N.D. is losing its outdoor heritage

One of the most potentially potent forces in North Dakota is the group defined loosely as “outdoors people.” It’s a huge collection of hunters, anglers, hikers, bicyclists, nature photographers, birders, campers and water recreationists. Their love and respect for the outdoor life in all its forms depend on game and fish management, habitat protection and enhancement, clean water and air, and access to pristine lands, lakes and rivers.

North Dakota has it all, and for generations North Dakotans have been able to take it all for granted.

No more. The threat to the outdoor life, as North Dakotans have known it for as long as anyone can remember, is real and escalating. It’s centered in the state’s western Oil Patch, where an unprecedented oil boom is changing the landscape, possibly forever.

A conference last week tried to focus on the changes, not only in the west but also in parts of the state losing habitat because of the shrinking federal Conservation Reserve Program. Sponsored by the North Dakota Wildlife Federation, the North Dakota Chapter of the Wildlife Society and the North Dakota Game & Fish Department, the two-day session discussed everything from hunting to access, from resource management to priorities for the future. But the concern affecting every panel discussion and informal conversation was the impact of oil development on western wildlife, lands and habitat.

It’s difficult for wildlife managers and other experts on the state payroll to be too outspoken about the damage being caused by industrial-scale oil and gas development. Their political bosses, happily piling up oil tax revenues, don’t want to hear it. But the outdoor professionals know what is happening and are quite candid about it in off-the-record conversations.

Leaders of private conservation groups are not so timid. They are beginning to use phrases like, “It’s gone already,” “It can never be the same,” or “We’re losing our outdoor heritage.”

But the most important voices in the outdoor community are North Dakotans who love to hunt, fish, hike, camp and otherwise enjoy the incredible natural amenities of the state. State agencies and private conservation organizations are trying to raise awareness, but their efforts are not enough. Without a coordinated and focused effort by North Dakotans who look forward to that summer camping trip, that fall hunt, that hike through an untrammeled Badlands canyon, elected policymakers and regulators will hear only the siren song of oil riches. And the cry that “We’re losing our outdoor heritage” will become “We’ve lost it.”

Tags: opinion, editorials, energy, recreation