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Watchdogs of the Prairie

Letters to the Editor

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August 12, 2026 – Longtime DRC member and Keene rancher Donald Nelson breaks down what Secretary Doug Burgum’s proposed rollbacks to the 2024 Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Rule mean for split estate landowners across western North Dakota. Under the proposed changes, landowners would no longer receive advance notice before the federal government leases minerals beneath their surface land. Notice would only come after the lease is sold, stripping away the chance for families to ask questions or object. The proposal also slashes public comment periods from 90 days to just 10 days, lowers bonding requirements to a fraction of actual cleanup costs and leaves taxpayers on the hook when oil and gas companies walk away. Landowners deserve a seat at the table before decisions are made about their property and livelihoods.
 
July 28, 2026 – Local leaders across North Dakota are stepping up and demanding real accountability as big tech tries to rush massive data center developments into our rural communities. In a letter to the editor written to Representative Jonathan Warrey, Casselton City Council President Sam Wagner pushes back against industry lobbyists and calls for a statewide moratorium on data center construction. From ending secret deals to protecting local water tables, capping energy demands and requiring full site reclamation bonds, local officials are making one point loud and clear. Pausing development is not closing our state for business. It is simply protecting our towns, family farms and rural infrastructure from bad actors operating under weak regulations. North Dakotans deserve transparent decision making, strong local zoning authority and real protection for our natural resources. State leaders need to start listening to the citizens who live here instead of corporate developers and out of state boosters.
 
 

 June 16, 2026 – ND officials are dismissing valid local concerns about AI data centers as nothing more than emotional misinformation. In a powerful new letter to the editor, Valley City resident Vicki Voldal Rosenau calls out this blatant arrogance. Our worries about skyrocketing electricity costs, threats to drinking water and community impacts are based on hard facts. State leaders are telling locals to go home, but just like the historic Nonpartisan League, North Dakotans are standing our ground.

Letter to the Editor: ND officials bestow insult and injury in AI data centers battle 

June 9, 2026 – Michael Swartz hits the nail on the head regarding a massive conflict brewing all over the country. It’s a direct collision between quiet, local communities and the staggering infrastructure required to power the digital world. Let’s be honest: when a “hyperscale” facility rolls into a rural area, it’s not just another harmless warehouse. It fundamentally alters the local landscape, strains infrastructure, and changes the neighborhood forever.

Letter to the Editor: Don’t let officials dismiss data center concerns

April 30, 2026 – The canceled North Dakota Resource Management Plan also protected traditional cultural areas. It prohibited surface development within 100 feet of places like burial sites, plant gathering locations, and areas considered sacred or used for religious purposes.  These are not abstract places. These are places tied to memory, ceremony, identity, and culture. They are places that help carry traditions from one generation to the next. When Congress killed this plan, it put those places back at risk. That is not just bad policy. It is disrespectful on a deep level.

Letter to the Editor: North Dakota delegation chose industry over people

April 24, 2026 – Former DRC chair Curt Stofferahn has a strong letter in the High Plains Reader raising important questions about Grand Farm, public money, and who really benefits from taxpayer funded agricultural research. If federal and state dollars are going into projects like this, the public deserves to know whether the research will actually help small and mid sized farmers, or whether it will mainly serve large industrial operations and the corporations that profit from them. Curt lays out why public research should serve the public good, not just push more technology that speeds up consolidation in agriculture.

Letter to the Editor:  “Federal funding for grand farms raises questions about public-private research”