ND DOT ROAD REPORT WEBSITE

The crisis communication of keeping people aware of travel conditions around Barnes county. The DOT and sheriffs department did a good job on keeping people safe on the roads after the rains gave way the snow which caused major flooding which washed out culverts that couldn't keep up with the water going into them. And places where the water could not pass through it simply went over roads causing dangerous situations. People where well aware of the roads closed by be able to look up on the DOT website of road closures. http://www.dot.nd.gov/roadreport/roadreport/roadreport.asp It gave people a place to look up before even trying to venture out. I know I relied on this website when i needed to get to Fargo when they were flooding to help my sister. It took me a long time to get there but if i would of just left and tried to find my own way I wont of been able to make it there on a tank of gas and probably would of been stuck somewhere. This website helped allot of people through the winter and especially through this flood season. I think this is a good way to help motorist during a crisis.

Road Trouble in Barnes County

Spring of 09 in Barnes County came at use with a bang. After the rains came on the week of the march 24 the snow gave way to massive overland flooding. This caused major damages to the roads in Barnes County. This was a very serious situation for the DOT, Law enforcement, rural residents, and motorists they needed to block these roads for the safety of drivers. It was a mad rush to get barriers in place, rural residents where using farm implements to block the less traveled back roads that were under water or washed out. The sheriff Gene Bjerke was using the radio and News paper to tell motorist to be cautious when driving in rural Barnes County. The DOT was using their website to show the road closures that were blocked. The sheriff’s department where warning drivers to obey the closure signs and if not they will face fines if caught. These roads being under water and washed can appear without warning and in most cases it’s too late for the motorist. Vehicles can hydro plain on standing water and may throw your vehicle uncontrollable, and in washed out roads you can just imagine what could happen. The roads in Barnes County may be out for many weeks before they get to all these roads to repair and the cost of repairs will be very high. Some of the farms are using boats to get out due to water blocking the only access out and in to their farms and others drive ways just got washed out and they will need to get repaired. These farms will have to make new route to exit the farms through fields and pastures for awhile. There’s allot of work ahead to get all the roads fixed and some roads may just be temporarily fixed so farm machinery can get around for the planting season and farms can get in and out. So keep in mind when driving on some of the gravel roads around Barnes County to watch out and stay safe.

Valley City Disaster

The Sewer in VALLEY CITY, N.D Fails The mayor Mary Lee Nielson asks for all non-essesential business’s to close down shops and for any one able to evacuate to do soo. The flooded sheyenne River is creating problems for the dikes and the sewer system the Valley City’s Sewer collapsed under all the pressure from the rising sheyenne river. Crews were brought in to reroute the sewer lines the sewer system was built above ground and routed to the sheyenne river to release sewage into the river for temporary use until the river resides and repairs can be made. The water was safe to drink but they didn’t not want anyone flushing toilets takeing showers and washing clothes or dishes because of the overly full sewage system. If residents need use the restrooms there were 222 portable toilets placed all throughout Valley City until sewage system is fixed and some of the residents of Valley City where catching the water and dumping it outside just to be able to take showers until things get back to normal. Valley city roads where also facing a pounding from all of the heavy equipment driving on them hauling all the loads dirt for the dikes. Valley City looks to be hit hard with allot of work to get everything back to normal I think it may take more than this summer to clean up the mess and hopefully the city will be able to recover from this crisis. It will be interesting to see what kind of help the government will give the town in aids the city will be relying on this heavily and I hope for the best.

Extreme Fishing

Check this out! Extreme Fishing How crazy is this? Brings out a new way to keep fishing entertaining I think. Matt Watson with the help from his buddies and a few beers has thought of new ways to fish for Marlin off the coast of Austria. If you don’t know what a marlin is check out this hyperlink. Marlins can be a very dangerous game fish they can reach speeds of 60 mph and weigh up to 1500 lbs they also have spear like snouts that can reach 3.5 feet in length.
Matt Watson just recently was interviewed by Matt Lauer on the Today show in a feature about his extreme fishing, check out this video. Matt Watson’s got allot guts and talent though, cause I’m not sure I could get my dive just right jumping off of a helicopter to grab the surfacing marlin and hold on, let alone get footage of it. I wonder how many times he’s got hurt doing this. The first time I saw this clip I thought of how bad the outcome could be if he didn’t land just right on the marlin, like if he landed too far ahead and the marlin would spoke and gore him by the sword like snout. There are many outcomes that could go wrong with a fish of that size and power. I do think this is pretty impressive though I’m not so sure that Matt has a lot of common sense or he’s really bored. What do You think? Do you think that Matt Watsons got a new sport or he’s just crazy?

