September 15, 2026 – Local residents are stepping up with two major petitions to put critical community decisions directly in the hands of voters.
One petition calls for a citywide vote to ban large scale data centers of 25 megawatts or more, protecting neighborhoods, schools and local resources from unchecked industrial buildout. The second calls for a special election so citizens can vote to fill the vacant City Commission seat rather than leaving the choice to an appointment.
When outside developers come knocking, everyday people have to look out for each other and protect home.
Read the Bismarck Tribune article Petition seeks citywide vote to ban large-scale AI data center in Mandan
August 31, 2026 – A major win for local landowners and our communities! Summit Carbon Solutions is officially walking away from two-thirds of its planned CO2 underground storage project in central North Dakota, requesting the cancellation of permits for both Summit #1 and Summit #2. This decision comes after steadfast pushback from local landowners who stood their ground against unfair negotiations on liability, property rights, and compensation. While Summit is still attempting to pursue its third storage site, this is a significant step forward in holding out-of-state corporations accountable. The fight to protect our land and local control isn’t over, but today proves that community voices make a difference.
Read the North Dakota Monitor article Summit forfeits two CO2 storage permits in North Dakota, continues legal fight over third
August 13, 2026 – Rural landowners and Dakota Resource Council members demand the Department of Water Resources reconsider its decision on a massive water sale. (See July 29, 2026, article below.)
July 29, 2026 – Jack Zaleski just nailed it. Huge companies are building massive data centers across North Dakota while dodging our questions about utility bills, water use and noise pollution. Even worse local officials are signing secret nondisclosure agreements to push these projects forward before the public can even weigh in. When developments are big enough to permanently change our towns we deserve full transparency. It is time for North Dakota to hit pause until we get real answers, open discussion and proper oversight.
July 15, 2026 – An attorney for the North Dakota Public Service Commission actually argued in court that the agency cannot consider public safety when routing pipelines. He claimed public welfare and safety are completely separate things. If our state regulators refuse to protect our communities, what is their purpose? Worse yet, Summit is hiding its CO2 safety models from landowners while sharing them behind closed doors with big developers and oil lobbyists. Burleigh and Emmons counties are standing with local families to fight this broken permit. We need local control, true transparency and safety first.
Read the South Dakota Searchlight article Safety not a factor in determining North Dakota pipeline routes, attorney says
July 14, 2026 – New York just became the first state in the country to put a temporary halt on massive new data centers. Governor Hochul announced a one year moratorium on facilities using 50 megawatts or more while the state studies their true impact on utility bills, water supplies and local communities. The state is also looking to end giant sales tax exemptions for these corporate operations. This is a major turning point in the national conversation around energy grids and community impacts. It proves that states can pull the emergency brake to protect their residents and resources before it is too late. We need to be asking the same hard questions about local zoning and protections right here at home.
Read New York becomes the first state to impose a data center moratorium
July 13, 2026 – We wrapped up our day in court against Riverview at the Traill County Courthouse. Our legal team made a powerful case that the state failed our communities by approving this massive 25000 cow factory farm without a real environmental review. They are basically asking the public to just trust them to monitor their own pollution right next to the Red River. The judge did not issue a ruling today but she listened closely to our arguments. We will keep you updated.
Read the North Dakota Monitor story Opponents of giant North Dakota daiy argue for permit reversal
July 9, 2026 – True local control means county commissioners write the zoning rules for data centers, not tech lobbyists. Former chair and current Dakota Resource Council board member Curt Stofferahn has a powerful new commentary in the North Dakota Monitor. Speaking on behalf of DRC, Stofferahn exposes the major flaws in the industry backed model zoning ordinance that put North Dakota communities and taxpayers at risk. He breaks down the loopholes that silence neighbors, the ghost town risk that leaves local taxpayers exposed to cleanup costs and the lack of real resource enforcement. Tech lobbyists want this model ordinance to be the ceiling for regulation, but county commissioners must treat it as a bare minimum floor to protect our water, grid and quiet way of life.
Read the commentary True local control means neighbors write the rules, not tech lobbyists
July 8, 2026 – Farmers are three times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. This staggering statistic from the CDC highlights a major crisis in our rural communities. Dakota Resource Council joined lawmakers, faith leaders, and community members for a vital roundtable discussion focused on farmer mental health and suicide prevention. Farmers are proud people who often hesitate to reach out for help. That is why we are focused on breaking the stigma and taking action directly to them. Our conversation centered on tangible solutions that we can build into a legislative bill for the 2027 session. We need real policy change to support the people who feed our state.
Read InForum’s article Fargo roundtable focuses on farmer mental health and suicide prevention
July 6, 2026 – With all the busyness around the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library grand opening in Medora we missed a fantastic commentary by Jack Zaleski published on July 2nd. It is absolutely worth a read because it cuts right through the political theater we saw last week. Zaleski exposes the massive disconnect between TR’s conservation values and the policies coming out of Doug Burgum’s Interior Department. While politicians give speeches our national parks face huge budget shortfalls including 75 million dollars in backlogged repairs right here in North Dakota. Worse yet Burgum has claimed only 5% of federal land qualifies as special places leaving the remaining 95% wide open for profit making corporate deals. As Zaleski notes if Teddy Roosevelt were alive today to see his legacy treated like a corporate fire sale he would have rounded up his Rough Riders and run Burgum straight out of town.
