Analysis: Amid state's energy boom, Theodore Roosevelt NP, North Dakota SPs try to fend off impacts
On clear, calm nights, from the top of Buck Hill you can see them flickering off in the distance. Not campfires, but rather gas flares, emblematic of North Dakota's energy boom, glimmering after dark.
Here, in the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park atop the 2,855-foot hill, the flares are just one sign of how the boom, driven by "fracking," is impacting the park. Other impacts arrive in the form of industrial truck traffic on two-lane highways rimming the park and threading through the region, air quality issues, noise, higher lodging costs, and more wear and tear on campgrounds.
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