N.D. Attorney General says list of 'extraordinary places' for protection coming soon
North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has been meeting with people behind the scenes to compile a list of what he calls “extraordinary places” that deserve protection from energy development and other impacts, drawing criticism from a former Democratic Party leader who believes the discussions should be held publicly. By: Mike Nowatzki, Forum News Service- Elkhorn Ranch site in the badlands of North Dakota
In this May 4, 2012 file photo provided by the National Park
Service shows the Elkhorn Ranch site in the badlands of North Dakota,
where Theodore Roosevelt retreated to raise cattle following the deaths
of his wife and mother in 1884. A Montana businessman who signed an
agreement with the U.S. Forest Service to work out an exchange for other
federal land or mineral rights at a different location, said Friday,
Sept. 13, 2013, that nothing has been done so he's moving forward with
his original plan to mine gravel hear the Roosevelt site. (AP
Photo/National Park Service, Valerie J. Naylor, File)
Stenehjem said he has sought input from a variety of people and hopes to have the list ready for the state’s Industrial Commission, which grants oil drilling permits, for consideration at its Nov. 18 meeting.
“I think there’s a view that we need to do more to assure the public that we’re protecting some of those pristine areas,” said Stenehjem, who sits on the commission with Gov. Jack Dalrymple and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring. “And we do a lot of that now, but it’s not on a formal basis.”
Stenehjem first proposed such as list at a commission meeting in January. The idea gained steam after a public uproar in March when news broke that an oil company had staked out a site near the entrance to the historic Elkhorn Ranch in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
The company, XTO Energy, withdrew its permit application, and on Tuesday the Industrial Commission approved a new permit for XTO that will keep drilling activity about two miles away from the Elkhorn Ranch entrance.
Stenehjem said an oil rig right next to Elkhorn Ranch “was never going to happen,” and he hopes the new list will assure the public that such places will be protected. While the list isn’t finalized, some of the places Stenehjem said he’d like to consider for protection are Bullion Butte, Killdeer Mountain battlefield and wildlife management area, Elkhorn Ranch, White Butte and Little Missouri River State Park.
All of those places were included in a list of about 40 areas of historical, cultural or biological interest that was compiled from various sources earlier this year. It didn’t receive any official designation from the Industrial Commission, but it provided a list of places for commissioners to tour, which they decided to do individually because of their schedules.
To help him compile his own list, Stenehjem has held two meetings in his conference room with what he describes as “kind of an informal grouping,” adding, “I’ve had lots of other meetings just with other individuals.”
Jim Fuglie, a former executive director of the state Democratic-NPL Party who now writes “The Prairie Blog,” has criticized Stenehjem in recent blog posts, referring to the group as a “secret task force” holding “secret meetings” and questioning whether the state’s open meetings laws are being followed. Fuglie did not return a phone message left at his home Thursday.
Stenehjem said he organized the group and meetings by himself, and the Industrial Commission didn’t delegate authority to him to do so.
“If it were delegated by the Industrial Commission, then of course it would likely be an open meeting,” he said. “But this is just me using people whose judgment and knowledge I respect to offer suggestions.”
Jack McDonald, a lawyer for the North Dakota Newspaper Association, said there must be direction given or an act of creation by the governing body to make it a task force subject to open meetings.
“Of anybody in state government, (Stenehjem) has been so hyper about open meetings and stuff and so vigilant … I just can’t imagine that he’s deliberately violating the law,” McDonald said.
Stenehjem said that after his list is compiled and presented to the Industrial Commission, the idea is to develop a policy and rulemaking process for protecting the extraordinary places.
He said the rules to be considered for development in those areas might include requiring an impact mitigation plan; prohibiting the flaring of natural gas or requiring that pipelines for capturing it already be in place before drilling begins; setback requirements; or painting oil pumps to camouflage them.
While the commission wants to protect the state’s special places, Stenehjem said he’s not talking about an outright ban on energy development.
“Private people own those minerals, and they have a legal right, a constitutional right, to have them developed, and so we have to respect that,” he said. “But at the same time, we also have an obligation to the citizens of North Dakota and the future to make sure that everybody is comfortable that we’re doing what we can to protect these areas as much as possible.”
The concept also will entail a process for public comment on proposed developments “at a meaningful time,” he said.
Among those who have participated in meetings with Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to provide input for a list of “extraordinary places” are:
• Ron Anderson, chairman of the McKenzie County Commission
• Scott Davis, executive director of the state’s Indian Affairs Commission
• Daryl Dukart, a Dunn County commissioner
• Assistant Attorney General Hope Hogan
• Gene Jackson, a Dickinson City commissioner and president of Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson
• Clay Jenkinson, an author and humanities scholar
• Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council
• Assistant Attorney General Matthew Sagsveen
• Murray Sagsveen, a Bismarck attorney and former assistant attorney general
• Keith Trego, executive director of the North Dakota Natural Resources Trust
Readers can reach Forum News Service reporter Mike Nowatzki at (701) 255-5607 or by email at mnowatzki@forumcomm.com.
http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/276743/
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