U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800

Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001

92–906 PDF 2015

S. Hrg. 113–587 

THE BAKKEN: EXAMINING EFFORTS TO 

ADDRESS LAW ENFORCEMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE 

AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEEDS 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY 

MANAGEMENT, INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS, 

AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON 

HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

FIELD HEARING IN SIDNEY, MONTANA 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014 

Available via http://www.fdsys.gov 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security 

and Governmental Affairs 

( 
(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware Chairman 

CARL LEVIN, Michigan 

MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

JON TESTER, Montana 

MARK BEGICH, Alaska 

TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

TOM COBURN, Oklahoma 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin 

ROB PORTMAN, Ohio 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire 

GABRIELLE A. BATKIN, Staff Director 

KEITH B. ASHDOWN, Minority Staff Director 

LAURA W. KILBRIDE, Chief Clerk 

LAUREN M. CORCORAN, Hearing Clerk 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, INTERGOVERNMENTAL 

RELATIONS, AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

MARK BEGICH, Alaska Chairman 

CARL LEVIN, Michigan 

MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana 

JON TESTER, Montana 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

ROB PORTMAN, Ohio 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

PAT MCQUILLAN, Staff Director 

BRANDON BOOKER, Minority Staff Director 

KELSEY STROUD, Chief Clerk 
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Opening statement: Page 

Senator Tester .................................................................................................. 1 

Prepared statement: 

Senator Heitkamp ............................................................................................ 59 

WITNESSES 

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2014 

Hon. A.T. Stafne, Chairman, Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck 

Reservation ........................................................................................................... 3 

Hon. Angela McLean, Lieutenant Governor, State of Montana .......................... 5 

Leslie Messer, Executive Director, Richland Economic Development Corp. ...... 6 

Hon. Rick Norby, Mayor, Sidney, Montana ........................................................... 7 

Hon. Michael W. Cotter, United States Attorney, District of Montana, U.S. 

Department of Justice ......................................................................................... 19 

Michael K. Gottlieb, National Director, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas 

(HIDTA) Program, Office of National Drug Control Policy .............................. 21 

Scott Vito, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Salt Lake City Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation ............................................................................... 23 

Hon. Tim Fox, Attorney General, State of Montana ............................................ 25 

Hon. Craig Anderson, Sheriff, Dawson County, Montana ................................... 28 

Anthony J. Preite, Rural Development State Director for Montana, United 

States Department of Agriculture ...................................................................... 40 

Mike Tooley, Director, Montana Department of Transportation ......................... 41 

John K. Dynneson, Deputy Sheriff, Richland County Sheriff’s Department ...... 44 

Paul Groshart, Director, Richland County Housing Authority ............................ 46 

Loren Young, Chairman, Richland County Commission ...................................... 48 

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF WITNESSES

Anderson, Hon. Craig: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 28 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 100 

Cotter, Hon. Michael W.: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 19 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 81 

Dynneson, John K.: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 44 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 110 

Fox, Hon. Tim: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 25 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 96 

Gottlieb, Michael K.: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 21 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 86 

Groshart, Paul: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 46 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 114 

McLean, Hon. Angela: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 5 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 75 

Messer, Leslie: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 6 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 78 
Page

IV 

Norby, Hon. Rick: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 7 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 79 

Preite, Anthony J.: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 40 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 102 

Stafne, Hon. A.T.: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 3 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 62 

Tooley, Mike: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 41 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 107 

Vito, Scott: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 24 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 94 

Young, Loren: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 48 
(1) 

THE BAKKEN: EXAMINING EFFORTS TO 

ADDRESS LAW ENFORCEMENT, 

INFRASTRUCTURE AND ECONOMIC 

DEVELOPMENT NEEDS 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014 

U.S. SENATE,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT,

INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS,

AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,

OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY

AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, 

Washington, DC. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR TESTER 

Senator TESTER. Rick Norby, Mayor, come on up and sit at this 

table. Good to see you. And the rest of you, if you could just grab 

a seat real quick, we are going to get going. This is liable to be a 

fairly long hearing. We have three panels of great witnesses and 

then there will be some questions and hopefully some opportunity 

for folks to visit with one another as this goes on; but before we 

get started, I would like ask those of you that can stand, please 

stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

[Whereupon, Pledge of Allegiance is recited.] 

Good morning. I am going to call this to this hearing to order of 

the United States Subcommittee on Efficiency and Effectiveness of 

the Federal Workforce and Federal Programs. Today’s hearing is titled, ‘‘The Bakken: Examining Efforts to Address Law Enforcement, Infrastructure and Economic Development Needs’’. We are 

fortunate to have assembled three terrific panels of subject matter 

experts to speak to law enforcement, infrastructure and economic 

challenges of communities within the Bakken. These folks will provide local, regional, State, tribal and national perspective on critical issues. By engaging stake holders at each level of government, 

I am hopeful that we will identify the most pressing needs of these 

communities as well as some much needed solutions. I want to 

thank each of our witnesses that are here today and I look forward 

to our discussion. 

The Bakken formation has emerged in recent years as one of the 

most critical sources of oil in the United States. As a result, we are 

seeing things in Eastern Montana/Western North Dakota that we 

have never seen before, both good and bad. It is a story of rapid 

and dramatic flood of workers, families and wealth into an area 

that is providing an economic boom for local businesses and com-
2 

munities, but it is also a story of local communities left scrambling 

for scarce resources to meet urgent infrastructure and housing 

needs of a largely transient workforce, and the struggle of those 

communities to address immediate needs without doing significant 

harm to the longtime residents making a fraction of an oil worker’s 

salary; folks in the community like police officers, social workers 

and school teachers. It is the story of local law enforcement agencies stretched thin, yet facing unprecedented threats in the sheer 

number and complexity of increasingly violent crimes; increased 

rates of human trafficking, drug smuggling and criminal byproducts of drug cartel targeting the large paychecks of oil workers. In 

more human terms, it is the story of a young family living with her 

six children in a camper for 20 months because of the scarcity of 

quality affordable housing; and it is the story of a beloved high 

school math teacher, a mother of two, who was abducted while in 

a morning jog and subsequently murdered by individuals who were 

allegedly drugged out of their minds. These stories do not reflect 

who we are or where we live. Sure, we have a number of significant 

challenges before us, but I know many of these witnesses, and I 

know many of the folks in this community, they are doing absolutely everything that they can do to make sure that this is even 

a better place to live. Today, I hope this hearing can identify additional ways we can contribute to that effort, whether it is highlighting various proposals to address the region’s most urgent 

needs or addressing how we can improve upon the collaborative efforts of local, tribal and Federal officials. With that, I ill keep my 

opening remarks brief. We have a number of very good witnesses 

here, a lengthy list of critical issues to discuss, and I want to thank 

everyone for being here today. 

We will start with our first panel. The first panel will set the 

stage by laying out a broader economic development challenges in 

the Bakken; the second panel is going to speak more specifically to 

law enforcement challenges that have arisen in recent years; and 

the third panel will speak to critical infrastructure needs in the region. 

First, we have A.T. Stafne who is serving in his third term as 

Chairman of the Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board. In 2011, Rusty 

was appointed by Governor Brian Schweitzer to the Montana Fish, 

Wildlife and Parks Commission. He was the first American Indian 

appointed to that commission. Rusty is a member of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation, an Army veteran from the Korean War. Thank you for your service, Rusty; 

thank you for being here; and I look forward to your testimony. 

Then we have Lieutenant Governor Angela McLean. She was 

previously an adjunct professor at Montana Tech in Butte. She also 

served as Chair of the Montana Board of Regions and on the Montana Board of Public Education before becoming Lieutenant Governor of the great State of Montana. Angela has developed Montana SMART schools, an initiative whose goal is to reduce energy 

usage in schools and save taxpayer dollars. She also chairs the 

Montana Governor’s Drought and Water Supply Advisory Committee. Angela, as always, it is great to see you; thank you for 

being here. 
3 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Stafne appears in the Appendix on page 62. 

Leslie Messer is the Executive Director of the Richland Economic 

Development Corp. During her tenure as Executive Director, Leslie 

has actively recruited businesses, pursued business expansion and 

retention projects for Richland County. Some of these victories include recruiting Anheuser-Busch malt barley handling facility as 

well as the Nation’s largest crane service company. Leslie, always 

good to see you; thank you for being here and we look forward to 

your testimony also. 

And finally, we have Mayor Rick Norby, Mayor of Sidney since 

January of this year. He previously served as Councilman for Ward 

3. In his capacity as mayor, Rick has been on the frontlines facing 

the challenges of rapid growth in the Bakken and seeking ways to 

overcome various economic development and infrastructure challenges that have arisen from the rapid growth. Previously, Rick 

worked on a family farm before focusing his energy on starting a 

business, Norby Repair, almost 15 years ago. Thank you for being 

here, Rick. 

With that, I think we will start out and what we typically do in 

these hearings is your entire written statement will be part of the 

record. Your testimony, if you could keep it to 5 minutes would be 

great. I have a boatload of questions to ask you guys and they are 

all easy that you can answer, but the truth is I want to get that 

information on the record, too, so Chairman Stafne, would you 

please get us started, and if I start rattling that means you might 

want to wind it down. [Laughter.] 

TESTIMONY OF HON. A.T. STAFNE,1 CHAIRMAN, ASSINIBOINE 

AND SIOUX TRIBES OF THE FORT PECK RESERVATION 

Mr. STAFNE. Yes, Senator Tester, good morning and thank you. 

