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JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — An Open Letter To Governor Doug Burgum, On The Occasion Of The Greatest Threat Ever To The Little Missouri State Scenic River

Posted on by Jim Fuglie 2 Comments on JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — An Open Letter To Governor Doug Burgum, On The Occasion Of The Greatest Threat Ever To The Little Missouri State Scenic River

Dear Gov. Burgum, Let me quote from the conservation easement you signed for some ranchland you and your friends own in southwest North Dakota’s Bad Lands six years ago: “The Protected Property possesses agricultural, scenic, and historic, and cultural values. The Protected Property is located in the heart of the only Ponderosa pine forest in North Dakota, south of Teddy …

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JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Act Today To Protect The Little Missouri State Scenic River

Posted on by Jim Fuglie ,Leave a Comment on JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Act Today To Protect The Little Missouri State Scenic River

There are two or three days left in the legislative session. A lot of bad things are going to happen to North Dakota in that short period of time. I’ve been watching every legislative session since 1975, and this one is by far the most irresponsible I’ve seen. One of the worst things that could happen this week is the industrialization …

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JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — State Agency Breaks The Law 600 Times; How Much Jail Time Do You Get For That?

Posted on by Jim Fuglie

The North Dakota State Water Commission has violated state law more than 600 times in recent years, by issuing permits for industrial use of water (read: fracking oil wells) from the Little Missouri State Scenic River. Employees there claim they didn’t know they weren’t supposed to do that. I believe them. But that’s no excuse. More on that in a …

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JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — The North Dakota Bad Lands: Still On The Brink

Posted on by Jim Fuglie

In the early 1990s, a group of 17 conservation organizations, as diverse as the National Wildlife Federation, the Bismarck-Mandan Bird Club, the North Dakota Wildlife Society and the Fargo-Moorhead Audubon Society, gathered under a symbolic big tent and produced a document outlining the dangers facing the North Dakota Bad Lands and offering a plan to protect some of North Dakota’s …

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RON SCHALOW: Port Fiction

Posted on by Ron Schalow

Ruth Buffalo wrote a perfectly sane, accurate and compelling letter-to-the-editor a few days ago, but the truthfulness was more than the Ward County Red Snouted Port could bear. Sad. I have never met Ruth Buffalo, but I know she is very smart because I can read and comprehend. And educated. She is also quite pretty and has a beautiful family. …

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MARTIN C. FREDRBlow It Out … Your Gas

Posted on by Martin C. Fredricks IV

Call Your Senators — Oppose Efforts to Repeal the BLM Methane Flaring Rule The splash of light in the center of North America at night, seen from space, shines like the opposite of a black eye. It doesn’t mark a big city or conglomeration of cities like the other light spots across the continent. In fact, it’s coming from where there …

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RON SCHALOW: Just Say Nyet To Cro-Magnon Cramer

Posted on by Kevin Grinde

It did not go unreported that Kevin Cramer might run for Senate in 2018, but the news was largely lost in the fog of the scandalous AMC miniseries, “The Case of the White Pantsuits and Other White Outfits,” based on the true story of a primitive male, with a bad combover, and his faithful miniature poodle, Port, named for the …

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JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Beware The Ides Of March

Posted on by Jim Fuglie

An apology to my readers. I was born with a weak spine. Literally but not figuratively — I hope. So, I’ve had these recurring back problems since I reached middle age. They’re usually fixable, but it takes some time, and I’m in one of those time periods right now. The doctors started working on it in early February, and they …

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RON SCHALOW: Exploding Trains Aren’t Funny

Posted on by Ron Schalow

For some reason, many people, including North Dakota legislators, think that trying to get the Bakken oil producers to “stabilize” the crude and THEN put it in the railroad tanker car is a big joke. I didn’t coin the phrase “bomb trains.” That label came from the within the industry because they knew. It’s just good ribbing, though. I’ve been …

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CLAY JENKINSON: The Fallacies of the Dakota Access Pipeline ‘Argument’

Posted on by Clay Jenkinson

There is a dreary predictability about the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy, especially in the words that come out of people unsympathetic to the protest. I’m listing those I hear most often: 1. There are lots of non-Indians down there. They have no business here. They discredit (here’s the special kicker in this argument) “what otherwise would have been a perfectly legitimate …

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JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Anatomy Of A Pipeline Oil Spill

Posted on by Jim Fuglie

Note: This post has been updated from its original version because of some additional information provided to me by the North Dakota Health Department. Thanks to Inspector Bill Suess for that. Out in the Oil Patch, when a pipeline leaks, or a tank overflows, or a valve is accidentally left open, and something (mostly oil and toxic salt water) spills …

