Burgum’s North Dakota Constituents Condemn His Failed Leadership and Management
Once-Popular Governor Has Traded North Dakota Values for Trump Cheerleading and Extremism — His Home State is Taking Notice
HELENA, MT – Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was once one of North Dakota’s most popular governors — a self-described moderate who championed wind energy, fought to protect the Badlands, and promised to leave the state better than he found it. But over a year into his tenure at the Interior Department, a growing chorus of voices from his home state — hunters, conservationists, tribal leaders, former U.S. senators, and longtime political observers across the ideological spectrum — are calling out Burgum’s stunning reversal.
The man who once embraced wind power as North Dakota’s future is now paying a French energy company $1 billion in taxpayer money to abandon wind projects that would lower energy costs for Americans. The man who invoked Teddy Roosevelt at every turn is now overseeing oil and gas encroachment on the boundaries of Theodore Roosevelt National Park itself.“Instead of delivering on promises to lower energy costs for everyday Americans, Doug Burgum has become Donald Trump’s most reliable cheerleader as prices skyrocket, performing for the cameras and peddling false rhetoric while our valued parks and public lands are sold out from under us,” said Save Our Parks spokesperson Jayson O’Neill. “Burgum’s lost his way. His former constituents and own neighbors — hunters, ranchers, Indigenous leaders, and former colleagues — are calling out Burgum’s newfound radicalism, including his un-American censorship of history and the dismantling of our nation’s parks, public lands, and wildlife protections. Burgum has abandoned any values he supposedly once held, which is why his home state has turned on him.”
Read more below:
Bismarck/Mandan Dem-NPL (BisManLeaders.com): Burgum, GOP Betray Hunters, Fishermen, Outdoor Enthusiasts
“Within hours of assuming office, Burgum signed six Secretarial Orders designed to strip back a generation of public land protections across the American West.”
InForum (Fargo): Shaw: Burgum’s Bootlicking Leads to Very Bad Policies
“Sad to say that Doug Burgum is now complicit with President Trump’s racism and egomania [...] It’s appalling. Trump and Burgum are making the statement that our history of slavery and bigotry against people of color should not be acknowledged, but Trump’s birthday should.”
InForum (Fargo): McFeely: Doug Burgum’s Ominous Words About Greenland
“That former North Dakota governor Doug Burgum is plastering that phony grin on his face as he says whatever President Donald Trump wants him to say is nothing new or surprising. That’s been the defining trait of Burgum's run as U.S. Secretary of the Interior thus far.”
InForum (Fargo): Port: For Trump, Burgum Forgets the History He Fought to Preserve in North Dakota
“Today, Burgum is a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, and Trump’s instrument in expunging efforts to promote ‘understanding and appreciation of diverse lived experiences’ from our nation’s parks, monuments and museums.”
InForum (Fargo): Letter: Burgum Is Not Protecting Public Lands
“I voted for Burgum once, hoping, because he owned some ranch land in the Badlands, that he’d help those of us who love that part of North Dakota to protect it. Boy, was I wrong [...] We’re just one year into what's becoming Burgum and Trump’s ‘reign of terror’ on our public lands.”
Grand Forks Herald: Letter: Former U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad Says ‘It Is Time to Stand Up’
“In the past, I have had respect for Doug Burgum, John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer [...] But their complete failure to stand up to the obvious abuse of power by the Trump administration is destroying their legacies and reputations.”
Grand Forks Herald: Letter: Secretary Doug Burgum's Proposal to Evaluate ND Wildlife Refuges Is Troubling
“Secretary Burgum is the instrument to destroy TR’s legacy. North Dakotans understand stewardship. We hunt because we respect the land and the wildlife it sustains. I urge Burgum to abandon this dishonorable proposal.”
High Plains Reader (Fargo): How Doug Burgum Got His Job
“I’m pretty nervous about surviving the new Doug Burgum. He's going way past what even Wayne Stenehjem tried to do — and this time on a national scale [...] I’m not so sure we’re going to be proud of Doug Burgum in the end.”
Minot Daily News: Letter to the Editor: History Preservation Includes Indigenous People's Story
“I am troubled by the recent secretarial order issued by Doug Burgum, which has led to the removal and alteration of historical interpretation across our national parks [...] Secretary Burgum should reverse this order and engage directly with tribal nations, historians, and park staff. Our national parks belong to all Americans, and their history must reflect the truth of this land and the people who have always called it home.”
Minot Daily News: National Parks Face Staffing, Financial Challenges
“Since then, the NPS has lost 25% of its full-time, permanent workforce through firings, buyouts, and forced retirements [...] Is this what we want on the 250th birthday of the United States?”
To speak with Save Our Parks spokesperson Jayson O’Neill, email jayson@focalpointstrategygroup.com.
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