivered by our ND Secretary of State. This speaks VOLUMES to how important this issue is to Governor Burgum and how much he realizes that it is important to the people of North Dakota and across the globe that a genetically viable herd of wild horses stays IN Theodore Roosevelt National Park!

If you can’t make it in person, I am sure this will be posted or possibly streaming live on Governor Burgum’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GovernorDougBurgum

Local news will no doubt be covering this story as well.

I CANNOT think of a better way to end a truly INCREDIBLE week literally pounding the pavement advocating for our AMAZING TRNP wild horses!

The sponsors of the resolution will be there as well! The whole ceremony was moved to Memorial Hall because they are expecting such a HUGE turn out! Let’s prove them right! THIS will be our LAST “Call to Action” for SCR 4014! Seriously, pat yourselves on the back! It took us FOUR months to get here!

Thank you for your continued support and we hope to see all of you at the ND Capitol TODAY at 4:15 CST!

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Heading Home…

90,174

That is the number of steps I took from Saturday – Wednesday in Washington DC! That is roughly 37-45 miles depending on the source you use to calculate!

Time will tell what impact those steps had.

Today I am headed home after 5 incredible days in Washington DC.

I have to start by saying THANK YOU to all of you for the success we have had advocating for the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I can’t tell you how crazy it felt to have people like Eric Molvar, and Scott Beckstead have questions for me after my presentation! The incredible efforts that WE have made together for our TRNP horses was noted repeatedly over the course of this conference. Seriously, pat yourselves on the back! OUR hard work is being noticed!

Being with people like Eric, Scott, Sandy, Ginger, Jen, Craig, Colleen and so many others who shared their information freely throughout the weekend was incredible! Heather & Linda from Save Our Wild Horses did an amazing job putting on an incredible event that brought together different strengths of advocates from all across the US!

There is A LOT to process from this week for sure!

Ending a meeting where ND Senator Hoeven was able to take a moment and talk to us was the PERFECT way to end the 5 days here!

No, we did NOT manage to sway Congressman Armstrong ~ yet, BUT I did get to meet with several of his staffers who are now able to put a face to a name. I also sent them the additional information they requested. Here’s hoping we get some good news on this front soon!

Over 200 office staffers from members of congress all across the US listened to me talk about our wild horses in TRNP. Those 200 will talk to their respective 200 people who handle that issue and their congressman. We also passed out somewhere between 300-500 brochures and postcards with info on our TRNP horses. That’s A LOT of new people becoming aware of the plight of this iconic wild horse herd!

We had some AMAZING meetings with congressional staffers. Several freely shared some valuable information that we will definitely apply to our advocacy work! We also received very positive feedback on our packets – several shared that they were thorough and informative.

We did our best to get information out to as many people as possible – with the hope that even just ONE of those people is THE RIGHT person that will be able to help!

Thank you again for all your support! We will have so much to share over the coming weeks!

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National Help a Horse Day!

Hello and Happy Wednesday! More importantly, today is National Help a Horse Day!

This has been a week JAM packed with amazing speakers, wonderful new friends and allies made and I have to tell you – some pretty amazing Horse Talks will be coming up!

I had a very interesting conversation with Eric Molvar that only ADDS to the conversation with Ross MacPhee from Sunday. I will probably not get those thoughts together until I get home, but I know you will be very interested to hear what these two amazing men had to say!

Yesterday we handed out about 70 of our packets. Monday we handed out about 50. Today, on our last day in DC, we have to get 140 packets into the hands of the right staffer in different congressional and senate offices. For context, it took us about 3 hours to get through the 70 packets yesterday!

We also have Congressman Armstrong’s scheduling staffer in contact with us already this morning. She is trying to arrange a few minutes for us to meet with the Congressman in person TODAY! Stay tuned! His office DID give us a couple of passes to visit the Capitol building. Here is hoping we get through our packets in time to enjoy the passes!

Now that we have told you how we are working to help a horse today, what will YOU do to help a horse?

One easy thing you can do is contact your own congressman or senator. Our friends at Save Our Wild Horses have a link to help you find the contact info for your federal delegates: https://saveourwildhorses.net/senators–reps-contact-info.html

You can keep your message as simple as:
“Please help us do better to protect wild horses on ALL public lands” or “Please stop funding the BLM’s cruel treatment of our wild horses with our tax dollars!”

Thank you again for your support and have a GREAT National Help a Horse Day!

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Armstrong/DC Update…

Hello and Happy Monday to everyone!

It was a LONNNGGGGG DAY! BUT it was another GREAT day!

After our presentation, we headed to meet with Congressman Armstrong’s office. The staff member we spoke with really spent a lot of time with us, listened and asked questions. He also made mention that he heard me on the radio a few weeks ago! He asked me to send him some additional information, which I did tonight. He also sent me an email shortly after our meeting to bump it up in my email and as a reminder to send him the info. Overall, I felt like the meeting was promising.

Then we spent a lot of time moving between the 3 House office buildings talking to as many staff members as possible. We passed out about 40 packets today! A LOT of good information was shared with us by some of the different staff members.

Today ended with a special screening of Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West. You can view the official trailer here: https://youtu.be/GepQ5h_UqF8

As hard as it was to watch the movie, it is the story that NEEDS to be told. There are a couple of ways you can help, please help if you can, and remember, sharing posts is a GREAT way to help!:

WILD BEAUTY: MUSTANG SPIRIT OF THE WEST is officially available for pre-order on iTunes! Please show your support for wild horses, and pre-order the film before May 12th.

If they get over 200 pre-orders, Apple will place WILD BEAUTY higher on the platform and reach more people!

They will be doing a special screening for Congress in June! Another way you can help is to share the link to the trailer on social media with the hashtag #istandwiththehorses and a hashtag of your federally elected officials names to encourage them to attend the screening.

It has been a long day and I’m exhausted for sure! I promise to share my conversation with Dr. Ross MacPhee as soon as I get a moment!

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT night!

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Updates From DC…

Hello and Happy Monday to everyone!

We can’t talk enough about how AMAZING, educational, and informative the 2^nd Annual Save Our Wild Horses Conference is!

One of the best parts is the ability to speak to so many well-known advocates!

Last night was one of those nights!

Some of you may have noticed that during the FIRST comment period last March/April, the park shared in their Civic Engagement meeting report comments from Western Watershed Project that seemed to NOT be in favor of keeping the horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

I had the opportunity to personally meet and speak with Eric Molvar from Western Watershed Project at dinner last night. I discussed what the park shared in their 2022 Civic Engagement report. I was relieved to hear that those comments were written by an employee who did NOT properly state the position of his organization. Eric personally wrote a letter to the park during the January 2023 comment period informing the park of Western Watershed’s position. You can read it here:

WW-comments Download

We were so happy to hear this news! The Theodore Roosevelt National Park wild horses need as much support as they can get! We believe in being transparent with our followers, and we knew you would be happy to hear this news!

On another note…

Yesterday during the conference, I had the EXTREME pleasure of speaking with Dr. Ross MacPhee SPECIFICALLY about our TRNP wild horses!!! I will write more about that as I can! For now, I have to get ready – I am the FIRST speaker at the conference today (EEEKKKK!!!!) and then – it is off to Congressman Armstrong’s office for our long awaited meeting with his office!

Stay Tuned!

I also want to say that the hard work and dedication that all of us have been doing collectively as an organization have been doing is recognized EVERY DAY by someone here at the conference! Whan an incredible honor and a testament to ALL of the hard work that WE have been doing TOGETHER! Pat yourselves on the back! You are doing a GREAT job!

Thank you for your support and please consider making a donation to help support our advocacy work! You can find different way to donate on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/

Have a GREAT day!

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We Need to Keep Beating the Drum!

Hello and Happy Saturday!

Hopefully you have been following us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ChasingHorsesWHA)! We have been sharing live videos from the Save Our Wild Horses Rally on the National Mall from today! Everyone seems to LOVE the Ghost Horses that were used in the parade! Linda from Save Our Wild Horses made those – they are amazing!

We will continue to share as we can through the weekend! It’s been amazing meeting so many other wild horse advocates and sharing stories! Many of them have said they believe we CAN win this fight for the horses! That is a HUGE testament to the work we have been doing TOGETHER! We just can’t stop beating the drum now!

Our congressional meetings start MONDAY with Congressman Armstrong!

When we get back next week, we need to finalize plans for the next big step in our advocacy – the billboard along I-94!

When we get back, we are hoping to be able to make our billboard dreams a reality! Can you help?

The billboard costs $975 per month and we have to make a 12-month commitment. IF we can get everything signed, sealed and delivered to them by MAY 3^rd, the billboard will be installed by May 15^th! Just in time for the Memorial Day traffic that kicks off the summer travel season. Over 800,000 people visited Theodore Roosevelt National Park last year! We believe this billboard will be an EXCELLENT way to help raise awareness about the current plight of North Dakota’s ONLY wild horse herd.

Can you help us make this a reality?

There are several ways you can donate listed on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/. You can also help support this cause by hitting the donate button on our posts on social media or through PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=YM4YWW5D4CRRY&fbclid=IwAR05vEvFkOq4eiOrT6Ufm4WlRCYclSli-k6Uu5_mxKHwoJoS57dFRnsekBY

Thank you again for your continued support and for being a part of the Fight for the Spirit of the Badlands!

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates
http://www.chwha.org

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And We’re Off!

Hello and Happy Friday!

In about an hour, I’ll be on my way to the airport to check-in for my flight to Washington DC.

Some 28,000 pieces of paper have been sorted, stapled together and put neatly into presentation folders. Some traveling with me, the rest are in the hands of the UPS gods and should meet me in DC later today.

ND House Minority Leader Representative Josh Boschee was nice enough to give us some fancy State of North Dakota folders to put signed copies of SCR 4014 in. Those will be a very nice addition to our meetings next week! We got to sit in Representative Boschee’s office with him yesterday for a short time. He shared with us that he got his start through grass roots movements like ours. He said that is why the work we are doing really caught his attention. He also offered some great advice for our advocacy work. I am so grateful to have his support!

Frontier & Arrowhead are coming with me to let people know that we are in DC to Fight for the Spirit of the Badlands!

The local media have been alerted to our upcoming arrival in DC. Here’s hoping some of them chose to talk about why this lady came ALL the way from North Dakota to our nation’s capital at this time.

