Central ND News

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its final resource management plan (RMP) for North Dakota on Thursday. The plan will restrict access to coal and oil reserves under federal ownership, potentially impacting energy development and state revenues. Previously, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, led the North Dakota Congressional delegation in writing a letter to BLM outlining their concerns during the public comment period.

Cramer released the following statement:

“This final resource management plan does not include the changes that we requested. It stifles North Dakota’s energy development and our production; it closes off almost 50 percent of fluid leasable minerals and 90 percent of the coal leasable minerals in North Dakota. This is going to directly harm our state’s budget, federal revenues, and growth potential. It is disappointing but not surprising to see the lengths that the Harris-Biden administration will go to in order to promote its Green New Steal agenda at the expense of our own economy and energy security.”