North Dakota
North Dakota governor candidates debate Measure 2, ethics • North Dakota Monitor
Candidates for North Dakota governor differed Monday on a ballot measure that would change the process for future voter-initiated measures to amend the state constitution.
Republican Kelly Armstrong, Democratic-NPL candidate Merrill Piepkorn and independent candidate Michael Coachman debated in front of a live audience of more than 100 people during a debate hosted by BEK TV and moderated by Steve Bakken and Joel Heitkamp.
Piepkorn, a state senator, said he opposes Measure 2, which was placed on the 2024 general election ballot by the Legislature. The measure would limit ballot initiatives to a single subject; increase the signature requirement for petitions; force ballot initiatives to be passed by the voters during the primary election and the general election; and require petition circulators to be eligible to vote in North Dakota.
4 major takeaways from North Dakota governor debate
Piepkorn said he believes the Republican-led Legislature only believes in local control until a certain point.
“It will just make things more difficult,” Piepkorn said. “It’s not a perfect system. But it’s a good system and it’s the best one we have, and we don’t need to change it.”
Armstrong said he isn’t sure how he will vote on Measure 2. He added it should be easier to change statutes via ballot petition, but people should “be more careful” with constitutional changes.
“I think it should be really hard to change the North Dakota Constitution,” Armstrong said.
He also said the measure doesn’t address out-of-state money influencing ballot initiative campaigns.
Coachman said he believes the Legislature doesn’t have the power to use the initiated ballot measure process because of the state’s constitution. He also objected to Measure 1, which cleans up outdated language in the constitution, and Measure 3, which affects the Legacy Fund, because they were placed on the ballot by the Legislature.
“If you don’t follow the constitution, what do you got?” Coachman said. “A Third World country.”
Energy industry
Piepkorn was critical of past legislation to lower the oil extraction tax, as well as tax exemptions for energy companies.
“Every session that I was on the Energy and Natural Resource Committee, the oil companies were back looking for another exemption, chipping away at the taxes that they pay,” Piepkorn said.
Armstrong defended incentives for the energy industry, which he said allowed the Bakken to be developed.
“We had smart policy that allowed people to come in here and invest and create generational wealth for this entire state,” Armstrong said. “And I think it’s a fantastic thing, not something to apologize for.”
Coachman accused Armstrong of personally benefiting from legislation during the 2017 legislative session related to oil and gas minerals under Lake Sakakawea.
A bill Armstrong sponsored that year ordered a review of the historical ordinary high water mark of the Missouri River before the construction of the Garrison Dam, which created Lake Sakakawea. The legislation sought to resolve uncertainty over mineral ownership. Millions of dollars had been held in escrow or in suspense amid ownership disputes.
Coachman said Armstrong failed to disclose that he would personally benefit from the legislation. Armstrong said Coachman’s claim is wrong and said he had zero mineral acres held in suspense by North Dakota.
Armstrong said he remains proud of that legislation, which he said returned royalties to North Dakota farmers and ranchers.
Armstrong, who earns most of his personal income from the oil and gas industry, said if elected governor he would recuse himself from voting on the North Dakota Industrial Commission on issues affecting his father’s operating company and any issue in which he has a unique interest.
Piepkorn said electing a member of the Democratic-NPL Party to the three-member Industrial Commission would bring “clarity and transparency” to the conversations.
Ethics
When asked if the Republican supermajority in the Legislature has created ethical concerns due to a lack of accountability, Coachman said lawmakers shouldn’t be taking advantage of the people of North Dakota to benefit themselves.
“They just keep protecting each other,” Coachman said.
Piepkorn said the Republican supermajority has created a sense of entitlement.
All three were asked about state Rep Jason Dockter, R-Bismarck, who was found guilty of a misdemeanor conflict of interest crime and continues to serve in the Legislature.
Coachman and Piepkorn said they would resign if they were found guilty of a similar crime.
Armstrong said he would never put himself in that position. When pressed on whether he would resign, Armstrong said: “I would have a hard time understanding how I would be able to represent my voters.”
Commerce department
In response to a question about the state Department of Commerce, Coachman said he would audit the department, along with other state government spending. If the audit shows the department is spending too much money, Coachman said he would “eliminate them.”
Piepkorn said members of Commerce often told legislators how much investment could come into the state if they changed some of the state’s laws.
“I think we really need to keep an eye on the Commerce Department,” Piepkorn said. “And also, be wary of corporate interests coming in and really taking over the state.”