My presentation for Monday has been saved, emailed and back-up emailed to the event coordinators. Some meetings have already been set up with other advocates that will be at the conference. I look forward to their knowledge and insights. A few others are on a “wish list” as I am crossing my fingers that we get to talk over the next few days. I look forward to their insights and advice.

Brochures, postcards, business cards, window clings and some extra hats are all packed up and ready to be handed out.

There is nothing more for me to do besides lug my bags to the airport and get on a plane. Please keep those positive thoughts and prayers coming!

This afternoon, I have a phone meeting with our legal team and then another with a reporter from ND that wants to talk about the new findings about the FOIA documents about GonaCon and also why I am in Washington DC this week.

It will without a doubt be an extremely productive and eventful week. As always, we will do our best to bring you into moments as we can while we are here.

I can’t thank you enough for all of your help and support that got us here. There were moments I truly felt like this was way too overwhelming to even think about. And here we are!

Please don’t forget, we have until May 3^rd to commit to a billboard for 12 months. This can be up on I-94 by May 15^th for some of the over 800,000 people who will travel to Theodore Roosevelt National Park this summer to see! Please help us make this a reality! There are several ways you can donate listed on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/

Thank you again for all of your help and support! We will check in with you soon!

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Our Next BIG thing…

Hello and Happy Wednesday!

The crunch is on! We are taking the Fight for the Spirit of the Badlands to Washington DC this week! THANK YOU to all of you for your help and support that is making this possible! We are hopeful that this trip will help make a positive impact for the Theodore Roosevelt National Park wild horses!

We wanted to tell you about the next BIG thing we have planned to help us with our advocating!

There is a billboard available on Interstate 94 facing so that people traveling west (toward Theodore Roosevelt National Park) can see it. This billboard is positioned about 30 miles from the entrance to the park. How GREAT is the mock up we received yesterday that is attached to this post!?

The billboard costs $975 per month and we have to make a 12 month commitment. IF we can get everything signed, sealed and delivered to them by MAY 3^rd, the billboard will be installed by May 15^th! Just in time for the Memorial Day traffic that kicks off the summer travel season. Over 800,000 people visited Theodore Roosevelt National Park last year! We believe this billboard will be an EXCELLENT way to help raise awareness about the current plight of North Dakota’s ONLY wild horse herd.

Can you help us make this a reality?

There are several ways you can donate listed on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/. You can also help support this cause by hitting the donate button on our social media posts.

Thank you again for your continued support and for being a part of the Fight for the Spirit of the Badlands!

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Meeting Request

Hello and Happy Tuesday!

We want you to know that we are taking your concerns to heart. We share those same concerns and are doing everything we can to fight for the health and genetic viability of this herd.

A few weeks ago, in preparation for our trip to Washington DC this week, I reached out to some of my congressional contacts and asked if they could help us get meetings with Secretary Haaland’s office and/or NPS Director Sams office. Their Department of the Interior (DOI) contacts referred us back to the regional office (Director Herbert Frost) and Superintendent Richman.

In light of the information that has been released from AWHC’s FOIA documents, I sent an email to Director Frost and Superintendent Richman. I also cc’d our congressional contacts. We sent the email last night and have already received emails back from our congressional contacts, thanking us for including them in this email. We were told they are passing our email on to their DOI contacts.

We will keep you informed of any response we receive.

We also want to say THANK YOU to all of you who took time to sign our petition! If you have not signed it, please take a moment to add your name. I will be taking this petition to Washington DC so we have just a couple of days to get as many signatures as possible. You can sign the petition here: https://secure.everyaction.com/1oIlqHkuUUStdjb0KjsiXg2

Thank you for all your help and support! We appreciate each and every one of you! Together, we ARE making a difference! The letter that we sent to Director Frost and Superintendent Richman is below for you to see what we are asking of them:

Director Frost & Superintendent Richman:

I have been asked to speak at the Save Our Wild Horses Conference in Washington DC about the wild horses in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP). While I am there, I will be meeting with several members of congress. As I was setting up meetings, I requested assistance from some of my congressional contacts to have an audience with the office of the Secretary of the Interior and/or the National Park Director’s (NPS) office. Our congressional contacts reached out to their Department of Interior contacts. They have referred me back to the regional office, as they feel that our organization’s concerns can be addressed more thoroughly by the two of you.

As I am sure you are aware, American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) recently received documents under the FOIA that have raised new questions and concerns by our followers about the management of the Theodore Roosevelt wild horses. You can read AWHC’s blog on their website: https://americanwildhorsecampaign.org/media/foia-records-raise-questions-sterility-theodore-roosevelt-mares?fbclid=IwAR0ieHhF_KWEfBlBVcH3ijQ2p8sgALs2cUNp9lqiaTym7MTVRXlVuwGmusk. I have also added a copy of Patrick Springer’s article from the front page of today’s Fargo Forum for you to review.

The NPS has long been viewed as stewards of our public lands. However, the FOIA documents have called into question the NPS’s ability to perform an objective Environmental Assessment on the future of the Theodore Roosevelt wild horses that we, the tax paying public, have entrusted in your care.

I look forward to meeting with the two of you either in person, over a video platform or on the phone to discuss the following questions:

In light of the information obtained by AWHC, will TRNP stop using GonaCon on its female horses until the impacts of years of experimentation are revealed to the public?

Is GonaCon research still being conducted in TRNP? Is TRNP reporting their findings to CSU?
How NEPA laws were followed prior to Colorado State University beginning their experimentation on the wild horse of TRNP?
How the NPS will work to regain the trust of the public, especially with regards to future management of the wild horse herd?

Why the NPS management, specifically Jenny Powers and Blake McCann, lied to the public regarding their knowledge of permanent sterility in some of the mares treated with GonaCon? The public would also like to know what repercussions, if any, they will face for deliberately misleading the public.

Why were Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates and I discussed in meetings between Blake McCann and members of the BLM?

What are the names of the 19 mares known to have not returned to fertility after being treated with GonaCon in 2013.

As a federal agency, the park’s “no comment” responses are not sitting well with the tax paying public. My goal for this meeting is to try to find a way to work with you – first, to ensure a healthy and genetically viable herd of horses remains in TRNP and second, to do what we can to help repair severely severed trust in the National Park Service. We believe that since we all obviously have a deep love for Theodore Roosevelt National Park, we should be able to find a way to work together to make it the best that it can be for every visitor.

If you are not available for a meeting or decide to redirect me to the TRNP horse portal, I will let my congressional contacts know that our local and regional offices refuse to give our organization an audience and that we would appreciate it if they helped us pursue meetings with the NPS offices in Washington DC.

Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to the opportunity to meet with both of you soon.

Sincerely,
Christine Kman
President
Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates

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I Am Just One Voice

Hello and Happy Monday!

What a weekend it has been! I know it has been hard for everyone who loves the herd of horses from Theodore Roosevelt National Park to hear about the ongoing abuse of these horses.

What can we DO?

I want to say that I am ONLY one voice. The strength of our organization truly comes from each one of you. When our voices are united, that becomes ONE loud ROAR that is a lot harder for anyone to ignore. We have all learned that first hand during this process!

There are a few things we are working on as far as Calls to Action regarding the information we have just received. We will share more soon.

One thing we have been asked is HOW do we get the NATIONAL press involved. I have contacts with reporters from different media outlets across the state of North Dakota. I HAVE contacted them and have already had some interviews. The question is HOW do we get attention from the media beyond the state of North Dakota?

I am finalizing the packets I will pass out in Washington DC next week. Once I have them completed (later today) I will create a link on our website for media. You will be able to either direct media to this page or download/print out and forward to EVERY media outlet in the country.

I can contact them myself – but again, I am just one voice. If HUNDREDS or even THOUSANDS of us contact national media outlets, they will hopefully see the interest in the story and want to learn more.

We have another organization who has shared their media list with us! We will be getting that list together for everyone soon! Once I have a list of contacts and our media section set up, I will make a post here and a Call to Action for everyone.

Next, we have a NEW Call to Action today. We have developed a petition DEMANDING that the National Park Service IMMEDIATELY stop using GonaCon on the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park! We have a few days before I leave for Washington DC. If we get enough signatures, I will include this in our packet and share it with the National Park Service and Department of the Interior offices in Washington DC. Please help share this link! https://secure.everyaction.com/1oIlqHkuUUStdjb0KjsiXg2

Lastly, we had a Call to Action over the weekend asking that you submit questions to Theodore Roosevelt National Park through their wild horse portal. Details are in this blog post: https://chwha.org/2023/04/15/call-to-action-3/. Again, I am ONE voice. I submitted my questions. Have you?

As we said, we have more we are working on, so be sure to check back. You can also subscribe to our website on our home page to be alerted when we make a new post: https://chwha.org/

Thank you for your continued support. Please consider making a donation to our organization to help support this critical advocacy work! There are a number of ways you can donate listed on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/

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What does it matter anyway? AND What can WE do?

I hope that you are taking the time to fully digest all of the different layers of stomach turning things in the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) documents that American Wild Horse Campaign shared on Friday. You can read their blog post here: https://americanwildhorsecampaign.org/media/foia-records-raise-questions-sterility-theodore-roosevelt-mares?fbclid=IwAR0ieHhF_KWEfBlBVcH3ijQ2p8sgALs2cUNp9lqiaTym7MTVRXlVuwGmusk

We also ask that you give Patrick Springer at the Fargo Forum some love for his hard work on breaking this story Friday. Patrick has been covering the horses for a long time and his voice is important in reaching people within our state: https://www.inforum.com/news/north-dakota/why-birth-control-could-spell-the-end-of-north-dakotas-wild-horses

We have had several blog posts this week that talk about other aspects of these FOIA documents. Please be sure to read them. Educate yourself. Ask questions if you have them. If we personally don’t have an answer, we will do what we can to find one for you or direct you to someone who can.

I spoke with a news reporter today who just kept shaking his head. He kept saying, “There is so much to this.” “I am trying to wrap my head around all of this!”

Isn’t that how we all feel?

I have an ask for all of you…

One, take the time you need to be mad, angry, sad, cry – they seriously hurt our horses and we have no idea to what extent. We may never know that.

