(AP) BISMARCK, N.D. Several tribal nations say the proposal would preserve the region’s indigenous and cultural heritage. Last month, a coalition of conservation organizations and Native American tribal citizens urged President Joe Biden to declare nearly 140,000 acres of untamed, picturesque Badlands as North Dakota’s first national monument.
Eleven noncontiguous, recently named units totaling 139,729 acres (56,546 hectares) in the Little Missouri National Grassland will be included in the proposed Maah Daah Hey National Monument. The planned units would border Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which is named for the 26th president who roamed and ranched in the Badlands as a young man in the 1880s, and the well-known recreation route of the same name.
Michael Barthelemy, director of Native American studies at Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College and an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, stated that when you tell the story of landscape, you have to tell the story of people. The symbiotic link between the people and the terrain, as well as how the people shaped the land and the land shaped the people, must be told, as must the tale of the first inhabitants of those areas.
The proposed monument would be administered by the U.S. Forest Service. Many national monuments, which resemble national parks and are often established by the president to preserve the landscape’s attributes, are managed by the National Park Service.
In order to meet with representatives from the White House, the Department of Agriculture, the Forest Service, and the Interior Department, supporters have made two trips to Washington. However, with fewer than two months left in Biden’s term and possible obstacles in President-elect Donald Trump’s future administration, the endeavor faces an uphill struggle.
We think this is a wonderful idea regardless of who is president, so if it doesn’t work, the group would look to the Trump administration, said Scott Skokos, executive director of the Dakota Resource Council.
The supporters’ graphic shows that the area where the planned monument would span is dotted with dozens, if not hundreds, of oil and natural gas wells. However, according to John Bradley, executive director of the North Dakota Wildlife Federation, no grazing leases would be lifted, and the proposed units have neither surface occupancy nor private inholdings nor oil and gas leases.
Through council resolutions, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Spirit Lake Tribe, and MHA Nation all support the idea.
Democratic state representative Lisa Finley-DeVille, who is enrolled in the MHA Nation, stated that if the monument is built, it will assist tribe members in maintaining their sense of self.
Trump has appointed Doug Burgum, the governor of North Dakota, to head the Interior Department, which is in charge of the National Park Service. North Dakota provides evidence that we can properly use our abundant energy resources while simultaneously safeguarding our priceless parks, cultural heritage, and natural resources, Burgum said in a written statement.
The office of Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota stated that they were only made aware of the idea on November 22. However, Senator Hoeven will be concerned about any endeavor that would hinder ranchers’ ability to operate and that would limit various uses, including energy production.
By Associated Press’s Jack Dura
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