Do I need this? 

Senator TESTER. Yes, you will need that for the clerk so we can 

get your testimony. 

Mr. STAFNE. OK. From our perspective as an Indian nation immediately adjacent to the unprecedented oil development in the 

Bakken, we welcome opportunities to improve the conditions on our 

Reservation, including responsible sustainable and culturally sensitive natural resource development, but we cannot promote responsible development without adequate services, infrastructure 

and sources of capital. Senator Tester, we know you understand 

this. Thank you for your recent response to the National Northern 

Border Counternarcotics Strategy Report, which confirmed the lack 

of resources in Indian Country. We appreciate your commitment to 

the continued work of bringing more attention and resources to the 

Northern border and the Bakken so our communities are safe and 

our quality of life is strong. The Fort Peck Tribes and our partners 

in the region have been leaders in enhancing communication and 

collaboration to address our lack of resources. We have forged positive relationships with our neighbors. We were one of the first 

tribes in the Nation to enter into a cross—deputization agreement 

with State and local law enforcement agencies. This revolutionary 

agreement is a model for effective policing in Indian Country. In 

addition, we jointly operate a 9–1–1 emergency dispatch center 
4 

with Roosevelt County, pooling our resources to eliminate the duplication of services; and together with our partner, Dry Prairie 

Rural Water, we are constructing a highly efficient regional water 

system and will soon be delivering quality water from our treatment facility on the Reservation to approximately 75 percent of the 

population of Northeast Montana. There is perhaps no better model 

for cooperation or communication than exists between the Fort 

Peck Tribes and our neighbors. 

Now, we need Congress to fill its mandatory trust responsibility 

to Indian nations to supply necessary resources to make our communities safe. The conditions on our Reservation are poor. Half of 

our people live below the Federal poverty level, and our residents 

have the poorest health in Montana. What’s worse, we are now experiencing dramatically rising social problems and criminal activity 

like methamphetamine and prescription drug abuse. This surge in 

crime has reversed a downward trend we worked so hard to 

achieve. Our law enforcement estimates that nearly 80 percent of 

criminal conduct on the Reservation has a drug component. 

In order to combat this epidemic, we have an immediate need for 

six additional drug enforcement officers. I urge the Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS) and other Federal agencies to work with 

tribes by promptly providing funds and equipment to our Bakkenaffected communities using instruments like self-determination 

contracts to ensure swift receipt of the resources we desperately 

need. 

Adequate infrastructure is also vital to whether conditions in our 

region improve or deteriorate. Federal appropriations for rural 

water systems, transportation systems and health, wellness and 

public safety facilities make the difference between success and 

failure because community stability creates an environment for economic development. 

In addition to services and infrastructure, Indian Country needs 

a source of capital for economic development to cross reservation 

boundaries. Grant and loan programs provide necessary bridges to 

help communities in transition, but tribes also need the flexibility 

to pool Federal funds from multiple agencies to carry out locally designed economic development programs without conflicting rules 

and restrictions. The Department of Health and Human Services 

(HHS) four-step descending model, or the proposed NASDA Amendments, could become the model for Federal funding. We encourage 

you to consider a pilot project that allows tribes to pool funds from 

various sources to address growing needs relating to the Bakken. 

Finally, Congress must eliminate the problem of dual taxation in 

Indian Country created by the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision 

in Cotton Petroleum vs. New Mexico. This double taxation creates 

a serious barrier for development on tribal lands and is inconsistent with Federal policies designed to promote tribal development in self-sufficiency. 

Thank you for the opportunity to share our perspective. We look 

forward to working with you to pay more attention to resources to 

our region so our communities are safe and our quality of life can 

be strong; thank you. 

Senator TESTER. Thank you, Chairman Stafne. I appreciate your 

perspective. Lieutenant Governor McLean, you’re up. 
5 

1The prepared statement of Ms. McLean appears in the Appendix on page 75. 

TESTIMONY OF HON. ANGELA MCLEAN,1 LIEUTENANT 

GOVERNOR, STATE OF MONTANA 

Ms. MCLEAN. Good morning, and thank you Senator Tester for 

the opportunity to testify before you this morning. Development in 

the Bakken region has presented tremendous economic opportunities for Eastern Montana, but with those opportunities come challenges. Governor Bullock was helping to address those challenges 

long before he became Governor. As Attorney General, he instituted the first cross-border jurisdiction with North Dakota; and as 

governor, when the legislature refused to fund a public safety initiative in Eastern Montana Governor Bullock worked with Chief 

DiFonzo to hire two new drug agents out of discretionary funds. 

Our administration intends to continue to fund those Division of 

Criminal Investigation (DCI) agents. 

We are also assisting oil and gas impacted schools. The Wibaux School District, for example, was awarded $900,000 this year to assist in construction of a new building, among other things, and development impacted schools have received a total of $11.5 million 

dollars in assistance this year alone. 

Additionally, Miles, Dawson and Fort Peck Community Colleges have received over $2.5 million dollars to address workforce challenges in Eastern Montana. As part of the Main Street Montana 

Project, Governor Bullock announced a plan to assist the impacted 

counties in Eastern Montana. The reduction SRF Loan interest 

rates are already saving water and sewer rate payers $29 million 

dollars this year alone; and as soon as the legislature approves the 

plan, the $45 million dollar grant program will get money where 

it is needed most in the cities, towns, counties and tribal governments; but it is not just monetary assistance that we are providing. 

We are mobilizing rapid response teams. 

These teams are composed of the best people from Commerce, 

the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and DNRC and 

customized to meet the needs of each community across Eastern 

Montana. Existing programs such as CDBG and TSEP help counties and local governments fund infrastructure, public safety and 

housing projects. There are also multiple infrastructure loan and financing programs including the Commercial Loan Participation 

Program; the Infrastructure Loan Program; the Value Added Loan 

Program; and the INTERCAP Loan Program. Additionally, Senator 

Tester, there are programs that are designed to help communities 

with housing issues; the HOME Investment Partnership Program; 

Section 8 Program; Home Ownership Program; and Housing Tax 

Credit Program serve to help mitigate affordable housing needs 

across Eastern Montana. Programs such as the Community Technical Assistance Program (CTAP) work with local governments, officials, planners, developers and the public to help communities address the impacts of development and population growth by providing technical assistance through the sharing of professional 

knowledge, conducting workshops and providing templates, publications and research materials. Since Governor Bullock took office, 

we have awarded funding to numerous projects in Eastern Montana including a $450,000 grant to the City of Bainville right here 
6 

1The prepared statement of Ms. Messer appears in the Appendix on page 78. 

in Richland County for a water project. These are just a few examples of the grant funding and investments that Governor Bullock’s 

administration has made in Eastern Montana. The total amount of 

funding allocated for the 2013 and 2015 biennia to oil-impacted 

counties in Eastern Montana totals over $57 million dollars. 

Senator Tester, I want to thank you once again for the opportunity to be a part of this very important conversation among local, 

State, tribal and Federal partners. 

Senator TESTER. Thank you Lieutenant Governor. 

Next we have Leslie Messer. Leslie. 

TESTIMONY OF LESLIE MESSER,1 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

RICHLAND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION 

Ms. MESSER. I also would like to thank you for the opportunity 

to give you a little insight on what’s going on here. As you all 

know, we all do the very best we can with the education and the 

resources that we have available to us. Economic development is no 

different than the law enforcement or anyone else, and so we are 

just going to give you a brief look on how this goes. The current 

economy overall in Richland County right now is very robust, it is 

very busy. Our labor force is scrambling; our unemployment right 

now is 2.1 percent, and this results in extreme stress and pressure 

on our downtown businesses as the oilfield draws workforce away 

from those downtown jobs that have always been there. The employers are having to be very creative in how they are going to circumvent this issue. They are putting in their own housing; they are 

offering different incentives; limiting their office hours and the 

services; all to keep moving forward and providing for their own 

business success and families. We are doing the best we can to 

keep the information out there so that we can work together with 

State, local and Federal agencies to get the word out and to continue to do business as usual. We launched a website that we put 

all types of information to educate and inform the public about 

what’s going on. This site has had over a 1,000 hits a week. People 

want to know how much it costs to be here; what it is like to work 

and live here. We created through the investment of our revolving 

loan fund from our county commissioners the million dollar phone, 

or loan fund, we have been able to provide gap financing to continued businesses, entrepreneurs and existing businesses. We have 71 

jobs tied directly to that in the throes if all this business. Our office 

continues to conduct consultations with over 60 engineers and developers and consultants and entrepreneurs all wanting to see 

what it is like and if they might be able to grab a hold of a piece 

of this opportunity. 

We have created informational presentation that we have taken 

across this State to 60 different times in the last 3 years to educate 

and inform people of exactly what the needs are in our area. We 

have also held instructional and informational tours for State, legislative and congressional leaders to bring them in here and let 

them see this firsthand on what exactly is thriving and working 

and challenges are here. We have also held two Canadian trade 

missions. We create and participate in an Eastern Montana Impact 
7 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Norby appears in the Appendix on page 79. 

Coalition to address the impacts to the 16 counties of Northeastern 

Montana and what we are facing. We are in the final stages of that 

impact study. That will hopefully give us a better picture so that 

we can take that to the legislature. 

Our office has surveyed our residents and our contributing members on the services and the needs of Richland County, and the top 

five priorities are infrastructure, housing, workforce, lack of 

daycare and childcare providers as well as additional restaurants. 