Then I need you ALL to take a deep breath and think about how we take everyone’s anger and use it productively to get the much-needed change that EVERY SINGLE wild horse in this herd deserves. I am going to ask that you think about what can realistically be done. Asking for the removal of the park superintendent, who wasn’t here when all of this happened, is not something I think we can accomplish. What CAN we accomplish? I am also brainstorming that with some of our advocacy friends as well.

Please feel free to comment on posts (here or other social media platforms) or email us at info@chwha.org.

WHY is THIS so important?

I was talking to my friend Barbara at Equine Collaborative International, Inc. (ECI) about all this and I asked her if I could share what she said to me. I hope it helps all of you see the severity of the situation with the wild horses at Theodore Roosevelt National Park and THE HUGE fight we have ahead of us.

From Barbara:

I find this very disturbing because of the degree of damage that can occur in two years, particularly if Gonacon is their selected weapon.

As you know, even many dedicated Wild Horse advocates believe that PZP is the answer to all the problems because they found it more acceptable than Gonacon. There was a time when I might have agreed. That time is done. The original intent was that the use would stop or severely slow down the round ups. Well that has not worked. PZP is preferable to the Gonacon that is being discussed in the article you sent. Too many people do not understand that either inoculation can result in permanent sterilization with repeated injections. It happens faster with the Gonacon than it does with the PZP. BUT the use of any contraceptive is a form of selective breeding. Wild animals should be existing under the laws of survival of the fittest and to throw the human influence in by allowing someone with a dart gun to decide who reproduces and when is contrary to every law of nature. In addition to that, people who are willing to do the darting could have no or very little knowledge of horses, so they could be selecting horses who would normally not be as likely to reproduce effectively in a wild state.

The article that you provided seems disturbing on many levels. Gonacon is not even a well masked attempt at permanent sterilization. A non producing herd is a dead herd. The reduction in number creating questionable genetic viability will only increase the speed at which the horses will disappear. The abscesses that are reported to ‘disappear within 4 years’ are blatant and intentional cruelty. Painful, crippling, potential for sepsis, rendering an animal incapable of effectively evading natural predators begins my list of reasons to object.

The sustainability of the range or lack thereof is so often blamed on horses when in fact others are responsible that I never trust those statements or the ludicrous numbers that are spit out about the number of horses that can remain healthy on a given piece of property.

Chris, I know this was more than you asked for, and I apologize for the vent. The TRNP horses have been so beautifully defended and the deceptions that are being employed to undermine all the previous efforts and your current efforts are truly upsetting. Do these people not understand the meaning of the word extinct?

The effort to reduce or remove the horses from the Park is disrespectful to our history, disrespectful to President Roosevelt and disrespectful to all the future generations.

I hope some fraction of this is useful.
Thank you for all you do,
Barbara

You can learn more about ECI on their website: http://www.equinecollaborativeinternational.org/

I look forward to hearing all of your thoughts on how WE change things for our wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

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Freedom of Information Act – Transparency Part 2

Hello and Happy Sunday!

We are going to share another disturbing part of what has been revealed through the FOIA documents obtained from AWHC. This is another big one…

We have put together the emails between Paul Griffin, Dan Baker, Blake McCann & Jenny Powers that discuss the need for additional funding for the GonaCon experiment in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in 2020, how that funding COULD be obtained (outside of the $159,708 grant the BLM gave to CSU for the 2015-2020 part of the experiment), and the steps that were taken to make sure that CSU was able to get the results they were so desperately in need of.

You can view the file here:

GC Download

The first emails show Dan Baker asking for additional money and Paul Griffin telling him that was not possible. Enter Jenny Powers. She has come up with a way to get the money they need to continue experimenting on our horses! What about an Inter-Agency Agreement (IAA)! Since the BLM & the NPS are both under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior, this is apparently an easy way to move our tax dollars between the two federal agencies so that the BLM can help CSU finish the 2020 experimentation on the horses in TRNP.

You can see how carefully crafted these emails were from Dan telling Paul in one of the handwritten notes to put this IAA in Blakes name and to keep Jenny’s name off of it. Then there are all of the HOW do we do this? WHO can help? WHAT should we say the money is being used for? And also the WHEN of the sense of urgency to get this done as quickly as possible – as noted in an email from Blake to Paul. And then there is the email of relief and thankfulness from Paul to Blake, letting him know how wonderful it is that they can continue to experiment on our horses.

To be clear, ALL of the money sent to either CSU or TRNP by the BLM to experiment on the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park was funded by our tax dollars!!

Also note the repeated information that “local residents” or “local volunteers” were THANKFULLY willing to help CSU and the park continue with their experiment. As vague as that description is, there really are NOT many people who fit that description.

While we cannot tell you WHO those people are, We CAN tell you WHO did NOT help CSU & the park with this experiment: Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates. As noted in yesterday’s blog (https://chwha.org/2023/04/15/3754/), the NPS, BLM and CSU all seemed to be pretty concerned about the questions CHWHA was asking. REMEMBER: look at who they thank in their presentations (https://youtu.be/ynPF5cvfK1o) and research papers (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0200795)

The last page that we included in this file is an email from Paul to Dan letting him know about a NEW BLM grant opportunity for experimenting on wild horses.

In light of the IAA, the email letting Dan know about NEW grant opportunities, the continued use of GonaCon on ALL of our mares aged 8 months old and up, and the park’s “No Comment” response to all of this, should we REALLY believe TRNP when they tell us that the experimentation on our mares is over?

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Call to Action

Hello Again!

We know that MANY of you are extremely upset with the information coming out from the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) documents that American Wild Horse Campaign recently received.

So, what can we DO?

We are working on a few different things that we think will be effective as we all continue to advocate for these horses.

For now, here is an EASY call to action:

When Patrick Springer from the Fargo Forum was writing his article that was published yesterday (https://www.inforum.com/news/north-dakota/why-birth-control-could-spell-the-end-of-north-dakotas-wild-horses) he reached out to the park for their response. Angie Richman replied:

“To maintain transparency, information consistency, and equitability all communication pertaining to horse and cattle management can be found on our FAQ page ,”

Until a new plan is in place, she said in the email, the park will continue to manage the horses under a 1978 environmental assessment, which established the 35-to-60-horse herd size goal. “The same management actions that have occurred at the park in the past are being applied now,” Richman said.

We think you will all agree that is NOT an acceptable answer from a federal organization funded by our tax dollars.

Sooooooo

Let’s take Superintendent Richman up on her request. Let’s ALL ask some questions in the horse portal they created!

Questions to the park have to be submitted here: https://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/nature/feral-horses.htm

Please make sure your questions are formulated to ask pointed questions. In other words, please don’t express anger or ask questions that will not warrant an answer.

Some questions we suggest are:

What is your response to what was released in American Wild Horse Campaign’s (AWHC) blog about FOIA documents that they recently obtained? (the blog can be viewed here: (https://americanwil d horsecampaign.org/media/foia-records-raise-questions-sterility-theodore-roosevelt-mares?fbclid=IwAR0ieHhF_KWEfBlBVcH3ijQ2p8sgALs2cUNp9lqiaTym7MTVRXlVuwGmusk)
Who are the 19 mares that are believed to be permanently sterilized and when did you first receive the information that they may be permanently sterilized?
In light of what has been revealed in the FOIA documents received by AWHC, will you stop your current practice of using GonaCon on every female horse aged 8 months old and up?
Is the GonaCon experiment still being conducted in any capacity, either by CSU or TRNP staff?

Again, you are free to ask whatever questions you would like answered. They are supposed to post the answers in a timely manner on the website. We will continue to check and let you know if they answer. If you submit other questions, please let us know!

Also, for those of you who inquired about getting copies of the FOIA documents, AWHC made the handwritten notes available yesterday. You can view them here:

Handwritten-Notes-TR-GonaCon-Research-1 Download

At this time, they are unsure if they will be sharing the rest of the documents. There is a lot more within those pages. Further inspection may result in either a request for additional information or possible litigation. Please understand that it took them over 2 years to receive these documents. Also know that any individual person can request documents from any federal agency under the Freedom of Information Act. Our friends at the Oregon Wild Horse Organization have great examples you can use to file your own on their website: https://www.oregon-wildhorse.org/links-and-tutorials

One last tidbit because so many of you have asked:

In 2019, there were 36 documented births (10 died; 9 were sold)
In 2020, there were 42 documented births (8 died; 4 were sold)

In 2020 the park started their current practice of giving every female horse 8 months old and up GonaCon

In 2021, there were 26 documented births (4 died)
In 2022, there were 15 documented births (5 died)
In 2023, so far there has been one documented birth (parents unknown) and that foal died

We will have more calls to action as well as more information to share from the FOIA documents, so be sure to check back!

Thank you for your support!

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FOIA – Chris Kman

Hello and Happy Saturday.

We have more to share from the 400+ documents that were obtained from American Wild Horse Campaign through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

If you have not read AWHC’s blog from yesterday, it is a MUST read – https://americanwildhorsecampaign.org/media/foia-records-raise-questions-sterility-theodore-roosevelt-mares?fbclid=IwAR3QXIHvpA5XqO07e7Uth7TkDq-oR8OADSw56MNoBowI8AAiTbdb40HpPcs

Patrick Springer from the Fargo Forum also weighed in: https://www.inforum.com/news/north-dakota/why-birth-control-could-spell-the-end-of-north-dakotas-wild-horses

Here is a smaller piece from the FOIA document to share today.

Here is one of the handwritten notes from the FOIA. This is Paul Griffin from the BLM’s notes after a conversation with Blake McCann believed to be in 2019 or 2020.

You might be asking WHY Blake McCann from the National Park Service is talking to someone at the BLM. The BLM provided A LOT of the funding for this experiment. Blake was a key person working on this experiment. That was shown yesterday in the emails from Dan Baker where he talked about speaking at great lengths to Blake and his staff about the 19 of 24 mares that Dan wanted to take back to CSU for a lifetime of experimentation.

A lot of information in this piece relates directly to ME. Yep – me! Chris Kman (not Kaman)

For starters, my name should have been redacted from this document. That is a FOIA requirement.

While I can understand why Blake and Paul were talking to each other, there is no explanation that they can give that explains why my name is coming up. The comments about the FOIA request and NPS Ramona are about our FOIA that we sent in. Why is the BLM concerned about our FOIA request? And then there is the lovely comment at the end…

“Every phone conversation from a particular advocate “gets weaponized” Chris Kaman”

There is also a lot of talk about us in other handwritten notes like advocacy groups threatening lawsuits etc.

