Drilling on Federal Lands

Just recently the other day I was looking around the internet trying to figure out policies for are upcoming senate race since I am having a tough time deciding if I want to vote for Heidi Heitkamp or Rick Berg so I researched their policies, and while reading what they were for and against I seen the issue offshore drilling and drilling on federal lands which Heidi was neutral on, and Rick Berg was actually all for it. Which made me wonder what would happen to our country if are president and senators are for drilling on federal lands. 

After looking into some of the laws and policies it shows that if Governor Romney gets elected president he will try to pass a law that leaves federal drilling up to the state, which is bad, but I think it gives us more of a voice when our state gets to choose wether we want to drill on federal lands or not. My reason for this topic would be to show if drilling on federal land is the right thing or the wrong thing, and what will be some of the drawbacks to doing this. Honestly if you look at the facts in my opinion drilling on federal lands is just flat stupid since most of our federal lands either consist of national parks, wildlife refuges, or bureau of land management which is all land that helps conserve our countries natural resources wether this means helping the environment by having an area with trees and hiking trails or having an area which is home to and supports many different forms of wildlife. If our future president does vote to allow the states the right to allow or not allow drilling on federal lands it honestly probably won't effect North Dakota federal lands to much, but the big affect this law will have is on the Arctic National wildlife refuge, which has millions of acres of oil rich land that is home and habitat for many forms of wildlife. It my opinion this would be horrible and I know for a fact if we ever did open up the Arctic National Refuge for oil drilling that our nation would regret this and in the long term realize just how important our wildlife and environment actually is to us. Their should be no reason that it takes running our natural resources to realize this is bad for are country wether it means drilling in the arctic or any refuge or BMA land, either way they both help out are wildlife and habitat. For everyone out their what is your opinion on this issue and how do you feel this will affect our nation and state if it all, either way it will be an interesting next few years to see what happens with this law.

Upcoming elections are heating up as it gets closer to November

I have recently been thinking a lot lately about November's upcoming election and how this year's election is going to be a huge decision for are country and for our state of North Dakota as we are electing a senate seat and are also  a governor position is also up for election. First we have our governor position which honestly looks like it will be a close call but it looks to me like jack our current governor is doing a good job with our state, and I am firm believer that if nothings wrong don't fix it. Our next race is Rick berg vs. Heidi Heitkamp which has really turned into a very dirty social media bashing, as the ads keep going back and fourth. I did say earlier why change something if it seems to be good be my opinion is that Rick Berg just seems like another republican thats main goal is to fight for his party and not his state. I recent ads by the democratic party it shows that Rick Berg voted against the highway two project which was much needed in western North Dakota, but then theirs Heidi who supports Obama and his policies like Obama care which might be a really bad thing for our nation. Either way you look at it both of theses candidates have their negatives and both have their positives, but either way the winner of this election will have a huge impact on our state. Finally, the most important election this year is going to be the presidential election were you have Mitt Romney going up against President Obama. This election is very important and could really effect our state as we our in a massive oil boom and Mitt Romney is all for exploring our natural resources while Obama is laid back and not as aggressive with oil production, which in turn could have big impact on our oil patch in western North Dakota. I am hostly not a huge fan of politics but these elections are very important, and could really change our nation for better or worse, the question you have to ask yourself is do you reelect a man who has done nothing in his first term or do you elect i guy with some good views but the downfall is he is a morman which is a really powerful religion which could be really scary electing someone that is that involved in such a powerful religion. all in all their are many different views out their and lets hep we pick the right per on cause these elections will really make a big impact on our state and country.

