By Nick Smith, The Bismarck Tribune No drilling permit applications have been submitted to the state since a policy intended to protect sensitive areas from energy development took effect May 1. But state officials say it’s a matter of time before operators begin submitting applications to drill on private land within the buffer zones created by the policy around 18 places ...

By: Jane Ahlin, INFORUM On a recent trip to the South American countries of Peru and Ecuador, nothing was more impressive to my husband and me than the unwavering commitment of both nations to places of natural beauty, scientific significance and historical importance. Indeed, we were enjoying some of those unusual sites (and sights) in March when North Dakota’s Industrial Commission ...

The North Dakota Republican Party playbook has a new page this campaign season. Republicans are trying to make a case that North Dakota Democrats want to divide the state (a “wedge” issue) by criticizing the majority party’s policies regarding the Bakken oil boom. The Republican boilerplate, as reflected in nearly every comment coming from GOP legislators, candidates for state office ...

 By CLAY JENKINSON A few weeks ago I wrote here that I regarded the Special Places initiative as perhaps the most important moment of North Dakota history in my lifetime. This last week the North Dakota Industrial Commission voted unanimously to “approve” Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem’s proposal—but so stripped of its original intent as to be essentially pointless and meaningless. ...

By Shelly Ventsch from New Town  The North Dakota Petroleum Council’s newspaper ads and notices to members urged them to oppose the North Dakota Industrial Commission’s proposal on “extraordinary places” out of concern for private property rights. This seems hypocritical. In the last couple of legislative sessions, almost every bill proposed that would have helped residents and landowners was opposed by ...

By Nick Smith A proposal to protect places deemed special or extraordinary from energy development was changed to exclude private land before it was unanimously approved Monday by the North Dakota Industrial Commission. The approval follows a monthlong public comment period that resulted in more than 500 comments. Gov. Jack Dalrymple proposed an amendment at the beginning of Monday’s hearing that removed ...

By The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead  The fictions and distortions by opponents of North Dakota’s “extraordinary places” initiative are just short of out-and-out lies. The rants are not even clever. They are ham-handed misrepresentations that have no relation to the truth of a sensible proposal that was developed by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. The response to his meticulous work has been outrageous. ...

  By Nick Smith Approximately 500 public comments were received by the North Dakota Industrial Commission this month on a proposal for places deemed worthy of special protection from energy development. Tuesday marked the end of a nearly monthlong public comment period for the proposed “extraordinary places” policy introduced in December by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. In January, Gov. Jack Dalrymple moved ...

By Steve Holen from Watford City, N.D. on Feb 25, 2014 at 7:34 a.m While the concept of “Extraordinary Places” may sound good in theory, in practice it takes away local control, sets a dangerous legal precedent and erodes the rights of private property owners. No one is more committed to protecting the land in oil country than the people who live there. ...

By: Bryan Horwath, Forum News Service, INFORUM DICKINSON, N.D. – If the State Industrial Commission’s list of “extraordinary places” becomes an official policy, it won’t be because of support from the most influential agricultural organization in the state. The North Dakota Farm Bureau is “absolutely opposed” to the proposal introduced by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, District 7 Director Wes Klein said ...