Again, why is my name and our organization involved in phone conversations between Blake McCann and the BLM?

Another wild horse advocacy friend told me that if my name is being mentioned, take it as a compliment. It means I am asking the RIGHT questions that are making them uncomfortable.

You will also notice that there was talk in 2019 about the need for a management plan. We have said all along that while Superintendent Angie Richman isn’t scoring any brownie points with people, these plans were in place long before she was given her current position.

You can see there is also talk about concerns about the lethal white gene in this herd and then the first of many times that there is talk about having a non-reproductive herd.

Like AWHC said, and you can see by this example shared, the handwritten notes are sometimes really hard to read. Then there are just phrases that don’t give a full explanation.

We will have more to share so be sure to check back.

Thank you for your support and have a great day!

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Time to Come Clean…

Hello and Happy Friday!

We started talking about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents that were obtained by American Wild Horse Campaign this week. American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) shared a blog about it today and more news will be coming out about the experimentation that was done on the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This experiment went on for at least 11 years if it is done at all.

We contacted AWHC 3 years ago and expressed our concerns about what was happening to our wild horses in TRNP. Once the FOIA documents started coming in, my contact at AWHC called me and said:

“Chris, I want you to know that it was never that I didn’t believe what you were saying. We needed to have proof. Chris, we have that proof now. You were right. Everything you told us is true.”

I cried. It was not a matter of being “right” it made my stomach sick as I read page after page and what had been done to our beautiful TRNP horses.

There is A LOT to unpack in the 400+ pages of information they received. We will start covering that over the next week. For now, we feel that the AWHC article gives you enough to digest while we work on future blog posts explaining more. You can read the article here: https://americanwildhorsecampaign.org/media/foia-records-raise-questions-sterility-theodore-roosevelt-mares?fbclid=IwAR3QXIHvpA5XqO07e7Uth7TkDq-oR8OADSw56MNoBowI8AAiTbdb40HpPcs

To be clear: Theodore Roosevelt National Park has REPEATEDLY told us that do not know if any of the mares have been permanently sterilized as a result of being treated with GonaCon. As AWHC points out in their blog:

“In the past 12 months, at two public hearings on the LMP, two members of the NPS GonaCon research team, Dr. Jenny G. Powers (NPS, Wildlife Health Branch) and Dr. Blake E. McCann (NPS, TRNP’s Director of Resource Management and Science) stated that GonaCon did not result in sterilization.

During the Q&A at the 3/30/22 Civic Engagement Meeting for the LMP, Dr. Powers was asked if there is proof that any of the horses have been in any way sterilized by the GonaCon. Her response:

“We do have a couple of published papers showing that GonaCon is reversible, meaning that animals return to fertility post-vaccination. However, with any individual animal, it is possible that they could be permanently sterilized, and it is unknown at this time if our current herd has sterilized individuals or not. We’d have to play out the rest of their reproductive lives to know that.”

Then, during the Q&A at the 1/13/2023 Virtual Public Scoping Meeting for the LMP, Dr. McCann was asked how many mares have become sterilized or not returned to fertility as a result of being treated with GonaCon. His response:

“So far as the specific question of sterility, I’m not aware of any animals that have been sterilized by GonaCon. And from our evaluation and published research, we believe that it is a safe agent to use for purposes of population control.

I have observed that animals are released from the effects of the contraceptive and they require boosters, so that’s at least some indicator there that we have not a completely lasting effect forever, but it is something that has to be maintained over time. Similar to other contraceptives that are used for horses elsewhere.

However, emails and handwritten notes acquired from AWHC’s FOIA requests suggest otherwise – that sterility of the TR mares was an issue and was discussed among the GonaCon research team and the BLM as early as Fall 2019. For example, on October 29, 2019, Dr. Dan L. Baker (CSU, Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory) emailed Dr. Paul Griffin (BLM, National Wild Horse and Burro Program Research Coordinator), asking for a visit to discuss “a future experiment with the TR horses that would address the question of permanent sterility and differences in hand versus dart injection of GonaCon.””

Here is a copy of the email from Dan Baker to Paul Griffin that was sent on September 16, 2020 that NOT ONLY talks about how 19 out of 24 mares boosted with GonaCon in 2013 had not returned to fertility, BUT there was also talk of taking those 19 mares OUT OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT NATIONAL PARK TO CSU so they could continue to experiment on them for the rest of their lives!!!!!

We need your help to fight for these horses. What CSU and TRNP did to OUR wild horses with the help of “local residents” and their “volunteers” is horrific. Not surprisingly, the park has had “no comment” or has redirected questions about this to their “portal”. This is way beyond a question for the wild horse portal. And their “No Comment” response is not acceptable. The public deserves an answer. After all, we are supposed to trust Theodore Roosevelt National Park to present the public with an objective Environmental Assessment, right?

We have said it before and we will say it again, they have been following a management plan all this time. They just let the public know about it on December 12, 2022.

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Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) – Transparency Part 1

Hello and Happy Thursday to everyone!

We have a lot of new people who have found our page and we keep getting a lot of the same questions. We thought this would be a good time to talk about Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates (CHWHA) – who we are and how we got started and also explain the current plight of the wild horses that call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home.

CHWHA advocates for the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. There are currently 185 horses in this herd. Since these horses are in a national park, they are NOT protected under the Wild Horse & Burro Act. They are managed by the National Park Service (NPS) NOT the BLM.

Our organization was formed out of the urging from our likeminded followers along with an apparent need for transparency and accountability from Theodore Roosevelt National Park management with regards to the management of the wild horses entrusted in their care. That has not always been in line with other groups that advocate for these horses. For years, they have become content with the general feeling that “We don’t question the park” or “The park knows what they are doing.” Each organization is free to advocate in whatever way they feel is right. CHWHA chooses to advocate by definition:

Ad·vo·cate

noun

· 1.a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy: “he was an untiring advocate of economic reform”

We support the horses in the park and believe that they deserve a wild horse management plan that is based on science that allows for genetic diversity. CHWHA has been fighting for that for years. We were excited to see the park initiate a wild horse management plan in March of 2022.

The park gave us 6 initial analyses to consider when the announcement of the management plan came out. In December, they came back with 3 analyses that let us know that their proposed action was total elimination of the herd.

CHWHA has been leading the fight for this iconic herd of wild horses from day 1. Because of our efforts, these horses have gained a TON of support. This includes working with our North Dakota legislators to introduce and pass Senate Concurrent Resolution SCR 4014. This resolution is a simple ask from the state of North Dakota to the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service asking that the wild horses be allowed to stay.

CHWHA has also been concerned about the aging herd along with the constant culling of the younger horses. Another concern has been the experimentation of GonaCon on our horses. Theodore Roosevelt National Park has been working with Colorado State University since 2009 perfecting the use of GonaCon as a form of birth control. GonaCon has recently gone from being called a “pesticide” to a “sterilant”. We believe this change came about (at least in part) from the years of experimentation on the TRNP wild horse herd.

A few years ago, we reached out to the American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) asking for their help as the park was making very aggressive plans to remove young horses ~ AGAIN! As we shared our concerns with AWHC, and they sent out their own FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests. They have finally started receiving the requested documents.

There is a blog and a newspaper article being written that discloses the information in the 400+ pages. Both should be out within the next few days. We will also be breaking down those 400+ pages into smaller digestible pieces. We start that in our blog the other day: https://chwha.org/2023/04/11/behind-the-scenes/

Today, we want to talk about the advocacy concerns by both Colorado State University and Theodore Roosevelt National Park as well as explain some of the key people you will see mentioned in the articles that are coming out.

First up is Dr. Dan Baker. The experiment at Theodore Roosevelt National Park was his “baby”. You can hear him talk about the experiment and how it came about in front of an audience of his peers at a fertility conference in 2018: (https://youtu.be/ynPF5cvfK1o) At 2:01 he expresses that his ONLY concern about starting the experimentation on the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park were the wild horse advocates.

Take note of people who are thanked and given credit in the videos and articles we share with you. We think those will all start to make sense as you hear about the information in these FOIA documents.

Dr. Dan Baker received funding from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to conduct his research on the horses in TRNP.

Enter Paul Griffin from the BLM. The FOIA documents are filled with emails between Paul Griffin, Dan Baker, Blake McCann & Jenny Powers. Also included are handwritten notes believed to be from Paul Griffin as a summary of phone conversations and meetings he had with Dan Baker & Blake McCann. It is assumed those meetings and phone conversations took place in 2020.

Blake McCann is the Chief of Resource Management at TRNP. He came in with the title of Wildlife Biologist in 2013. He has been working with Dan Baker on the GonaCon experiment on the horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Blake got a promotion after a paper he co-authored with Dan Baker and others was released in 2018. You can read the paper here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0200795.

Jenny Powers is also mentioned in the FOIA documents. She worked with Dan Baker on the CSU experiment. She also is employed by the National Park Service. She did a lot of work on the dart delivery system that has left horrible abscesses on our mares.

One day while I was trying to find help for these horses, I discovered NPS IACUC (International Animal Care Use Committee). I was excited to find them because part of what they do, from their website (https://home.nps.gov/orgs/1103/iacuc.htm): “Provide oversight for the humane care and use of wild, vertebrate animals in research, teaching, and training in parks.”

FINALLY! Someone to share our concerns about what appeared to be animal abuse on our mares!

When I contacted their office, I was told the ONLY person I could speak to was – are you ready?

Jenny Powers.

I was shocked! Since there was NO ONE else I could talk to, I did talk to Jenny Powers. When I expressed my concerns about her ability to listen to my concerns objectively, she seemed unsure about why I doubted her ability to do so.

To be clear, I was calling to complain about the abscesses on the mares being done as a result of the dart delivery part of the CSU experiment that was being done by Jenny Powers. And the person I was told I had to complain to was the SAME Jenny Powers!

Needless to say, the NPS IACUC I was so happy to have discovered did nothing to address my concerns of the animal abuse going on in TRNP to our mares.

It is also worth noting that Jenny Powers gave a presentation at the same conference that Dan Baker did in 2018. We had a link on our website, but the video has since been scrubbed from the internet. We have even reached out to the conference sponsors without any explanation as to why ONLY Jenny Powers video has disappeared.