Pheasant numbers are way up as ND pheasant opener is set for October 13th

For those who don't already know this, North Dakota is a state where many of us enjoy the nature and the beauty of are great outdoors, wether this means hunting, fishing, camping, or just out bird watching, as our state is admired for its abundance of open land that is home to many forms of wildlife. So for that reason this weekend on October 13th our second favorite unofficial holiday behind deer gun opener is set to upon up this Saturday, many already now what I am talking about, but for those who don't know what I am talking about it is the North Dakota ringneck pheasant opener. While this is always a favorite holiday it might be better  this year as the last four winters were really bad, which means poor survival and low pheasant number, as many pheasants are short lived and easily die during bad winters due to starvation or lack of thermal cover. But this year is going to be much better because we had one of our best winters on record, which usually means a good start to comeback on our current pheasant population. If you are not originally from North Dakota you probably didn't know ND has one of the better pheasant populations in the U.S, which is going  to be a great year as most reports and newspaper read that the pheasant population has jumped up over 50% which makes this year a great year to be out in the North Dakota outdoors enjoying are great hunting opportunities, with that being said have a great and safe 2012 pheasant opener.

2012 presidential debate

If you were tuned into the television last night theirs a good chance that you caught some of the presidential debate as election time is rolling around the corner, as this November we as americans will have the choice to elect are next president which is mainly between Barrack Obama and Mitt Romney as the chances that one of the independent candidates gets elected is very unlikely as it has never happened before, their has been years were Ralph Nadar has got a good amount of votes but nothing ever close to winning. Usually the votes that the independent party candidates gets just hurts, and takes away votes from the republican and democratic candidates. That is the main reseon why the debate is between the republican and democratic parties. If you were one of the millions of viewers that tuned into the debate you probably thought the same thing as me, and that was holy crap Romney is kicking some serious butt. It seemed like every question Obama asked Romney or criticized him about Romney did a flawless of answering it and turing it around on Obama, last night Romney was smooth and graceful as he answered every question with composure, as by the end of the debate he had Obama looking like a fool. Even the democratic reporters and TV stations said that Romney clearly walked away with the first debate, which many people think could swing the polls in the favor of Mitt Romney. On the other hand how hard is it for Romney to win a debate against a president who has done nothing write in his first term, as he has made many mistakes and hasn't followed through with many of his promises, while Romney has never been in the spotlight making bad decisions which doesn't give Obama much ammo against Romney. So my question too you is do you think it is easier for the new nominee to debate and in your opinion who do you feel won the first debate.

Replacement officials finally get replaced by the real ones

I am huge fan of the NFL and if your'e also a fan you have realized that the first three NFL weeks have kind of looked a little different as if you look closely you will not recognize any of the referees and that is because the NFL referees were in a lockout with the NFL. So instead of giving in to the officials the NFL must of thought it would be just as easy to replace them with other referees, well boy o boy were they wrong. Most of the NFL's replacement referees were either division two or division three referees which you might think is alright but the speed and the rules of the NFL is so much faster and more complex which is the main reason these replacement referees blew so many calls and they also seemed like they were really quick to call pass interference penalties. Everyone was criticizing the officials but more than that they were blaming the NFL to figure something out so the game could get back to normal, but it just seemed like the league wouldn't budge. Well that all changed last Monday when a game between the seahawk's and packers was poorly called all game long and when it came to the last play of the game, which was a jump ball caught mainly by the defender but also held onto by seahawk's receiver Golden Tate. The ball was controlled and first caught by the defender but the officials ruled it a touchdown on the field then reviewed it and kept it a touchdown, which ended the game with the Seahawks getting the win that probably should of went the other way. After the game it was a unanimous decision between the player's, coaches, fans, and media that the officials blew the call and gave the wrong team the win. Which lead to an uproar of tweets and comments from players and fans that this desicion of not coming to an agreement with the regular official was causing the NFL to lose their integrity and it was also effecting the integrity of the game. Which in the turn of things lead the NFL to do what they could to reach an agreement with the regular  referee's earlier this week, so on the behalf of the fan's welcome back you were truly missed and now the NFL realizes how important you actually are.

From Ghost Town to Boomtown could it happen again.