We have recruited, most recently to Richland County, an immediate and temporary housing provider to try to be able to carry 

some of that load while the stick-built developments are being 

built. We created a cost analysis to take an actual look at the numbers, and while we are ranked third highest in our region, our market is considerably different when we are compared with Billings, 

Bozeman, Denver; it is extremely different; and we work collaboratively with Miles City and Dawson Community College to try to 

assess those workforce demands and needs and how we might best 

tailor a curriculum to the ever-changing robust challenges. 

And finally, we have also worked and advocated very hard on the 

Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project with the efforts they are taking to address the Pallid Sturgeon, the endangered species, and the 

effects that if that irrigation project were to go down, the negative 

impacts on this economy would be just tremendous. 

So basically, our current and future challenges are our infrastructure is aging and it is at capacity, which requires immediate 

additional funding resources; we have a lack of workforce, which 

goes hand-in-hand with the housing. The housing that is available 

is being utilized by the oilfield, but as it has been stated before, 

that makes it very difficult for the clerks and the teachers and the 

police and the county force; and the constraints to financing for additional projects is very difficult because the populations that are 

coming in are showing that they have less than stellar credit, 

which makes it very hard to support them. 

I want to thank you for, again, for this opportunity and I urge 

you to utilize whatever power and influence you have to invest additional resources here, not only for the success of Richland County, but for the improvement of the entire State of Montana; thank 

you. 

Senator TESTER. Thank you, Leslie. 

TESTIMONY OF HON. RICK NORBY,1 MAYOR, SIDNEY, 

MONTANA 

Mr. NORBY. I would also like to thank you, Senator Tester, for 

inviting me here today. I will probably be the first one you use the 

gavel on. It is really hard for me to keep my stuff under 5 minutes. 

Senator TESTER. Thanks for the warning. 

Mr. NORBY. I have only been Mayor for a short time in Sidney, 

less than a year, but I served on City Council for 6 years prior, and 

I can say the largest concern that my administration has is for its 

citizens. 

Senator TESTER. Is what now? 

Mr. NORBY. Is for its citizens. 
8 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Mr. NORBY. A simple singular concern that encompasses so many 

avenues. The City of Sidney and its neighboring communities are 

expecting growth at a higher rate, and we are all struggling to 

meet the priorities that make up—at the tone of a small Montana 

town. Safety, affordable living and community activities are what 

draws people to live in our communities over the larger oil boom 

in North Dakota is offering. We are a place to raise a family, not 

just work and sleep. In order to maintain this type of community, 

the City of Sidney and its neighbors are working diligently to bring 

in more police and even Federal funding units such as the Drug 

Enforcement Administration (DEA), DCI and the Federal Bureau 

of Investigation (FBI). As mayor, I know that having a safe community that my citizens can walk freely in is important to my constituents. Since Sherry Arnold’s tragic murder, it has been an uphill battle to give the feeling of safety back to the community. With 

the collaboration of all agents, local, State or Federal, we are following any backpack feeling, maintaining safety in a place that can 

easily get out of hand fast is imperative to the entire nation, keeping the agents that are stationed here to aid is required. 

Housing is a constant discussion being had for the area. Affordable housing is almost nonexistent, and if it is affordable it is not 

livable. Apartments are what is being mostly developed in Sidney, 

but they are not the only answer. Even with new apartments going 

up to help with the constant need, the prices are still not going 

down. To rent a 2 bedroom apartment in Sidney you could be paying upwards of $2,100 a month. This causes multiple people to pile 

into the same apartment just so they can afford to live here. The 

shelters in Sidney are constantly overloaded due to people not 

being able to afford the establishments currently provided. I believe 

the answer to this is to develop more single-family homes to help 

equal out the housing costs in the area. The single family home is 

also meant for people to buy not rent, increasing the long-term citizens to the area that will bring in families, not just workers, which 

will increase the number of workers in the area for non-oilfield jobs 

and bring more consistent population. 

Housing is not the only large cost to the area at the moment. We 

are experiencing higher costs of living than any other areas. The 

increase in big oilfield jobs can cause price-gouging on all fronts, 

including groceries, recreational activities and basic living needs. 

The high-paying jobs have increased the per cap income in Richland County by 29.5 percent since 2012, according the Montana 

Local Government Profiles. This means the rates are forced to increase based on target rates as provided by the State. When rates 

increase, the cost to provide goods increase and prices are raised. 

Most of the higher retailers are from the pump to the grocery line. 

This is causing many long-term citizens who would have taken 

their last breaths in Sidney, pack up and move to more affordable 

communities. 

Higher wages are also getting long-term employees hired next to 

impossible. The City of Sidney starts our public works department 

laborers at $18.00 an hour, which is a pretty good wage until you 

compare it to the average non-educated oilfield position starting 

wage at $25.00. How do small businesses afford to pay the increase 
9 

in wages as demanded due to the oil boom? They raise rates. They 

raise their prices, sorry, which in turn cancels any increase in wage 

that is possible. The City of Sidney gave a 3 percent cost of living 

wage increase to all employees this year, but we also had a 200 

percent sewer increase, which canceled most of the employees 

monthly wage increase. 

If you look at the impact the oil boom has on basic citizens in 

Sidney and surrounding area, it is substantial. They are now in a 

daily struggle to maintain their way of living in order to stay in 

their hometown. The City of Sidney does not want to lose its citizens or replace them with new ones. We want to focus on expanding the City and its area while maintaining everything our predecessors fought for. We want to see the old mingle with the new and 

create a better place to live. We do not want to be the better community of the Bakken, we want to be its hometown. In order to accomplish any of this, we need everyone to see it as we see it; it is 

the best place to live. 

We cannot accomplish this if we do not get some help. The 

Bakken is about utilizing its natural resources, people need to realize that. We cannot capitalize on the Bakken until we utilize the 

surrounding area. Thank you again, Senator Tester. 

Senator TESTER. Well, thank you, Mayor; and thank you all for 

your testimony. I very much appreciate the perspective and I appreciate the time you put in for your testimony. We are going to 

start out with an easy question that’s kind of difficult, and that is 

each one of you brings a different perspective to the table. In your 

opinion, if you were going to say ’This is my most pressing need’, 

what would it be? We will start with you Chairman Stafne. What 

is the most pressing need that you have up in Fort Peck? 

Mr. STAFNE. Well, Senator, we really have very many pressing 

needs, but one thing that would certainly help would be funding. 

Senator TESTER. OK, go ahead, Lieutenant Governor. 

Ms. MCLEAN. Thank you, Senator Tester, and thank you fellow 

panelists for remarkable testimony. Infrastructure is what we 

need, and I think I heard that here; and we need infrastructure to 

grow and to sustain that growth now and into the future, and we 

articulated a plan for a $45 million dollar grant fund to impact that 

sustainable growth here in Eastern Montana. We need legislative 

assistance to make sure that becomes a reality, and with that legislative assistance we could provide that help that you so desperately 

need to attract and retain businesses; to attract and retain quality 

teachers; and ultimately ensure, Mr. Mayor, that this is not the 

bedroom community to the Bakken. 

Senator TESTER. Real quick, before, Leslie, you take the mic, I 

have just got a quick followup for you 

Lieutenant Governor, and that is infrastructure and the $45 million dollar program you talked about, what’s going to be eligible for 

that $45 million, is it going to be sewer, water, housing, what’s all 

eligible? 

Ms. MCLEAN. Absolutely. Water and waste water districts will be 

eligible. Additionally, 10 percent of those resources, $4.5 million 

dollars, will be available to meet public safety needs for Eastern 

Montana cities, town and tribal communities. 
10 

Senator TESTER. I have you; and then one last question because 

I think it is important. Who is eligible? 

Ms. MCLEAN. We have a Tier I, Tier II and Tier III county/region 

across the Eastern Montana map, and I would be happy to provide 

you with each of those—— 

Senator TESTER. OK, to get more specific, and you may have addressed this in your testimony and I may have missed it, are tribes 

eligible? 

Ms. MCLEAN. Absolutely. 

Senator TESTER. Are municipalities eligible? 

Ms. MCLEAN. Yes. 

Senator TESTER. Are non-incorporated towns eligible? 

Ms. MCLEAN. Yes. 

Senator TESTER. Good. Thank you. Leslie, we will get back to the 

original question, and that is what in your—as an economic development in Richland County, what’s the most pressing? 

Ms. MESSER. The most pressing need from economic development 

is the ability to grow. Our office is the one that answers the door 

to opportunity. We are the one that is the marketing agent saying 

’Come be here; live here; work here’. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Ms. MESSER. And we cannot continue to grow or thrive if there’s 

not enough places to flush the toilet; if we do not have a enough 

places to live; if the law enforcement cannot adequately handle 

that; those are the most pressing. People come in, those developers 

come in from North Dakota, and the opportunity is here. The opportunity is here to invest in this area for all of the Mon Dak. 

Those developers come in; they come from North Dakota and they 

will walk in my office and say I want to set my company up here. 

The environments are totally different, but I will not take my wife 

and child to Williston, North Dakota. I want to be here. Where can 

I live? What are your schools like? What is your healthcare like? 

We promote that, but it is very stymied and challenging when 

there are no available homes. 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Ms. MESSER. And so that’s it for us. 

Senator TESTER. Good. Mayor. 

Mr. NORBY. I agree with Leslie on that 100 percent. Infrastructure’s got to be the Number 1 concern. I guess I look at this as a 

sinking ship, and you could turn on this and look at this many 

ways. I mean, yes, you can raise rates and get everything up to 

where the target rates are, but that takes time and right now that 

sinking ship’s going to sink—— 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Mr. NORBY [continuing]. And I don’t want to drown here, and I 

don’t want my community to drown here. 

