BISMARCK, N.D. — Wild horses will remain in North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park amid advocates’ fears that park officials would remove the beloved animals from the rugged badlands landscape, a key lawmaker said Thursday.
Republican U.S. Sen. John Hoeven said he has received a commitment from the National Park Service to keep wild horses in the park, although the number has yet to be determined. There are now approximately 200 horses walking through the park.
Hoeven said the Park Service will abandon the proposed removal of the horses under an environmental review process that began in 2022 and will continue to operate under an existing 1978 environmental review that calls for a reduction in their numbers.
“They have promised me that we will have a thoughtful and inclusive discussion about how many horses they keep in the park,” Hoeven told The Associated Press. There is no timeline for that, he said.
In a statement, the park said the decision to end the assessment “was made after careful consideration of the information and public comments received during the (environmental assessment) process.” In a text message, park officials confirmed an email seeking comment but did not immediately provide it.
Park visitors, to their delight, often encounter the horses while riding or walking in the rolling, colorful badlands where a young, future President Theodore Roosevelt hunted and ranched in what was then the Dakota Territory in the 1880s.
“People love horses,” says Hoeven. ‘And where do you go to see wild horses? I mean, it’s not that easy to do, and most people don’t have horses, and they like the idea of wild horses. They see it as part of our heritage in America.”
Earlier Thursday, Hoeven’s office said in a statement that the decision “will allow for a healthy herd of wild horses to be maintained in the park, managed in a manner to support genetic diversity among the herd and conserve natural resources of the park.”
The horses roam the southern unit of the park, near the western tourist town of Medora. In 2022, park officials began developing a “livestock plan” for the horses and about nine longhorn cattle in the park’s North Unit near Watford City. Park officials have said this process is in line with the policy of removing non-native species when they pose a potential risk to resources.
“The Southern Unit horse herd, especially in larger herds, has the potential to damage fences used for wildlife management, trample or overgraze vegetation used by native species, contribute to erosion and soil-related impacts… and compete for food and water supplies,” according to a September 2023 Park Service environmental assessment.
Suggestions included removing the horses quickly or gradually or taking no action. Park Superintendent Angie Richman has said that even if the horses ultimately remain, they would still need to be reduced to 35 to 60 animals, according to the 1978 environmental assessment. The park will continue to manage the longhorns as before, Hoeven’s office said.
Thousands of people made public comments during the Park Service review, with the vast majority in favor of keeping the horses. North Dakota’s Republican-controlled legislature made its support official in a resolution last year. Governor Doug Burgum offered state assistance to maintain the horses.
The Park Service has contacted the five tribes in North Dakota to find out if the tribes want to be involved in managing the horses, Hoeven said. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe expressed interest, he said.
The senator’s announcement comes after Congress passed and President Joe Biden recently signed an appropriations bill with a Hoeven provision strongly recommending that the Park Service maintain the horses. The legislation indicated that funding to remove the horses could be denied.
Chris Kman, president of Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates, said she was in tears when she read Hoeven’s announcement. She said she plans to pursue federal protection for the horses and explore possible state legislation.
“If they don’t have federal protection, they’re at the mercy of the next administration that comes in or whatever policy they want to pull back and tighten next time and try to get off the horses again,” Kman said. phone from the park.
The horses are descended from Native American tribes and ranches in the area and from domesticated stallions introduced to the park in the late 20th century, according to Castle McLaughlin, who researched the horses as a graduate student while working for the Park Service in North Dakota worked. The 80’s.