Armstrong said the state should focus on transparency, accountability, workforce and affordable housing issues before any projects should be discussed.
“We don’t need a bunch of trillion dollar infrastructure projects in the state of North Dakota right now because we don’t have anywhere for those people to live and we don’t have the employees to do that,” Armstrong said.
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The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is planning to stock adult yellow perch into Devils Lake next spring as part of a “trap-and-transport” effort to boost populations of the tasty panfish, which are a popular draw for anglers on the big lake, especially in the winter.
According to Greg Power, fisheries chief for Game and Fish in Bismarck, moving egg-laden adult perch from lakes with too many stunted fish has worked well in creating new perch fisheries in small prairie lakes, but has rarely been tried on a scale as large as Devils Lake.
Contributed / North Dakota Game and Fish Department
The window of opportunity isn’t open very long; perch are early spawners.
“The critical thing is to get the nets in (the water) right at ice out, and move them to the new lakes before they spawn,” Power said. “That really has provided tremendous dividends.”
Less successful, he says, has been stocking adult perch into lakes with already established populations.
“The results of that are a little more mixed,” Power said.
The upcoming trap-and-transport effort comes on the heels of a perch population that has lagged behind historic averages the past couple of years. Based on results from Game and Fish summer netting surveys, Devils Lake perch numbers have declined from 18.3 fish per net in 2021 to 8.8 fish per net in 2024. Much of that, Power says, is due to the cyclical nature of perch reproduction specifically and fish populations in general.
“Every prairie lake out there for every species, it’s all about ebbs and flows, peaks and valleys, and that’s certainly been the case at Devils Lake,” Power said. “Is it that bad right now? No – I mean, the last two years, it’s been below the long-term average.
“If you go back just four or five years ago, it was above it considerably.”
Game and Fish personnel, including department Director Jeb Williams, met with Devils Lake tourism interests over the summer to talk about the status of the perch fishery.
“The locals there at Devils Lake – in particular the guides and outfitters, but I think anybody that likes perch fishing – are concerned with where we’re going with the population,” Power said. “They requested us to do something more, so we’re going to re-look at moving adult perch into Devils Lake next spring.”
Brad Dokken / Grand Forks Herald file photo
Mark Bry, a Devils Lake fishing guide and owner of Bry’s Guide Service, participated in the meetings last summer and said the Game and Fish Department’s willingness to stock adult perch was appreciated.
“We’re just trying to stay proactive,” Bry said. “I’ve learned a lot about perch in the last five-six months. The numbers are probably not as strong as they have been, but I think this is fairly common. A couple of years ago, we had really good perch fishing – 12- to 13-inch perch were kind of everywhere. We still have some big perch in the system, but I think they just want to try and enhance it a little bit more.”
Perch favor flooded vegetation for spawning, and when the wet cycle that raised Devils Lake by upwards of 20 feet began in 1993, the influx of water created ideal spawning conditions, Power said.
“What we got was just tremendous back to back to back year-classes of perch, which is very atypical, but that’s what happened,” he said. As lake levels stabilized and began declining, quality perch spawning habitat also became less abundant.
“Occasionally, we get a decent – maybe not a great, but a decent – year-class,” Power said. “It helps sustain a fishery for a while, then it falls off. And the last year or two, it’s been falling off.”
Contributed / North Dakota Game and Fish Department
As part of the upcoming stocking effort, department fisheries crews also plan to tag perch next spring in Devils Lake, Power said.
“We’re going to come up with a population estimate if we can get enough fish, to know where we sit for a while, and whether or not we’re adding enough (prespawn) fish to make a difference,” Power said. “Then we’ll monitor that for a few years thereafter.
“That population estimate is going to be critical to see where we’re sitting exactly for what’s out there and how much (stocking) can help this along.”
Still to be determined, he says, is where the adult perch being moved to Devils Lake will come from and how many fish Game and Fish crews can collect. Reproduction in many perch lakes across the state has declined, Power said, along with water levels in many of the new prairie lakes.
“To be honest, it’s going to be a lot more challenging for us to move enough perch because we just don’t have as many sources as we once had,” Power said. “It was pretty easy when we had a lot of perch lakes to move perch. It’s tougher now; we just don’t have surplus perch like we did 15 years ago.
“I think we’ll find a few lakes (from which) we can move fish, see if they can bring off a year-class and probably do that for a few years.”
Also on tap is a plan to raise the white bass limit from the current limit of 20 daily and 40 in possession to 30 daily and 60 in possession.