Senator TESTER. The last time I visited with your predecessor 

when I was in town, Mayor Smelser, and he talked about that infrastructure issue as it applied to your sewer plant. 

Mr. NORBY. Yes. 

Senator TESTER. Can you tell me, briefly, can Sidney grow at this 

point in time with the sewer that you have? 

Mr. NORBY. We are currently on Phase I and just going to be 

starting on Phase II of the new lagoon, so we are moving ahead. 
11 

When you started the bonding, such as we had talked, we are already in the motion on that, so yes, we can. 

Senator TESTER. And so you can utilize the build-out you are 

doing right now as far as expansion. You don’t—— 

Mr. NORBY. We are good in that area. 

Senator TESTER. Oh, OK. 

Mr. NORBY. We have been working with DEQ and stuff like that. 

I mean it is a slow process, but yes, we are getting there. 

Senator TESTER. Outstanding. Well, that’s—— 

Mr. NORBY. That’s just the way it is. 

Senator TESTER. That’s good news. This is a question for Leslie 

and you Mayor, and Leslie you talked about in your testimony 

some of the things that businesses do in creating stuff, creative 

things like they own their own housing and there was some other 

things too you brought up. Is housing the primary challenge, is it 

wages, is it all of the above? What, I mean, it would seem to me 

that if you are running a clothing store in downtown Sidney keeping employees is probably pretty darn tough and it didn’t used to 

be tough 10 years ago. So what can be done for these guys? 

Well, let’s just be honest. What can we do? What could the county commissioner do, what could the mayor do, what can I do, what 

can the Governor’s office do to help those businesses? Is there anything we can do? 

Ms. MESSER. Richland County and Sidney area has not had the 

luxury to slowly and systematically improve their infrastructure, 

their streets, their services, the mental health issues, the—— 

Senator TESTER. Right. 

Ms. MESSER. We have not had that ability. You cannot tax the 

people to do that quick enough to address those issues right now. 

So, in my opinion, I believe that the county and the City are doing 

the best that they can with the resources that they have. They 

have to take care of their citizens first and foremost. The people 

that are here that want to be here and work are being very creative, and what I mean by that is they have their family members 

working at all hours; they are closing their doors at different hours 

to be able to just function; they are offering an incentive of maybe 

of potential housing for to start with, like maybe a rental to start 

with, but then they have to go out and find their own, but as the 

oilfield continues to come in and all of those supporting services 

continue to come in, we want them to bring their wives. 

Senator TESTER. Sure. 

Ms. MESSER. So that opens the door for some additional supporting services that could be there for that lady in the dress shop 

or whatever, but there’s not enough single-family homes right now 

to help them set roots down, and that’s what the ultimate goal is 

in my opinion. 

Senator TESTER. Gotcha, thank you. 

Lieutenant Governor, you’ve talked about the $45 million dollar 

grant program that we talked about here just a second ago. Are 

there other plans in place at the State level to address economic 

development challenges out there? 

Ms. MCLEAN. Absolutely. 

Senator TESTER. OK. 
12 

Ms. MCLEAN. And to dovetail off your last question to Ms. 

Messer, I would like to point to the fact that the Governor 

launched a very robust conversation about expanding mental 

health opportunities. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Ms. MCLEAN. Not just here in Eastern Montana but across the 

State of Montana because we know that’s desperately needed here 

and for folks across the Big Sky State. Additionally, the Governor 

wants to expand Medicaid. We think that access is critical for 

70,000 working Montanans who do not have healthcare, and we 

think that’s an important conversation here in Eastern Montana as 

well. I would also like to point to the fact that the concentric circles 

that came out of the very important and complex conversation that 

took place last legislative session around K–12 funding led to additional resources for K–12 schools in Eastern Montana who were directly impacted by this growth to have the resources they would 

need to best meet the challenges, and I would like to point to 

Wibaux, for example, who once had a base salary of $24,000, and 

is now using those resources that I just spoke to elevate that base 

salary to $29,000. I am also aware that districts in Eastern Montana are using already signing bonuses to attract and then retain 

high quality classroom teachers, so those are some of the efforts 

that are coming out of Helena specific to education in the Bakken. 

Additionally, I would point to the Montana University System 

where very robust conversations have been happening, and I would 

point to the specific evolution of a Eastern Montana strike force 

that was started in the fall of 2011 to meet the workforce needs 

specific to Eastern Montana. 

We know that the SWAMMEI Grant is providing considerable 

help in meeting the workforce development needs in the areas of 

welding, machine, industrial electronics, industrial safety, etcetera; 

and I would like to point to a very important conversation that just 

took place earlier this week with Superintendent Farr from here in 

Sidney as well as each of the community college presidents, 

Klippenstein and President Simon, along with industry leaders and 

business leaders from Eastern Montana with the folks from the 

Train North Dakota Northwest Staff to determine how we in our 

community college system, including the Fort Peck Community 

College, could best address the workforce needs, so I can tell you 

the Bullock Administration along with the Montana University 

System is working robustly to develop partnerships and develop 

programs to meet the needs all across the spectrum whether they 

are infrastructure needs; whether they are needs in regards to 

debt-loan repayment, and I would like to point to that key piece 

along with that $45 million dollar grant program, that’s a key component, Senator Tester. The grant funds may be used to repay existing debt incurred on or after July 1 of 2011 for water or waste 

water projects already underway or completed, and we think that 

that is key; and to speak to the safety needs, which is embedded 

in so many parts of these conversations, that $4.5 million as I 

spoke to—— 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Ms. MCLEAN [continuing]. Is right there, and if folks can get 

their applications in the pipeline, the administration is going to be 
13 

ready to address those applications once the legislature approves 

the funding. 

Senator TESTER. OK, good. I appreciate that perspective and I 

appreciate hearing those programs. From Federal level, there are 

programs, in fact Tony Preite is going to be on one of the programs 

coming up, there are programs for housing; there are programs for 

infrastructure investment from the Federal level. I don’t know if 

you have worked with any of them, but I will just ask this, if you 

were in my shoes, what program works the best when it comes to 

either housing or sewer and roads as far as where would you put 

the money, in what Federal program to be able to meet the needs 

you have? 

Mr. NORBY. We do not qualify for anything that’s target rate 

wise. 

Senator TESTER. Anything that’s what? 

Mr. NORBY. Any kind of target rates that we have to meet—— 

Senator TESTER. I see. 

Mr. NORBY [continuing]. To qualify for any of this. We cannot 

qualify. 

Senator TESTER. Because the income is going up. 

Mr. NORBY. Yes. 

Senator TESTER. So we need to change those incomes. 

Mr. NORBY. Yes. You need to change that structure. I mean, you 

can only raise rates so fast—— 

Senator TESTER. Right. 

Mr. NORBY [continuing]. Before you end up being the only person 

living in Sidney, Montana—— 

Senator TESTER. No, that’s not—— 

Mr. NORBY [continuing]. Besides the workers. [Laughing.] 

Senator TESTER. Gotcha. 

Mr. NORBY. But I mean that’s how we look at it and that’s we 

went to the bonding method—— 

Senator TESTER. Gotcha. 

Mr. NORBY. And went that route and are the only options we 

have. 

Senator TESTER. I hear you and you are correct. Go ahead, Leslie, do you—— 

Ms. MESSER. I would dovetail onto to what he’s saying. The 

CDBG and the housing, the different housing that happen, that’s 

all very applicable. We have a very strong housing authority that 

is on the forefront of that battle and you will hear from Mr. 

Groshart later on in the day, and again, a lot of our levels and a 

lot of these programs are focused to the low to moderate. That addresses a portion of our population. We should be able to address 

the teachers and some of the others that may just barely be out 

of those limits. 

Senator TESTER. Gotcha. OK, good. We are going to—I am going 

to on. We are going to stick with the two Sidney residents here for 

right now. I want to get a better understanding of the relationship 

that the economic developers have, you, Leslie, and with the 

Mayor, the relationship you have with the oil companies. Is there 

a relationship? Have they stepped up in any way to address any 

of the challenges that you have? 
14 

Mr. NORBY. No, they have not; but me being new, I have not 

went out and spoke with them either, so—— 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Mr. NORBY [continuing]. I have to be honest about that. 

Senator TESTER. Is there, and I just do not know this, do they 

have point people that you can go to or do you have to go to each 

company? 

Mr. NORBY. I hate to say it, not that I know of. 

Senator TESTER. OK, all right. Leslie, would you address that? 

Ms. MESSER. As I have traveled across the State, that’s the No. 

1 question that’s asked to me, ‘Well, why aren’t you having the oil 

companies pay your bills?’ That’s a very good question, but the reality of it is is that these companies are working in our area but 

their corporate headquarters aren’t here. 

Senator TESTER. Right. 

Ms. MESSER. And so it is this chain of command. We have 

reached out. Some of them have stepped in, but they are focused 

on getting in, getting the product, making a profit and conducting 

business. I am not saying it is right or wrong, but when I have had 

conversations, they feel they are paying taxes; they feel they are 

paying their dues into our State. I cannot argue with that from a 

business standpoint—— 

Senator TESTER. No. 

Ms. MESSER [continuing]. So, historically, being a fifth resident 

of Richland County, we try to do the very best we can to solve our 

own problems. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Ms. MESSER. This is probably one of the first times in history 

where we don’t have the answers and we are seeking help, and I 

don’t care where it comes from. 