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TONY J BENDER: That’s Life — Pipeline Media

Posted on by Tony J Bender

If you’ve been following news coverage about the pipeline, stop it right now. Especially if you’re watching national and international news. What do professional journalists know that Facebook doesn’t? Now that the Army Corps of Engineers has denied permission to cross Lake Oahe, north of Standing Rock, based on foolish environmental concerns and a flawed process, some suggest the protesters …

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TOM DAVIES: The Verdict — Consider All The Alternatives For Building A Safer Pipeline

Posted on by Tom Davies

For the first time in hundreds of years, the Native Americans have what seems to be an astounding victory. I’ve included the exact copy of the letter here from the Army Corps of Engineers, hereinafter referred to as the Corps. The president-elect has not weighed in but supports the pipeline. North Dakota’s governor, U.S. senators and U.S. representative support the …

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JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — The Governor Who Disappeared In August

Posted on by Jim Fuglie

UPDATE: On Sunday afternoon, not long after I had written this article, the Corps of Engineers announced it would not issue an easement for Energy Transfer Partners to drill on Corps land, effectively putting a stop to completion of the pipeline until a full Environmental Impact Statement is prepared, seeking the best route for the pipeline. The Tribe won this …

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JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Let’s Get Out Before The Weather Gets Bad

Posted on by Jim Fuglie

What I can read into the Corps of Engineers’ announcement Monday on the Dakota Access Pipeline is that the project will not move forward as long as Barack Obama is Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Army. Well, good for him. Now then, it might be time for Standing Rock Tribal Chairman David Archambault II to send the Water Protectors/Protesters home. Today. And tomorrow. …

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TOM DAVIES: The Verdict — Let Me Collect My Thoughts …

Posted on by Tom Davies

This election cycle has so eroded my thought process — temporarily, I hope — that I can’t focus on any one story line today. So, I’m not even going to try. I’m just going to sit here and write whatever pops into my head. Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney and the State Sheriffs Association would be well advised to remember …

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CLAY JENKINSON: A Clash of World Views — Kevin Locke

Posted on by Clay Jenkinson

I had the honor today to hear the world renowned Lakota flute player and hoop dancer Kevin Locke perform in Bismarck. He’s in his 60s now. He has been performing all over the world since he was in his early 20s. He’s a national and international treasure. Someone I know, who knows these things, says Kevin Locke is the greatest …

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CLAY JENKINSON: Standing Rock Sioux Crisis — A Plea for Understanding

Posted on by Clay Jenkinson

I know many of you have little respect for the Standing Rock Sioux (Lakota) in the ongoing Dakota Access Pipeline crisis. Your views by now are pretty well known: A) The Sioux leadership should have been at the negotiating table long ago, when it might have made a difference; b) the pipeline is off the reservation, so the Lakota don’t …

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RON SCHALOW: There Will Be More Blood

Posted on by Ron Schalow

From a marketing standpoint, it was a serious breach of intellect. It’s 101 material. If you send out a product that explodes and kills people, you aren’t smart enough to grow hair. Mushroom clouds always draw bad press. There’s no middle ground. “Chad, does our new shiny thingy explode?” “No sir.” “Ship it. Where are we going for lunch?” Or, …

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PAULA MEHMEL — Shoot The Rapids: A Visit To Witness The Mission Of Justice And Peace At Standing Rock

Posted on by Paula Mehmel

“When you move, you get the endorphins going, and you have more energy, more life.  And that is where the healing begins.” Those words, spoken by Johnny Eagle, the Wellness director for the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, not only echoed the important healing taking place in the camp at Standing Rock for the mental well-being of its participants, who deal …

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TOM DAVIES: The Verdict — Mni Wiconi, Water is Life

Posted on by Tom Davies

Without water, this planet would be uninhabitable. Without protecting our natural resources, our planet will be uninhabitable. As the polar ice cap (a major source of all water on earth) recedes, water levels will rise dramatically. With all of the activity at Standing Rock in North Dakota, the actual focus of tribal intent is being lost. The Native Americans aren’t …

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JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — The Great Meridian Energy Smokestack Scam

Posted on by Jim Fuglie

A couple of months ago, I wrote about the new oil refinery proposed by Meridian Energy Group, to be built just east of Medora, N.D., within three miles of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I wanted to wait with a follow-up until Meridian had actually submitted an application for an air quality permit, detailing what kind of steps the company was going to …

