Heritage Renewal

Richard Rothaus, research associate of the Center for Heritage Renewal, is featured in the Forum newspapers, here the Jamestown Sun, for his study of workforce housing in the oil patch. - http://www.jamestownsun.com/event/article/id/195801/group/News/

More coverage on the threat to Killdeer Mountain - http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/09/24/battle-lines-power-lines-never-ending-fight-over-killdeer-mountain-151408

So, the state's largest daily has weighed in on the conservation of heritage resources at Killdeer Mountain - http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/411757/

The editorial overrates Prof. Isern's role in all this, he says, but the Forum is nevertheless a welcome ally in the cause of the integrity of our state's most significant historic site.

On 3 September 2013 Merl Paaverud, Director of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, acting in his capacity as State Historic Preservation Officer, wrote a letter to Brian Kalk, Chairman of the Public Service Commission. The subject: "PSC/WAPA Basin Electric Power Cooperative Antelope Valley Station to Nest 345kV Transmission Line." This is the transmission line slated to run through the heart of the Killdeer Mountain Battlefield, and for which BE has requested a waiver of procedures and timelines. Find the letter here - http://www.psc.nd.gov/database/documents/11-0696/019-010.pdf

First, the Center for Heritage Renewal notes that with this letter, both SHPO and BE recognize that the proposed line indeed does run through the heart of the historic battlefield, and that this is a problem. They also both recognize that BE and its consultants have not completed their homework, but have only done a preliminary survey of cultural resources. These are important points.

The letter goes on to mention a matter of mitigation, that is, the moving of an intrusive substation from the heart of the battlefield. This is good. Not addressed in this letter, however, is the fact that the proposed 345kV transmission line is a serious degradation of the integrity of North Dakota's single most significant historic site.

Some media have taken the fake, announced the moving of the substation, and gone on as if this somehow solves the problem. Not so, not so at all. The transmission line, badly located as it is, is the problem. One that can be readily solved, if addressed by parties of good faith. North Dakota needs infrastructure for development. BE can supply that infrastructure. It also can solve this problem, readily, if it decides to do so.

Revised and amplified statement from the Killdeer Mountain Alliance - http://www.scribd.com/doc/166083008/Killdeer-Mountain-Alliance-letter-to-PSC-9-4-13

Point by point argument by Rob Sand and Lori Jepson - http://bismarcktribune.com/news/opinion/mailbag/making-the-case-for-killdeer-mountains/article_63a17336-1507-11e3-b44a-0019bb2963f4.html

Lauren Donovan was the reporter who brought the Basin Electric-Killdeer Mountain situation to the attention of the regional public. Read her piece in the Bismarck Tribune here - http://bismarcktribune.com/bakken/basin-wants-power-line-inside-killdeer-mountains-battlefield-study-area/article_5a8bb31c-10f5-11e3-b3f9-0019bb2963f4.html

Now comes this reportage by Katherine Lymn of the Dickinson Press - http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/event/article/id/71707/

At this writing, on 4 September 2013, Aaron Barth, assistant director of the Center for Heritage Renewal, is in attendance at meeting of the North Dakota Public Service Commission. The purpose of his attendance, and of a written submission provided the PSC by the center, is to emphasize the historic importance of the Killdeer Mountain Battlefield and to advise against degradations of its integrity. Read the center's submission here - http://heritagerenewal.org/docs/PSCsubmission.pdf