Senator TESTER. Exactly. 

Ms. MESSER. We need to take care of our people. 

Senator TESTER. I got you; and I appreciate that very much. 

Chairman Stafne, I want to ask you the same question. You guys 

have had some oil development, on your reservation, or has it not 

happened there yet? 

Mr. STAFNE. Very little, yes. There are various reasons why this 

is I guess. The red tape that the companies have to go through and 

it takes them forever. We have mentioned this before, that the Federal regulations imposed by the Department of the Interior and the 

Bureau of Indian Affairs, that it takes to get the approval to drill 

on Federal land, Indian land, or Tribal land, whatever it may be. 

I think a lot of the companies give up before they get to that stage 

where they are going to punch a hole in the ground. That is one 

very serious drawback that we have been fighting for quite a while 

now and we have been speaking to different agencies and I think 

you are aware of that, Senator. We have had various talks about 

that. 

Senator TESTER. Yes, absolutely, and it is something that we 

need to be working with the BIA and beyond and—— 

Mr. STAFNE. And on that Cotton case. 

Senator TESTER. Yes, right, exactly. 
15 

Mr. STAFNE. We have been talking a lot about that. Senator, I 

only said one word when you asked me what our greatest need was 

and I said funds. I guess I would like to go a little further—— 

Senator TESTER. Sure, you can, go ahead. 

Mr. STAFNE. I guess the number one priority of a lot of us is our 

healthcare. I mentioned this before; the average age of the death 

of an adult male on the Reservation is 51 years old. I have surpassed that by almost double now. I do not know why; if I am lucky 

or not, but that’s a shame, a child being born male can expect to 

live to 51 years of age; and in a non-native community, I do not 

know, I would assume it is 20 years longer than that. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. STAFNE. And you are aware we have Indian Health Services 

(IHS), and I have attended hearings with you on them, so you are 

aware of the problems there and the fundings we need. We have 

no senior homes or senior care. We are trying to build a wellness 

center and we are fighting for funds for that. We are trying to build 

homes. Even though we do not have the oil on our Reservation, the 

people, the workers have moved onto the Reservation and they are 

offering big bucks to rent our houses, and our Native people, our 

residents are left out. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. STAFNE. We have people that are camping out in the 

woods—— 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. STAFNE [continuing]. Through the wintertime living in tents 

because there is not enough homes built. Our roads and streets are 

bad and we need to help our law enforcement. I testified we can 

use six more drug agents. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. STAFNE. And our courts are overwhelmed with cases, not 

only tribal courts, the municipal courts, the State courts, the Federal courts, and again, money would help with that. I guess it is 

not going to cure it, but we would be able to offer a little resistance. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. STAFNE. We have transportation problems. Our Reservation 

is 100 miles, approximately, across and the center of the Reservation, is Poplar where all the reservation officers are. A lot of people 

do not have transportation. Our irrigation system—— 

Senator TESTER. And the list goes on. That’s why you said funds. 

Mr. STAFNE. Yes, it is never-ending. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. Thank you, Chairman. Angela, I want to 

come back to this $45 million bucks, this infrastructure package, 

because there’s other questions that keep coming up. There’s a 

Technical Assistance Rapid Response Team that’s going to be assisting local communities. Could you give me an idea of who is on 

that or has it been set up yet? 

Ms. MCLEAN. The Rapid Response Teams will be dependent on 

the needs of each community, and they will be assembled based on 

their requests as theysurface, and so each Rapid Response Team 

could look entirely different, but as I spoke in my initial statement, 

it would be made up of folks from the Office of Commerce, the 

DNRC, the Department of Environmental Quality, and perhaps 
16 

others as necessary, perhaps the Department of Transportation 

(DOT), and you will be hearing from Director Tooley later. 

Senator TESTER. Will local stakeholders have an opportunity for 

input? 

Ms. MCLEAN. Absolutely, and we will come at their request and 

that’s part of it. We recognize a large part of this conversation in 

securing Federal resources that may be available to these communities revolves around technical assistance, and we stand ready in 

State government to provide that technical assistance, not just 

after the $45 million dollars is approved, but right now we stand 

ready to offer that technical assistance. 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Ms. MCLEAN. And a couple of other things I would like to just 

point to in respect to what my good friend Chair Stafne just said 

is the Governor’s office hears loudly and clearly your needs to recognize healthcare in Indian Country, and for the very first time we 

are having a very aggressive conversation about housing a tribal 

health office within the office of the Governor. Additionally, Senator, you asked what can the Federal Government do as far as—— 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Ms. MCLEAN [continuing]. Far as programs. I would speak to the 

support of the Housing Tax Credit Program; the Section 8 Housing 

efforts; the CDBG grants. Additionally, I mentioned the TACT 

Grant funding that provided our State with $25 million dollars. 

Community colleges got it here in Eastern Montana to facilitate 

these workforce development needs, and so we are having these 

conversations and we look forward to continue partnering with you 

to make sure that we close these gaps where they exist all across 

the board for folks. 

Senator TESTER. I appreciate that, Lieutenant Governor. For 

Messer and Norby, a couple of questions that deals with red tape 

on Federal dollars, and you may or may not have gone here before, 

but I am just curious to know when you are going for grants or 

loans, are you seeing unreasonable red tape, reasonable red tape 

when you try to approach a grant or a loan, or maybe you have not 

been able to get there because of the income level thatyou just 

talked about before. 

Ms. MESSER. I would say that the accessibility is very challenging. Our office has not applied for several different reasons because of the fact that we have very strong agencies within our community that apply for those, but one of the reasons why we don’t 

is, again, our income levels; the bureaucracy; the needing—— 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Ms. MESSER [continuing]. To hire a consultant to get through the 

application. 

Senator TESTER. Sure. 

Ms. MESSER. Those are all very challenging on our very limited 

budgets for operation. 

Senator TESTER. OK. Absolutely, which got to the point that I 

thought you were going to get to so thank you. Mayor Norby, you 

spoke about impact bonuses for City employees? 

Mr. NORBY. What’s that? 

Senator TESTER. Impact bonuses for City employees? 

Mr. NORBY. Yes. 
17 

Senator TESTER. Your perspective of those? Have those done 

what you anticipated them to do or—— 

Mr. NORBY. I would like to give more. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. NORBY. That’s for sure. We went 3 percent and we went with a $300 stipend according to how our little bit of oil money that we 

do have, you know, revenue checks come in. That will gauge off 

that. That’s the best we could do right now at this time to try to 

be competitive with everybody around us. 

Senator TESTER. OK. That’s good. Do you know if the school districts have done anything similar? 

Mr. NORBY. I remember seeing it in the paper. I don’t remember 

the number. It was like $2.00 or something like that, wasn’t it? 

Senator TESTER. Because it seems to me it is an incredible challenge. 

Mr. NORBY. They do something, but I guess I am not—— 

Senator TESTER. OK, that’s fine. 

Mr. NORBY [continuing]. Able to tell you exactly what they did, 

but we kind of followed the lead, me and my City court, trying to 

go that direction and that’s why we went the way we went. 

Senator TESTER. Sure. Well, thank you for that. I am in constant 

conversation with the Office of Personnel Management when it 

comes to employees that work on the Federal lands out here because quite frankly if the BLM hires an engineer they can make 

twice as much going into the oil patch. Has the State addressed 

that issue at all from a State employee standpoint about 

competiveness of salaries because I think you guys, from my experience at the State level we fall under the same kind of thing, you 

have a salary structure that’s set across the State for your State 

employees. Is there anything that you can do or anything you propose because I am sure you are losing employees too just like the 

local businesses are and school districts and everybody else. Is 

there anything the State can do or has that conversation started 

yet or is it a problem? 

Ms. MCLEAN. I can tell you as far as State employees, I would 

tell you there would most likely not be a significant problem. 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Ms. MCLEAN. However, if there is something we can do to help 

communities in Eastern Montana attract and retain workers, we 

definitely want to do that, and I would offer Senator Tester that 

once a community applies and receives grant dollars through the 

Infrastructure Grant Program, that would free up resources for 

them to use those dollars that they might have on the table to attract and retain staff, and that was the whole notion of the concentric circle conversation around education was how can we help 

schools in Eastern Montana have the resources to attract, retrain 

high quality teachers in the classroom. 

Senator TESTER. OK, good. Chairman Stafne, I just want you to 

speak about the difficulties of recruiting and training police officers. It is my understanding that the starting salary of a tribal police officer is about $3.00 less per hour than a person with the 

same qualifications working across the border at a Wal-Mart in 

Williston. That puts us in a heck of a bind. Talk to me about your 

challenges with recruiting and retaining officers. 
18 

Mr. STAFNE. As far as salary goes, I do not know, but we do have 

a couple of members of the Sheriff’s Department and maybe they 

are on the panel and they can probably discuss that with you. Are 

you on the panel? 

[Indicating to an officer in the audience.] 

Senator TESTER. We will take that up with him afterwards. You 

are still with the Tribal Police Department? 

[Whereupon, an officer in the audience nods head affirmatively.] 

OK, good, all right. Well, I will close it out here because we have 

burned through about an hour, and I just want to thank you guys 

for your patience as we talk about these issues, and I also want 

to thank you all for your service and your vision and your ability 

to tell it like it is. I think that’s really critically important, and I 

think that the testimony you gave today, I mean, the hope that I 

get out of this, and I talked about it a little bit in the opening 

statement, that the hope that I get out of this is that we can all 

sit down and understand where our challenges are and help one 

another meet those challenges. Because the truth is in the case of 

the City of Sidney, you can not do it all. You do not have the ability 

to do it all; you do not have the resources to do it all, but hopefully 

the Federal, the State and the county can help and we can all 

achieve the goal we are looking for and that’s a place we can call 

home, so thank you all very much for being here. 