“We’re at a point where we can increase our white bass daily limit to more than what it is,” Power said. “There’s probably some interaction with perch and white bass predation (and) competition, but that might help a little bit.”
Walleyes are by far the most abundant species in the Game and Fish test nets, routinely accounting for upwards of 50% of the total catch.
“They’re going to have to balance walleye stocking, too,” Power said. “Walleye obviously are a predator. In the end, everybody wants the same thing – more walleye, more perch, big perch, big walleye; it just doesn’t happen that way.”
With stocking on the horizon, the 2025 perch hatch on Devils Lake also looks promising, Power says. Spring conditions “weren’t anything outstanding,” he says, but Devils Lake fisheries crews tallied a “respectable” perch hatch in 2025, based on results from the department’s annual young-of-the-year fish survey.
If those young perch make it through the winter, they could provide a natural boost to the population in a few years.
“I think we’ll be good,” said Bry, of Bry’s Guide Service. “Not every year can be a home run, and I think that’s just the thing people need to understand. You may not catch as many perch this winter – and we don’t know that for sure – but I think the future looks pretty good.
“I think it’s just kind of how this goes – the ups and downs of perch cycles; you get a couple of good years and a couple of average years.”
Stocking adult perch into Devils Lake isn’t unprecedented, but it’s been 20 years since the last effort. According to Game and Fish records, adult perch – anywhere from 2,000 to 7,000 – were stocked into Devils Lake in 1970, 1974, 1975, 1978 and 1992, a year when the fisheries crews also stocked 6.7 million perch fry.
More recently, Game and Fish stocked 76,000 adult perch into Devils Lake, along with 110,000 fingerlings, in 2005. That was followed by nearly 1.4 million fingerlings in 2006 and 931,000 fingerlings in 2007.
Contributed / North Dakota Game and Fish Department
The fingerlings stocked during those three years were marked with oxytetracycline, a chemical that shows up in the ear bones when viewed under a microscope, to determine the survival and success of the stocking effort.
“Out of the three years stocked, 2007 produced a year-class that contributed to the fishery in later years,” Power said. “However, the large majority of the 2007 year-class originated from natural reproduction, as only 9% of the fish came from stocking.”
In other words, there are a lot of unknowns with the upcoming adult perch stocking, Power says – especially on a body of water the size of Devils Lake.
“If it was easy, it would have been done a long time ago,” he said. “But we’ll see what we can do.
“And to be fair, the group up there at Devils Lake, they totally understand that. They just would like us to do something, and they recognize there’s absolutely no guarantees.”
Saturday, Dec. 6 / 6:00 p.m. (MT) / Watch / Live Stats
PREVIEW
The Montana men’s basketball team will look to stop a four-game slide on Saturday when they head to Grand Forks, N.D. to take on the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks. It’s the final game of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge.
The Grizzlies fell in the opener of the annual conference challenge series at home on Wednesday night to North Dakota State. It’s the first time since 2020 that Montana has lost four consecutive games under head coach Travis DeCuire.
The new-look team brought back just two players that averaged more than 10.0 minutes per game last season and they are still finding the right winning formula. They have shown plenty of reason to get excited about the season with a win at UNLV and a near-win in SEC country against a 7-2 Texas A&M team.
But the recent stretch has proven that Montana still has a ways to go if they want to reach the same heights that the 2024-25 achieved.
As the Grizzlies enter the home stretch of the non-conference season, they will look to start a new streak this Saturday. They follow up the North Dakota game with two straight contests against non-D-I opponents, giving them the opportunity for momentum heading into Big Sky play.
They face a North Dakota team that has lost two straight games by a combined 69 points. The Fighting Hawks are 3-7 on the season with a 1-2 record on their home floor.
Saturday’s game will tip off at 6:00 p.m. MT and will be streamed on Midco Sports Plus.
SHAKING THE STREAK
Montana is looking to snap a four-game losing streak on Saturday. This is just the second time under Coach DeCuire that Montana has lost four straight games. DeCuire has never lost five consecutive games.
The Grizzlies haven’t lost five straight games since the 2007-08 season.
BIG SKY-SUMMIT CHALLENGE
The Grizzlies are 3-2 all-time in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge. Montana is 1-1 in road games in the challenge with a win two years ago at North Dakota State.
