North Dakota
South Dakota can continue to be isolated or we can join the growing passenger rail network. The choice is clear. — The South Dakota Standard
People live here. Yes, right here in South Dakota – our home that has often been derided as “flyover country”. For the first time in over 50 years, we have an opportunity to change that. We can have more affordable and convenient transportation options both within the state and to the outside world.
In February 2023, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) conducted study workshops to identify how to better connect underserved parts of the country (as shown in the public domain map above, posted in wikimedia commons) with the passenger rail network. The study recommended a new train route across the state that would connect Rapid City, Pierre, Sioux Falls and points in between with Denver and the Twin Cities.
Regrettably, in the wake of the April 2024 South Dakota State Railroad Board meeting, misconceptions have surfaced that could end up halting progress and perpetuating our isolation. Some believe there is no travel demand here, while others claim that decades-long disinvestment in railroad infrastructure should stop us from ever having passenger rail service. These unfounded assertions could not be further from the truth.
Travel demand
The FRA study concluded there is a lot of travel demand for trains through South Dakota, one of just two states in the ‘lower 48’ without Amtrak trains. This comes as no surprise for people who live here, as we are the home of two major population centers and a burgeoning tourist industry across the state.
Population density doesn’t ride trains, people do. People in our region have outsized travel needs compared to those in more population dense regions.
We often have to travel longer distances to reach essential services, more frequently, and in some adverse travel conditions, compared to those living on the coasts. Across the Amtrak network, long-distance trains, such as the Empire Builder service in North Dakota and Montana, perform exceptionally well — especially in rural areas like South Dakota.
The trans-South Dakota, Twin Cities to Denver, route has over 4 times the travel demand (on a per-mile basis) compared to the much-vaunted, and long-needed, route via southern North Dakota and Montana: the North Coast Hiawatha. Despite the Hiawatha’s potential lower travel demand, the FRA has recognized and supported the route through inclusion in the Corridor ID program. The Rail Passengers Association (whose board I sit on) conducted research which identified $271 Million in potential economic benefits to the states served, far exceeding the costs to operate the train.
In addition to the proposed North Coast Hiawatha restoration, the trans-South Dakota route has more travel demand per mile than the much-requested Denver-to-Dallas and Houston route (which includes a leg of the Texas Triangle proposed service) and the Twin Cities-to-Phoenix route.
If there is justification to expand Sioux Falls and Rapid City airports (which I support), there is certainly the demand for modal diversification – especially for a transportation mode that can more directly serve additional communities all across the state.
National investment value
While existing neglected railroad infrastructure in South Dakota does not currently support passenger trains, that has no bearing on the need for rail service in our state. Any transportation infrastructure upgrade faces engineering and implementation challenges. When we are spending billions of dollars subsidizing the highway and aviation networks (not just essential air services), we can find the money to get South Dakota ‘on the map’.
We should have as much right to federal investment as those living on the coasts and the Northeast Corridor in particular, where proponents are proposing a $9 billion redevelopment project for Washington DC Union Station, to enhance service to a metropolitan area that already has many rail options.
As South Dakotans, we already should be investing more in our state railroad system for freight and economic development. Not completing long-proposed freight-focused projects has real financial costs to operators and South Dakota taxpayers. As a start, SDDOT could pursue some of the $2.4 Billion in CRISI NOFO funding currently available and seize the opportunity to apply for a comprehensive grant to address all proposed freight rail projects across South Dakota.
With regards to the argument that the geology of Pierre shale precludes passenger rail service, trains could utilize the Mitchell – Chamberlain – Kadoka – Rapid City alignment due to it having fewer recorded soil issues. Regardless, I am quite certain engineers can find ways to address these challenges. If we can figure out how to safely build two new Hudson River tunnels, and create projects like the Gotthard Base Tunnel and Tibetan Railway, we can find ways to manage these soil issues safely and cost-effectively.
Finally, some argue that we should not invest in South Dakota passenger rail because the state will lose Special Transportation Circumstance (STC) grant funding. This would happen anyway when Minnesota or Iowa establishes passenger rail service that enters the state as proposed in their State Rail Plans. And while out-of-state connections to Sioux Falls are badly needed, they will do little to help western South Dakota 340 miles away.
