Dorgan The Hypocrite Suddenly Opposed To Federal Land Designation

For some time now I’ve been writing about the Northern Plains Heritage Area controversy here in North Dakota (you can read all my past posts here). The NPHA is a federal National Heritage Area land designation that was passed through support from Senator Byron Dorgan and (illegal) lobbying efforts by state Senator Tracy Potter. It, as of right now, includes 4.6 million acres of mostly private land. The entire counties of Oliver, Mercer, McLean, Burleigh and Morton are included in the designation, and land owners in those areas were never notified that their land was designated nor were they given the option to opt-out.
Now a board of unelected liberals at the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation will use $10 million of our tax dollars to develop a “management plan” for this area which is in some very coal and oil rich country. To say that land owners are concerned about this federal designation getting in the way of their use of their land is an understatement.
But now after designating this land and not bothering to tell the land owners or give them an opportunity to refuse to participate, suddenly Senator Dorgan is against a federal land designation in the Badlands part of North Dakota. Because he’s oh-so-concerned that such a designation would add another layer of bureaucracy and make use of the land more difficult.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Sen. Byron Dorgan has told the U.S. Forest Service that he will block an attempt by the federal government to place the scenic North Dakota Badlands on the National Register of Historic Places.
Dorgan, along with state and Billings County officials in southwestern North Dakota, believe the historic designation would restrict land use in an area where Theodore Roosevelt ran his cattle more than a century ago.

So what gives? Why is one federal land designation too much of a burden on land owners, but the other is a-ok? Does Dorgan have more political contributors in the Badlands as opposed to the Missouri River area? Or is this just politics?
Tactically speaking, this isn’t bad as a calculated move before an election year. Dorgan undoubtedly knows that he’s going to get nailed on the National Heritage Area controversy (which has already drawn out hundreds of angry North Dakotans to at least one public meeting). Well the NPHA is water under the bridge, so Dorgan is trying to muddy waters by suddenly sticking up for property rights in the Badlands.
Smart move, I guess, but it still makes him a hypocrite.