The National Park Service (NPS) is currently seeking public input on the Draft Environmental Assessment for a Livestock Plan for the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP). Unfortunately, the plan is on track to eliminate North Dakota's only wild horse herd.

The TRNP's approximately 195 horses are managed by a 1978 Environmental Assessment. While a new management plan is necessary, the EA is unacceptable as it proposes three alternatives that would lead to the destruction of the Theodore Roosevelt wild horses. The alternatives are limiting the herd to an unsustainable 35-60 wild horses which would require the removal of about 150 horses; expediting the herd's reduction to zero wild horses; and reducing the herd to no wild horses via a phased approach. All three alternatives would require the dangerous use of helicopters to round up and remove these historic horses.

The NPS should also implement a fertility control program with PZP, which has a 40-year history of being reversible and safe even for pregnant mares, rather than using GonaCon. The Theodore Roosevelt wild horses are an essential part of the park and state's historical and natural heritage, and they're a significant tourist attraction for North Dakota. Read more about the situation here.

It's time to speak up for humane management and fair treatment of the historic Theodore Roosevelt wild horses. Please take a moment to add your name to our letter to NPS below. 

TAKE ACTION:

To Whom It May Concern:

Please accept the following comments on the Draft Environmental Assessment for the Theodore Roosevelt National Park's (TRNP) Livestock Plan (LP) for its wild horses. 

Due to the controversial nature of the LP and the myriad of legal, environmental, economic, and social issues it raises – which the NPS has not been evaluated, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is required. The EIS must consider and analyze the following alternatives:

• Change the designation of the Theodore Roosevelt horses from “livestock” to “wildlife.” The NPS has never explained why they're designated as livestock and doesn't acknowledge paleontological evidence and mitochondrial DNA analysis supporting the fact that wild horses are a reintroduced native species to this continent.
• Set a minimum herd size of 150 horses to ensure a genetically viable herd, as recommended not only by Dr. Gus Cothran, geneticist and professor emeritus at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine but also acknowledged in the Bureau of Land Management's Wild Horse and Burro Handbook.
• Accept North Dakota Legislators and nonprofit organizations' offers of support to help the NPS manage the Theodore Roosevelt wild horse herd to ensure its future for generations to come. The partnership between the Cape Lookout National Park and the Shackleford Foundation for Horses in North Carolina could be a model for the management of the Theodore Roosevelt wild horses.
• Continue to maintain a bison herd in accordance with Secretary Order 3410 along with the wild horse herd. The TRNP has the forage and water resources to support both.
• If “new blood” needs to be brought into the herd, introduce horses who are historically significant to the TRNP and prioritize the Nokota horses.  A 2018 study from Texas A&M found that the historic herd is at risk of inbreeding (even at a number of 70-75 horses!) and recommended introducing new mares and changing removal strategies to preserve genetics and lineages.
• Given concerns about its potential for permanent sterilization and injection site abscesses, eliminate the use of GonaCon for the fertility control program. When administering any fertility control program, the NPS must consider the herd's genetics and bloodlines as well as the safety of mares.  Instead of GonaCon, the NPS should implement a fertility control program using PZP that has been proven to be reversible and safe for the mare.
• Instead of selling captured horses via the General Services Administration Online Auctions website, the NPS must develop an adoption program that screens potential adopters and includes a contract with facility and care requirements and a prohibition on the sale of horses for slaughter.

Thank you for your consideration.