Concluding thoughts
The Federal Railroad Administration’s comprehensive long-distance rail study resulted in the proposed network of routes that would greatly enhance transportation access across this country. The carefully-considered plan reflects the four primary criteria Congress established when considering potential new long-distance routes:
● link and serve large and small communities as part of a regional rail network;
● advance the economic and social well-being of rural areas of the United States;
● provide enhanced connectivity for the national long-distance passenger rail system;
and
● reflect public engagement and local and regional support for restored passenger railservice.
The proposed rail line across South Dakota meets all of these criteria.
Far from being too expensive to consider South Dakota for passenger rail service, Amtrak and the nation can ill afford to exclude us. We can ill afford to ignore the importance of South Dakota and railroads in our broader economy. South Dakota can continue to be isolated for decades to come, or we can join this nation’s growing passenger rail network. The choice is clear.
People live here!
Dan Bilka of Sioux Falls is co-founder and president, All Aboard Northwest. You can reach him at dan@allaboardnw.org
North Dakota
Wintering Well Series Back For Another Season At McKenzie Co. Heritage Park & North Dakota Oil Museum
For those who are looking for community interaction, interested in learning an old-fashioned skill, or just simply looking for a way to offset those winter blues, join McKenzie County Heritage Park & North Dakota Oil Museum, 904 2nd Ave. SW, Watford City, for another season of Wintering Well: Slow Down & Savor. Classes begin Jan. 2, 2026, and will continue the first Friday of each month through the winter, 5-7 p.m. CT..
The holiday season is a time where many remember and honor past traditions, though it can also be a time where the usual business of life gets ramped up. In this modern word, we are heavily inundated with outside pressures that tell us to “keep busy and work harder”. Technology can be a constant pull, drawing us away from quiet connection.
But, for many of the people who settled and lived in this region before us, life, the holidays and winter in general carried a different feeling altogether. The winter season was often a time that was looked forward to and folks seemed more willing to go along with nature rather than struggling against it. Winter is a time of rest and renewal. A time for life to slow, and strength and energy to be gathered for spring, summer and fall. With the cold winter outside their doors, people were content to sit by the fire, catch up with friends and family, and engage in pastimes that were both fun and functional.
These Hygge style Wintering Well evenings offer an opportunity to slow down and savor this time of year. Bring a crocheting, knitting or embroidery project or start a new one. Even if you have no experience with these skills, bring a crochet hook and some yarn and other participants can help you get started. In addition to learning new skills and practicing existing ones, there is good conversation to share, new relationships to foster and snacks will be served.
These classes are intended for adults, but tweens who want to learn are welcome to come along with their parents. There is no charge to join, but donations are always welcome.
Take a step back from technology and busy schedules to reconnect with the old-fashioned life at these cozy, creative sessions, and Winter Well this season.
For more information, visit McKenzie County Heritage Park & North Dakota Oil Museum’s Facebook page or call them at 701-842-6434.
EDITOR’S NOTE: For help with substance abuse or addiction, North Dakota residents can contact the All of Us In Recovery program at
allofusinrecovery.com
or the North Dakota Department of Human Services at
hhs.nd.gov/behavioral-health
. National help is also available at 1-800-662-4357.
FARGO — A special program for those battling addiction in North Dakota is finding huge successes with a state program called “All of Us In Recovery,” or AIR.
The proof can be found in the lives now changed because of the team approach.
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BISMARCK — Despite stubborn inflation, higher daily costs and
a dip in holiday spending,
most North Dakotans are as committed to charitable giving, according to the latest North Dakota Poll, commissioned by the North Dakota News Cooperative.
A total of 78% of
North Dakota
residents say charitable giving is important to them personally, with 31% indicating it is very important and 47% somewhat important.
Damon Gleave, interim executive director of the Dakota Medical Foundation, which spearheads the 24-hour charity event
Giving Hearts Day
each year, said the results of the poll were consistent with what the foundation has seen with the success of the event.
