North Dakota
Trump policies leave North Dakota summer tourism prospects uncertain
By: Michael Standaert, North Dakota News Cooperative
WALHALLA, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – Communities and businesses near sites administered by the National Park Service and those reliant on Canadian tourists are facing uncertainty after recent policy decisions by the Trump administration.
After the firing of 1,000 National Park Service workers on Feb. 14 along with tariffs against Canada and barbs issued by President Donald Trump and others in his administration referring to our neighbor to the north as the “51st state,” informal boycotts ensued and the economic impact is already being reported.
On Feb. 3, the U.S. Travel Association estimated a 10% reduction in Canadian tourist visits would result in $2.1 billion in lost travel spending and 14,000 job losses nationwide following the Trump administration’s first salvo on tariffs.
While initially paused for a month, President Trump announced on Feb. 25 that the tariffs would go ahead as planned on March 4.
Informal Canadian travel boycotts
Some businesses in North Dakota have already begun to feel the impact of fewer Canadian tourists.
Frost Fire Park, a ski resort near Walhalla in the northeast part of the state, recently saw a drop in visitors.
“At least 25% or more,” the park’s general manager Patty Gorder said of the decline in the past month.
“I’ve even had emails where (Canadians) have taken the time to let me know how they feel about the whole situation and how they’re not wanting to support not only our business, but our state, because of what the state of North Dakota is standing behind,” Gorder said.
This includes people saying they’ll no longer use season passes they already hold, she said.
Since winter is almost over, the impacts may not be as great as they would have been if the Trump administration’s actions happened before the ski season.
Because the park is so close to the border and to Winkler, Manitoba, Gorder said around 75% of the clientele at Frost Fire is from Canada.
“It’s really unfortunate,” Gorder said.
The administration’s actions already impacted the Tourism and Marketing division of the state’s Department of Commerce as well, according to state tourism director Sara Otte Coleman.
This includes delaying a paid marketing campaign in Canada until there’s a better understanding of Canadian sentiment about traveling to North Dakota, she said.
“We have no way to project if our Canadian visitation numbers will decrease,” Otte Coleman said.
While Canadian border crossings increased around 10% in 2024 from the previous year, Otte Coleman said the state still lags behind pre-pandemic numbers.
Visits by Canadians are currently around 78% of what they were in 2019.
“We do not have detailed data on the number of Canadians visiting sites and events across the state, but know from tourism operators that Canadians are an important part of their visitation numbers,” Coleman said.
The International Peace Garden, which straddles the border near Bottineau and is operated jointly by a nonprofit board of American and Canadian members, has not yet had a considerable impact because the park is in its low season, said CEO Tim Chapman.
“We have received some feedback a few weeks ago from primarily Canadians, just kind of expressing dismay with some of the political rhetoric,” Chapman said.
Chapman said visitor numbers and revenue rebounded last year to meet or exceed 2019 numbers.
“One thing I’ve encouraged visitors who have been a little frustrated is to continue to visit, because I think most Americans and Canadians, regardless of what’s going on in politics, still really appreciate that cooperation and friendship that our countries have always had,” Chapman said.
Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak, R-N.D., said she recognizes the strong ties between North Dakota and Canada and would like to see policies encouraging, not discouraging, cross-border travel and business.
Fedorchak said she believed the proposed tariffs had been effective in pushing Canada to address fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration.
Canada is the top destination for North Dakota exports, with the state sending $5.9 billion in goods to Canada in 2023, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. That represents 79% of North Dakota’s foreign exports.
North Dakota also imports more from Canada than from any other country, with around $3 billion in goods annually coming south.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park staffing
Another area of concern relates to the firing of permanent staff at sites administered by the National Park Service and how this could impact services in the park and tourism in surrounding communities.
In North Dakota, this includes the state’s most visited tourist site of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, as well as Fort Union Trading Post straddling the border with Montana, Knife River Indian Villages near Stanton, and upkeep of both the North County and Lewis & Clark national trails.
Representatives of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the National Park Service Midwest regional office out of Omaha, Nebraska, declined to comment on personnel matters when contacted by NDNC.
Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, which is tracking the firings and impacts, said he’s confirmed at least three permanent staff at Theodore Roosevelt National Park were fired on Feb. 14.
What kind of positions were axed at the park are not known, he said. Wade is also uncertain about any firings at Fort Union or Knife River.
“What we know from the numbers that we have nationwide, it seems that the functions in parks that were hit the hardest were those staff that do the interpretation and education, the visitor centers, staff that give the programs, do school groups, things like that,” Wade said.
Others let go include workers at park entrance stations and custodial staff, Wade said. Loss of those workers could lead to longer waits to enter parks and facilities that aren’t as well kept.
Staff at Fort Union declined to comment on any staff changes.
Wade indicated additional plans for staff reductions at the National Park Service are forthcoming and could occur in late March or early April.
“That suggests potentially many more layoffs,” Wade said.
In a statement in response to questions, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said that the National Park Service is still determining full-time staffing levels and there’s been no change for Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s seasonal hiring plans. He said the park expects it will be able to maintain its in-park experience for visitors.
Fedorchak said her team is currently looking into the situation with Theodore Roosevelt National Park and will continue engaging with stakeholders.
“I appreciate the concern folks in tourism and others have on the current federal funding uncertainty,” Fedorchak said. “I believe these disruptions will be short term and the summer tourism season won’t be impacted.”
Otte Coleman said the state Commerce department will have a delegation in Washington, D.C., in early April and hopes to get more clarity from the Department of Interior, now headed by former Gov. Doug Burgum, and the National Park Service.
Doug Ellison, former Medora mayor and owner of Amble Inn and Western Edge Books in Medora, said there’s been “some discussion and concern” about the impact of the staffing cuts on public services at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the community.
