(The Center Square) – The National Park Service presented two options that could remove the wild horses from North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
The public can comment on the 97-page report, which includes an option to keep the horses that have roamed the area for decades at the park until October 25.
The second option would remove the 200 or so horses currently roaming the park’s South Unit immediately. The park service would initially use helicopters to capture the horses, according to the report.
“Horses that are not captured during initial helicopter roundups would be collected by wranglers on horseback, wranglers on foot using low-stress herding techniques, additional subsequent helicopter roundups, or on-the-ground tranquilizer darting techniques,” the report said. “Baiting and trapping is another potential capture method that would remain a tool under all alternatives.”
The third plan would gradually reduce the horse population at the site, which could take 10 years or longer according to the plan.
The south unit of the park attracts the most visitors. The NPS said in its report the removal of the horses would have minimal impact on the number of visitors, even among vendors who offer photography tours that include the horses.
“In 2021, there were 16 days of photography tours in the Park with reported revenue of approximately $12,000,” the report said. “Thus, the number of annual tour participants is reportedly low. One of the companies providing horse photography tours indicated that only 1 percent of its revenue was from photography tours of the Park.”
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said the horses are a tourist attraction.
“We continue to urge the National Park Service to maintain a herd of wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, just as wild horses roamed those lands during Roosevelt’s transformative years in the Badlands, when President Truman signed the bill creating the park in 1947 and when it received official national park status in 1978,” Burgum said. “As we’ve expressed repeatedly to the NPS and Director Sams, the state remains ready and willing to collaborate with the Park Service to keep wild horses in the park in a manner and number that supports genetic diversity and protects the park for visitors now and long into the future.”
Legislators also passed a resolution in January asking NPS to preserve the horses and wild steer. Roughly 12 head of cattle reside in the park currently, according to NPS.
NPS is holding a virtual public meeting on their plan Oct. 3 beginning at 6 p.m. Mountain time.
