Updates
November 18, 2012: buffalo auction in western South Dakota today.
July 25, 2012: flashback! A reader sent me this great link to National Geographic (see comments). I probably have the issue stored away somewhere. A must-site to visit -- even for a minute to see the photos -- I wonder if NatGeo will do a follow-up -- with a "positive slant"? (If they have, I missed it, which wouldn't be unusual.)
Later, 3:30 p.m.: a reader pointed out a spelling error. It should be "Poppers." I appreciate that. Thank you. I've corrected it. [Later, 9:00 p.m.: a bit of background -- that really bothered me, getting the name wrong; no excuse. I was in the middle of moving from one location to another with our granddaughters and wasn't as careful with fact checking as I should have been. It was easy, also: the first link takes you directly to the correct spelling. I remember checking the spelling carefully and then still made a mistake. So I appreciate someone catching it and taking time to tell me.]
Original Post
A long, long time ago I reminded folks of the Poppers and their quite incredible suggestion to bring back the Buffalo Commons to the Dakotas.
Then, earlier this year, I pointed out the burgeoning energy zone / corridor running from North Dakota to Texas, referring to it as America's energy renaissance zone. I couldn't decide on "corridor" or "zone." I felt "corridor" was being over-used by the media and that corridor was a bit restrictive; it's larger then just a corridor.
But it looks like the mainstream media will go with "corridor," and I probably will use that term more often than not, but whatever, I digress.
The reason for the post is this: a reader sent me the link to an-op in the Grand Forks Herald bringing back the memories of the Poppers, and introducing "energy corridor" to its readers. This editorial pretty much says everything I've saying for quite some time now.
“Get ready for an American century,” writes Walter Russell Mead, humanities professor at Bard College and editor-at-large of The American Interest magazine.Wow, what a great country. I wonder what the Poppers are doing today. [That's rhetorical; lease don't tell me.]
“That appears to be the main consequence of the energy revolution that is now causing economic and political experts to tear up their old forecasts all over the world.”
And here’s the thing: If this “American century” unfolds as Mead and others predict, it’s likely to be centered on the place where it began: North Dakota.
By the way, the various links will eventually lead to The American Interest Magazine online, if interested, which has some interesting reading for July/August, 2012.
Interesting post and link to a very good article, the conclusions of which I agree with. FWIW, the word "corridor" rings true with me, since I have previously heard it used to describe the path that custom combiners often followed. Back in the late 1960's (my annual summer job) I worked for a custom cutting crew that started in southern Oklahoma (near Texas), moving to northern Oklahoma, to southern Kansas, northestern Kansas, and to the super large wheat fields in eastern Colorado. After Colorado we took a rest for about 10 days (skipping Nebraska and South Dakota because they were predominantly corn states in those days). Finally on to southern ND (near Bowman) and usually finishing up in the Epping / Ray community. Sometimes, weather permitting, the crew stuck around to venture briefly into southern Saskatchewan. It is interesting to me that such custom cutting "corridor" somewhat resembles the energy corridor mentioned in the article.
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking time to comment. Wow, it's great to hear someone else name those small towns: Bowman, Epping, Ray. The towns bring back a lot of memories, and the custom combining was always fascinating. Years ago, I saw a huge photograph -- probably 36 inches by 24 inches of four or five custom combines harvesting a North Dakota field. A very, very impressive photograph. I would have loved to have had a similar job, but my very severe "hay fever" would have precluded it. Sad face.
DeleteThank you for taking time to write. And, yes, I think I will stick with "corridor."It is very, very interesting how things have worked out, from south Texas to North Dakota.
I post on several North Dakota boards. Inevitably it seems, some of the stories I post get picked up by the Grand Forks Herald within a day or two. Their reporters do monitor certain message boards for stories, even using my comments (sometimes quoting). I wish they would monitor this blog!!! Best news site in ND!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.city-data.com/forum/north-dakota/1642683-its-not-just-oil-boom-its.html
Thank you for your kind words -- I don't know if it's the best regional blog: I can get pretty opinionated at times (and it may be get worse, unfortunately; I try to restrain myself); and I wish I had time for better and longer commentaries. When I first started blogging, I did more "educating" about the Bakken, but it seems about all I do now is link other articles, and provide data from the daily activity reports. Most folks now "know" the Bakken so I don't have to do as much commentary. My hunch is that a fair number of news organizations check this site periodically based on things I've seen or read.
DeleteIn the same vein as the "Buffalo Commons" stuff-but more recent(even after the oil stuff was starting to happen. National Geographic had a January 2008 story about western/northwestern North Dakota and how it was emptying out and so forth.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to the story-http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/01/emptied-north-dakota/bowden-text
Great link to National Geographic, thank you. I've linked that in the main body: it's a must-visit site.
ReplyDelete