GRAND FORKS — The latest defense authorization bill expands mental health care access for North Dakota’s military service members and adds new provisions for countering threats posed by unmanned drones.

Those are among the provisions touted by North Dakota’s two U.S. senators in the annual National Defense Authorization Act. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law Monday after it passed by divided votes in the House and Senate.

Language in the latest NDAA includes an order to establish a counter-UAS task force combatting drone incursions onto U.S. military bases and several provisions for current service members’ mental health care, including measures singling out pilots of U.S. combat drones.

Drone incursions have been reported in recent weeks over U.S. military bases in England and Germany, while residents of several eastern states have reported seeing numerous unidentified lighted drones flying overhead, though U.S. officials say most of the latter incidents have been manned aircraft.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said the NDAA “helps formalize what (the Defense Department) is already doing” to combat unwanted drone use, citing the counter-UAS goals of

Project ULTRA

and ongoing efforts to

integrate drones into U.S. airspace at the Northern Plains UAS Test Site.

Project ULTRA — which stands for UAS logistics, traffic, research and autonomy — seeks to boost national security and operational efficiency of unmanned aerial system operations.

“The interesting thing about Grand Forks is we’ve built an ecosystem where, I’ve talked about us being the tip of the spear against China; we’re the tip of the spear in developing drone and counter-drone,” Hoeven said.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., has championed a provision that expands the number of mental health providers certified under military health insurance provider TRICARE.

Cramer said he pushed for the expanded access in response to a pair of suicides among Grand Forks Air Force Base personnel in the past several years.

“The standards to join TRICARE are so stringent now, they don’t take into account that some states like North Dakota only have certain accreditations and certifications that are available to them,” Cramer said. “If you don’t get the right credential — it’s not that it’s a better credential, just the right one — your providers don’t meet the standard for TRICARE.”

He’s also pushed for a provision creating a combat status identifier for pilots of remotely piloted aircraft involved in combat operations.

Cramer cited as inspiration the 119th Wing of the North Dakota National Guard, which flies MQ-9 Reaper unmanned planes.

“Our remote pilots are treated differently when it comes to things like PTSD potential or depression or mental health challenges as the result of, say, a kill shot,” he said. “I wanted to make sure the remote pilots are given the same type of consideration as somebody that’s in the cockpit of an airplane.”

This year’s NDAA also authorizes $1.9 million in planning and design funding for maintenance on Grand Forks Air Force Base’s runway —

one of Cramer’s pet projects

— and reauthorization for the Space Development Agency’s mission, including its recently-established Operations Center North at Grand Forks Air Force Base.

Hoeven said his office is working to appropriate another $450 million toward an advanced fire control system

built off the SDA’s network of low-Earth orbit satellites.

Other North Dakota-specific provisions in this year’s NDAA include authorization for funding to update the UH-72 Lakota helicopters used by the North Dakota National Guard and funding authorization to modernize Minot Air Force Base’s nuclear capabilities.

Policy measures, like more provider options for mental health care or the counter-UAS task force, became law with the passage of the NDAA.

However, NDAA provisions that require funding — like nuclear modernization or the runway study — will need to pass in a separate defense appropriations bill.

“An authorization just says that it’s approved,” Hoeven explained. “In defense appropriations, we allocate the dollars to do it, and if we don’t provide those dollars for the NDAA, for those authorizations or programs, then obviously they don’t advance.”

The federal government is currently operating at last year’s funding levels via a continuing resolution set to expire in March. Congress will have to attempt to pass a defense appropriations bill before then or pass another continuing resolution.

The NDAA usually passes with significant bipartisan support. This year, however, the bill passed with significant dissent from both House and Senate Democrats after a last-minute amendment by House Speaker Mike Johnson

added language barring TRICARE from covering some gender-affirming care

for transgender children of service members.

Both Hoeven and Cramer expressed support for Johnson’s amendment, which blocks gender-affirming care “that could result in sterilization” — though medical professionals say hormone therapy (like puberty blockers) generally does not cause infertility.

Cramer said providing gender-affirming care did not support military readiness and dismissed concerns about the mental health impact of denying that care to minors.

