When it comes to the Great Plains, it’s almost impossible to avoid a discussion about the Bakken Oil Patch in western North Dakota. It seems like every major news outlet wants to do a feature on the changes that have come to the area – from National Geographic to NPR – everybody wants a slice of the Bakken pie.
Western North Dakota is one of my all time favorite places, but unfortunately, it’s rapidly changing into an industrial free-for-all because of the Bakken Oil Patch. For what it’s worth, I’m opposed.
Great Plains Trail Alliance advocates for recreation on the Great Plains, not resource extraction, but the 400 pound gorilla is having its way with the once silent landscapes of the North Dakota badlands.
Being a teacher by day, I’ve learned that there are some things that kids say best, so I was delighted to see this little snippet video below which is from a larger documentary called White Earth by J. Christian Jensen. It’s extremely well done, only 4 1/2 minutes long, and I think you’ll find that the kids have some real wisdom to share:
2 Responses
Thanks for this fine post. I love the little video, too.
We need a lot more people advocating for the preservation of nature everywhere, and few places can use it more than on the Great Plains. Thanks again.
Thanks for your support Ted! The Great Plains suffer from a negative public image, and therefore do not have enough people rally around when the chips are down. I still think recreation opportunities are the way to get more people to realize how cool the Great Plains are!