Wild horses to stay in national park; management plan needed, advocate says

Horses will continue to run wild in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the National Park Service announced Thursday. 

The future of the wild horse herd had been in question during an environmental assessment process by the National Park Service that began in 2021. The agency said it has ended that process. 

“We had a good day for the horses today,” said Chris Kman of the Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates group dedicated to keeping horses in the park. 

But Kman said the group’s work is far from over. 

“We still have no management plan,” Kman said of the wild herd. 

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The National Park Service estimated that there are about 200 wild horses in the park’s South Unit.  

She said the group will push for federal protections for the horses. 

“History shows us that every five, 10, 20 years, they come through and try to eliminate all the horses from the park. So the only way to stop that is to have federal protection,” she said. 

The National Park Service environmental assessment was released in September and there were three rounds of comments taken. 

Kman said the public comments were influential in the agency’s decision and there should continue to be public input as a management plan is developed. 

Kman lives in Dickinson and operates a small business in Medora, a tourist town that is the primary gateway to the national park. 

“A lot of the small businesses here were very concerned,” Kman said. 

Horses have been allowed to roam in the park even though they are a nonnative species. There also is a small herd of nonnative longhorn cattle in the park’s North Unit. 

The National Park Service says the history of horses in the area stems back to their use by Native American tribes and later by homesteaders to the Dakotas.

Ranchers used land that would become Theodore Roosevelt Park for open-range grazing of both horses and cattle. Before becoming president, Roosevelt operated Elkhorn Ranch near Medora. 

The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is under construction in the town.