ND groups make pitch for money from new fund

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Government agencies, nonprofits and other groups in North Dakota are making pitches for grant money this week from a new state conservation fund.

The North Dakota Outdoor Heritage fund, which the Legislature established last year, will receive up to $15 million annually from oil and gas taxes. The goal is to restore land affected by energy production and to develop such things as fish and wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation areas.

A 12-member advisory board was to hear more than 70 presentations Monday and Tuesday in Bismarck from groups that want money from the fund. Among the requests, which seek a total more than $34 million, are proposals to construct golf course restrooms, make swimming pool improvements, plant trees and restore wetlands.

“We’re looking at improving the environment, water quality and wildlife habitat,” said North Dakota Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, R-Dickinson, who co-sponsored the measure that established the fund. “I’m surprised by the number of applications but some of them don’t fit.”

When announcing the board in September, Gov. Jack Dalrymple said it would consider proposals to expand hunting access to private and public land and to improve the state’s water quality and soil conditions.

North Dakota Natural Resources Trust Inc., a Bismarck-based nonprofit, submitted the largest grant request, at $3.7 million. It proposes partnering with private landowners in a voluntary conservation program “that will both protect existing, and create new, grassland and wetland habitat.”

The second-biggest request is from Ducks Unlimited Inc., which wants $3 million to support a program that promotes winter wheat and no-till seeding to growers for the benefit of soil, water and wildlife.

The advisory board consists of agriculture, energy, conservation, business and recreation officials. The board is slated to make its recommendations later this month to the North Dakota Industrial Commission, which oversees the fund.

Dalrymple is chairman of the commission, which regulates North Dakota’s oil and gas industry. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring are its other members.