Here is a link to an article that was written in 2016 that will give a little bit more of the information that was being given to the public on the experimentation with GonaCon on our TRNP wild horses: https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2016/03/13/studies-north-dakota-fertility-control-mustangs/?fbclid=IwAR1XeyMc1kbkuorYheeyXO3USsNAvy68SNlTPd4evdSFPjRf5MQf_gbLj6A

Remember, these are some of the people who we are supposed to trust to write an objective Environmental Assessment about the future of this herd.

We will have more to share tomorrow, so be sure to check back.

Thank you for your support and have a great day!

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Following SCR 4014

Hello again!

We are EXCITED to announce that North Dakota Senate Concurrent Resolution 4014 passed UNANIMOUSLY in the ND House today!!! You can watch the House video here: https://video.ndlegis.gov/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20230412/4173/30192

The House reverted to the ND Senate version which means that SCR 4014 is done!

The North Dakota Secretary of State will now send copies of the resolution to the Secretary of the Interior, The National Park Service Director, along with our federal delegates – Senator Cramer, Senator Hoeven & Congressman Armstrong asking that they do what they can to help keep the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Remember, this is simply an ASK from the state of North Dakota.

The Fargo Forum reported on this story today: https://www.inforum.com/news/north-dakota/north-dakota-legislature-makes-support-official-for-theodore-roosevelt-national-park-horses-longhorns

The article shares a statement from TRNP Park Superintendent Angie Richman:

“Regardless of what decision is made, the park will have to reduce its horses to meet the population objective of 35-60 animals under the park’s 1978 environmental assessment, Park Superintendent Angie Richman has said.”

We know that a MINIMUM of 150-200 animals is needed for a genetically viable herd of horses. Her statement is disturbing and would still mean that 125-150 of the wild horses that currently call the park home would lose their freedom. Her statement also doesn’t speak to why they are bothering with an Environmental Assessment this year if their plan is to continue managing under the outdated 1978 plan.

This fight is far from over. Today is a huge victory, but really, it is just the state of North Dakota advocating WITH us to try to keep the horses in the park. ND House Minority Leader – Representative Boschee explained it clearly with us last Friday when he joined us for our Horse Talk. You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/Enyp3Six9SQ

We need your help to save this herd. Please consider making a donation to support our advocacy work. We apparently STILL have A LOT of work to do! There are a number of ways you can help us listed on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/

Thank you for your support!

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NEW Call to Action

Hello and Happy Wednesday to everyone! We have a NEW Call to Action for you.

As you know, we are trying to get Congressman Kelly Armstrong to support keeping the wild horses IN Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Despite hundreds of emails from us, his position has NOT changed.

Today we are asking you to help us with a different approach to get his attention.

We are asking that you submit letters to the editor! Below are emails or website links where you can submit letters to the editor to some of North Dakota’s major newspapers. These cover areas all across our state.

Letters to the editor should be no more than 200-250 words. We have added our letter to the editor that was sent out yesterday to these newspapers for an example. Please don’t copy and paste this as your own, the letters to the editor have to say similar things in different ways to be impactful. Please do not feel that you have to live in ND to send a letter! You can add things like “I am asking Congressman Armstrong to fight to keep the TRNP horses in the park. If they are removed, I have no reason to visit your state.”

We know letters to the editor work – THIS is part of how we were able to get our state legislators to introduce SCR 4014! Every time they picked up a newspaper, someone was talking about the horses! This is also a GREAT way to help spread the word not only about Congressman Armstrong, but also the plight of these horses for people who think they are safe.

Please send your letters to:

Fargo Forum letters@forumcomm.com

Dickinson Press jmiller@thedickinsonpress.com

Bismarck Tribune (link) https://bismarcktribune.com/forms/contact/letter_to_the_editor/

Devils Lake Journal loleson@cmpapers.com

Grand Forks Herald letters@gfherald.com

Jamestown Sun ksteiner@jamestownsun.com

Minot Daily News eogden@minotdailynews.com

Valley City Times (link) https://www.times-online.com/site/forms/online_services/letter_editor/

Wahpeton Daily News (link) https://www.wahpetondailynews.com/site/forms/online_services/letter/

Williston Daily Herald (link) https://www.willistonherald.com/site/forms/online_services/letter/letter_editor/

Here is the letter we sent yesterday:

The wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park have received a lot of support since the park announced their plans to eliminate the ENTIRE herd of horses from the park in December. Governor Burgum, Senator Cramer, and Senator Hoeven have all spoken out in favor of keeping the horses. Our North Dakota legislators have submitted a resolution, SCR 4014, into this session asking that the park allow the wild horses and longhorn cattle to stay. Organizations, newspapers, and businesses from all across the state have all spoken out pleading with the park to keep the horses.

The only name missing from the growing list of supporters is Congressman Kelly Armstrong.

Volunteers from our organization have sent over 200 emails to Congressman Armstrong asking him to support keeping the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Every time we reach out to his office, we are repeatedly told that he has not changed his position.

Congressman Armstrong was elected to be the voice of the people of North Dakota. SCR 4014 is an excellent example of what the people of North Dakota are asking from our elected officials. It is time for Congressman Armstrong to put the voice of the people of North Dakota ahead of his own personal beliefs.

Despite their growing support, these horses are still NOT safe. It is going to take support from everyone to help keep them wild and free in our state’s only national park.

Christine Kman
Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates
www.chwha.org

Please share your letters with us if they are printed!

Thank you for your support and please let us know if you have any questions!

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Behind the scenes…

We keep saying that a lot is happening behind the scenes. Sometimes information is shared with us and we have to wait until the people or organization that shared the info with us is ready to make it public. The biggest reason for that is usually legal in nature.

Recently, one organization received over 400 pages of information through FOIA (Freedom of Information Act). That information has also been shared with us.

Since we arrived in Southwestern North Dakota in 2016, we have heard repeatedly about the Colorado State University “Study” that was being done on the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The “study” started in 2009 and was supposed to last 4 years. It lasted for 11 years, if it has truly ended at all. Theodore Roosevelt National Park is currently administering GonaCon to every female horse aged 8 months old and up. So, has the study ended? You will see in the coming days why it is so hard to simply believe information we are given from park management and why we have serious concerns now about a truly objective Environmental Assessment being done by this same management.

For starters, we need to clearly define what Colorado State University and Theodore Roosevelt National Park did to our horses.

“Study” by definition, means “a detailed investigation and analysis of a subject or situation.”

On the other hand, “experiment” by definition, means “a scientific procedure undertaken to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact.”

A quote from Dan Baker in an article printed in the Bismarck Tribune (https://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/parks-wild-horses-an-experiment-in-birth-control/article_a13a157e-816a-11e4-a261-ffd6de663204.html#tncms-source=login) might help us determine if the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park were part of a “study” or if they were “experimented” on for 11 years:

“It’s such a great natural lab out there. The area the horses are confined in is large, but not too large. It’s great landscape, and we can find them most of the time,” he said.

If we are talking about a lab, seems like we are talking about an experiment, right?

There is A LOT that will be unpacked from these FOIA documents in the coming days. We thought we would share smaller pieces that can easily get lost in the bigger stories coming out about these documents. We think that the first word in the piece we are sharing today answers the question about if this was a “study” or an “experiment”. It was clearly an experiment.

Experimental animals and treatment application: During a scheduled NPS gather and removal in September 2013, horses were herded by helicopter into permanent corrals and handling facilities. Fifty, adult mares (5-19 years of age) (25 GonaCon -treated: 25 saline-control) that had been previously vaccinated with a single inoculation of GonCon- or saline solution in October 2009 were identified and retained within the park for this experiment. Band stallions were also retained. All mares were identified individually using a photographic data base of pelage color and band association, as well as, previously implanted passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. General health, pregnancy status, and body condition of each animal was assessed while horses were restrained in a hydraulic squeeze chute. Pregnancy status and approximate stage of gestation were determined using rectal palpation of the reproductive tract and transrectal ultrasound imaging (Bucca et al. 2005). Up to 50 mls of blood was collected and serum removed, frozen, and archived for future anti-GnRH antibody analyses (Powers et al. 2011). We collected hair samples from all horses to assess the genetic status of the population and fecal samples for pregnancy determination and prevalence of endoparasites. Body condition of mares was assessed and scored visually according to methods described by Henneke et al. (1983). Mares in the treatment group received an intramuscular booster inoculation, by hand-syringe, containing 2000µg (2 ml) of GonaCon (synthetic GnRH conjugate Blue Carrier protein and emulsified in AdjuVacTM adjuvant (Miller et al. 2008) in the middle gluteus muscle on the opposite side from the primary vaccination. Mares in the control group were injected in the same way with an equal volume of saline solution. These treatments and procedures were identical to the ones used in 2009 except that injections were given on the right side of the body in 2013 rather than the left to allow differentiation from the previous injection site.

I would imagine the transponders they implanted in our mares helped them, and “local residents who volunteer” (this was noted repeatedly throughout the documents) find the horses quite easily. They had to find the horses to collect fecal samples to be able to determine who was pregnant and when the foals were due. As the documents show, and you will see in the coming days, some mares became even more important than others.

We will continue to share more this week as well as links to articles that are being written about the contents of documents received from this FOIA request. Other organizations have also reached out to us letting us know that they also have some new information they will be releasing as well.

We think that when all of the information is shared, it will be very clear to everyone that the only thing being “studied” on the wild horses in Southwestern North Dakota were the results of years of experimentation and ways to perfect what they were finding.

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Call to Action

In 12 days, we will be in Washington DC for the 2^nd Annual Save Our Wild Horses Conference!

Did you know that Saturday, April 22^nd is Earth Day

AND

April 26^th is National Help a Horse Day?

While we are in Washington, DC, we plan on meeting with as many of our federal legislators as possible. We are still setting up appointments and plan to spend April 26^th – “Lobby Day” seeing as many members of Congress as possible!

There are several ways that you can help make our trip even more impactful!

One way is EASY!

Send postcards!

