AP posts misleading report about Heritage Area
In the article “Land designation raises ire of ND property owners” (which is just a repost of an AP article), Tracy Potter is given cover by the media, including KXMB as they dutifully repeat this slanted take on the issue:
“Critics of the idea say it could open up more federal regulation of their land. But Potter says the legislation is written to prevent that from happening.”
According to this post from Rob quoting a Tribune article, Potter and Dorgan are claiming an opt-out possibility now exists. The law needs to be checked to verify that, of course, but it looks like they were forced to put back in a provision that’s typically left in Heritage Area designations. From what I’ve read, that provision was conspicuously removed from the North Dakota bill.
We couldn’t get the mainstream media to touch this story with a ten foot pole, but now that there’s an excuse for Potter and Dorgan, it looks like they’re willing to report it as a means of giving them cover on an issue that has a lot of people very angry with the two prominent liberal Democrats.
