By Amy Dalrymple | Editor
Gov. Kelly Armstrong, center-right, speaks next to Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, left, Lt. Gov. Michelle Strinden, center-left, and Reice Haase, right, director of the Department of Water Resources, during a meeting of the North Dakota Water Commission on Aug. 18, 2026. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
By Michael Achterling and Jacob Orledge
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong declared a drought emergency Tuesday for counties and tribal nations experiencing extreme and long-term drought conditions.
Nearly all of North Dakota, except part of Dickey County, is listed as abnormally dry or suffering moderate, severe or extreme drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
“I’m worried,” Armstrong said in an interview Tuesday.
Armstrong, North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring and members of the North Dakota Water Commission voted unanimously to activate the state’s Drought Disaster Livestock Water Supply Project Assistance Program and make up to $2 million available for those producers to begin new water projects.
The Milton R. Young Station near Center, North Dakota, is a coal-fired power plant for Minnkota Power Cooperative. (Photo courtesy of Minnkota)
By Jeff Beach
Minnkota Power Cooperative is hoping to revive its stalled carbon capture project by adding a business partner and the possibility of using CO2 to produce more oil in North Dakota.
Grand Forks-based Minnkota has for years been seeking to capture carbon at its coal-fired power plant near Center for what it calls Project Tundra. Minnkota now plans to have Reliant Carbon Capture & Storage to operate the carbon capture and CO2 delivery system.
North Dakota’s Clean Sustainable Energy Authority on Tuesday recommended approval of $205 million in loans for the partnership — $45 million for Minnkota and $160 million for Reliant, which will build and own the carbon capture facility. The state Industrial Commission would have to provide final approval.
The Still Creek area in the Mt. Hood National Forest is part of 2 million acres of Oregon land protected by the federal Roadless Rule. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)
By Alex Baumhardt
The Trump administration will move ahead with plans to end more than 25 years of sweeping protections for tens of millions of wild, federally managed acres across the U.S.
Brooke Rollins, head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, on Tuesday filed a rule to rescind “in its entirety” the national 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which prohibits road construction, logging and mining on about 30% of lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service, mostly in forested areas of the West. Rollins had last year filed a notice of intent that the agency was considering “rolling back” some protections under the rule.
A draft environmental impact statement will be posted Wednesday, and the public will have until Sept. 21 to comment before changes are finalized.
Flock Safety license plate readers are typically mounted on tall poles, with a camera and solar panel on top. The company says its technology is used in more than 6,000 communities across 49 states in partnership with thousands of law enforcement agencies nationwide. (Photo courtesy of Flock Safety)
By Amanda Watford
Flock Safety is tightening privacy and oversight controls for its nationwide network of automated license plate readers as more communities pull back from the technology and lawmakers across the political spectrum push for new restrictions.
The company announced last week that it will recommend that police agencies retain license plate reader data for seven days, down from 30, while adding tools to restrict data sharing between agencies and detect potentially abusive searches. Flock also plans to require law enforcement users to associate searches with case codes and automatically suspend users whose activity is flagged as abnormal.
The changes come amid growing scrutiny of a surveillance network that Flock says has more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states.
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FROM STATES NEWSROOM
Two loons swim with their chick on Clear Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in 2021. (Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer)
By J. Patrick Coolican and Max Nesterak
Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order Tuesday banning nonferrous mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in what may prove to be one of the most significant conservation acts in generations.
For five decades, mining companies have hungrily eyed the rich deposits of copper, nickel and other valuable metals in the Rainy River Headwaters Watershed, spurring a fierce resistance from environmentalists and Native American tribes seeking to protect one of the most pristine wilderness areas left in the United States with water so pure that people regularly drink right from the lakes.
Walz said his order definitively ends that fight that’s been playing out in courtrooms, regulatory offices, the state Legislature and the halls of Congress.
Refugee admissions on track to hit record low | Stateline
South Dakota governor expands rural fire response amid drought | South Dakota Searchlight
FROM OTHER ND MEDIA OUTLETS
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