Our friends at Save Our Wild Horses have information about a postcard campaign on their website: https://saveourwildhorses.net/2023-postcard-campaign.html. We also had special postcards made for the TRNP wild horses. They are FREE and if you want, we will even send them for you! You can sign up for our postcard campaign here: https://secure.everyaction.com/_FHTeHpTOUG1Er7wwscTYw2

If you are mailing the postcards yourself, we ask that you send them to the following people:

NPS Director Sams
National Park Service
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240

President Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500

Congressman Kelly Armstrong
2235 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515

Secretary Deb Haaland
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20240

We also ask that you send your own representatives a postcard to their Washington DC office, ESPECIALLY if your representatives are on the Senate Natural Resources Committee, specifically, the Subcommittee on National Parks (https://www.energy.senate.gov/national-parks) or the US House Natural Resources Committee, specifically, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands (https://naturalresources.house.gov/issues/issue/?IssueID=5063)

We have congressional aides trying to help us get appointments with people at the Department of the Interior. Your postcards to them and our federal delegates will help emphasize the significance of the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Can you help make our trip to Washington DC even more impactful?

Our postcards were just delivered TODAY because of our latest (and hopefully last!) blizzard of the season last week. If you signed up already – THANK YOU! Your postcards will be on their way! Again, if you have not signed up, you can at this link:

Please consider helping support our advocacy work. There is a lot we are working on and so much more that can be done. As a nonprofit, we are limited by the support we get from people like you who love the TRNP wild horses. There are several ways you can help on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT night!

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Keep Beating the Drums

In our Horse Talk yesterday with North Dakota House Minority Leader Josh Boschee, he told us to “Keep beating the drums” If you missed our Horse Talk yesterday, we have uploaded it to our YouTube channel. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/Enyp3Six9SQ

In all honesty, I feel like I have been doing a drum solo! We really need your help.

As we talked about yesterday, the state of North Dakota can only make a request that the horses stay in the park. Our Governor has offered every resource available to the park, but they have not taken them up on his offer.

If you read their 1978 Environmental Assessment (EA), you will see why we along with our lawyers and other wild horse advocates fully expect the park to come back with their Draft EA showing data in favor of eliminating the horses from the park. You can read the 1978 EA here:

1978-plan-1-3 Download

There is A LOT that can be done while we are waiting for the park to come back with their Draft EA. Just like the ND resolution, timing is everything – and these horses honestly are literally running out of time.

We have repeatedly said this is NOT over until these horses have a management plan in place that protects a genetically viable herd of horses AND they are protected under Federal Public Law so that the threat of removal can NEVER happen again!

So, what are we at Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates doing to try to save this herd?

We have been reaching out to local and national press since December and continue to keep them updated on new developments – such as the news about SCR 4014. We have given them photos and videos of the horses in TRNP to help enhance their news stories. We provide them with interviews and information as requested in an attempt to keep the plight of the horses in the news while we wait for the Draft EA to be released.
We are traveling to Washington DC to speak at the Save Our Wild Horses Conference. While we are there, we will be meeting with federal delegates about getting the horses protected under Public Law. What we are asking for has already been done for the Shackleford Banks Wild Horses at Cape Lookout National Seashore. You can see the National Park Service’s (NPS) annual report on all of their “wildlife” at Cape Lookout National Seashore – that INCLUDES their horses here: https://www.nps.gov/calo/learn/management/wildlife-management.htm?fbclid=IwAR31hxo-l02LWjHaDqi37OMYuwTeOi8-K-Lh3oMH5kQSIWNwDtA_rit1-hY#horse That proves once again that wild horses ARE allowed on NPS lands and that they DO NOT have to be classified as “livestock”.
We are reaching out to local businesses trying to get them involved. We are mailing letters and taking time each week to walk around Medora and surrounding areas talking to businesses that will be impacted if the horses are removed, asking for their support and giving them our window clings to put in their windows to show their support for keeping the horses.
We have set up “Horse Talks” to help educate the public on all of the different aspects that make these horses unique. These events are FREE, we only ask that you register in advance. We are constantly speaking with new people to keep variety in our planned talks. Be sure to join us for our Horse Talk with Frank Kuntz and his daughter Christa on April 16^th and Theodore Roosevelt himself on April 30^th!
We write daily blogs updating the public on what is happening with the horses, with state legislation and any other news that we have.
We are working on getting a billboard on I-94 so that the 700,000 people who visit the park this year will know that the horses are in danger of losing their home.
We are working with our expert legal team at Eubanks and Associates. Eubanks and Associates has also worked with American Wild Horse Campaign and The Cloud Foundation, so we feel confident they understand this process. They helped draft our last comment letter and helped us submit FOIA requests including regular correspondence to follow up on those requests. They will also advise us when the Draft EA comes out as well as let us know along the way what other legal recourse we may have.

How can you help us?

If you are local and are interested in helping us get our window clings out to local businesses, or can help us with fundraising, those are our biggest needs – please email us at info@chwha.org.

If you can help us financially there are several different ways you can help listed on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/

How your money will be used, and if you have a specific request for the use of your donation, please let us know!

A roll of 100 stamps for mailing letters costs $63
Our PO Box costs $166 for 1 year
Office supplies – ink, paper, envelopes, website fees, our Zoom, Every Action & NDNA subscriptions combined cost us about $500 per month depending on how much printing and mailing we do.
Brochures for Washington DC and to pass out in Medora cost us $400
Postcards for our latest Postcard campaign cost us $90
Sign to be used in DC and in Medora this summer cost us $300
Business cards and thank you cards have cost us $200
Presentation folders for DC have cost us $400 – AND we still need to print the inside material to fill 275 folders
Window Clings have cost us $750 to date. We believe these are an easy way to get support and spread the word!
We have been advertising both in local papers, horse expos like the MN Horse Expo and on Facebook to help raise awareness. Ad costs this month alone are $1000
We would LOVE to see our billboard dream become a reality! A 1-year commitment for a billboard in Dickinson is $975 per month! A second billboard in Bismarck is $500 per month.
Legal fees from the last comment period were $4500

There is still so much more than can be done, but as we keep saying, as a nonprofit, our success depends on the support we get. It is extremely stressful to dedicate time to daily tasks that need to be done as we continue to fight for these horses while we constantly stress over how we will get the funds needed to carry out even the simplest things that need to be done.

Thank you to those of you who continue to send us donations! We have many repeat donors who have generously given to us! Their support has helped carry us to this point. We are also grateful to those of you who have reached out to your employers and discussed matching funds. We are happy to know that so many employers offer this to their employees!

We have said it before and we will say it again, these horses are getting a lot of support but they are NOT safe yet! IF the park is able to remove these horses – they will NEVER bring them back.

NOW is the time to act.

Can you help us continue to Fight for the Spirit of the Badlands?

Every $1 literally helps! Once again, you can find different ways to help support us on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/ Also remember that sharing our posts helps get this information out in front of more people!

Thank you for your support!

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Following SCR 4014

Hello and Happy Friday!

If you missed our Zoom conference with North Dakota House Minority Leader Josh Boschee, we have uploaded it to our YouTube channel. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/Enyp3Six9SQ

Representative Boschee shared with us that SCR 4014 went to a Conference Committee. That committee met yesterday, and they agreed to pass the ND Senate version of SCR 4014. He expects that this will be voted on in the ND House next week.

Our North Dakota legislators are only in session for 80 days every 2 years! This was the year they are in session. That session started in January and ends at the end of this month. Representative Boschee talks more about this in the video but we think that helps explain how critical getting their help was. The park made their announcement in December to remove the horses just as our ND legislators were getting ready to come into session.

Representative Boschee also explained that the state of North Dakota does NOT have jurisdiction over the park, so SCR 4014 is a request from the state of North Dakota. He expects that they will continue their process and said that when they came back with a decision in the spring/summer, that would be a time for dialog to be open again between the park and Governor Burgum and the state of North Dakota.

He also spoke about the effectiveness of contacting legislators and letters to the editor. This is also something that we talked to Heather and Linda from Save Our Wild Horses about when we had our Horse Talk with them on Sunday.

Thank you again to everyone who made it to this Horse Talk on a different day and a HUGE THANK YOU to Representative Boschee for talking with us and also for all of his help in getting SCR 4014 drafted and introduced into this session.

Have a wonderful & safe holiday weekend!

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NEW Horse Talk!

Join us on April 16^th at 2 pm MST!

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates will be talking to Frank Kuntz and his daughter Christa Ruppert! We will talk about what they are doing now at the Kuntz Nokota Ranch, and I am sure a little TRNP horse history MIGHT come up 😉 This will be a casual conversation and we will take questions from all of you as time allows. If you have questions you would like to send us ahead of time, you can email them to us at info@chwha.org.

Thanks to Frank & Christa for joining us!

Our Horse Talk events are FREE but we do ask that you register: https://secure.everyaction.com/h-64EqQioUOr4l90NZtyKA2

We won’t have any Horse Talks on April 23rd because we will be in Washington DC but when we come back we have an AWESOME Horse Talk scheduled! We will be talking to President Theodore Roosevelt himself! Joe Wiegand will be joining us to talk about Theodore Roosevelt and his experiences in the Badlands of North Dakota and with wild horses! You can register for this Horse Talk here: https://secure.everyaction.com/zerY5yPAL0iGXwqU3gJCxQ2

You can view our last 2 Horse Talks on our YouTube channel – be sure to subscribe!:

Horse Talk 3/26: Dr. Castle McLaughlin: https://youtu.be/0RA8SlJ3oro. Dr. McLaughlin went over some of the history of the wild horses in TRNP.

Horse Talk 4/7: Heather & Linda from Save Our Wild Horses: https://youtu.be/pVARnYFYUrY. Heather & Linda went over the schedule for the 2nd Annual Save Our Wild Horses Conference and some advocacy tips.

Don’t forget to join us TOMORROW – we will be speaking with North Dakota House Minority Leader Representative Josh Boschee! You can register for tomorrow’s Horse Talk here: https://secure.everyaction.com/krBMcMIMdECqhnY9rzfEUg2

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT day!

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Checking In…

Hello and Happy Thursday!

We thought this seemed like a good time for a recap of where we are and what we are expecting to happen as we move forward.

I was talking to a reporter yesterday with a another wild horse advocate friend of mine. We ended up talking about what we thought the Theodore Roosevelt National Park will end up doing in light of the public outcry and political support.

