We stopped at the North Dakota Welcome Center to utilize the facilities and check out their brochure rack. They had the typical hotel and local attraction brochures, but North Dakota also has two brochures we though were the most informative and telling of the state.
The first one titled Be Smart, Don't Crowd the Plow by the North Dakota Department of Transportation. It gives readers a visual on the "No Zone" and some tips on sharing the road with snowplows in the winter. Here are a few in case you are planning a winter journey to North Dakota:
- Stay well back. Sometimes snowplows have to stop and back up and they often throw sanding material.
- Know where the plow is on multi-lane roadways. The plow could be in either lane or on the shoulder.
- Be extremely cautious when passing a snowplow. They can be moved sideways by drifts and hard snow pack.
- Never drive through "white-outs" caused by crosswinds or plowing snow. Snowplows pull over and stop frequently to allow traffic to pass. Be patient and wait until you can see.
- Watch for plow trucks on interstate ramps and "authorized vehicles only" cross-overs.
- Don't assume that you'll have good traction because the road looks sanded. The sand can sink into the snow pack, leaving a slick surface.
- Slow down and drive according to the conditions. Most winter crashes are caused by driving too fast for conditions.
Winter driving in North Dakota can be dangerous. Making smart decisions may help save your life. Be smart this winter. Remember to...
- Keep your gas tank full
- Turn on your lights
- Carry a winter survival kit
- Be careful on icy bridges
- Stay with your vehicle
- Use your seatbelts
And one more factoid from the brochure...
"One pound of salt melts 46.3 pounds of ice at 30 degrees Fahrenheit, 8.6 pounds of ice at 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and only 3.7 pounds of ice at zero."
The second brochure, and most impressive of all time is the Major Crops & Livestock of North Dakota by The Ag Foundation.
Some facts:
- Agriculture is North Dakota's #1 industry.
- Nearly 24% of North Dakota's population is employed directly by production agriculture or agriculture-related business.
- There are 30,000 family farms and ranches. Average farm is 1,300 acres.
- Nearly 90% of North Dakota land is in farms and ranches (39+ million acres).
- North Dakota farms provide food and habitat for 75% of the state's wildlife.
What does North Dakota grow?
- Hard Red Spring Wheat (most widely produced in North Dakota. #1 prodcution in U.S., 44% of the nation's total)
- Durum Wheat (the hardest of all wheat)
- Sugarbeets (an average stack of beets weighs around 80,000 tons and represents 14,000 tons of sugar, #3 production in U.S., 17% of the nation's total)
- Potatoes (The average American eats 142 pounds each year. That explains all the spare tires! #6 in production in U.S., 5% of the nation's total)
- Canola
- Cattle (An estimated 14,300 cattle operations in the state produce 1.83 million head of cattle, which means there are about 3 head of cattle per North Dakotan!)
- Corn (in-state users of corn are primarily the corn sweetener plant in Wahpeton, ethanol plants, and livestock)
- Pulse Crops (dry peas, lentils, and chickpeas are among the oldest cultivated crops, dating back more than 20,000 years ago. These are great rotation crops for North Dakotans because they leave nitrogen in the soild for future crops.)
- Safflower (considered a "new" crop in North Dakota, first grown commercially in 1957)
- Barley (a 48-pound bushel of barley will produce about 525, 12-ounce bottles of beer.)
- Dry Beans
- Soybeans (made their debut in America in 1800's as balast aboard a clipper ship from China. Often called the "miracle bean" for its many uses. And it is the only bean with complete protein. #11 in production in the U.S., 3% of the nation's total)
- Flax (North Dakota producers grew over 90% of the flaxseed in the U.S.)
- Sunflowers (North Dakota ranks 1st in U.S. sunflower production. There are several marketing choices for sunflowers: growing large in-shell types, kernals for snack and ingredient use, or producing oil or bird food varieties.)
- Hay (#10 in production in U.S.; 4% of the nation's total)
"For North Dakota farmers, agriculture is more than a way to make a living - it is a way of life. Many families have farmed and ranched on the same land their ancestors homesteaded generations ago. They strive to keep the tradition alive."
We've seen more bales of hay than we've ever seen before. It looks like a giant (Perhaps Paul Bunyan, eh? We are getting better at the accent. Don't yah know?) scattered hay sprinkles all over North Dakota. And rolling hills of wheat are like one massive golden blanket.
Pump jacks (also called pump stations) are everywhere throughout the Midwest, particularly across North Dakota. We have also seen hotel and community signs welcoming pipeliners to the area, particularly Canadian pipeliners.
