Little Missouri River Crossing
Billings County Commission wants to build a bridge that Commissioner Arthaud has bragged will carry 1,000 oil trucks PER DAY, spreading clouds of dust through the valley and in the river. Billings County has applied for a BUILD Grant from the US Department of Transportation for $12.3 Million to build this bridge across The Little Missouri, North Dakota’s only state scenic river.
Are you wondering how your voice can impact a federal grant award that will be decided by Secretary Elaine Chao, of the U.S. Department of Transportation? All of the grant applications will be evaluated by a team of career DOT employees and assigned a rating – only grants that receive a “highly recommended” are forwarded to Secretary Chao and she will make final award decisions from those applications. A controversial project is unlikely to receive such a rating.So, really our only task is to show Secretary Chao and the review team that this project has significant opposition. The more letters that we can send, the more clear we make it that this is a controversial project and the greater our chance to keep the county from being awarded a BUILD grant. So please write a letter to Secretary Chao today!!
Of course, it is important to say more than just "I oppose this project" - we have good reasons for opposing this bridge, so share some of them with her! Below are just some of the reasons that BCA opposes this project:
Billings County Commissioner Jim Arthaud has said that a thousand trucks a day will use the bridge. It will have little use by anyone other than the oil industry – there are fewer than a dozen ranches within ten miles of the bridge site. $12.3 million is a lot to spend to benefit so few families.
Dust from vehicle traffic will adversely affect the grasslands and the Little Missouri River, impacting not just the plants, but all the animals that use them for nesting, food & cover. Fugitive dust will impact the threatened Dakota Skipper and the Northern Long-eared Bat. It will impact every species using the grasslands – the Western Meadowlark, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Golden Eagle, Bald Eagle, Bobolink, Black-tailed Prairie Dog, Big Horned Sheep, Plains Spadefoot, and many others. Cattle will also be impacted.
The road that will connect the Little Missouri Bridge with U.S. Highway 85 will pass within two miles of the Elkhorn Ranch Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park - creating another threat to this important piece of US history.
The county is invoking eminent domain to take land from The Short Family, who has been ranching on that land since 1902. Other landowners within the project area may also be unwilling to sell.
Attorneys for The Short Family have filed two federal lawsuits related to this project: one asserts that Billings County did not follow the required process outlined in the National Environmental Policy Act in their completion of the Environmental Impact Statement and failed to consider some significant impacts to the ranch, while the other challenges the use of eminent domain.
The state Department of Transportation has declined to support the project, despite numerous requests.
Letters should be addressed to:
The Honorable Elain Chao
Secretary, US Department of Transportation
US DOT, 9th Floor, West Building
1200 New Jersey Ave SE
Washington, DC 20590
To ensure your letter arrives during the review process, email it to:
Howard.Hill@dot.gov
(You can snail mail it as well, but it isn't necessary.)
Your letter is critically important in getting this bridge stopped! Time is of the essence as review teams have already begun the process of reading grant applications. So please take some time to write a letter opposing this project and tell Secretary Chao what the Little Missouri River means to you!
Thanks to Bill Kingsbury for use of his fabulous photo of Bison in the Little Missouri River!