Dakota Resource Council

10/27/2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 27, 2026

Dakota Resource Council Condemns Federal Rollback of Methane Safeguards

BISMARCK, N.D.—Dakota Resource Council spoke out today against the Trump administration and the Environmental Protection Agency for moving to weaken federal methane emissions standards for the oil and gas industry.

For years, DRC members living on the front lines of oil and gas extraction in the Bakken have organized, testified, and worked tirelessly to secure common sense safeguards that stop toxic leaks and routine flaring. The EPA proposal will relax leak monitoring requirements for aging, low producing wells and eliminate the Methane Super Emitter Program, which gave communities and independent monitors the ability to track and report major leaks.

Despite producing a small fraction of the nation's oil, aging marginal wells account for roughly half of the industry's methane emissions. Along with methane, leaky oil and gas equipment releases volatile organic compounds and carcinogens like benzene straight into local airsheds, while wasting valuable gas resources that belong to the public and tribal mineral owners.

Statement from Rep. Lisa Finley DeVille (D 4A), Former Chair of Dakota Resource Council:
“The Trump administration’s move to weaken methane pollution standards is another example of putting oil company profits ahead of people’s health. On Fort Berthold and across western North Dakota, our communities have suffered for decades from oil and gas pollution. Our children, elders, and families deserve clean air, not more toxic emissions.

“These standards hold oil companies accountable for pollution they create. Weakening them allows wealthy corporations to increase profits while communities bear the consequences.

“Oil companies have extracted billions from our lands. The least they can do is protect our air. Our health should never be sacrificed for corporate profits.”

Dakota Resource Council remains committed to defending rural and tribal communities across North Dakota from unchecked industrial pollution. DRC will continue organizing landowners, tribal members, and everyday North Dakotans to demand strong federal and state enforcement that protects our air, land, and water.

10/26/2026

What happens when a $3 billion data center project goes from announcement to breaking ground in less than a month? Like many communities, residents of Harwood, North Dakota, chose to organize.

Dakota Resource Council quickly helped them organize. They knocked on doors in subzero weather. They surveyed their neighbors. They demanded answers. They drafted new safeguards for large industrial projects. And when the city council rejected their proposal, they took their case to the ballot.

Read how Harwood residents raised their voices against a data center project that everyone said is a “done deal.” Link on our profile page.

10/26/2026

Why vote for a measure that takes away power from ND citizens?

For more than a century, North Dakotans have held the power to pass laws directly through citizen ballot measures. Measure 1 is an attempt to end majority rule in our state. If it passes, a small minority could veto what the rest of us actually want, blocking a measure even if nearly 60% of voters support it.

Whether you care about our family farms, clean water or holding the legislature accountable, losing majority rule hurts everyone.

Let’s protect our voice and keep power where it belongs. Vote NO on Measure 1 this November.

10/18/2026

North Dakota has been here before.

In a recent commentary for the North Dakota Monitor, Jack Zaleski reminds us that the fight over massive data centers is the latest chapter in an old story. Decades ago, coal companies said clean air rules and land reclamation would kill jobs and bankrupt everyday folks. It was not true then, and similar scare tactics are not true now.

When Gov. Art Link insisted on protecting the land and its people, he showed that North Dakotans do not have to roll over for out of state corporations to have a future.

Now, data centers are pushing into rural communities and tapping into our water and electric grid without any credible long term plan. Zaleski asks the question our leaders keep dodging: what happens when we rush into development without protecting our way of life first?

Read the full column in the North Dakota Monitor, and let us know what you think about how our state is handling this boom.

Commentary link in the comments.

10/13/2026

Join us for the Dakota Resource Council 48th Annual Meeting Celebration on Saturday, November 7 at the Bismarck Elks Lodge!

Come connect with friends, attend our data center panel and stay for dinner and the Link Awards, plus live music from Ben and Chuck Suchy. In person attendees will also be entered to win one of three gift cards.

Please RSVP by emailing [email protected]. We hope to see you there!

10/09/2026

New research covered today by the North Dakota News Cooperative highlights what our state's ranchers have known all along: moving cattle through pastures with a deliberate plan does not tear down the prairie, it actually rebuilds it.

Scientist Dr. Rebecca Phillips and Burleigh County rancher Lewis Heaton teamed up on a two year study just published in Scientific Reports. Managed rotational grazing captured significantly more carbon than untouched land while boosting water conservation, grassland biodiversity and herd health.

As Lewis Heaton noted, we now have the hard science to back up what good land stewards have practiced for generations.

Right now, big energy facilities and row crop operations get plenty of financial incentives to capture carbon and plant cover crops. Ranchers doing the everyday work of building soil health and sequestering carbon on native grassland deserve that same level of support and recognition.

Check out the full story by Michael Standaert in the comments to see why this research matters for the future of North Dakota ranching, and let us know your thoughts.

10/07/2026

People power in Mandan!

Local residents stepped up and collected hundreds of signatures to protect their community. Now, the city has officially set a special election for Tuesday, December 15, giving voters the final say on banning massive data centers near local schools and neighborhoods.

Mark your calendars, talk to your neighbors, and make your voice heard at the ballot box!

Story link in the comments.

10/07/2026

When corporate developers and city officials cut secret deals behind closed doors, they expect everyday folks to just roll over. The people in Harwood had other plans.

After city leaders rushed through approvals for a massive hyperscale data center without real public input, neighbors stood up. Working alongside DRC organizer Ishauna Jacobberger, residents formed Voices of Harwood. They knocked doors in freezing winter weather, held community meetings and collected the signatures needed to put a home rule charter amendment on the ballot this November.

This is what true grassroots power looks like. When North Dakotans organize, we show that our communities belong to the people who live in them, not outside corporate interests.

A big thank you to the Western Organization of Resource Councils for sharing this story and shining a light on the incredible grit of our members in Harwood.

Link to the story in the comments.

10/03/2026

Update the Parshall Data Center event will be held on October 6th from noon to 2pm! We look forward to seeing you there for a great discussion! Fort Berthold Protectors of Water & Earth Rights POWER

10/01/2026

Stephanie Mironowski sat down with Tyler Axness on KFGO to talk about the fight to protect our local water rights. She is standing up as part of the lawsuit against the North Dakota Department of Water Resources to challenge the sale of water to a proposed corporate mega-dairy, and she cut straight to the heart of the matter during the interview:

"My cows were here first."

Stephanie and her family have put decades of hard work into their land and livestock. Our state resources should protect the independent producers already here caring for their herds and communities, not outside operations looking to drain the aquifer.

Be sure to give the interview a listen and stand with Stephanie in this fight.

Stephanie Mironowski is part of a lawsuit against against the North Dakota Department of Water Resources to protect their water rights from the potential sale to a large dairy.