While camping at Lewis and Clark State Park, the camp hosts were doing their rounds (making sure we registered and paid for the night). We chatted with them for about an hour and learned that they are from Minnesota and just love coming to North Dakota in the summer.
We told the couple how surprised we were to see so many pump jacks across the state. The gentleman said that North Dakota has not been feeling the effects of the economy at all. In fact, the state parks are battling with local companies to keep crew members. Student workers can make more money working in the oil and gas industry than cleaning toilets at the state park.
Why?
The oil and gas industry has been in North Dakota for 50 years, but has fluctuated (as with all oil industry). But rumor has it that North Dakota's oil and gas industry is back on top with the discovery of the Bakken formation in western North Dakota (Federal government geologists say it holds some 400 billion barrels of oil).
With new technology, everyone is hopeful they will make it big. Farmers are leasing their farmland, and many are installing pump jacks in hopes of hitting oil.
A new oil pipeline has recently been approved by the U.S. State Department. It is called the Alberta Clipper Pipeline, which is being constructed by Enbridge, Inc. I went to their website to gather more info. Here is what they say about the Alberta Clipper Pipeline:
The Alberta Clipper Project is an integral part of Enbridge's expansion program to meet North America's needs for reliable and secure energy supplies.
Alberta Clipper is a crude oil pipeline that will provide service between Hardisty, Alberta, and Superior, Wis. This 1,000-mile/1,607-km segment is designed to resolve expected capacity constraints and is expected to be in service by mid-2010, complementing the recently completed Southern Access Project as crude oil supplies from Western Canada continue to increase. Initial capacity will be 450,000 barrels per day (bpd), with ultimate capacity of up to 800,000 bpd available.
With supply from Western Canada oil sands developments expected to grow by as much as 1.8 million barrels per day by 2015, the industry has asked for more capacity out of the oil sands and into the U.S. Midwest markets. The request is driven by oil sands producers and refiners that have long development timelines and need assurance that adequate pipeline infrastructure will be put in place in time to serve their projects. Alberta Clipper is a direct response to this request.
And here is information on the Southern Lights Project, another pipeline-in-progress by Enbridge, Inc.
The Southern Lights Project contributes to a North American solution to energy reliability and security of liquid petroleum supply by transporting light hydrocarbons from the Chicago area to Alberta’s oil sands.
Enbridge’s Southern Lights Project is designed to bridge the gap between the available supply of light hydrocarbons (referred to as "diluents") from U.S. refineries and supply centers and increased demand for diluent by petroleum producers in the oil sands and heavy crude oil production regions in Western Canada. Diluents are light hydrocarbons that are used to dilute heavy crude oil and bitumen (a thick form of oil found in the oil sands) to a consistency that is thin enough to be transported by pipeline.
The pipeline will connect Canada's vast oil sands with key refinery markets in the U.S. Midwest, and it will require new pipeline and use of some segments of existing Enbridge pipeline that will be reversed for south-to-north diluent service. A separate diluent pipeline is proposed to be built from Edmonton, Alberta, to the heavy oil sands region in northern Alberta.
The project also includes the "LSr Project," a 313-mile, 20-inch crude oil pipeline from Cromer, Manitoba, to Clearbrook, Minn., that will add needed capacity for light/sour crude (thus the "LSr" name) between Cromer and Clearbrook and additional capacity for Saskatchewan supply on this portion of the system. Construction was essentially completed on the LSr Pipeline in October 2008 and is in operation.
Construction of the Canadian portion of the Alberta Clipper Pipeline will be completed in 2009, and the U.S. portion will begin in mid-summer 2009, ending in 2010. Because the two pipelines share the same right-of-way, final remediation of LSr will take place in 2010 when both projects are finished. The entire clean-up can take place at the same time to reduce any environmental impacts as much as possible.
The LSr Project capacity will also be used when a parallel pipeline (known as Line 13) is later reversed to transport diluent north to Alberta. Access to a secure and more reliable supply of diluents from U.S refining centers will, in turn, facilitate increased production of growing supplies of crude oil for delivery to the United States from Canada.
With the rejuvenation of the oil and gas industry, all businesses are booming - including construction. Our camp hosts at Lewis & Clark State Park said the local construction companies just can't keep up. When you can't get help locally, you hire from out-of-state. And that is just what North Dakotans are doing. So, if you are looking for work - come to North Dakota!
Just goofing around... See you next time!
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