North Dakota
Medora businesses, statewide tourism could suffer without wild horses
MEDORA, N.D. — These equine influencers go by names like Grizz, Arrowhead, Flax, Little Bear. They’re neither pets, nor livestock, and they roam wild in North Dakota’s only national park.
That may change pending an anticipated 2024 management decision by Theodore Roosevelt National Park staff to remove the nearly 200 horses, or cull to a greatly reduced number.
The decision is being closely watched by many who’ve followed and named the horses on social media posts over the years and by owners of businesses in and around Medora, the gateway town synonymous with the park.
“Everyone has their favorites,” said Christine Kman, owner of a shop called Chasing Horses in Medora. She sells horse- and badlands-themed merchandise, and she and her husband, Gary, host tours so visitors can see horses, bison and other wildlife in the park.
Kman, like other merchants in Medora, is concerned about the economic impact of the National Park Service’s plans.
While the business would survive the hit if horses were removed or their numbers reduced, they’re “definitely a draw,” she said. On top of the economic impact is one without a price tag. It saddens her and others that horses they’ve come to know and love may soon disappear.
“There were a lot of people who came last year because they were afraid maybe there wouldn’t be any horses after this year,” said Kman, who also co-founded
Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates,
a nonprofit fighting to keep the park’s horses.
Mary Griffin, owner of Medora’s Custer’s Cottage, has a better idea of the impact on her business. She estimates she could lose at least one-fifth of her income if the horses are removed from the park.
“I have customers that come in the spring and the fall, solely because of the horses,” she said. “That’s the only reason they are here. I’m a small lodging business, so I personally visit with people and know why they’re here.”
Contributed / Christine Kman
Most businesses, whether in Medora, Dickinson or Watford City, find it hard to tally income specifically related to the iconic horses. Statewide tourism impacts from the horses are equally tough to parse out. It’s intangible, but it’s also grounded in visitor experience.
“Business owners I’ve spoken to almost always talk about how the customers that come into their businesses talk about the joy of having horses in the park and how much they enjoy seeing them along with the rest of the wildlife,” said Clarence Sitter, president of the Medora Chamber of Commerce.
“I think as a community, we certainly would like to see the National Park Service do everything they can to keep them,” he said.
Former mayor Doug Ellison, who operates the Amble Inn & Western Edge Books in town, said that over the years Medora has become synonymous with the national park and the park so synonymous with the horses that changing the status quo could be detrimental all around.
“If you take that away, it’s really going to have a negative impact,” he said. Ellison said he continues to hear from people who say they won’t return to the park or visit nearly as often if the horses are removed.
“If they’re gone, a lot of people aren’t going to return, which translates obviously into an economic impact, and that’s a very important part of this,” Ellison said.
Kaelee Wallace is the marketing and communications director at the
Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation,
which facilitates the Medora Musical and other properties in the area. She said that although it is hard to gauge the economic value of the horses to the community, “their value to the visitor experience is definitely felt every day in our conversations with them.”
What is known is that an average of 700,000 visitors come to the park each year.
Park service data from 2021 estimated that 796,000 visitors spent over $56 million visiting the park, directly supporting at least 675 jobs through tourism in Medora and communities closest to the park. An additional $62 million in economic activity is also generated in nearby communities directly from those visits, either through hotel, restaurant or other activity, the park service estimated.
Sara Otte Coleman, director of tourism for the State Department of Commerce, said the state has tried to calculate visitor spending directly related to the wild horses but hasn’t come up with good numbers since so many factors are involved in a decision to visit the park.
“We do know that our visitors enjoy the uniqueness of the horses in our national park and it improves their experience,” she said. “That said, it also is the sole motivator for some, we just can’t measure that efficiently.”
According to the park service, nearly 90% of park visitors surveyed from 2016 to 2018 supported maintaining wild horses at the South Unit. The North Unit is a separate section of the park and does not host horses.
An environmental assessment released by the park in September outlining options for maintaining, reducing or removing the horses, incorrectly stated that only 49% of those surveyed favored maintaining the herd but was citing the same survey.
That assessment stated that “the phased removal of horses from the South Unit would have little to no incremental impact on regional economic conditions given the other visitor opportunities available at the Park.”
Superintendent of the park Angie Richman declined an interview for this story, but did comment that park staff are reviewing comments from the public received last November, and will be producing a comment analysis report after the review.
“We are also separately and concurrently assessing the applicability of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act,” Richman said in an emailed response, adding that decisions will not be made until all those processes are complete.
Last April, North Dakota legislators passed a resolution urging the Secretary of the Interior and the director of the NPS to modify its plan related to the removal and “continue to allow for interpretative, cultural, and historical purposes” both the wild horse herds in the South Unit and of longhorn steers in the North Unit.
Besides potentially utilizing the National Historic Preservation Act, the possibility of emulating actions at other federally administered lands with wild horses surfaced repeatedly in interviews. Examples are protections placed on herds on coastal islands in Maryland and North Carolina.
“I’m thinking that unless Congress gets involved with the National Park Service’s plan, the park service will do what they decide they want to do,” said Griffin, of Custer’s Cottage. “I think it’s going to take those higher powers to enter into the conversation.”
According to a statement from the office of U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., discussions with the park service about maintaining the horses at the park are ongoing.
