Natural & Environmental Resources

Ag Chemicals

We support the continued labeling and development of pesticides and traits such as XTend, Glyphosate, Enlist, and other agricultural advancements.

We support the informative education of the public as to the benefits and safety of the application and use of pesticides and fertilizers.

Conservation Reserve Program

We support an earlier release date of CRP for haying and grazing in years of emergency.

We believe that livestock should take precedence over wildlife for the purpose of water access, haying and/or grazing on CRP acres.

If CRP is released for emergency haying or grazing, the local Farm Service Agency should be the lead agency and work primarily with agricultural organizations in determining  starting dates and rules for haying or grazing CRP.

We believe, in years of drought, excessive water, and/or hay shortages, livestock shall take precedence over wildlife for the purpose of early haying and/or grazing on CRP acres.

Endangered Species

We oppose legislation to restrict farming and ranching in favor of threatened and/or endangered species.

Environmental Quality

We oppose the spread of misinformation in regard to livestock being the main source of greenhouse gases.

We object to the Environmental Protection Agency's involvement in agriculture and support defunding it.

Pollution regulations, which mandate changes in farming practices, should be based on scientific research that proves a given farming practice, in a particular geography, is in fact causing the pollution and is not caused by other sources and
that the proposed regulations will actually reduce pollution.

We oppose the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from our power plants and other sources. We recommend they be regulated by the N.D. Dept. of Environmental Quality with the cooperation of local government.

Hunting and Trapping

Any future "No Hunting or Trespassing" laws should not have special exclusions or privileges for hunters.

We support an expansion of youth and senior hunting programs.

We support baiting of big game animals as a method of take on private property to control Cervidae populations.

We support North Dakota property owners' rights to continue to control all types of hunting, including high-fence hunting, on their property. Property owners or lessees shall decide who hunts their land, and if they prefer, to charge a fee to the hunter for that privilege. We further believe that hunting and recreational rights are land uses, not property title, and therefore, cannot be severed from the surface title of the land.

We support a loss of hunting privileges and/or stiffer financial penalties for people who trespass on private land.

Mitigation

We support a method whereby extortion mitigation money would go to the landowners affected and not the wildlife groups.

We oppose any tax revenue and any mitigation money from wind, coal, oil and gas development as well as impacted cities, counties, school district and other taxingh districts going to non-governmental conservation groups.

Predator Control

We support the use of mechanical vehicles such as snowmobiles and side by sides, etc. for the control of predators.

We support creating legislation that would require the North Dakota Game and Fish Department and/or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to pay agricultural producers for wildlife depredation of livestock, crops and stored feed. The producer should be paid for losses at market price or contract price.

We ask the state Game and Fish Department and USDA Wildlife Services Division to provide adequate funding for the predator control division of the Wildlife Services Department for the control of predators and other problematic animals for ranchers, farmers and others.

We believe farmers should be allowed to take the necessary steps, including elimination, to keep wildlife from destroying tangible property. Steps should include allowing transferable depredation tags for antlerless deer being made available to landowners in addition to regular hunting season licenses.

In the event that a producer is found to have destructive wildlife on their property, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department shall be required to make every effort to disperse the wildlife by any means necessary.We support creating legislation that would require the North Dakota Game and Fish Department and/or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to pay agricultural producers for wildlife depredation of livestock, crops and stored feed. The producer should be paid for losses at market price or contract price.

Public and Government Owned Lands

We oppose using state conservation funds to purchase land.

We support a no net gain of government or conservation group-owned land, county by county and state by state.

We oppose any Wilderness or Wildland Projects, such as 30 x 30 that turns land into preserves or pakrs that erods the tax base in an area.

We believe the 12,000 acres of land around Theodore Roosevelt National Park's Elkhorn Ranch site should not be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

We oppose the federal "wild and scenic" designation for any rivers and their tributaries in North Dakota and oppose wilderness land designation in the state.

We oppose government state and federal agencies actively bidding and participating in land purchases for the purpose of conservation parks, recreation and green space.

General Management

We support the issuing of private easements across state and federally owned lands in North Dakota. We support the multi-use management of state and federally owned lands by grazing and haying.

Burn bans should be observed by all government agencies on lands they control

We believe that government-owned lanwedd should be managed with input from the local private sector.

Transfer of Public Land

We believe agricultural lands acquired for temporary needs by government or private industry be sold back to farmers and ranchers for agricultural use as early as possible.

We oppose the gifting of public lands to any organization.

We support the sale of federal and state land back to the private sector.

We believe that all agricultural land repossessed by government agencies should be put up for sale to private individuals and that no government entity or wildlife groups, such as Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, etc., should be allowed to obtain it or be granted easements or acquire existing surface and mineral rights.

We believe that when land is flooded by navigable lakes, and when the water recedes, the ownership should be returned to the people based on the property lines at the time of flooding.

Water Policy

We oppose any changes in the Clean Water Act referring to expanding the Waters of the United States (WOTUS).

We oppose the Global Diversity Framework that focuses on freshwater biodiversity not included in the 30x30 initiative of 2022.

We oppose any attempt to diminish agriculture and livestock's priority ranking for the waters of the state under the jurisdiction of the State Water Commission.

We support compensation to property owners flooded by state water.

Drain Tile

We support the agricultural use of drain tile both as a conservation tool and as a flood mitigation tool. We oppose regulatory policy of demming or blocking drain tile without just compensation.