U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee member, hosted U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary of Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz to discuss how to improve Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) enforcement of Waterfowl Production Area (WPA) easements in North Dakota. This is her first official visit as Assistant Secretary.
“Landowners and agriculture producers in North Dakota have had to struggle with the Fish and Wildlife Service’s rigidity and heavy-handed enforcement of their conservation easements for a long time,” said Senator Cramer. “The agency has infringed on our property rights and hurt our farmers’ production, and while we made some progress with the Trump Administration by creating new maps with the first-ever appeals process, the bureaucracy has remained intransigent. I thank Assistant Secretary Estenoz for following through on her commitment to come to our state and hear about these concerns directly from North Dakotans. I hope her expertise in wetland management, combined with the input she received today, will help create necessary change within the Fish and Wildlife Service and produce real results for our state.”
The day began with a visit to Smith Farms near Granville, North Dakota, for a firsthand view of the problems with FWS enforcement of WPA easements. The trip was followed by a roundtable with local leaders and North Dakota landowners and agriculture producers.
The Assistant Secretary’s visit is the latest development in Senator Cramer’s efforts to improve FWS’ handling of WPA easements, both in how the land is mapped and how that mapping is enforced. A September 2017 townhall he hosted featured testimony from several North Dakotans upset with federal agents being armed when they came to their property to discuss the easements, a practice which was then walked back by the Trump Administration. In October 2019, then-Interior Secretary David Bernhardt visited the state to hear directly about these issues, which led to FWS releasing a memorandum establishing a template for consistent enforcement and the first-ever appeals process.
However, a subsequent site visit and roundtable with then-FWS Director Auriela Skipwith in August 2020 revealed the new appeals process was proving ineffective in making the meaningful changes sought by North Dakotans. Senator Cramer outlined these problems to Assistant Secretary Estenoz during her EPW confirmation hearing in May 2021 and invited her to the state to hear about these problems firsthand, which she did today.
If anyone would like to schedule an interview, meeting or news tip email studio@thecrudelife.com
The Crude Life believes in opportunity, empowerment and inclusion. Part of our mission is to enable people, companies and communities to affect change, demonstrate their transformative actions and drive energy awareness through storytelling and access to resources.
Industrial Image and Energy Integrity are the new entry level expectations in oil and gas, and The Crude Life continues Solution-Based Journal while showcasing other environmentally conscious companies.
Communication is vital in today’s energy extraction and empowerment.
About The Crude Life
The Crude Life produces original content that focuses on industry, the people, energy innovations, community building and it’s proactive culture. Our custom content is non-polarizing, trusted and often news making.
The Crude Life promotes a culture of inclusion and respect through interviews, content creation, live events and partnerships that educate, enrich, and empower people to create a positive social environment for all, regardless of age, race, religion, sexual orientation, or physical or intellectual ability.
Part of our mission is to enable people, companies and communities to affect change, demonstrate their transformative actions and drive energy awareness through storytelling and access to resources.
For sponsorship information on The Crude Life Morning Show Play Hard Work Hard, email studio@thecrudelife.com or click here.
Sponsors, Music and Other Show Notes
Studio Sponsor: The Industrial Forest
The Industrial Forest is a network of environmentally minded and socially conscious businesses that are using industrial innovations to build a network of sustainable forests across the United States.
Weekly Sponsor: American Directional Driller
Especially designed for the American Directional Driller® to measure bottom hole assembly equipment up to 40 feet. As of release, this product is unmatched in the marketplace. This heavy-duty 40-foot tape measure has three measurement scales on an extra wide blade.
Both engineering scale (decimal feet) and imperial scale (inches / feet) are shown on the top side of the blade. The reverse side of the blade is metric for expat or international mobile assignments. There are 12.2 meters shown as 1,220 centimeters with highlighted markings every decimeter and meter. The smallest measurement unit shown is 100ths of feet, 16ths of inches, and 1 millimeter. This tape measure is Class II.
Click here to Purchase on Amazon
Weekly Sponsor: MineralTracker
MineralTracker is the only mineral management software that allows mineral owners to compare actual royalty payments to expected payments based on well performance and a proprietary, Bakken-specific reservoir model built by MineralTracker’s petroleum engineers.
MineralTracker was formed in Watford City, North Dakota, and is a subsidiary of First International Bank & Trust, a family-owned bank also based in Watford City.
Phone Line Sponsor: Swan Energy, Inc. 866.539.0860
Studio Email and Inbox Sponsor: To Be Announced
Featured Music: Moody River Band
For guest, band or show topic requests, email studio@thecrudelife.com
Spread the word. Support the industry. Share the energy.
If you have a chance, check out The Crude Life Podcast!