Wind Towers

There has been allot of talk about wind Towers lately I found on the internet. Some of the talk has been about how good they are and some about the bad things. The disadvantages that have come up about Wind towers are cost, noise, production, scenery, and harm to wildlife.
Ideal locations for wind farms are usually very expensive to buy and are not usually beneficial to everyone in community. Wind towers can make people very wealthy and make others wish they had them. Wind farms are also very expensive to maintain properly. In addition to the cost, another area of concern is the noise made by wind farms. One wind generator makes a low, swooshing sound twenty four hours a day that has people complaining. Residents who live near these farms have been saying they are experiencing Health Problems from the turbines.
Another problem with Wind turbines is the amount of energy produced. Wind farms generally have a low energy output, while running at full speed; the largest turbine can only generate enough electricity to power 475 homes. Many wind farms locations where wind energy can be produced on a large scale, are far away from places for which wind energy is best suited. Meaning, the economical nature of wind energy may take a beating in terms of costs of new substations and transmission lines to get the energy where it is needed most.
Although wind power doesn't cause pollution while generating power, it does have a few negative impacts on the environment, Birds for instance like strong winds. It is very common for migrating birds and mammals to fly into wind turbines and get killed. Is this helping the environment? I don’t know you tell me. These are just some things I found that are the negatives from wind towers. There are positives about wind farms also but I would just like to get my readers thinking tell me your thoughts.

1st blog

I am writing to inform you on a law that is being misinterpreted. It affects my job which is a ND Outfitter. Since 2003 I have outfitted in North Dakota and my outfitting business has always had a booking agent that helps us find clientele. People looking for hunting or fishing vacations, like using booking agents cause of their security and knowledge of the operations and they are usually located in areas that have a demand for them. Last May 2008 our booking agent contacted us saying that they have received a letter From the ND game and Fish’s Law enforcement saying that they were in violation of ND law by sending hunters to North Dakota and to immediately halt all bookings to North Dakota. Very much shocked to hear this we requested the law from the ND Game and Fish Law Enforcement that was prohibiting our booking agent from booking clients. The law that was sent to use is as follows (20.1-03-36. Guides and Outfitters to be licensed. An Individual may not act as a guide or outfitter or advertise or otherwise represent to public as a guide or outfitter without a license), and the definition of a Outfitter (is a person that holds the person’s business operation out to the public for hire or consideration; provides facilities or services for consideration; maintains, leases, or otherwise provides compensation for the use of land and which receives compensation from a third party for use of that land; or otherwise uses equipment or accommodations for consideration for the conduct of outdoor recreational activities, including hunting animals or birds and fishing on lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and streams. An outfitter may act as a guide).After reading all of this we were as confused as probably you are right now. We had to call up the chief of the ND Game and Fishes law Enforcement to clarify what they are doing is illegal. They did allot of shuffling around the department to come up with an answer and the answer they gave use was the ND Game and Fish is interoperating our booking agent as an Outfitter. Which does not make a lot of sense cause all my booking agent does for me is get hunters to come to ND and books flights if needed for the clientele. My booking agent has nothing to do with the outfitting or guiding, they do not take clients out hunting or fishing, do not own any part of my operation, do not own land in ND, do not consider them self as outfitting in any way or form. They only consider themselves as a booking agent in helping hunters and fisherman find good outfitters. Hunters and fisherman looking for a vacation like using booking agents because of their security, the booking agent that I use is a highly respected booking agent by outdoorsman, all outdoor trips are checked out to make sure there operations aren’t shady. So to say that what they are doing is wrong, which is bringing the state revenue and creating jobs for myself and others is illegal in North Dakota? After some disagreements with the ND Game & Fishes Enforcement Division we thought we better talk to some legislators and inform them on what is happening. We have got the support from numerous legislators and they cannot understand the reasoning for the actions ND G&F Enforcement and actually are appalled to hear this. I hope North Dakota is aware that we are the only place in the world that does not allow this booking agent or any other booking agents to send hunters and fisherman to our state. I hope that you can see my frustration, I plan to have this changed in legislative session in 09 with the support of ND legislatures and local public and hopefully any one that reads this.