To recap: Theodore Roosevelt National Park announced their plans to eliminate the entire herd of horses from the park on December 12, 2022. They had a public comment period, as required under NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act), that ended on January 31, 2023. The park has stated that they are reviewing the comments and moving forward with their Environmental Assessment (EA). They told a local reporter last week that they plan to be back with a Draft EA this spring or summer.

It would seem that if they were considering our North Dakota Governor Burgum’s offer of pretty much ANY of our states resources, they would state that or at least pause their process to negotiate with the Governor. We know from conversations with one of our state senators that the governor asks him regularly if he has heard any news from the park. This strongly suggests that there is not any current dialog happening between Theodore Roosevelt National Park and our Governor’s office.

We, and our advocacy friends, believe that the park is planning to stay the course. We all expect the park to put out a Draft EA that supports the removal of the ENTIRE herd of horses from the park.

We will know more when their Draft EA comes out.

In the meantime, we are working as hard as we can from every angle to help save this herd. We are talking to the media, we have weekly Horse Talks set up to continue to educate and raise awareness about this herd, and we are advertising in prominent places. Today we spent some time walking around talking to local businesses handing out our window clings. In a few weeks we will be heading to Washington DC to meet with as many of our federal delegates as possible. We also had one of our congressional friends offer to send a meeting request with us to their contacts at the Department of the Interior! Here is hoping!

Support for these horses is growing, but that DOES NOT make them safe. Governor Burgum and our ND legislators’ support is awesome, but these decisions are coming from our federal government. Our governor and state legislators do not have any jurisdiction over the park.

We have several “Calls to Action” for you listed on our website. We are asking if you already sent Congressman Armstrong an email, that you send him another one! You can see all of our current Calls to Action on our website: https://chwha.org/calls-to-action/

As a nonprofit, our success depends on your support.

Please consider volunteering for our organization: https://secure.everyaction.com/6xS7i5nc70mzvKF-gTvjcA2

We also need financial support to continue our fight! There are a number of ways you can donate to us listed on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/

As a 501(c )(3) organization, your donation is tax deductible.

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT day!

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News To Share – Part 2

We have a shocking update for you on North Dakota Senate Concurrent Resolution SCR 4014. This update and the information in our previous post that we shared today speaks to the work that still needs to be done and shows the difference between active advocating and those who choose to advocate when it suits their purpose.

Back in December, we reached out to our North Dakota state legislators, we attended the weekly “Coffee with the Legislators” BEGGING for their help to save the TRNP horses. Honestly, there were times we did NOT think that there would be a resolution from the state of North Dakota. But we persisted! It was a roller coaster ride for sure!

When we FINALLY had a firm response from a group of legislators to sponsor the resolution, we worked with our friends at American Wild Horse Campaign and drafted a resolution. We submitted it to our legislators, and they loved it!

Please remember, the park’s proposed “livestock management plan” includes the longhorn cattle in the north unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

That simple fact may not mean much to the horse loving community, but it is important to respect that it means a lot to the citizens of North Dakota, especially the ones that live near the parks north unit, who also love the uniqueness of having longhorn cattle in the park and understand that they are also a draw for tourism in their communities. Rightfully so, their state representatives wanted to make sure any legislation included the longhorn cattle.

At the same time that we submitted our draft resolution, the legislators near the north unit also drafted their own. Since theirs included BOTH the horses and the longhorn cattle, their resolution was the one that was used. The language wasn’t exactly what we wanted, but we understood, and it also gave the resolution more support.

When the time came to testify in front of the ND senate committee, the ND Livestock Assn weighed in. They showed support for keeping the horses and the longhorns in their respective parks. More than that, they had language added to the resolution that included the benefits of livestock grazing to the environment. ANY wild horse advocate can speak to what it means to have a local livestock association supporting wild horses.

Also, the state of North Dakota classifies horses and cattle as livestock. The park’s plan is a “LIVESTOCK management plan” – many of us have tried to have that wording changed with no luck so far.

We discussed our concerns about the use of the word livestock with wild horse advocacy friends before the senate hearing to see if it was worth arguing over, especially because the longhorn cattle were now included. They all told us no.

In essence, this resolution is simply a request from the state of North Dakota asking the park to keep the horses and longhorn cattle IN the park.

The day of the Senate committee hearing, when amendments to the resolution were being made, the person from the organization that refused to work with us made sure to show up. They made no comments on proposed amendments. During the Senate committee hearing was the time to request changes ESPECIALLY since the sponsors of the bill were present and would have openly discussed their concerns or approval of any suggested amendments. The time to ask for an amendment was BEFORE it went to the ND Senate floor for a vote and then over to the ND House.

Instead, this group waited until the resolution moved to the ND House. They were not asking their followers to submit testimony. They didn’t even share that this resolution passed the ND Senate unanimously. They could not even make it a point to personally testify virtually, as many of us did because of the impending blizzard. Instead, they prepared a speech for someone local to read in person NOW asking for the words “livestock” to be removed from the resolution. The person they sent couldn’t even answer a simple question from the committee about why the BLM wasn’t managing these horses. (These horses are managed by the National Park Service)

And so, select places where the word “livestock” was used was taken out. The committee gave it a “DO PASS” and the ND House unanimously passed SCR 4014. Said group has not mentioned that at all to their followers.

ND Senate and House both passed versions of the resolution UNANIMOUSLY.

Great right?

EXECPT…

Remember those legislators by the north unit? They are now concerned about the ND House amended version. They feel like the ND House amended version is not including the longhorns.

So now what?

ND House Minority Leader Representative Josh Boschee contacted me last night to let me know that he noticed that SCR 4014 is going to Conference Committee – which means that the Senate doesn’t agree with the changes made by the House. He spoke with one of the Senators who told him they are concerned about the longhorn livestock are also being protected. A Conference Committee is where 3 Senators and 3 Representatives discuss the changes. They will either 1) Agree with the Senate version 2) Agree with the House version or 3) recommend additional amendments. Depending on what the committee decides, it will go back to one or both chambers for a final vote, since each chamber has to vote on the final version. So, if the committee agrees with the House version – then it goes back to the Senate for a final vote. If they decide on the Senate version, it goes back to the House for a final vote. If they amend it beyond those two versions, then both chambers will have to vote on it.

It is fine if you don’t want to work with us. It is fine if you disagree with the way we advocate. What is not ok is to make waves in the progress we are making. This group knows how to contact us if they in fact changed their minds and want to help us with the work we are doing or want to know what we are working on and how they can help.

We are going to Washington DC to fight for these horses, and now I am not sure if this resolution will pass by then. It sure would have been helpful for my meeting with Congressman Armstrong’s office if he was sent a copy of this signed resolution BEFORE April 24^th.

Our North Dakota legislators might pass this before then, but they are also coming to the end of their very busy yearly session. This week’s blizzard will definitely impact the progress of their session as a whole.

I can guarantee you that none of our state legislators contacted this group to let them know about this change in the progress of the resolution. While they won’t share any of our information, they make sure to visit our website regularly. They will be hearing this news here on our website this morning with the rest of you. Their ignorance to see the bigger picture and their lack of understanding of basic political procedures has now hurt significant progress that we made.

We will keep you updated on any movement on SCR 4014 as we hear about it.

Thank you for your support and please share our posts and help support our advocacy work. THIS is something we work hard on every single day.

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News To Share – Part 1

Hello and Happy Tuesday!

We have a lot of news to share today – so this is part 1 of a 2 part post.

Last week I met a new reporter. She is new to the area and contacted us because she saw the billboard that American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) put up. She told me that she contacted them and also started looking for local advocates. She was surprised that it had been months since anything about the horses was posted on any of their sites. She found our page and said, “Oh here’s what I am looking for!” She asked me why the other pages were so quiet. While I can’t speak for them, I did share this with her…

On December 12, 2022, when Theodore Roosevelt National Park announced their plans to eliminate the entire herd of horses from the park, we at Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates reached out to the other groups that also share photos and document this herd and asked if it was possible for us to put our differences aside and work together FOR the horses. You can see who is working with us. The majority are NOT. One group in particular said that they refused to work with us in part because of the way we treat the park. This means our questioning of things that many of you have – like how does the herd continue when we sell off the babies and only leave older horses? Or are you permanently sterilizing our mares with GonaCon?

That was fine, they were honest, and we appreciated that. We moved forward and worked hard for every small win we have had WITHOUT any help from them. There is still A LOT of work to be done, but the horses are gaining support for sure.

I told her my fear is that the silence on other pages was giving a false sense that things were “All good” with the horses. They were saved – Mission Accomplished.

She will be covering the new billboard in Dickinson in this week’s newspaper and said she will help as she can to keep awareness about these horses and their plight in the news.

She lives in Dickinson. We are about 30 minutes from Theodore Roosevelt National Park. She moved here earlier this year but didn’t know anything about the threat to our TRNP wild horses, until she saw the AWHC billboard.

THIS is why we keep posting just about every day. THIS is why we are advocating so hard. There are still A LOT of people – near and far who don’t know that there are 185 horses currently living in Theodore Roosevelt National Park that may be removed and sold to the highest bidder IF we don’t change the trajectory of the park’s plans.

Thank you for your support and please share our posts and help support our advocacy work. THIS is something we work hard on every single day.

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Save Our Wild Horses

Hello again and Happy Monday!

It has been a VERY busy day and we have even more to share with you!

For now, we want to once again say Thank you to Heather and Linda for joining us yesterday to talk about the Save Our Wild Horses Conference. If you missed the event, you can watch it now here: https://youtu.be/pVARnYFYUrY

If you are planning on joining us in person at the event, you can get more information here: https://saveourwildhorses.net/2023-dc-conference.html

If you are not able to make it to DC, there are still A LOT of ways you can help!

Heather and Linda are trying to get 100,000 signatures on a petition. Have you signed it yet? There is also an option to share – so please do that too! You can sign the petition here: https://www.thepetitionsite.com/963/622/666/help-end-the-brutal-extermination-of-america%E2%80%99s-wild-horses-and-burros/?fbclid=IwAR1sLlMkTs_LVzvBGvWT1X2LuXWmDjzXtFHvndOrmFNaBHis67J7pxihGH8

Have you sent your postcards to DC? This will help ALL of us who will be there in person! Heather and Linda have a postcard campaign to help raise awareness about the plight of America’s wild horses. You can find more information here: https://saveourwildhorses.net/2023-postcard-campaign.html We at Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates have also designed a special postcard to bring attention to the plight of our iconic group of wild horses! You can request yours here: https://secure.everyaction.com/_FHTeHpTOUG1Er7wwscTYw2

Thank you again to Heather & Linda for all you are doing! Be sure to check out our next Horse Talk this Friday – April 7^th at 2 pm MST – we will be talking to ND House Minority Leader Representative Josh Boschee! You can register for this event here: https://secure.everyaction.com/krBMcMIMdECqhnY9rzfEUg2

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT night!

