North Dakota Badlands sunsets are amazing, endless fiery bursts of color on the horizon. I recently moved to a rural rental property that is surrounded by the Dakota Prairie Grasslands US Forest Service land and have views of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park about a mile south. I also bought cross country skis for this winter. I hope I get to use them.
Hope is a strong word. What gives us hope? Well for me it is the simple things like buying that pair of cross-country skis to use this winter. I bought my husband skis for Christmas about 9 years ago. His office was then located near groomed trails in a Minnesota State Park. We had used CC skis which we borrowed from the Bonanza Education Center near Clinton, MN. It was something we enjoyed but rarely did because you had to travel to a place with a groomed path. We had a few pairs of snowshoes which were good for the deep snows of Minnesota. I used to teach classes on lacing Ojibwe style snowshoes at the Minnesota State Park where I worked. I enjoyed snowshoeing more than skiing and it was easier to just go out my back yard and snowshoe through our shelterbelt on our little 8-acre patch of prairie.
Since moving to western North Dakota 2 years ago, I have only had good snowshoeing conditions once. My husband used his skis a couple times last winter by cruising on the Little Missouri River. I accompanied him on one of his adventures, and while I lagged behind walking, I thought, next year I will get myself skis for Christmas. I’ve concluded deep snows that require snowshoes aren’t as common in western ND compared to my last home. Finding the right conditions where you need snowshoes may not happen, but you can count on the river freezing up with a nice dusting of snow for skiing. I am hoping to have a nice winter where my husband and I can enjoy cross country skiing on the Little Missouri River.
We are experiencing our first winter in our rural residence, known locally as the Lindbo flats area or Pleasant Valley located along Government Creek. I am reading a book written by Lola Fuge Lindbo about her family homesteading here. She lived on the very farm site where I now call home. She describes the people, places, and lives of the European settlers of the Badlands. It is interesting trying to figure out which butte she is describing and wondering if it is the same butte that I am gazing at out my window. At our home there are remnants of old wagons her family may have used and an old stove made from rocks that still stands. Hope and hard work helped the families of the Badlands make it their home.
The stories of the Badlands are told in many ways. Indigenous people, explorers, cattlemen, fur trappers, homesteaders, oil investors, visitors, and many others have been making trips to the Badlands for centuries. All have stories to tell of the hope and fears of being in this magical landscape. The extremes of this landscape create unimaginable beauty but also hazards that must be prepared for.
There is a proposal to create a Maah Daah Hey Monument. This designation would help tell the stories of Native Americans whose stories haven’t always been shared about how the Badlands have shaped their lives, culture and hopes. The designation will protect areas of the Badlands that many ranchers, residents, hunters and visitors have enjoyed, called home, and made a livelihood from for decades. Current management would not change but there would be funding to tell stories and protect the current management for generations to come. To learn more, go to https://www.protectmdh.com/
The other important work being done to create hope for the beautiful area we call home is the Grasslands Act. The North American Grasslands Conservation Act was introduced in the House of Representatives on October 9th, 2024, by 2 Republicans and 2 Democrats that represent 4 states. The Grassland Act addresses the need to protect our declining grassland ecosystems and highlights how grassland bird populations have decreased by more than 40% since 1966. The Act also tackles the problem of dwindling grazing lands which is affecting America’s ranching community. The Act would work similar to North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) and “would create a landowner-driven, voluntary, incentive-based program to conserve America’s critically imperiled grasslands.” https://actforgrasslands.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Grasslands-Act-Intro-Coalition-Release-Oct-2024-rev.pdf
To learn more about the NAGCA go to https://actforgrasslands.org/
All of us who have lived in, visited, and enjoyed the beauty of the Badlands have hopes. Our hope may be of a different form and our lives may not be the same lived experience, but we are united in the love of the Badlands and the grasslands in and around the buttes, coal seams, creeks, and wild rugged hills. Time to save and tell all the stories of the Badlands. And hopefully, I will get to use my skis this winter.
View of buttes in the Badlands near house looking West. Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the distance.
Sunset on the Badlands horizon. Barn from Lindbo farmsite.
Butte of the Badlands at sunset.
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