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JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Death By A Thousand Cuts

Posted on by Jim Fuglie

Pipelines leak. If North Dakota didn’t have such an awful reputation for not enforcing its environmental regulations in the Oil Patch, maybe we wouldn’t have a few thousand people camped out along the Cannonball River protesting the mother of all North Dakota pipelines, Dakota Access. Pipelines have been leaking oil and dangerous fracking saltwater all over western North Dakota for …

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TOM DAVIES: The Verdict — I Know Where Jimmy Hoffa Is Buried

Posted on by Tom Davies

There has been a lot of idle talk about who killed Jimmy Hoffa and how they disposed of his body. Well, I’m not going there because I know nothing about it … but it was a great hook to get your attention. My sermon of the day relates to an extent about politics, decency and civil rights … or, more …

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NANCY EDMONDS HANSON: After Thought — A Tale Of Two Protests

Posted on by Nancy Edmonds Hanson

So, The Forum’s antiabortion columnist is shocked — shocked! — that WDAY broadcast a story on the Red River Women’s Clinic’s need for more volunteer escorts during the stepped-up protests of the nationwide “40 Days of Life.” She says, “(Their story) reads like an advertisement for our state’s only abortion clinic” and calls it a “stab in the heart.” As …

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Tony J Bender: That’s Life —The Siege, Part II

Posted on by Tony J Bender

UNDERGROUND BUNKER, MCINTOSH COUNTY, N.D. — Hi folks, it’s your intrepid reporter. I’m still hunkered down, clinging to my guns and my Sports Illustrated. I don’t care if we’re in a State of Emergency. (Play ominous organ music here.) It’s football season. In that regard, it is a personal emergency. My fantasy football team is so iffy, I may be …

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TOM DAVIES: The Verdict — There Are More Horses’ Behinds Than There Are Horses

Posted on by Tom Davies

In February 1999, the U.S. Department of Justice published a report that I have never before seen. Among its revelations: American Indians experience per capita rates of violence that are more than twice those of the U.S. resident population as a whole. In the category of murder, blacks lead the way by a vast number, followed by Native Americans and …

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CLAY JENKINSON: The Lakota Protest — Head and Heart

Posted on by Clay Jenkinson

This is just going to be a personal meditation, and I apologize to anyone who would rather have more analytics and argumentation. When I was still a teenager, my best friend gave me a copy of “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown. I read it hard and fast, cover to cover, and it changed my life. It’s basically …

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JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — Bottom Line: In Your Face

Posted on by Jim Fuglie

There was a discussion at my table Saturday night about whether Indians in North Dakota have gained or lost respect as a result of the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy. There was no consensus. But what I do know is that important voices are rising in support of Tribal actions (although not so much in support of Tribal agitators), and there is …

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Tony J Bender: That’s Life — The Real Cannonball Ranch Story

Posted on by Tony J Bender

If you think you’re up to speed after a two-minute segment on the news and a Facebook meme about the pipeline, here’s your reality check. The purchase of the Cannonball Ranch by Dakota Access Pipeline exposes more of billionaire Kelcy Warren’s Machiavellian relentlessness. He ordered a sacred burial site bulldozed, brought in attack dogs to defend the destruction, and now …

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Tony J Bender: That’s Life — Seven Generations

Posted on by Tony J Bender

You’re wondering why a small-town newspaperman has invested so much time covering a pipeline protest across the river? Because this is a global, national and local issue right in our backyard. Our rural water comes from the spot near the pipeline’s path, a violation of the state’s Source Water Protection Program and another sign the state’s regulatory process is a …

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Tony J Bender: That’s Life — Unlawful Praying

Posted on by Tony J Bender

In America, where protest is in our DNA, suddenly it’s a limited option. Presumably, you can still dress up as a Native American, commandeer a British freighter and throw tea overboard, you just can’t be a real Native American in the process. Oh my, a whole bunch of Native Americans are camped at Cannonball, N.D., praying for God to smite …

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TONY J BENDER: That’s Life — Facts You Won’t Hear About The DAPL

Posted on by Tony J Bender

Here are some facts that you won’t hear from the pipeline shills and propagandists: • The tribe was not offered millions to allow the pipeline. That planted rumor was denied by Dakota Access Pipeline folks themselves. A stupid rumor considering the pipeline follows an established corridor. • The tribes were consulted by the U.S. Army Corps on the water. Nope. …

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Tony J Bender: That’s Life — N.D.’s Warrant For Amy Goodman — A First Amendment Issue?