I Recently read an article in the paper about Dickinson and how the mayor their was elected during the first oil boom in the late 1980" then oil crashed, forcing people out of jobs, and many houses and buildings empty. But, recently within the last year the oil industry in western North Dakota has been really booming which has been reviving or growing cities like Minot, Williston, Stanley, and Dickinson which are some of the bigger cities that have rapidly grown from the massive Bakken oil boom. But the story I read comes from Dickinson where their town went from a recent ghost town to a know thriving boomtown, which came from the first oil boom which left the town very empty afterwords. The whole reason I bring this up is because of all the huge growth in Minot and the surrounding areas. When you look at how the towns are rapidly growing with many businesses and long stay hotels going up the question to me is whats going to happen when this boom is over and Minot has twenty five hotels and a pile of houses with no one living in them. At some point in time in our future this boom will eventually end and I think places like Minot and Williston will be really empty because when the oil boom is over many of the recent job opportunities will leave with the oil, and if their is other jobs still available they will be even harder to come by because of all the people that are going to want to stay. so I guess my prediction is that when this boom ends something needs to be done or are economy in western North Dakota may be in serious trouble in the future.

Possible Seismic blasts effect on fish in Lake Sakakawea

I am an originally from Minot North Dakota and as a kid I grew up camping on Lake Sakakawea every weekend of the summer. If you didn't know much about Lake Sakakawea it is one of the biggest man made lakes in the United States and it came from the  damming up of the great Missouri River, which means it has some of the best fishing around. The "Big Lake" which is most North Dakotan's nickname for Lake Sakakawea is known for its  elite walleye and northern pike fisheries as this huge lake is said to be 178 miles long and covers around 1,500 miles of shoreline. With all of this shoreline and lake available the Big Lake has many boat ramps and recreational areas, which makes this a very popular place to go fishing or just hang out and enjoy the beauty North Dakota has to offer. Some of the fish species in Lake Sakakawea are chinook salmon, brown and rainbow trout, walleye, sauger, northern pike and many more. There are also two species of prehistoric fish which or native to the Missouri River which are the pallid sturgeon and the paddlefish, which there is a snagging season open for paddlefish in early may but the pallid sturgeon are endangered and are protected. The reason I am talking about these two prehistoric species is that possible seismic blasting going on under Lake Sakakawea could possibly be effecting the lifestyle of these prehistoric monsters, as an adult paddlefish can weigh over a hundred pounds. As many people might already know western North Dakota is currently in a major oil boom, which is also surrounding the borders of one of North Dakota's prize fisheries which is Lake Sakakawea. You might wonder how drilling could effect Lake Sakakawea but with the technology of horizontal drilling many drilling companies that have oil sites a few miles from the lake are probably using horizontal drilling to get to oil thats located thousand of feet under Lake Sakakawea. This is something you may also think would never have an affect on the lake but a recent study by Steve Krenz of the National Fish and Wildlife Service is currently starting a study which is supposed to show the effects that seismic blast will have on the fish in Lake Sakakawea. Since the palled sturgeon and paddlefish are both old and important fish to the Missouri River Steve has decided to use them to do the study, he will also use walleye since it is one of the most popular fish on the Missouri River. To do the test the fish have been tagged and will be dropped into specially designed cages as the seismic test blasts are done. To simulate the blast the biologists use compressed air shot through guns at the bottom of the lake which is said to produce up to 2,000 pounds of pressure. Then after the tests are done the fish will probably get released back into their natural habitats and and follow up sampling will probably occur often so they can continue to monitor the fish. If no instant result occur from these test this could end up being a very long study, especially if biologist want to determine if this changes any of their life history traits wether it's spawning, migration, or reproduction. Even if this study does take many years to get any information it will be very interesting to see how the oil could possible effect our prehistoric fish and more importantly to the fisherman of North Dakota, how will this effect the walleyes and sauger. Which if the results are bad it could easily put a big damper on oil production in North Dakota as walleye fishing on the big lake is probably one of the most important things on most residents minds that live in the western part of the state. For the most part I think in the long run it may change some of their lifestyle but it probably won't do anything to effect the population of the walleye sturgeon or paddlefish but you never know and thats why probably why they're doing a study, cause its always better to be safe than sorry especially when it involves something like Lake Sakakawea, which if something bad happened to this lake it could effect a lot of people.