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The Coffee Club

Hello and Happy Monday!

We had a GREAT start to our morning! We got to talk to Janae & Bonnie from North Dakota’s WDAY Coffee Club about the Theodore Roosevelt National Park wild horses! You can listen to the recording here: https://www.wdayradionow.com/show-episodes/63087-the-coffee-club-chasing-wild-horses-with-christine-kman If you fast forward to 28:06, that is where our talk begins.

We also had the honor of speaking with a NEW local reporter last week. That article will be coming out in the next couple of days.

We keep saying there is a lot happening behind the scenes! We are doing everything we can to help save this herd!

Don’t forget! We have a NEW Horse Talk on a different day – THIS FRIDAY April 7^th at 2 pm MST! We will be talking to ND House Minority Leader Josh Boschee! The event is FREE but we do as that you pre-register: https://secure.everyaction.com/krBMcMIMdECqhnY9rzfEUg2

THANK YOU again to Heather & Linda from Save Our Wild Horses for being a part of yesterday’s Horse Talk! We will have that recording for you soon!

Thank you for your support and check back soon for more!

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The Sound of Silence

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

This quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has always been a favorite of mine. I have found myself referring to it more often than usual since Theodore Roosevelt National Park announced the start of their wild horse management plan. The quote has become even more meaningful than ever since the park came back in December and announced their plans to eliminate the entire herd of horses from the park.

At least a couple of times a week we get asked about the silence on other pages that also document these horses. We don’t have an answer and redirect those questions back to the organizations in question.

Sometimes silence also speaks volumes, doesn’t it?

I know we sound like a broken record at times, but the truth is this is a very critical time for this herd. On a weekly basis I meet people who either have not heard about the park’s plans to remove all of the horses or people who think that this battle has been won because of Governor Burgum’s press conference or the ND legislators passing SCR 4014.

The silence on other pages only reinforces this.

So….Where are we now?

The park is working on their Environmental Assessment (EA). Remember when they had a public comment period that ended January 31^st? They looked at those comments and then based on those, decided what other reasonable alternatives they would consider in the EA.

They will be coming back in the spring or summer with their draft EA. This will reinforce their proposed action – TOTAL elimination of this herd from the park and then the EA will justify the removal of the horses. Then we will have another public comment period. They will then go back and look at the comments before they come out with the final EA.

This is an extremely critical time for these horses, and it is NOT a time to be silent. On our Horse Talk last week with Dr. Castle McLaughlin (https://youtu.be/0RA8SlJ3oro) , we talked about the fact that if they are able to remove this herd from the park boundaries, they will NEVER bring them back.

What can we do during this waiting time?

A LOT!

Have you emailed Congressman Armstrong? We have not received a response from his office in 2 weeks now. It would seem he has NOT changed his position. We made it easy for you to email him. If you have already emailed him, EMAIL HIM AGAIN! We made it easy for you! Simply click on this link – you can also personalize your message! Click on this link to send your email: https://secure.everyaction.com/Rg-lK-HiAkSz6nxuYsiKmw2

TODAY at 2 pm MST we will be having a NEW Horse Talk with Heather & Linda from Save Our Wild Horses. They will be talking about the 2^nd Annual Save Our Wild Horses Conference. There is still time to join us live! The event is FREE but we do ask that you pre-register! You can register here: https://secure.everyaction.com/XKCkBhUpokG1qQvv9MePtQ2

Will you be joining us at the event? You can get more information about the conference on their website: https://saveourwildhorses.net/2023-dc-conference.html

If you can’t make it to Washington DC in person, there are still A LOT of things that can be done to help wild horses everywhere!

Send postcards! Heather and Linda have a postcard campaign to help raise awareness about the plight of America’s wild horses. You can find more information here: https://saveourwildhorses.net/2023-postcard-campaign.html We at Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates have also designed a special postcard to bring attention to the plight of our iconic group of wild horses! You can request yours here: https://secure.everyaction.com/_FHTeHpTOUG1Er7wwscTYw2

Our friends at Veterans for Mustangs have gained the attention of our federal legislators! You can help them by sending an email to your federal legislator. We made that easy too! https://secure.everyaction.com/lvHbJOoIp0yJ5rH-nZ2UFQ2

We will have some new Calls to Action for you this week – so be sure to check back.

Also, remember sharing posts is a GREAT way to help! It is obvious that there is still a large group of people who don’t know about how and why we are fighting so hard for the Theodore Roosevelt National Park wild horses.

We are also grateful to everyone who has been sharing some really GREAT ideas with us on how to help these horses! Most of those great ideas require money to execute. Please consider making a donation to help us continue our advocacy work. You can find ways to help on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/

Thank you for your support and enjoy the last of your weekend!

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BULLY!

Can you believe that it has been a year already since Theodore Roosevelt National Park announced that they were going to start working on a wild horse management plan?!

Well they actually called it a “livestock” management plan because they decided to reclassify the wild horses as livestock.

It has been 4 months now since the park announced their plans to eliminate the ENTIRE herd of wild horses!

Time flies!

Throughout this process, there have been a lot of Theodore Roosevelt quotes that have been brought out. This one is my favorite and one that rings in my head almost every day:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” ~Theodore Roosevelt~

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates has stepped fully into the area! From Day 1, we have been leading the fight to save this iconic wild horse herd.

But you have to wonder, what WOULD President Theodore Roosevelt say if he were alive today?

Well…

WONDER NO MORE!

On April 30^th at 2 pm MST you will have the chance to find out!

On our Horse Talk, Joe Wiegand will join us and give us some insight on Theodore Roosevelt and his relationship with wild horses. Joe is Medora’s very own Theodore Roosevelt. He not only looks the part, but he LIVES the part! You can learn more about Joe and his work on his website: https://teddyrooseveltshow.com/.

We are honored to have President Roosevelt join us and believe this will be an amazing and entertaining experience you won’t want to miss!

The event is FREE, but you must pre-register for the event. You can register here: https://secure.everyaction.com/zerY5yPAL0iGXwqU3gJCxQ2

Don’t forget to register for our other Horse Talk events!

THIS Sunday, April 2^nd, we will be talking with Heather & Linda from Save Our Wild Horses! You can sign up for Sunday’s Horse Talk here: https://secure.everyaction.com/XKCkBhUpokG1qQvv9MePtQ2

April 7^th meeting with Representative Boschee at this link: https://secure.everyaction.com/krBMcMIMdECqhnY9rzfEUg2

You can also watch recordings of our past Horse Talks on our YouTube channel!

Coffee with Castle can be found here: https://youtu.be/0RA8SlJ3oro

These events are FREE and we hope you will take advantage of these events as a way to learn more and also ask any questions you may have to our guests. We also hope that you will help support our advocacy work. As a 501 (c )(3) organization, our success depends largely on donations from our followers. There is a list of ways you can help us listed on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/

We have so much more planned and so much more happening! Be sure to subscribe to our page for updates! You can subscribe by scrolling down to the bottom of our homepage at www.chwha.org.

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT weekend!

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How Would YOU Like To Chat With ND House Minority Leader Josh Boschee?

Hello AGAIN and Happy Thursday!

As we mentioned – we have A LOT to share today!

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates has been working hard from every angle to raise awareness about the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park since the park announced their plans to eliminate the ENTIRE herd of horses from the park.

Part of what we are working on now is keeping interest in this herd by continuing to educate the public on this amazing herd of wild horses.

One way we are doing that is through our “Horse Talks”. Through these zoom chats, we aim to educate the public about different aspects of this herd from history, science, and even politics!

We hope that you will join us for our NEW Horse Talk on a special day – April 7, 2023 at 2 pm MST with North Dakota House Minority Leader Josh Boschee!

Representative Boschee has been instrumental in helping get North Dakota Senate Concurrent Resolution SCR 4014 not only passed but drafted and introduced!

Has North Dakota saved the Theodore Roosevelt National Park wild horses? Join us on April 7^th to find out!

These events are FREE but we do ask that you register for the event. You can register for the April 7^th meeting with Representative Boschee at this link: https://secure.everyaction.com/krBMcMIMdECqhnY9rzfEUg2

Don’t forget! THIS Sunday, April 2^nd, we will be talking with Heather & Linda from Save Our Wild Horses! You can sign up for Sunday’s Horse Talk here: https://secure.everyaction.com/XKCkBhUpokG1qQvv9MePtQ2

We have so many more Horse Talks being planned! We CANNOT wait to share them with you!

Thank you for your support and have a great day!

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Chatting with ND House Majority Leader Representative Mike Lefor

Hello and Happy Thursday!

We have A LOT to share today!

In this post we wanted to share a conversation we had with North Dakota House Majority Leader Mike Lefor at the final “Coffee with the Legislators” that was held by the Dickinson Area Chamber of Commerce.

We discussed our concerns with Representative Lefor about Superintendent Richman’s remarks in the National Park Traveler (you can read the article here: https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2023/03/update-key-feral-horse-issue-theodore-roosevelt-national-park-natural-ecosystem?fbclid=IwAR0QrzBsrwB-a-5Dbe4jza1reMEfdnou78MEmyOk3tH88H-OUook03N8eds)

We also discussed what the state of North Dakota can do.

A HUGE THANK YOU to our amazing Dickinson Area Chamber of Commerce. These “Coffee with the Legislators” could not have come at a better time! Thank you also to all of our legislators! They really stepped into the arena to advocate with us! Please make sure you take a moment to thank them! https://secure.everyaction.com/aE_2ghOIdEGngnTc6ySYqQ2

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/nJVl6nz7IFM. We were the last speaker – if you fast forward to 2:08:47 you will see the conversation we had with Representative Lefor.

Thank you for your support and be sure to check back – we have more exciting news to share today! You can also subscribe on our homepage to be alerted when we make updates to our website: www.chwha.org.

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