Category: Law, Government, Politics

On our just-ended vacation, we visited 12 states and 17 national parks (part of our quest to visit all the national parks) and spent 13 nights in campgrounds, most of them managed by agencies of the U.S. Departments of Interior or Agriculture. It was the U.S. Forest Service campgrounds (The Forest Service is an agency … Continue reading In Praise of Wilderness

You know L. Frank Baum as the author of “The Wizard of Oz.” You  may not know of Baum’s North Dakota connection. Here’s the story, as told to me by my friend Dorothy Howe (no relation to the Dorothy of “Oz” fame.) My Dorothy grew up in Edgeley, North Dakota, moved away to California, and … Continue reading Twinkle and Chubbins

ONE GOVERNMENT AGENCY GETS IT RIGHT Many of you saw the story in the Bismarck Tribune, reprinted from the Billings Gazette, about the record or near-record snowpack in the mountains in Montana this year. Statewide in Montana, snowpack stands at 257 per cent of average for this time of year. Snowpack above some of the … Continue reading Weekenders

As we were sandbagging at Fort Mandan Friday, on the bank of the Mighty Missouri River, my friend Clay looked over his shoulder at the river and said “Maybe we’ll see a house come floating by.” Which set us both to thinking immediately about Huckleberry Finn, and we were quiet for a good long while … Continue reading A Good Book For A Flood

THE CAT’S ON THE ROOF My old friend Buckshot Hoffner (I mean “old” both ways—we’ve been friends for more than 30 years, and he is old—closer to 90 than 80) came home from World War II with a big prize. Her name was Patricia, and she was an English beauty who left her home in … Continue reading Weekenders (Pretend It’s Friday)

Two things of note happened in my life Tuesday. In the morning, I attended the funeral of a good friend and one of North Dakota's great liberal thinkers, Karl Limvere. In the evening I helped another good friend and his wife move the belongings from their home south of Bismarck. Both things, some would say, … Continue reading Cor Te Reducit

North Dakota Game and Fish Department Director Terry Steinwand will release a final draft of the report titled "POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT ON SELECT NORTH DAKOTA NATURAL RESOURCES" by the end of May, nearly a year after it was written and two months after it was first revealed by blogger Chad Nodland … Continue reading A Letter From The Game And Fish Director

At Bismarck State College today, two men who love North Dakota are going to sit on the stage and share with us their ten best places in North Dakota as part of BSC’s Community Conversations program. Clay Jenkinson and Larry Skogen surely know a lot about our state.  I am eager to hear what they … Continue reading 10 Best Places In North Dakota

Whither the Muleys and Sage Hens? Two wildlife stories of importance in the newspapers this week. North Dakota mule deer licenses will be cut by almost 40 per cent in 2011. There will be no sage grouse season in North Dakota this year. Three successive harsh winters is the reason for the cutback in muley … Continue reading More Game and Fish Notes

We note the passing recently of two very conservative men: Frank Wald and Claire Blomquist. Most readers of this blog know of Frank Wald, a longtime legislator from Dickinson. Despite our political differences, Frank Wald was, I am pleased to say, a friend of mine. Our acquaintanceship goes back more than 40 years, when I … Continue reading RIP Frank Wald