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Posted By Katie On May 6, 2012 5 Comments

Experiencing the North Dakota oil patch

Filed Under: Life in North Dakota 5 Comments

You have heard about it or maybe you live it, but the oil patch of western North Dakota has undoubtedly caught your attention if you listen to national news headlines. It’s home to Theodore Roosevelt National Park and numerous grasslands. 

 It’s home to little rural towns that are experiencing significant and quick growth from the energy boom.

It’s home to new traffic. Now if you are used to driving on I-5 in California this seems like nothing. But if you are used to rural roads with no cars, this is difficult. Solutions are needed. Truck by-passes in towns, passing lanes, four lane roads and more.

The North Dakota oil patch is home to housing shortages, man camps, sky rocketing cost of living, homeless and more. Solutions are needed.

The North Dakota oil patch still lives agriculture while building in it’s new mix of population and growth.
I have learned a lot from traveling into the oil patch of North Dakota. Alongside my husband, I spent three nights in Dickinson and Williston for work related duties through the North Dakota Department of Agriculture’s Pride of Dakota program. But as a native North Dakotan, I did a lot of question asking, observing and picture taking on a personal level. 
I want to be able to understand what is happening in my home state and how we can best address solutions for continued growth and success. I have seen despair in my visit to the oil patch. I have cried in frustration and in hurt for some of the people. You can hear headlines but not until you have seen it can you truly understand. You have to talk to the people who are new to the growth and you have to talk to the people that have been there for decades. I have now and my mind is spinning. 
Behind my lenses, I cannot create solutions alone. But I can tell stories. I can make a difference with what I have, where I am. I have had long conversations with my husband as we drove through the oil patch. We have shared meals with friends who have experienced this boom first hand. We have visited my sister and brother-in-law. We are North Dakotans that want to see growth, solutions and change. One person at a time. You will hear more oil patch facts and stories from me in coming days and weeks. 
But most importantly to me is that I have family time today. There have been track meets the past few days and Hunter’s debut at State Music playing his trumpet in a trio. While Nathan and I missed the track meets, my sister attended yesterday’s and captured this photo, tweeted it and sharing it on Instagram for us.
Hunter throwing the discus in Bismarck, ND. Photo by Kirsti Craig.

I am leaving the oil patch now to get plenty of hugs from our girls and attend Hunter’s piano recital this afternoon. But the oil patch has moved me. I will not live away from it without working to help create change and solutions. It’s a piece of my home state I cannot ignore.

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Comments

  1. TexWisGirl says

    May 6, 2012 at 3:03 pm

    i am worried about the fall that will most surely follow.

    Reply
  2. Erica Beck says

    May 6, 2012 at 3:08 pm

    I’ve heard quite a bit about the oil boom and have been following it though I’m not there. I’ll be interested in hearing your observations and thoughts on it.

    Reply
  3. Whitney says

    May 6, 2012 at 3:09 pm

    We’re originally from Oregon, here because of the jobs but we want to plant roots here, we’re farm kids that love this land and shoot… even the winters. One of the hardest things we’ve come across had been the attitudes of people. I understand it’s usually the worst kinds of people that stand out but there are so many hard working amazing families here. I have had people talk to me about the oil telling me that the “oil people” are pieces of crap. I asked if they thought I was a piece of crap and they were quite taken back by that question. They didn’t realize that I was an “oil person”.

    One thing that I wish was a little different was that farms could be occasionally found for sale. We miss true farm life and while we’re on a farm now it’s not the same as owning our own farm.

    The housing has gotten worse in the past year. When we first moved here there was nothing available in Dickinson or Williston but we thought outside the box. My husband works out of Killdeer and we moved to Hazen where apartments were $500 a month. We now live in Zap on a farmstead and our rent is around $600 but everything around us is going up. Our apartments that we were in are now going up to $1000 but that’s still cheaper than every where else. Most of the time the workers have vehicles and fuel supplied to them so it doesn’t seem so bad when you think of it that way.

    Reply
  4. LindaG says

    May 6, 2012 at 7:14 pm

    Look forward to more.

    Reply
  5. Robyn says

    May 6, 2012 at 7:49 pm

    Katie

    We have heard so many bad stories coming from the effects of the oil boom. Many of the issues that you mentioned, only in more detail. I am very interested in learning about what you experienced.

    There are several ranchers and neighbors in our small community that drive to the oil fields, work, come home for their days off and go back. In some cases it is the only way the family can stay on the ranch.

    Even the extreme northwest part of South Dakota is being affected by the North Dakota oil boom, especially where housing and cost of living is concerned.

    A year ago the community lost member to a tragic oil rig accident.

    Reply

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I am a mom of three kids and a wife to Nathan. Together we live on the North Dakota prairie, 97 miles from a Starbuck's. I share about family, food, farming and the prairie that I love. I used to commute 98 miles one-way to work but it required too much coffee. So now I am home, consulting, speaking, writing and primarily, juggling family life.
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