With Department of Interior funding extended through Feb. 2, and fiscal year funding underway, “We are working to ensure the appropriations legislation passed by Congress includes our measure calling on Interior to keep wild horses in the park,” Hoeven’s spokesman Alex Finken said in a statement.
Spokesman Mike Nowatzki said Gov. Doug Burgum has made it clear that he is willing to support the park’s horse management program if necessary. Relocating the horses is not a viable option since the horses are such a draw for visitors to the park, and the office is in ongoing discussions with the park superintendent about specific areas of support, Nowatzki said.
“We agree that the economic impact of the wild horses to the region is hard to quantify. However, based on the tremendous outpouring of support from across the nation for keeping the horses, it’s clear that they are a significant attraction and play an important role in generating economic activity for Medora and the surrounding area,” he said.
The North Dakota News Cooperative is a nonprofit news organization providing reliable and independent reporting on issues and events that impact the lives of North Dakotans. The organization increases the public’s access to quality journalism and advances news literacy across the state. For more information about NDNC or to make a charitable contribution, visit
www.newscoopnd.org.
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Greg Power, fisheries division chief with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, shares information about the new 2026-2028 Fishing Guide and a few new regulations starting April 1, 2026.
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SIOUX FALLS — Ali Stephens had 17 points and 13 rebounds and 8th-seeded Omaha defeated 9th-seeded North Dakota 49-39 in the first round of the Summit League women’s tournament.
The Fighting Hawks had a tough time putting the ball in the hoop all night long, scoring just three points in the first quarter and having only marginally better luck from there.
UND (7-24) shot just 23.5 percent from the floor (12-for-51) and made 1-of-20 shots from outside the arc. Walker Demers and Mackenzie Hughes had 10 points each to lead the Hawks, with Demers adding eight rebounds.
Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live
Regan Juenemann had 10 points and five rebounds for the Mavericks while Avril Smith had seven points and 16 rebounds and Sarai Estupinan eight points, five assists and three rebounds. Omaha (6-26) shot the ball slightly better than the Hawks, going 16-of-53 from the field (30 percent) and 8-of-23 (35 percent) on 3-pointers.
With the win, the Mavs earn a date with top-seed North Dakota State on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
The Bison won both regular season matchups by more than 50 points.
Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live
Oral Roberts 84, Kansas City 62 — Don’t look now but the team that started the conference season 0-10 and at one point lost 15 of 16 games might be the hottest in the Summit League.
Oral Roberts picked up their fourth straight victory on Wednesday night in the conference tournament opener, routing Kansas City at the Premier Center in the 8/9 “play-in” game.
Ty Harper had 22 points to lead the Golden Eagles (10-22), who took a 44-21 lead by halftime and never looked back. ORU shot 50 percent from the floor and made 13-of-27 3-pointers while the Kangaroos shot just 34 percent and made 6-of-24 from deep. Martins Kilups had 17 points for the Eagles and Connor Dow added 14.
Jayson Petty had 14 points to lead the Kagaroos, who finish the season 4-27. It was their final game under coach Marvin Menzies, whom the school announced earlier this season would not return next year.
With the win ORU advances to face top-seed North Dakota State on Thursday at 6 p.m.
The Golden Eagles lost to NDSU 86-58 in Tulsa on Jan. 24 but they took the Bison to overtime in Fargo on Jan. 3 in a 79-77 loss.
Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at mzimmer@siouxfallslive.com.
North Dakota
The North Dakota Attorney General issued an opinion to the ND State Auditor – North Dakota Attorney General
04 Mar The North Dakota Attorney General issued an opinion to the ND State Auditor
in Opinions
March 4, 2026
Media Contact: Suzie Weigel, 701.328.2210
BISMARCK, ND – It is the opinion that federal law does not prevent the state from auditing P&A and even though P&A possesses confidential records, N.D.C.C. § 54-10-22.1 and 42 C.F.R. § 51.45(c) authorize the state auditor and the employees of the auditor’s office, to review the records without detriment to P &A.
Also, whether Rule 1.6 of the North Dakota Rules of Professional Conduct for licensed attorneys prohibits P&A from disclosing to the State Auditor the contents of a client file for the purpose of conducting a non-financial performance audit under N.D.C.C. ch. 54-10 when the requested file includes information about individuals and businesses in the private sector who chose to contact P &A.
This issue was already addressed in a 1995 opinion of this office regarding P&A. The 1995 opinion highlighted that P&A has authority to contract with private attorneys to represent private individuals. 17 During that performance audit, auditors asked to see billings from the contracted attorneys. 18 P&A redacted the names of the individuals represented by the contract attorneys under the rules for attorney-client privilege or attorney-client confidentiality. 19 The names of individuals seeking services of P&A are protected under N.D.C.C. § 25-01.3. The opinion stated:
Thus, P&A’s records which indicate to whom its services were provided are available to the State Auditor for performance audit purposes. The State Auditor has
been given access by P&A to its records other than the attorney’s billings. Therefore, the State Auditor already has access to the names of the persons to whom P&A
provides services. State law requires that the State Auditor and his employees must keep such information confidential.
Here, P&A has not identified a specific record. Given that, I rely on the past opinions declaring that records made confidential by N.D.C.C. § 25-01.3-10 are available under N.D.C.C. § 54-10-22 to the State Auditor and the Auditor’s employees for audit purposes.
Link to opinion 2026-L-01
###
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