“(The amendment) has a much lower priority than caring for people who are stressed out by the fact that they’re a warfighter,” he said. “We need them to be healthy, we need them to be ready for war, and puberty blockers, gender-affirming care, just simply don’t do either of those things.”

Hoeven said gender-affirming care was hurting military readiness and recruiting and decried providing gender-affirming care as a “social experiment,” a phrase also used by Cramer.

President-elect Donald Trump is widely expected to reinstate a ban on transgender service members in the U.S. Armed Forces, as he did in his first administration.

North Dakota’s U.S. senators also dismissed concerns that the Johnson provision could affect bipartisanship or productivity in the next Congress.

The Senate ultimately passed the NDAA 85-15, while less than half of the House’s Democrats supported the act.

More Democrats attacked Johnson’s last-minute addition while saying they felt compelled to vote for the broader bill.

“I’m hopeful Democrats will come around and join us with what we’ve always done with our military, which is support our professional, great men and women in uniform who do such an outstanding job, not a bunch of social policies that shouldn’t be in there,” Hoeven said.

He also said he expects the embattled House speaker, who holds one of the smallest House majorities in history, to be reelected next year.

Cramer called this year’s NDAA a loss for the political left but said he “wouldn’t read a whole lot” into the dissent, pointing out the bill had continued its decades-long streak of passing into law despite partisan gridlock.

The 118th Congress, which ends Jan. 3, has been called one of the least productive Congresses in decades, and is by some counts the least productive in U.S. history.

FARGO — The world of feature stories is always full of interesting and often quirky tales about some of the most unique people. Here’s a look at the stories our readers couldn’t get enough of this past year.

Wahpeton, North Dakota, native Sam Anderson has starred in nearly 200 movies and television shows throughout his 50-year career and

his latest is alongside Oscar-winner Kathy Bates in the new “Matlock.”

Reporter Tracy Briggs caught up with Anderson earlier this fall while the show was airing on CBS, and he called the experience “a gift”.

The reboot of Andy Griffith’s legal drama (which ran from 1986-1995) reimagines Matlock with Bates in the titular role of Madeline “Matty” Matlock who is investigating the death of her daughter, whom she shares with her husband Edwin, played by Anderson.

“I love what it says about women, particularly older women, and it’s funny and heart-wrenching. It really makes you think and gets you in the heart, and that’s my favorite kind of work,” Anderson said.

In August, the unofficial greeter of Dempsey’s Public House died and the community outpouring for

Jeffrey Fonder, who’d worked at a downtown staple since 2006, remembered him

as someone who “made everyone feel like family”, according to longtime regular Dan Haglund. Fonder, who eventually became general manager after started as a bartender, won Best Bartender in the High Plains Reader’s Best Of poll multiple times. When he wasn’t greeting customers, Fonder helped book bands and often enjoyed the music himself from either behind the bar or in front of the stage, reporter John Lamb wrote.

In May,

two North Dakota women were crowned

during the annual competition in Watertown, South Dakota. Codi Miller, 31, of Mandan was selected as Miss North Dakota, and Jaycee Parker, 17, of Minot AFB was selected as Miss North Dakota Teen. Both advanced to the national pageants that were held in August.

Fargo’s food scene earned several nods at the beginning of

2024 as semifinalists for James Beard Awards,

one of the highest honors in the American food industry. Business partners

Nikki Ness Berglund and Ryan Nitschke,

who run

several area eateries,

made the list as Outstanding Restauranteur while

Nichole’s Fine Pastry & Café

was nominated for Outstanding Bakery in the country, reporter John Lamb wrote. Additionally,

Andrea Baumgardner

, owner of the

now-closed BernBaum’s,

was nominated for Best Chef Midwest, a region that includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Wisconsin. While none of the local nominees went on to win their respective categories, their nominations illustrate just how notable the local culinary culture is becoming.

Moorhead artist and former educator Lana Suomala

has experienced a lot of life changes recently, one of which was the completion of a renovation that turned her 100-year-old bungalow into a bright and charming gem on a sleepy half-street in Moorhead. When she purchased it, the home lacked necessary updates and reeked of cat urine, reporter Tammy Swift wrote, but she enlisted contractors and put plenty of sweat equity into the home to showcase its beautiful features like sweeping arches and natural maple floors.

