Wild horses will stay in Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Wild horses stand in a group along a hiking trail in Theodore Roosevelt National Park on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, near Medora, N.D. U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said Thursday, April 25, 2024, he has “secured a commitment” from the National Park Service to keep the roughly 200 horses that roam the park’s South Unit. In 2022, the Park Service began a process that included proposals for removing the horses, which park visitors adore. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

(AP) – Wild horses will stay in North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park amid fears from advocates that park officials would remove the beloved animals from the rugged Badlands landscape.
North Dakota U.S. John Hoeven says the National Park Service will abandon plans that could have removed the 200 or so wild horses that roam the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora.
In 2022, the Park Service began a process to craft a management plan for the horses. Proposals included removing the horses quickly or gradually or taking no action.
Thousands of people made public comments during the Park Service review, the vast majority of them in support of keeping the horses.