Protecting an Important Piece of History

January 31, 2009 by admin

By Doug Leier

I was born in Williston and over the course of my life have called many North Dakota towns “home” along the way. It’s easier now, when asked where I’m originally from, to just reply “North Dakota.” I take pride in my roots.

From the aspen forest of Bottineau to the Missouri breaks near Bismarck, I’ve yet to live in or visit a place in North Dakota that doesn’t bring a smile to my face. The Turtle Mountains, the Missouri Coteau—everything about North Dakota is interesting and unique; the key is getting out and discovering these places.

The confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers.

Take Williston, for instance. Beyond the obvious draw of simply being a city within the boundaries of North Dakota, Williston is close to the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers.

This historically significant joining of two great rivers is attracting more and more attention because of the forthcoming Lewis and Clark expedition bicentennial anniversary. Last summer, a new interpretive center located on the north side of the confluence, and managed by the State Historical Society, was completed and dedicated.

This spring, on the other side of the Missouri and north of the Yellowstone, a number of agencies and organizations will join to dedicate the state’s newest wildlife management area. Called Neu’s Point WMA to honor the area’s former landowner, this nearly 400-acre tract of riverbottom diversity will be managed by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department and open to public access.

We often take for granted the contributions of nongovernmental organizations on behalf of outdoors interests. While Game and Fish is responsible for managing Neu’s Point WMA into the future, the Department was just one of many contributors to making this project a reality. Led by the North Dakota Natural Resources Trust, the process involved the landowners, local Williston groups, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, the national Conservation Fund, Governor Hoeven’s office and many others.

Paddlefish rely on the balance of the river.

The concentrated effort was warranted because of the Missouri-Yellowstone confluence’s historical and biological significance. The habitat created by the blending of these two rivers is critical to fish species such as the prehistoric paddlefish and endangered pallid sturgeon.

Sandbars and shorelines in the area are important nesting habitat for the threatened piping plover and endangered least tern.

Historically, the confluence area was home to Native American tribes long before the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Fort Union, a couple of miles upstream and a National Park Service historic site, was a major frontier trading post. Fort Buford, a cavalry outpost in the 1860s and 1870s, is less than a mile from the confluence.

Put all those things together and Neu’s Point WMA is significant beyond its 400 acres.

“The North Dakota Game and Fish Department and the general public benefit tremendously from the collaboration and leveraging of resources associated with this project,” said Ken Sambor, the Department’s state coordinator for the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. “The project protects some of the largest remaining forests along the Missouri, preserving premium habitat for while-tailed deer, shoreline access to paddlefishing, and nearly 400 acres of recreational land of high historic importance.”

All North Dakota citizens owe a great deal of gratitude to the people who worked hard to make this project a reality, especially the landowners who had the foresight to seek to preserve this special area, not only for bicentennial visitors, but for future generations as well.

It’s been a few years since I’ve spent time in Williston, but I am anxiously awaiting the opening of our newest WMA, and hope to be there at the dedication.

I think most people can attest that it’s always pleasurable to return home and relive memories, no matter if it’s just driving down the back road to a relative’s country place, or peaking around a bend in the Turtle Mountains to be greeted by a familiar tree that’s grown up since the last time you saw it. It’s all part of what makes North Dakota home.