Read Jack Zaleski’s column Teddy would run ’em out of town
June 30, 2026 – It is a pretty wild contradiction happening out in Medora. President Trump and Secretary Burgum are showing up to cut the ribbon on the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. They are celebrating the legacy of our first true conservation president while their actual policies are doing the exact opposite. Teddy Roosevelt spent his time in office protecting public land from private corporate exploitation. Meanwhile, this current administration has already stripped protections from over 86 million acres of public land. They even repealed the Public Lands Rule to make it easier for big companies to come in for drilling, logging and mining. Our public lands belong to all of us. They are not just line items on a balance sheet to sell off to the highest corporate bidder. We joined conservation groups across the state to launch a mobile billboard campaign to remind everyone what true stewardship looks like.
Read the North Dakota Monitor article Trump, Burgum out to undo Roosevelt’s legacy, conservation advocates say
June 26, 2026 – For over 40 years, big oil companies have poured money into university research to push one specific “solution” to climate change: carbon capture and storage. They love this idea because it means they never have to stop drilling or pumping oil. But a massive new investigation by ProPublica and Drilled blows the lid off this multi-decade corporate PR campaign. The data proves that carbon capture boosters have intentionally ignored technology limits and wildly overstated what it can actually do. The numbers are staggering. To make carbon capture work at the scale these companies claim we need, the world would have to build over 68,000 miles of new pipelines in the U.S. alone. That is double the distance to fly around the earth and longer than our entire interstate highway system. We would also need to open a brand new geological waste site somewhere on the planet every four days for the next 25 years. Meanwhile, taxpayers are being handed the bill, subsidizing oil and gas companies to the tune of $85 for every single ton they claim to put underground. While corporate modelers spent decades overestimating carbon capture, they completely underestimated solar power. Clean, real energy alternatives like solar thrived anyway because they actually work.
June 22, 2026 – Big Tech is knocking on North Dakota’s door, but who is going to pay to keep their lights on? Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a major order targeting the massive surge in energy demand from AI data centers and cryptocurrency operations. They are forcing regional grid operators to change their rules to fast-track these massive energy users onto the grid. There is some good news here for North Dakotans. The federal order explicitly tells grid operators like MISO and SPP that they must protect regular consumers from “cost shifting.” That means tech giants should have to pay for their own massive infrastructure upgrades rather than forcing everyday residents, ranchers and small businesses to subsidize them through higher utility bills. But a massive push for federal speed means we have to stay vigilant. Rapidly hooking up multi-gigawatt facilities puts a massive strain on our electric grid and places immense pressure on local power generation. Federal pressure to speed up approvals cannot come at the expense of our communities. Fast-tracked timelines at the grid level often clash with county zoning boards, local environmental safeguards and the right of local communities to have a say over land use and water consumption. We are tracking these changes closely to ensure North Dakota’s ratepayers and resources are protected. What are your thoughts on data center growth in your county?
Read the FERC news release FERC Launches Aggressive Targeted Action Plan to Speed Large Loan Integration
June 19, 2026 – How does a single billionaire reshape the nation’s climate policies? An investigation details how Jeffery Hildebrand, the owner of Hilcorp, used millions in campaign donations to systematically roll back critical environmental protections. His company profits from stripper wells, which are old and poorly monitored sites that produce only six percent of US energy but generate roughly half the energy sector’s methane emissions. Methane traps eighty times more heat than carbon dioxide, directly driving extreme heat waves, severe droughts and devastating wildfires. Instead of fixing the leaks, Hildebrand funded a massive political push. Now, a former Hilcorp lobbyist handles the EPA effort to give these highly polluting operations a sweeping financial pass.
Read the ProPublica story Trump plans to Protect Methane-Leaking Stripper Wells. This Billionaire Will Benefit
June 18, 2026 – The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is set to open this July 4 in Medora. It is a huge moment for North Dakota but as Jim Shaw at KFGO points out, the irony is getting hard to ignore. Former Governor Doug Burgum spearheaded this project to honor TR’s legendary conservation legacy. Yet as Interior Secretary he is now slashing national park budgets, opening public lands to drilling and pushing mining projects near protected waters. You cannot celebrate conservation history while actively dismantling it. Roosevelt spent his life protecting our environment, wildlife and public lands. Our current leaders need to be held to that exact same standard.
June 15, 2026 – They told us it was a done deal, but rural communities are proving them wrong. Neighbors across North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota are organizing to protect our water, family farms and local economies from corporate dairy expansions. From the grassroots fight in Abercrombie to our July court date over the Hillsboro factory farm, we are standing our ground.
June 15, 2026 – “If a community does vote to approve a data center development, and the developer seeks federal incentives to build, the Local Control Protection Act would require the project to demonstrate a real benefit to the community. The legislation requires a publicly filed, legally enforceable community benefit agreement for projects, including a road, water, and utility infrastructure mitigation, environmental and noise monitoring protocols. Each agreement must also include a public Local Workforce Utilization Plan requiring developers to prove they recruited and hired from the region before bringing in outside labor, partnered with local apprenticeship programs, career and technical education centers, and community colleges to train the workforce, and gave local contractors and subcontractors first consideration whenever qualified firms are available.”
Read the full press release Bresnahan Introduces Bill to Keep Data Center Decisions in Local Hands