Mr. STAFNE. Thank you, Senator, for conducting these hearings. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. Thanks you all. Now, we will get ready for 

the second panel so you guys probably know who you are. We are 

going to change some nametags and let folks get readjusted here. 

We have Mike Cotter, Mike Gottlieb, Scott Vito, Tim Fox, and 

Craig Anderson. Those five will be up next. We will have to snuggle. 

OK, we need Attorney General Fox and Sheriff Anderson to come 

on up and sit right down. Thank you—— 

Thanks to the first panel on economic development. Our second 

panel is going to focus on law enforcement, and we have a great 

blend of Federal, state and local law enforcement officials. The man 

to my immediate left is Mike Cotter, he is the U.S. Attorney for 

the District of Montana. He was nominated for this position by the 

President and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December 2009. 

Mike oversees an office; he conducts Federal investigations and 

prosecutions as well as the majority of Federal civil litigation in 

which the United States is a party. I should also note that Mike 

is a U.S. Army Veteran, and we thank you for your service not only 

in the military but as U.S. Attorney. Thank you for being here, 

Mike. 

And then we have Mike Gottlieb is the National High Intensity 

Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Director. That’s a pretty good 

handle, Mike. He is with the White House Office of National Drug 

Control Policy (ONDCP). This is an important position in this region. In his role, Mike oversees a $238 million dollar grant program 

that funds 670 investigative, prosecution, interdiction and prevention initiatives. Over the years, he has advised the Obama Administration; the Bush Administration; and the Clinton Administration 

in prominent legal and management roles in ONDCP. Mike, I want 

to thank you for coming to Montana, and I want to thank you for 
19 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Cotter appears in the Appendix on page 81. 

coming here today. We appreciate your flexibility to be here; and 

then we have Scott Vito. 

He is an Assistant Special Agent In Charge in the Salt Lake City 

Division of the FBI. In that capacity, he oversees Bureau investigations across Montana. Scott first became an FBI Special Agent in 

July 1995. Prior to that, he served in the U.S. Army for 7 years; 

we thank you for your service; and later as a police detective. 

Thank you for being here today, Scott. I very much appreciate the 

FBI coming here because you are a big player in this region. 

We also have Attorney General Tim Fox, the Attorney General 

for the great State of Montana. He is the State’s Chief Legal Officer, Chief Law Enforcement Officer, and Director of the Montana 

Department of Justice. He has a lot of hats. Tim was elected in 

2012 and has previously for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. It is absolutely good to have you here today and 

I appreciate you taking the time out to be here. 

And last, but certainly not least, we have Sheriff Craig Anderson, 

Sheriff of Dawson County since June 2003. In that role he is responsible for a large portion of law enforcement in this region. 

Craig is a former Chief Probation Officer with 27 years of experience. Previously, he also worked on the Youth Justice Council and 

the Montana Board of Crime Control. As always, it is great to see 

you, Craig; thank you for being here today. 

As I told the first panel, if you can keep it to 5 minutes we would 

appreciate it, and I am talking to you, Cotter. 

Mr. COTTER. I can and I will. [Laughter.] 

Senator TESTER. If you can keep it to 5 minutes, it would be 

great. If I start rattling the gavel you will get the hint, but I would 

just tell you that when we set this hearing up we sat down and 

we talked about who we wanted, and I am going to tell you the five 

of you I did not think we would get all of you, but we got all of 

you, and I just want to say thank you very for taking time. I know 

you have other things to do, maybe multiple things to do, but you 

are here today; you are here in Sidney to talk about an important 

issue, and you are here because you know it is important, so thank 

you all for being here. With that, Mike Cotter, you can get us started. 

TESTIMONY OF HON. MICHAEL W. COTTER,1 UNITED STATES 

ATTORNEY, DISTRICT OF MONTANA, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF 

JUSTICE 

Mr. COTTER. Thank you, Senator Tester and thank you very 

much for inviting me and giving me an opportunity to speak to 

Federal law enforcement efforts here in the Bakken. 

First of all, I am a big cheerleader for the efforts that have been 

made by the Federal law enforcement over the last 3 years. They 

have done a damn good job, and I will go into more detail during 

the Q and A period as to the things that we have been able to accomplish in the last period of time. 

In 2012, Senator, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana and the District of North Dakota convened a law 

enforcement strategy session in Glasgow, Montana. There were 150 
20 

Federal, state, local and international and tribal law enforcement 

personnel from Montana, North Dakota and Canada that attended 

the meeting, and from that the strategy of Project Safe Bakken 

emerged. That remains a high priority for Montana and remains a 

high priority to the United States Attorney’s Office of North Dakota. 

Project Safe Bakken’s mission is to coordinate and synchronize 

the law enforcement efforts between Federal, state, tribal and local 

enforcement entities. The purpose is to detect, disrupt and dismantle organized criminal enterprises who distribute illegal drugs 

and commit other crimes in the Bakken region of Montana and 

North Dakota. And to that end, the United States Attorneys for 

Montana and North Dakota, the Attorney Generals for Montana 

and North Dakota, Federal, state, local and tribal enforcement 

have formed a task force to share intelligence to combat crime in 

the region and affecting communities including Fort Peck and Fort 

Berthold Indian Reservations. And since the inception of Project 

Safe Bakken in my office in Montana, we have indicted 117 defendants on Federal drug trafficking charges specific to the Bakken region. In one case recently, we successfully prosecuted the leader of 

a large methamphetamine drug trafficking organization. The defendant, Robert Farrell Armstrong, received 20 years in prison for 

trafficking large amounts of nearly pure meth into this part of 

Montana. We have also opened cases and prosecuted pornography, 

oil and gas scams along the Fort Peck Reservation, worker 

endangerment and environmental crimes. In North Dakota, my 

counterpart over there, U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon, he’s seen a case 

load increase in Western North Dakota from 126 defendants in 

2009 4 to 336 in 2013. 

But the beauty of the Project Safe Bakken approach is, Senator 

Tester, it is not Montana specific, it is not North Dakota, it is regional. It also encompasses Saskatchewan and parts of Manitoba; 

and what we are experiencing here in Montana, they see it in 

North Dakota, they are seeing it up in Canada, so it really is an 

effort of all law enforcement agencies to identify through intelligence gathering and sharing specific targets that need to be identified and dealt with effectively through prosecutions. 

The other things that we have done from the Montana side, the 

Department of Justice (DOJ) has also responded with training and 

financial assistance to State, local and tribal law enforcement. 

Since 2012, my office here in Montana has coordinated at least five 

separate trainings for State, local and tribal officers out here in 

Eastern Montana. We have dispatched Assistant United States Attorneys who have come out. They have joined up with the Bureau, 

the FBI, DEA, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to provide training for the locals. Over in North Dakota, the Drug Enforcement Administration has just concluded a 2- 

week drug investigation school for the Bakken drug agents. Violence against women; the Department’s Office of Violence Against 

Women just recently announced the release of two grant solicitations as a part of a new $3 million dollar special addition to the 

Bakken region and will impact both Fort Berthold as well as Forth 

Peck. It will aid the local criminal justice system in responding to 
21 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Gottlieb appears in the Appendix on page 86. 

the crimes by providing the resources for Tribal Special Assistant 

United States Attorneys. 

The Project Safe Bakken does illustrate the dynamic working 

partnership in Montana and North Dakota between Federal, state, 

local and tribal law enforcement entities to combat crime and address public safety issues. We are committed to communication, coordination and collaborations with our law enforcement partners to 

promote public safety in this area. The FBI, ATF and DEA have 

all done intelligence collecting. They have also identified the issues 

that are here and fully understand that systematic long-term 

changes will be necessary in order to provide security to the region, 

but in the short term, FBI has deployed agents on a rotating detail 

to Sidney, Montana. They have created a new squad for Western 

North Dakota. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives have also 

dispatched agents from Billings to this area to deal with specific 

problems and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future and 

into the future. As long as there is a problem, the response will be 

there. 

Thank you, Senator Tester, and I look forward to taking your 

questions later. Thank you very much. 

Senator TESTER. Yes, thank you, Mike Cotter. I very much appreciate your testimony and I appreciate your service as U.S. Attorney for the State of Montana; thank you. 

Mr. COTTER. Thank you. 

Senator TESTER. Mike Gottlieb. 

TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL K. GOTTLIEB,1 NATIONAL DIRECTOR 

HIGH INTENSITY DRUG TRAFFICKING AREAS (HIDTA) PROGRAM, OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY 

Mr. GOTTLIEB. Senator Tester, thank you for the opportunity to 

appear before you to discuss the Office of National Drug Control 

Policy’s recently released National Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy and ONDCP’s work to coordinate the efforts of 

Federal, state, local and tribal resources to address emerging drug 

threats in the Bakken oilfield region. 

I am the National Director of ONDCP’s High Intensity Drug 

Trafficking Areas Program and I am pleased to be in Sidney this 

morning as this will mark my third visit to the Bakken region in 

the past 10 months. The HIDTA Program provides assistance to 

Federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to facilitate coordination and cooperation to combat drug-related safety 

and health consequences in areas determined to be critical drug 

trafficking regions of the United States. Thus, as part of our activities, we regularly interact with law enforcement entities working 

to halt illicit drug use in the Bakken region. There are 28 regional 

HIDTAs, which include approximately 16 percent of all counties in 

the United States and 60 percent of the U.S. population. The 

HIDTA Program is active and thriving in the State of Montana. 