“Regardless of age or gender or what part of the state people are from, North Dakotans are givers,” he said.
Looking further at the data, however, shows a split in how much people feel they can afford to give.
Asked to describe how much they give each year, 58% gave between $100-$999 annually, while 32% gave between $1,000-$5,000 or more per year. Another 10% declined to answer.
“The fact that folks are still interested in supporting
charitable organizations
during these interesting financial times is certainly encouraging,” said Shawn McKenna, executive director of the North Dakota Association of Nonprofit Organizations.
McKenna said some of the rhetoric coming out of President Donald Trump’s administration has impacted nonprofits and NGOs, though that includes increased giving to some and less to others.
Some smaller nonprofits that saw grant funding dry up because of government efficiency efforts are having a harder time since they lack the staff to solicit contributions, McKenna said.
In another data point from the poll, nearly half of respondents said generosity should be “homegrown,” with 46% saying support for local organizations is their top reason to give.
“It does look like folks are really interested in helping out in their own backyard versus sending it off to whatever the big national type organization is,” McKenna said.
Among the other factors considered most important, 16% said support for faith-based groups was highest on their list of reasons, while another 16% more said giving to causes they have a personal connection to was most important.
A total of 60% of respondents said they give throughout the year, while 23% said they usually give at the end of the year.
“There’s a preference to support local organizations — whose work tends to more directly impact people in a given community — as well as a shift toward donors making larger gifts to a smaller number of charities,” Gleave said. “We think this is a direct result of charities cultivating better relationships with their donors over time, which ultimately leads to more impactful, sustained giving.”
Kim Hocking, board president of the Bismarck Mandan Unitarian Universalist congregation, said the poll data was in line with what he sees in giving habits.
Hocking said one thing that comes out in the poll, and something he sees on a daily basis, is that people are looking for a sense of community. That desire often matches giving habits.
“As a group, we want to be a part of something, and if we know about it, and we see, oh, we could help with that, then we want to be a part of that,” Hocking said. “That goes along with supporting local organizations, supporting causes you have a personal connection to.”
Most respondents do not give a certain percentage of their annual income to charitable causes, according to the poll.
Only 22% say they practice a form of tithing, long a traditional practice in Christian, Islamic and Judaic faiths.
The low number of people who budget a certain percentage of income, as well as the high number of people that only give up to $1,000 annually, is concerning to some.
Bishop Craig Schweitzer of the Western North Dakota Synod-ELCA, said giving has been “pretty flat” over the past decade, but he was surprised that over half of people gave so little each year.
“That’s shocking to me a little bit because that’s obviously less than 1% of average income in North Dakota,” Schweitzer said.
“I mean, I look at it as a person of faith, the entry level to be a follower of Jesus is 10%, and then my offering is above and beyond that 10%,” he said. “If we’re spending money on things that aren’t a reflection of our faith, how does that reflect who we are as people of faith?”
Schweitzer brought up how important local organizations like churches are in times of need and stress, giving the example of the wildfires in northwest North Dakota in the fall of 2024.
“The church was huge,” he said. “It stepped up and made sure people were cared for and probably gave beyond anything they imagined they would give to something like that before, financially and physically.”
The North Dakota Poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy Inc. of Jacksonville, Florida, from Dec. 10-13 2025. A total of 625 North Dakota adult residents were interviewed statewide by telephone. The poll has an error margin of + or – 4%.
The North Dakota Poll is the only regular, nonpartisan statewide survey of eligible North Dakota voters and consumers.
The North Dakota News Cooperative is a nonprofit news organization providing reliable and independent reporting on issues and events that impact the lives of North Dakotans. The organization increases the public’s access to quality journalism and advances news literacy across the state. For more information about NDNC or to make a charitable contribution, please visit newscoopnd.org.
This story was originally published on NewsCoopND.org.
____________________________________
This story was written by one of our partner news agencies. Forum Communications Company uses content from agencies such as Reuters, Kaiser Health News, Tribune News Service and others to provide a wider range of news to our readers. Learn more about the news services FCC uses here.
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