“We’ll see how the dust settles,” he said.
On the Canadian tourism side, Ellison didn’t think there’d be a huge impact on Medora but did say around 20% of bookstore customers are Canadian.
Border restrictions during the pandemic reduced numbers coming down from Canada, so those impacts were already “very noticeable” in recent years, he said.
GRAND FORKS — A North Dakota composer’s dream is turning into a statewide invitation.
Williston-based musician Emily Black-Driscoll was chosen as the North Dakota Music Teachers Association’s commissioned composer for 2026. She’s preparing an original composition that will premiere in August.
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North Dakota
Challengers declare victory after ND Supreme Court rules against Legislature’s attempt to alter term limits
BISMARCK — A constitutional ballot measure to amend the state’s term limits law as proposed by the Legislature will not appear on November’s ballot, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday, siding with petitioners who argued the Legislature exceeded its authority and violated the state constitution in proposing the changes.
“The people’s voice was heard,” Grand Forks County Commissioner Terry Bjerke said in reaction to the news.
Bjerke was a member of the sponsoring committee behind the successful 2022 effort to pass a term limits initiative, which amended the state constitution by capping legislative term limits to eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate. The amendment, which became article XV of the state constitution, also included a clause barring the Legislature from making constitutional changes to term limits.
During the 2025 session, however, lawmakers narrowly approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 4008, in which the legislature proposed Constitutional Measure 1, a ballot measure to amend the term limits language to allow legislators to decide in which chamber they want to serve their 16 years, and to repeal the clause limiting the legislative assembly’s authority to propose an amendment to alter or repeal term limits.
Bjerke and former Minot legislator Oley Larsen brought the lawsuit challenging the validity of the Legislature’s action in January, and the state Supreme Court
heard oral arguments in the case
this spring.
“Those term limits may only be altered by a measure proposed by the people rather than the Legislative Assembly. And yet a few years later, the Legislative Assembly is doing what they are prohibited from doing,” attorney Zachary Wallen argued on Bjerke and Larsen’s behalf.
Tanner Ecker / The Bismarck Tribune
The Legislature’s attorneys argued the clause prohibiting legislative proposals to alter the constitutional term limits language “infringes on our republican form of government” by “limiting the people’s ability to vote on amendments proposed by their elected officials.”
Justice Jon Jensen seemed skeptical of that argument during the April 2 hearing, questioning whether a second vote was appropriate.
“The public did speak on this. The public spoke on it when it passed the original constitutional amendment and they said, ‘Legislature, you don’t even get to propose a change.’ They have already spoken on it,” Jensen said. “You want a second shot, or a second bite at the apple, not a first one, a second.”
In Thursday’s ruling, all five justices sided with Bjerke and Larsen.
“We … conclude the Legislative Assembly’s adoption of S.C.R. 4008 violated N.D. Const. art. XV … and declare S.C.R. 4008 and Constitutional Measure 1 void … We enjoin the Secretary of State from placing Constitutional Measure 1 on the November 2026 general election ballot,” the ruling said.
Bjerke thanked the legal team that worked on behalf of their lawsuit, and said he was grateful the court reached the conclusion it did.
“I’m thrilled that what the people voted on and approved has been validated,” Bjerke said.
He added that the Legislature had “multiple opportunities” to address term limits prior to 2022’s initiated measure and chose not to, and gave a nod to the country’s coming milestone and the process by which voters expressed their support for term limits.
“We’ve lasted 250 years,” Bjerke said. “I have two words for those elected leaders who think they aren’t: everyone’s replaceable.”
North Dakota
Fargo woman convicted in North Dakota fraud case now faces charges in Minnesota: A deeper dive
FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – A North Dakota woman who was sentenced to 180 days in jail in Cass County for defrauding healthcare providers and Medicaid programs is now facing additional fraud charges in Minnesota.
Christine Marie Pryor, 55, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to theft by deception involving more than $50,000. She was sentenced to first serve 180 days with a 3-year sentence suspended. She received credit for 44 days already served.
Pryor was ordered to pay $82,584.78 in restitution to Southeast Human Services in Fargo, where she worked between 2018 and 2019.
How the scheme unfolded
According to court documents, Pryor worked at multiple healthcare facilities in North Dakota and Minnesota between 2018 and 2023, using the identities and credentials of three licensed professionals without their knowledge. She submitted fraudulent Capella University diplomas and transcripts to gain employment.
Investigators say Pryor admitted she searched state licensing websites for therapists who shared her first name, then used those therapists’ last names and license numbers when applying for jobs.
At Southeast Human Services, where she worked as a Licensed Addiction Counselor, Pryor earned $55,584.82 while providing therapy services to approximately 150 patients. She also opened her own counseling center, NIAM Brain Injury Center, in Fargo between 2020 and 2021, and worked at The Lotus Center in Moorhead, Minnesota, from 2021 to 2023.
Court documents say the three licensed professionals whose identities were used told investigators they had no knowledge of Pryor’s actions and did not give her permission to use their information.
Two additional charges against Pryor in North Dakota, unauthorized use of personal identifying information, were dismissed on motion of the state.
Additional charges in Minnesota
Pryor is also facing charges in Minnesota. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Tuesday charges against Pryor in Clay County District Court for six theft offenses and six identity theft offenses related to defrauding Minnesota’s Medicaid program of more than $150,000.
According to the Minnesota complaint, Pryor claimed to provide psychotherapy and alcohol and drug counseling services to Medicaid recipients despite having no license or credentials to do so. Prosecutors allege she used the credentials and identities of three licensed professionals while claiming to provide Medicaid-funded services to 169 clients.
The Minnesota charges were filed as part of National Health Care Fraud Takedown Day, a joint effort involving the Department of Justice and more than 40 state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
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