The National Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy is the 

Administration’s plan for substantially reducing the flow of illicit 

drugs and drug proceeds along our Nation’s Northern border. It 
22 

provides an overview of current counternarcotics efforts in the region and identifies strategic objectives and specific actions that will 

enable us to achieve our goal. The 2014 Strategy acknowledges the 

inherent challenges in curtailing illicit drug trafficking across the 

Northern border, among them are the vastness of the border itself, 

which extends more than 5,000 miles, as well as the ever—evolving 

illegal drug production and trafficking trends that confront law enforcement officers. 

Another challenge is the emergence of drug trafficking and related crimes resulting from the development of the Bakken oilfields. In recognition of this emerging threat, the 2014 Strategy includes a specific section dedicated to drug traffic in the Bakken region and our efforts to address this threat. To highlight the challenges present in the Bakken region, the Administration elected to 

release the national strategy in Minot, North Dakota, on August 

19. The 2014 Strategy updates and expands upon the Administration’s first National Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy 

which was released in 2012. Like its predecessor, the 2014 Strategy 

builds upon existing relationships, programs and policies. It seeks 

further opportunities to pursue national security by disrupting 

transnational criminal organizations and improves information 

sharing, thereby enabling more efficient and effective use of resources. Specifically, the Strategy lays out several strategic objectives central to our efforts. They include enhancing intelligence and 

information sharing at the Northern border; interdicting illicit 

drugs and drug money at and between ports of entry along the 

Northern border, on land, in the air and over the water; and enhancing counterdrug efforts in cooperation with tribal governments 

along the border; and finally, investigating and prosecuting dangerous criminal organizations operating along or exploiting the 

Northern border. The 2014 Strategy contains more than 40 individual action items that will be implemented in the coming weeks 

and months, and ONDCP will oversee theses processes which will 

be supported by our numerous Federal, state, local and tribal partners. The Strategy aligns with the Administration’s foundational 

document, the National Drug Control Strategy. As we work to substantially reduce drug trafficking and related crime across the Nation’s Northern border, we are also engaged in efforts to address 

the emerging threat of drug trafficking in the Bakken region. For 

example, in 2013 ONDCP officially designated Williams County, 

North Dakota, as part of the HIDTA Program. With this designation, HIDTA funds were directed to hire an additional Special Assistant United States Attorney to provide support to the prosecution of organized crime and drug trafficking. 

The Administration also launched an interagency partnership, 

Project Safe Bakken, to coordinate law enforcement efforts in the 

region. ONDCP’s HIDTA Program supports law enforcement efforts 

in Montana by facilitating cooperation among Federal, state, local 

and tribal agencies. Through the work of the Rocky Mountain 

HIDTA, more than $900,000 in Federal grant funds are directed to 

drug task forces operating in the State of Montana. The Eastern 

Montana, the Missoula County, the Missouri River, the Northwest 

Montana, and the Russell County Drug Task Forces bring together 

Federal resources with 4 State and 12 local agencies. 
23 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Vito appears in the Appendix on page 94. 

The Administration also supports drug prevention efforts in the 

Bakken oilfield region. ONDCP’s Drug Free Communities (DFC), 

Support Program, provides grant to community coaltions that are 

focused on identifying local drug problems and implementing comprehensive strategies that create community level change. There 

are currently seven Drug Free Communities funded by ONDCP in 

Montana, including one in Sidney, the Richland County Partnership for Promise Coalition. This coalition has been collaborating 

with various sectors of the community to prevent and reduce youth 

substance use, and each year DFC programs staffed from ONDCP 

conduct grant application workshops across the country, including 

special technical assistance sessions dedicated to helping tribes 

write competitive grant applications. 

Senator, the Administration’s efforts to confront drug trafficking 

and its public safety and public health consequences are comprehensive and varied. A few quick examples include the $3 million 

dollar grant from the Department of Justice’s Office of Violence 

Against Women to strengthen law enforcement’s aid to victims of 

sexual assault and domestic violence. HHS and CDC support their 

public health programs and health centers in Montana and North 

Dakota. To strengthen substance abuse disorder services in the 

Great Plains Area of the Indian Health Service, there was increased funding for a contract mental health therapist and a parttime counselor to focus on substance abuse treatment. 

Senator, as you work to implement the 2014 National Northern 

Border Counternarcotics Strategy in the coming weeks and months, 

we look forward to working with our many Federal, state, local and 

tribal partners to reduce use and its consequences on both sides of 

our Northern border and within the Bakken region as part of the 

comprehensive administration effort to address the issues that 

have arisen from the development in this region. Thank you, Senator Tester, for your leadership. 

Senator TESTER. Yes, thank you Mike, I appreciate your testimony and thanks for being here once again. Scott Vito. 

TESTIMONY OF SCOTT VITO,1 ASSISTANT SPECIAL AGENT IN 

CHARGE, SALT LAKE CITY DIVISION, FEDERAL BUREAU OF 

INVESTIGATION 

Mr. VITO. Good morning, Chairman Tester. I am pleased to be 

with you here today to discuss the FBI’s efforts to combat crime in 

the Bakken region. The Bakken formation is now considered one of 

the most important sources of oil in the United States. In fact, late 

last year the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected 

that Bakken production in North Dakota and Montana would ultimately exceed 1 million barrels per day. The development of the 

Bakken oilfields has also caused a sharp spike in both population 

and income levels. Unfortunately, the boom in population in the region also provides significant opportunities for an influx of criminal 

elements. In early 2013 in response to this burgeoning crime problem, the FBI along with its Federal and State law enforcement 

partners began to develop a strategy that addressed the criminal 

threat to the region. In May 2013, the FBI working with the 
24 

United States Attorneys’ offices in Montana and North Dakota participated in a combined strategy session of Project Safe Bakken. 

This effort resulted in the FBI’s decision to surge resources to the 

Bakken area and locate them in Sidney, Montana. Here in Montana, two agents have been co-located with their State and local 

counterparts in the Richland County Sheriff’s Department since 

July 2013. 

Additionally, their efforts are supported and bolstered by numerous FBI resident agencies and two FBI field offices. We used our 

intelligence gathering process to consistently assess the ongoing 

threat. This information influences our resource decisions to effectively address those threats, which in turn ensures the FBI addresses those threats created by the development in the Bakken. 

At present, the FBI headquarters has continued to evaluate the 

threat and has assured us they will continue to direct additional 

resources as necessary. As a threat-based, intelligence-driven organization, the FBI relies heavily on intelligence gathered from our 

State and local law enforcement partners and private sector relationships. Project Safe Bakken was a deliberate precise targeting 

of an emerging criminal threat to the area. The purpose of this 

long-term project is to detect, disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking organizations and criminal enterprises that are operating in 

the Bakken region in Montana and North Dakota. Importantly, 

this Task Force approach allows us to both share intelligence and 

force multiply. Through such efforts, we not only address those 

crimes which are statutorily within the FBI’s jurisdiction,but also 

share vital information needed by our State, local and tribal partners to combat crime within the community. 

For example, collaborative efforts among Federal, state, local and 

tribal partners in June 2013 resulted in the arrest of 22 people. 

Similarly in October 2013, a coordinated effort led to four arrests 

in North Dakota and 12 in Montana. Earlier this year, Operation 

Pipe Cleaner and Operation Pale Mule saw the arrest of more than 

35 individuals. The charges were predominantly related to drugs, 

specifically related to heroin and methamphetamine, which have 

become increasingly available in the Bakken region. As an example 

of our continuing coordination and integration with local law enforcement, within the last month our agents working with the Sidney Police Department in Montana and the Williston Police Department in North Dakota on two firearms thefts. Our agents 

worked with the police departments and were able to gather significant evidence. Using this evidence, we were able to leverage our 

national resources to gather items of comparison from California 

that led to the identification and the arrest of a subject by the Sidney Police Department. This investigation is ongoing and may result in additional charges. 

Chairman Tester, let me assure you that the FBI remains committed to assisting our State and local partners in making certain 

that the safety and well-being of the people in Montana remains 

a priority. Thank you again for the opportunity to testify. I will 

look forward to answering any questions that you may have. 

Senator TESTER. Thank you, Scott. I appreciate your testimony. 

Attorney General Fox, you are up. 
25 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Fox appears in the Appendix on page 96. 

TESTIMONY OF HON. TIM FOX,1 ATTORNEY GENERAL, STATE 

OF MONTANA 

Mr. FOX. Chairman Tester, thank you for inviting me here to 

speak with you today and to answer questions. Thank you, also, for 

coming to Sidney, welcome home. I think it is vitally important for 

Congressional Committees to hold field hearings throughout the 

country, especially when the subject matter is tied to a particular 

place. Opportunities and challenges tend to be a little different up 

close than they do from Washington, DC, as you well know. I say 

opportunities and challenges deliberately because this is precisely 

what we face here in Eastern Montana. We cannot speak of one 

without the other. Oil and gas development is the second largest 

industry in Montana. It is responsible for more than 12,000 direct 

jobs locally, which pay on average $60,000 per year, well above the 

majority of wages in Montana. The industry is also responsible for 

thousands of more indirect jobs. Last year, oil and gas development 

generated more than $200 million dollars in tax revenue for Montana’s State and local governments. By the way, much of that 

should be redirected back to this area I believe. But also many 

other States have faced sizable budget deficits in recent years. 