Posted on by Tony J Bender

Yes, journalists can be arrested for trespass. However, when you single out reporters as an intimidation tactic — a warning shot — to try to suppress media coverage, that’s not even America, anymore. Those cameras, following a huge evolving story in North Dakota near the Standing Rock Reservation, kept everyone on the scene safe with their presence. How would hired …

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JOHN STRAND: Taking Liberty — Protecting The Sacred

Posted on by John Strand

I needed to go to Cannon Ball, N.D., and see firsthand the Dakota Access pipeline protest site in the heart of Indian Country, a stone’s throw north of Standing Rock Reservation. When reports Saturday depicted a confrontation between the protestors, who are really protectors, and security personnel armed with dogs and Mace, it was clear I had to go. Seven …

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Tony J Bender: That’s Life — Protesters Force Bulldozers Off Sacred Site

Posted on by Tony J Bender

The following is a report on the events that are unfolding south of Mandan, N.D., near the boundary of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. The story is by Tony Bender and his son, Dylan, and appeared today in the Ashley (N.D.) Tribune and Wishek (N.D.) Star. The accompanying video was shot by Dylan, who is a student at Bismarck State College. An …

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CLAY JENKINSON: Standing Rock — A Plea To Keep This Pure — And Non-Violent

Posted on by Clay Jenkinson

In the southern heart of North Dakota, we may be witnessing the beginning of a national and international pan-Indian renewal of First Peoples, Indigenous Peoples, Native Americans. Anything that helps rebuild Indian pride, cultural confidence and a firm and solid assertion of Native American rights is a good thing for all of us, for all Americans. It is past time …

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TOM DAVIES: The Verdict — Ambush At Standing Rock

Posted on by Tom Davies

It’s hard to articulate what has happened and is still happening to the Native American population. North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple, his scout, Drew Wrigley, and his alter-ego, Kevin Cramer, are either disconnected from the reality of what is happening at Standing Rock or are simply too uninformed or too cowardly to act in a responsible leadership role. Philip Strobel …

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JIM FUGLIE: View From The Prairie — May YOU Live In Interesting Times

Posted on by Jim Fuglie

Today I am 69. It is a meaningless birthday, in a world and time when numbers that don’t end in zero or five are of little consequence. But it is significant in that I am still here. Males in my family don’t generally live this long. I kind of wish I had planned a little better. But I am grateful to still …

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CLAY JENKINSON: Standing Rock — A Time to Listen, Not to Spout

Posted on by Clay Jenkinson

Events of historic importance are slowly unfolding south of Mandan, N.D., near the boundary of another nation state, the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. The Dakota Access Pipeline protest has grown into something much larger and more important for the future of white-Indian relations. It is no longer just about the pipeline. We may be witnessing the beginning of a continent-wide …

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CLAY JENKINSON: I Respect The Protests At Standing Rock

Posted on by Clay Jenkinson

It’s in all of our interests to show respect for the protests now under way at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation (and nearby). I acknowledge that the pipeline company has a right to extend its oil pipeline across the Missouri River (willing buyer — willing seller, the very essence of American capitalism). I acknowledge that the state of North Dakota has …

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Tony J Bender: That’s Life — State Of Emergency

Posted on by Tony J Bender

Side note: My son, Dylan and I covered the protest yesterday. Dylan was videoing for a Bismarck State College news report and was in the thick of things. He didn’t get bitten or pepper sprayed, but many did. MSNBC asked for his footage. Dylan is my new hero. Amy Goodman, Democracy NOW!, was on site. I am working on a …

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TOM DAVIES: The Verdict — Tribal Leaders Deserve Our State’s And Leaders’ Respect

Posted on by Tom Davies

After following news coverage of the developing story at Standing Rock, I am saddened by North Dakota’s official response to the legitimate issues raised by the Native protestors north of the reservation. What North Dakota’s governor, lieutenant governor and Public Service Commission don’t seem to understand is that the Native Americans who are protesting are, in fact, American patriots. Their …

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TOM DAVIES: The Verdict — Overzealous Response To Pipeline Protest Spells Bad News For North Dakota

Posted on by Tom Davies

North Dakota’s Industrial Commission, Gov. Jack Dalrymple and his advisers can take credit for some negative publicity that North Dakota is getting on the national. I refer to the plight of Native Americans across the country in addressing the Dakota Access Pipeline and its impact on reservations, their people and their long-held beliefs. I applaud their courage in defending the …

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