Other views: Dorgan’s acting on politics on acreage addition

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Sen. Byron Dorgan’s latest tussle with the U.S. Forest Service smells of politics. The North Dakota Democrat opposes a proposal to add 12,000 acres of the state’s scenic Badlands to the National Register of Historic Places. The senator seems to be engaged in a pre-emptive measure to keep the proposal from becoming a campaign issue. Dorgan is up for re-election next year and speculation is rampant that popular Republican Gov. John Hoeven will take up the challenge. Hoeven opposes the designation, as do grazing associations and local governments in the area.

Dorgan sent a letter to the U.S. Forest Service in September telling the agency to, essentially, “knock it off.” The historic designation would include the land around Theodore Roosevelt National Park Elkhorn Ranch and the Elkhorn Ranchlands, a private ranch the Forest Service bought two years ago. The National Park Service supports the Forest Service proposal.

Dorgan insists historic designation would violate the agreement regarding purchase of the ranch, and could prevent oil and gas development, restrict grazing and block a bridge project. But the Forest Service says historic designation is benign. “It doesn’t pose any restrictions,” said Valerie Naylor, superintendent of the national park. “It’s a nice recognition of its historical significance.”

Local officials, who oppose any federal involvement in the West (unless, of course, it’s to protect ridiculously low grazing fees on public land to which they have exclusive access), believe the proposal could lead to land-use restrictions. There is no evidence to support that fear. There is, however, overwhelming evidence that the tract is as historically important as any landscape in the state. Roosevelt’s time there, while brief, left a legacy that identifies and defines the Badlands to this day. North Dakota has capitalized on that legacy. It’s the focus of state tourism. It’s been vital to the development of historic Medora. It’s been the historical context in which to spotlight the ranching and cowboy culture of the far West.

Dorgan and apparently the rest of the state’s congressional delegation have a conservation and historic blind spot when it comes to the Badlands. For example, they’ve essentially blocked a modest plan to designate 10 small tracts as wilderness. Now Dorgan is going after the Forest Service (not exactly a courageous act in the West) over historic designation of a relatively small area that is, by any honest assessment, worthy of such designation. The senator is wrong. He seems to be putting his political fortunes ahead of preserving and protecting the heritage and history of the Badlands.

Tags: other views, forest service, opinion, editorials, dorgan