This summer, the Dakota Prairie Grasslands welcomed Chief Tom Schultz for a field visit where he met with employees to introduce himself personally, listened to their concerns, and engaged in site visits.

Dakota Prairie Grasslands administers 1.2 million acres of federal land for multiple use in North Dakota and South Dakota on four national grasslands—the Sheyenne Grand River, Cedar River, Grand River and Little Missouri—and hosts the largest livestock grazing program in the Forest Service. Its energy program has returned over $1.3 billion to the federal treasury in oil and gas receipts over the past five years. The grasslands offer scenic and unique landscapes, including rolling hills, shortgrass and tallgrass prairie ecosystems, dinosaur fossils, and remarkable badlands topography.  

North Dakota Senator John Hoeven invited the Chief and local Forest Service staff to participate in roundtable discussions with grazing, oil and gas, and energy constituents who operate on the grasslands. Chief Schultz also served as keynote speaker for the annual meeting of the Association of National Grasslands in Dickinson, where he focused on the agency's role in supporting economically sustainable grazing and healthy resource conditions on our national grasslands. The Chief heard about the need for reasonable timeframes for energy and grazing project reviews, common-sense approaches to managing prairie dogs, and North Dakota's program to make legacy investments in livestock grazing infrastructure.  

On a two-day field tour of the picturesque Little Missouri National Grasslands, the Chief saw the largest grasslands unit in the National Forest System—the Little Missouri covers 1 million acres in western North Dakota.  

While visiting, the Chief learned about the many partnerships on the Dakota, from livestock grazing to hazardous fuels reduction to minerals production.

For grazing, the state contributes $3 million every two years to livestock grazing infrastructure improvements. Rangeland management staff and the grazing association president showcased ongoing construction of a water pipeline and described cultural resources protection and the use of drones for noxious weed spraying.  

The Chief also viewed vegetation treatment areas for juniper encroachment and hazardous fuels reduction, which are conducted in cooperation with the North Dakota Forest Service, Mule Deer Foundation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and private contractors. The diversity of grazing practices and landscape treatments is reducing wildfire risk, improving ecosystem health, and sustaining ranchers who live adjacent to and work on our national grasslands.  

Minerals team members gave the Chief a direct view of North Dakota's booming minerals production in the Bakken oil field, which produces oil and natural gas from western North Dakota, eastern Montana, and southern Saskatchewan, Canada. Mineral production activities account for 71% of federal crude oil production on National Forest System lands. The Bakken is the third-largest oil-producing field in the nation and a primary economic driver for North Dakota.  

Forest Service minerals staff, North Dakota Division of Mineral Resources, and the Bureau of Land Management cooperate to oversee the minerals leasing and production cycle. They work with private companies to permit production development, extraction, and site reclamation activities. Installation of new pipelines is a growing component of the Dakota’s workload.  

Chief Schultz's visit to the Dakota Prairie Grasslands highlighted the balance between conserving these vast and unique landscapes while supporting the communities and industries that rely on them. From grazing partnerships and infrastructure investments to energy development and ecosystem restoration, his time in North Dakota underscored the Forest Service's commitment to partnership, stewardship and sustainability.