The result is a lovely little home

where Suomala can continue reinventing herself and inspiring others along the way.

Don Kinzler has been sharing incredible gardening knowledge in his Growing Together and Fielding Questions columns since March 2013, and readers love it.

This July column about about clematis, “the queen of flowering vines”, according to Kinzler,

was a hit with readers. In his conversational style, Kinzler shared important tips for growing this show-stopping perennial vine.

In July, reporter Robin Huebner shared a story about a

1940 “Woodie Wagon” that once belonged to actress Bette Davis now owned by Glyndon couple Gary and Kari Myhre.

The vehicle — named for its wood body — was shown in Davis’ movie “Now, Voyager” and was last owned by an investment company employee whose possessions were repossessed after he was caught up in a Ponzi scheme and went to prison, Huebner wrote. When Davis drove the car, wooden blocks were added under the bench seat so the actress could see over the wheel. The car is one of only about 500 made, and Gary Myhre said a registry compiled more than 25 years ago indicated only about a dozen still remaining, including his in Glyndon.

In March, the

former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos MacKenzie Scott made headlines in the Midwest

when she handed out $640 million to various nonprofits throughout the country, including several in North Dakota and Minnesota.

Local recipients included Youthworks, which received $1 million to continue its work of providing youth with shelter and development opportunities; SAGE Development Authority on the Standing Rock Reservation, which received $2 million to fund renewable and sustainable energy practices; and Gender Justice, which received $2 million for its work in North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota to advance gender equity through the law.

Danielle Teigen has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and management communication as well as a master’s degree in mass communication from North Dakota State University. She has worked for Forum Communications since May 2015 and is the author of two non-fiction history books.

Submitted Photo
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department manages more than 200 wildlife management areas consisting of more than 200,000 acres spread out across the state. NDGF photo.

“Government land” is a pretty standard designation for most public hunting property.

While 93% of land in North Dakota is held in private ownership, mixed in among the remaining 7% – from national grasslands, national wildlife refuges and waterfowl production areas – is an array of owners and managers.

Having lived and worked in North Dakota my entire life, just the mention of these public lands evokes memories of working, hunting and appreciating what is available. Those lands previously mentioned are all considered federal lands, each with a different role and purpose.

Depending on the location and state, those same-colored signs can be found across the country.

Within North Dakota, the state Game and Fish Department manages more than 200 wildlife management areas (WMA) consisting of more than 200,000 acres spread out across the state.

As you can imagine, there are different soil, habitat and wildlife usage between Magnolia WMA just off Interstate 94 in Cass County to the remote WMAs such as Killdeer Mountain WMA in Dunn County.

What makes the 200,000-plus WMA acres found across the state similar is a concentrated effort to improve wildlife habitat and provide opportunities for hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts.

Robert W. Henderson WMA, located just 6 miles east of Bismarck, is a good example.

Five years ago, 100 acres of the roughly 550-acre WMA was a mat of Kentucky bluegrass.

“The bluegrass got to be about 6- to 10-inches tall then it just matted itself out,” said Levi Jacobson, department wildlife resource management supervisor in Bismarck, of the land that was previously farmed. “We were grazing it aggressively to try and bust through some of that and bring some of the native plants back and we just weren’t gaining ground.

So, we had the neighboring landowner come in and farm it for three years with soybeans, corn and soybeans again.”

May 2022, the revival began by planting a diverse, native mix of 13 forbs and 10 grasses to mimic the native prairie that once dominated the landscape.

“The first year it was planted it was really dry and we didn’t know how successful the planting would be as it often takes a couple years to express vegetation above ground as most of the growth is put into establishing roots,” Jacobson said. “And then this year, with all the moisture it really blew up and looks really good.”

Earlier in summer, some of the native species were shoulder-high and taller, with an impressive undergrowth. The wildlife in the area, from deer to pheasants, to many other bird species, should benefit.

“We try to go heavy on the forbs and the wildflowers because those are going to produce food and the grass is going to provide a lot of cover,” Jacobson said.

The truth of it is once native prairie sod is broken, it’s impossible to completely restore it to a truly native, untouched state.

While more than 75% of the state’s native grasslands have been lost over time, the department continues its effort to enhance wildlife habitat on WMAs around the state.