Say Anything Blog

After state Senator Tracy Potter went to Washington DC and lied to Congress about the level of support among local governing entities for the 4.7 million acre Northern Plains Heritage Area federal land designation, and after Senator Byron Dorgan created the designation with an amendment in the 2009 Omnibus Land Management Act, the board of unelected liberals who will get $10 million of your federal tax dollars to lobby for a management plan for this area have finally decided to ask the public what they think about it.

The press release put out by the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation is below.  Here are a few points:

1) They’re calling this a “public information hearing.”  Call me crazy, but shouldn’t the public - including land owners - be informed about their land being opted into a federal land designation before that opting-in actually, you know, happens?

2) They’re saying that they will be holding these hearings in all the counties impacted by the land designation (Mercer, McLean, Oliver, Morton and Burleigh).  Again, maybe they should have done that before land owners were opted into this designation without their consent.

3) Sarah Vogel, supposedly the President of the NPHF though state Senator Tracy Potter is the contact for the group, says that they will explain at these hearings how the designation absolutely protects property rights.  Clearly, this group is already on the defensive about the stung they’ve pulled on land owners and are bracing themselves for some backlash.  As well they should, because opting land owners into a federal land designation that gives an unelected board like the one Vogel is presiding over $10 million with which to lobby for a management plan to their liking without giving them any way to opt out is hardly “protecting property rights.”

4) This hearing is a sham.  This board isn’t accountable to the public in any way, shape or form.  This hearing could (and should) be flooded with angry land owners and all these people would have to do is sit there, nod their heads and then do whatever the hell they want anyway.  Because the designation has already been made law, and the tax dollars they’ll use to get their way are in the pipe.

Bottom line: Land owners and taxpayers need to flood this meeting and let these people know what they think about how they’re being treated by Vogel, Potter and Dorgan.  We did it on health care during the August recess.  We need to do it again with this land grab.

Here’s the press release:

News Release       Immediate

                    September 24, 2009
Northern Plains National Heritage Area Public Information Meeting Set, 7-9 p.m.,

October 12, Bismarck Veteran’s Memorial Library

The Northern Plains Heritage Foundation will hold a public information meeting on October 12 in Bismarck to provide background and information on the designation of the Northern Plains National Heritage Area. The meeting is set for 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in Meeting Room A of the Veteran’s Memorial Library, 515 N. 5th St. in Bismarck. 

“This will be the first of a series of public meetings,” said Sarah Vogel, President of the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation. “By next spring we will have held meetings in every county with historic sites” in the new National Heritage Area. The area will encompass historic sites near the Missouri River in the five counties of Mercer, McLean, Oliver, Morton and Burleigh. 
In announcing the meeting, Vogel said, “Heritage Area designation opens wonderful doors for our region. It could mean $10 million in federal funds for our historic sites over the next 15 years, giving a tremendous boost to tourism, jobs and economic development in our area. And the great thing is, while money comes from Washington, the plans for how to use it come from right here.”

The next step after designation by Congress, according to Vogel, is taking local input on writing a plan for development of the Heritage Area. 

“On the 12th, we’ll present what a heritage area is and what it is not. We’ll explain how private property rights are absolutely guaranteed by the legislation, and, we’ll have time for questions and comments from the public. The key question we’ll be asking is, ‘What will heritage tourism in this region look like in 2025 if we do nothing, and what could it look like in 15 years if we invest $10 million in good projects that preserve our heritage and develop our local economy.’”

The Northern Plains National Heritage Area was designated by Congress this spring and signed into law by the President on March 30. The Northern Plains Heritage Foundation is named in the legislation as the local coordinating entity. A management plan for the area, drawn from local input, is to be presented to the Secretary of the Interior within three years.

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for more information, email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call Tracy Potter, 701-663-4758