Billings County Commission rejects organization aiming to turn remote section of Badlands into national monument

On Tuesday I posted an article about the National Trust for Historic Preservation wanting Obama to designate the Eberts ranch as a National Monument.  A regular reader sent along this article.  Here's one County Commission that's not falling for their slick presentation.

A representative from The National Trust for Historic Preservation pitched a plan to the Billings County Commission to incorporate the former Eberts ranch -- part of the Little Missouri National Grasslands near the Elkhorn Ranch Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park -- into a national monument on Tuesday afternoon. Jennifer Buddenborg said the trust is interested in gaining local support for the acquisition of nearly 5,000 acres of land located in a rural section of the Badlands -- which includes land owned by the state, the U.S. Forest Service and private individuals -- with the intention of preserving the historic site. It would be the first national monument in North Dakota and could potentially work to draw revenue for the area’s $32 million a year tourism industry. However, commissioners rejected the plan, citing threats to gravel mining, oil and gas drilling, road development and conflicts with grazing that could arise if acquired by the organization. “We are a commodity-producing county,” commissioner Jim Arthaud said. “Tourism is big, don’t get me wrong. But the things that makes this community function -- from infrastructure, to low property tax, to good safety, to good schooling, to good ambulance -- that is all commodity driven.” He said such a project would jeopardize livelihoods by making it more difficult to gain access and further restrict use of the land.  In the language of a rough-draft bill written by the trust organization, it notes how Roosevelt as president designated more than 230 million acres of public land as federally protected national forests, wildlife refuges, national parks and preserves, making the current proposal one he conceivably would have backed. The organization will seek congressional support on the drafted bill, though Buddenborg said lawmakers will not support the project without listening to residents...more