After the first day of competition, the Big Sky leads the challenge 12-10. The Big Sky won six games on the men’s side and four games on the women’s side. The Lady Griz were the only Big Sky women’s team to win on Wednesday, while three men’s teams won road contest.
SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA (3-7)
- The Fighting Hawks are on a two-game losing streak, falling on Wednesday in the first game of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge at Idaho. They lost 90-58 to the Vandals and fell 92-55 in the prior game at Hawaii.
- Last season, North Dakota finished 12-21 overall and 5-11 in Summit League play. They upset South Dakota State in the Summit League Tournament to advance to the semifinals, where they fell against St. Thomas.
- North Dakota is 1-2 at home this season. This is the first home game since Nov. 11, a 128-58 win over Mayville State. They have home losses to UC Riverside and CSUN.
- As a team, UND averages 0.94 years of D-I experience, which ranks 297th in the NCAA, according to KenPom.com.
- Head coach Paul Sather is in his 7th season at North Dakota. He holds a 76-122 record with the Fighting Hawks. In his 21 year head coaching career, he has an overall record of 358-273 (.567).
- UND averages 73.0 points per game while allowing 79.1. The -6.1 scoring margin ranks 307th in the NCAA.
- They excel in forcing turnovers, ranking 25th in the country by forcing 16.4 turnovers per game. UND also only commit 11.5 turnovers per game. They have a 4.9 turnover margin, which ranks 23rd in the NCAA.
- Greyson Uelmen leads the Fighting Hawks with 13.6 points per game. He is the only player on the UND roster to average double figures and ranks 11th in the Summit League in scoring.
- Eli King has been fantastic defensively this year, ranking 7th in the entire NCAA with 26 total steals. King averages 2.6 per game. Garrett Anderson is 2nd in the Summit league with 18 total steals.
- Zach Kraft has made 23 three-pointers this year, which ranks 3rd in the Summit and 88th nationally.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE FIGHTING HAWKS
Montana leads the all-time series against North Dakota 19-7. The Grizzlies are 5-6 in Grand Forks. They lost the last meeting at North Dakota in 2021 but had won the previous three inside the Betty.
Coach DeCuire is 9-1 against North Dakota in his career and went 8-0 against them while they were a member of the Big Sky Conference.
GRIZ NOTES
- The team leading at halftime has won all nine games that Montana has played in this season. The Griz are 4-0 when leading at the break and 0-5 when trailing.
- The previous six games that Montana has played in have all been decided by single digits.
- Montana has been .500 or better through 10 games every season since 2020-21. The Grizzlies started the COVID season at 4-6 through 10 games.
- The Grizzlies have allowed 80+ points in six of the nine games this season.
- Montana has a better field goal percentage than its opponent in seven of nine games this season.
- The Griz are 3-0 when outrebounding their opponent this season.
- UM has been outscored in six straight halves of basketball. The last half that they won was the second at Texas A&M (50-41).
- Montana has lost three straight home games for the first time ever under DeCuire and the first time overall since 2004.
- Money Williams is averaging 10.0 assists per game over the last two contests and has seven games with at least 5 assists this season.
- Williams has scored at least 15 points in eight straight games. He reached the 20-point mark for the fourth time this season in Wednesday’s loss to NDSU.
- Tyler Isaak set a new career high with 4 steals against North Dakota State.
- Brooklyn Hicks scored in double figures for the 5th time this season on Wednesday.
- Tyler Thompson is 7-of-12 (.583) from three-point range over the last two games. He’s averaging 7.6 points per game and is shooting 40.9 percent from three-point range.
- Courtney Anderson Jr. scored in double figures for the second time this season on Wednesday. He entered the game with just two field goal attempts from inside the arc but had three two-point tries against NDSU.
BISMARCK – The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is asking for the public’s help in connection with a dead whitetail buck found southeast of Bismarck.
In a news release, the department said a landowner discovered the buck in the ditch on the morning of Nov. 30 off Lincoln Road near 249th Street Southeast. Upon investigation, Department game wardens determined the buck had been shot and was likely killed the evening of Nov. 29 or the early morning hours the following day.
North Dakota’s deer gun season closed Nov. 23.
Evidence at the scene indicated the deer was likely shot in another location and dumped at the Lincoln Road site.
The Game and Fish Department encourages hunters, anglers and landowners who witness a fish or wildlife violation to file a report with the Report All Poachers program. To report information on this case or others, call the RAP line at (701) 328-9921.
The RAP line offers rewards for information leading to the conviction of fish and wildlife violators. Callers can remain anonymous.
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