Montana has enjoyed comfortable surpluses and economic balances 

while still providing vital services to its citizens. We would not 

have been able to do so without the economic activity from resource 

development. What is happening here in Montana and North Dakota is part of the ‘‘all of the above’’ energy strategy emphasized 

by President Obama. Hydraulic fracturing and other technologies 

have evolved over the years and now represent an unprecedented 

opportunity to safely and responsibily work toward our Nation’s energy independence. 

As you have heard and will hear from others today, with such 

opportunity and growth comes the need to invest in infrastructure. 

Economic growth means thousands of new people are living and 

working in the region. Our highways are busier and the once quiet 

towns are now bustling with activity. This is the case in any part 

of the country with rapid population and economic growth comes 

an increase in crime rates. From 2008 to 2012, the number of arrests in all crime categories in the counties that fall within the 

Bakken region increased by 80 percent. From 2010 to 2013, the 

number of narcotics investigations undertaken by the Montana Department of Justice in Northeastern Montana increased by 281 percent. From 2008 to 2012, arrests for drugs and drug paraphernalia 

increased by more than 300 percent. Earlier this year, one city police chief in Northeastern Montana reported that domestic violence 

had increased by 148 percent in the past 5 years; and the number 

of attacks increased by 825 percent; and cases of drug abuse increased by 785 percent. In 2010, it became clear to law enforcement 

authorities in the region that much of the narcotic trafficking was 

being conducted by national and international criminal organizations including Mexican drug cartels. Their presence throughout 

Northeastern Montana and Northwestern North Dakota has become a commonplace. In 2010, in Northeastern Montana, a gram 

of methamphetamine brought a street price of around $100; an 
26 

ounce sold for $500 to $600. Beginning in 2011 and continuing 

today, the price has continually increased. Currently, a gram of 

meth brings $250 to $300; and an ounce routinely sells for $2,800 

to $3,000, and the area around Sidney far exceeding national prices 

for these drugs. Their quantity and purity indicate an origin in the 

Southern United States and Mexico. 

These are just a few of the statistics that make it clear that law 

enforcement is and must continue to be a key part of any investment in infrastructure. As Montana’s Chief Law Enforcement Administration Officer, the safety of our citizens is paramount, my 

paramount duty. It is also the drive of more than 800 public services of Montana Department of Justice who work tirelessly in all 

corners of this State, often under dangerous circumstances to protect their citizens. We take this responsibility very seriously as do 

the city, county, tribal and Federal law enforcement partners with 

whom we work on a daily basis. Our legislature meets only for 90 

days every other year which gives State and local officials narrow 

windows of time to pursue many of the avenues available for responding to the growth in Eastern Montana. When I took office last 

year, it was clear that the Department of Justice needed to invest 

more resources in Eastern Montana. At the time, call response 

times for highway patrol troopers were unacceptable with very long 

durations. Our troopers were stretched too thin and were over-burdened so much in the fact that retention had become an issue with 

our ability to not only respond to calls in a timely manner, but also 

assist local agencies in jeopardy. 

We went to the 2013 legislature and asked for funding to add additional troopers to our Eastern Montana detachments. We were 

successful in acquiring five new troopers who are already working 

in the field now. We also steered more resources to our Division of 

Criminal Investigation which helps local and Federal law enforcement agencies and tribal agencies as well investigate complex 

crime—profiled violent crimes. From day one of the 2013 Legislative Session, we worked to secure two additional DCI agents for 

Eastern Montana. In the end, we were successful, and much of that 

credit belongs to Governor Bullock who was a former attorney general and he understands the law enforcement challenges facing 

Eastern Montana. 

Speaking of DCI, I am glad that Montana’s U.S. Attorney, Mike 

Cotter, is here today. Mike and his team work very hard to prosecute Federal criminal cases throughout Montana. Our DCI agents 

assist Mike’s office in such cases on a regular basis. It is an important and productive partnership that benefits Montanans and we 

are committed to maintaining it. I also want to mention that at 

Mike’s suggestion, I am adding a budget item in my budget the 

next legislature to secure another prosecutor who will be solely responsible for Eastern Montana drug prosecutions, and Mike has 

committed that should this person have the right qualifications, 

and I am sure they will, that this person would be designated as 

a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, and I think that will further our 

cooperation collaboration. 

Field work is just one aspect of law enforcement. At the Department of Justice, we also operate the State Crime Laboratory which 

processes the evidence that can make or break successful prosecu-
27 

tion facing a backlog created in part by cases in Eastern Montana. 

Last year we increased staffing at the lab in the key areas of forensic science. We also successfully advanced legislation establishing 

a THC impairment standard for driving under the influence (DUI) 

of marijuana as well as a bill banning the popular designer drugs 

that mimic dangerous illegal drugs. 

To combat repeat DUI offenses, we are investing considerable 

time and resources into expanding the 24/7 sobriety program, including two counties impacted by Bakken growth. This has been a 

tremendously successful program that holds repeat offenders accountable and saves tax payer money by eliminating many incarceration costs. During the 2013 Legislative Session, we successfully 

advanced a bill changing from 5 years to 10 the window to determine if an offender is subject to the intent advanced enhanced 

criminal penalties and driver license sanctions for a second or subsequent DUI conviction. 

Our Prosecution Services Bureau assists Montana’s smaller counties—including those impacted by the Bakken region, with the 

toughest cases, our seasoned agents under the DIC, which I mentioned previously, help county sheriff offices and City police departments investigate the range of crimes that have increased with 

population and economic growth in Eastern Montana. I am excited 

to say that earlier this year with the help of Federal money and 

forfeiture money, we launched a Montana Highway Patrol’s first 

ever K–9 Narcotic Units. 

These six units are stationed in strategic locations along major 

corridors that conduct drug interdiction operations throughout 

Montana. This represents a significant advancement in our ability 

to intercept drugs being trafficked through Montana. We are also 

working very hard to raise awareness to human trafficking, which 

is now taking place in the Bakken region, and in the interest of 

time I am going to skip a little bit more about that. In addition, 

we are training our officers that come out of the Montana Law Enforcement Academy about human trafficking and how to look for 

signs of human trafficking. Just with one agency alone cannot fully 

address the public safety challenges in the Bakken region. The 

public sector alone will not suffice. A holistic approach requires 

partnership with the companies operating in the region. To that 

end, the Department of Justice has been working with the Montana Petroleum Association and its members to explore ways we 

could work together. For example, our agents have been training 

human resource staff on how to identify red flags during the 

screening process. Most of the people that come to work in the 

Bakken are honest men and women who want to work hard and 

earn a good living for themselves and their families, yet we cannot 

deny that there are criminals and others with nefarious intentions 

seeking employment as well. If we can work together with these 

companies during the hiring process, we can make big strides in 

helping prevent that element from gaining access to the region. 

My staff and I are more than happy to answer any questions 

from you, Senator Tester, others in attendance here today, again, 

I do appreciate the opportunity to be here and speak with you and 

I want to personally say that you and your staff have always been 
28 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Anderson appears in the Appendix on page 100. 

attentive and receptive to inquiries from my office and I appreciate 

that very much. 

Senator TESTER. Well, thank you, Tim, and I appreciate you 

being here today. Sheriff Anderson, last but not least, you are up. 

TESTIMONY OF HON. CRAIG ANDERSON,1 SHERIFF, DAWSON 

COUNTY, MONTANA 

Mr. ANDERSON. Well, good morning, Senator, and thank you for 

the invitation to visit with you and I echo the Attorney General’s 

compliment to you and your staff. You have been very responsive 

to our office and our county with our challenges. As I sit here listening to everything, I could either chamber up a shotgun shell and 

kind of scatter out a message, but I think I would rather take my 

time and deliver a rightful shot, I believe it is a warning shot and 

nobody’s talking about it, it is the stepchild of the justice system 

and it is called jail. And to give you some background, in 1996 after 

two unsuccessful GO Bonds in Dawson County, the good folks in 

Dawson County passed a bond issue that was about $4.1 million 

and we built a 28-bed jail, and at the time we thought that capacity would take us well into the future, and we woke up one morning with a 900-pound gorilla in our bedroom and it was called the 

Bakken and all of a sudden our jail filled up. And prior to the 

Bakken, our average daily production (AVP), in Dawson County 

was about 12. Today, or last month, our average daily population 

is 27. That’s average. Now, we are sleeping people on the floor, and 

our problem isn’t unique to Dawson County. We have undertaken 

a planning effort to expand, and we took a snapshot of all the jails 

in Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota. Williston, North 

Dakota’s capacity is 132 bed, and their AVP was 145; Richland 

County is at 26 beds, their AVP is 33; Roosevelt County has 17 

beds, their AVP is 15; Rosebud County has 26 beds, their AVP is 

23; Valley County has 26 beds, their AVP is 22. We have a problem. So last, about a year ago, Dawson County Commissioners decided we would retain an architectural firm and we are in the design phase, or the conceptual phase, and right now the dollar 

amount that they are projecting for us to expand is $9 million dollars. Dawson County Commissioners chose to ask the Dawson 

County tax payers to invest half of that in a GO Bond that will be 

on the ballet in November for $4.5 million, and we need to find 

$4.5 million because the good people of Dawson County, we solved 

our jail problem, and what is being visited upon us and every other 

jail in the region is not of our making, we could not foresee it, so 

we are looking for help from the Federal Government, from the 

State government, from other counties and we are going to create 

some creative funding opportunities, but our taxpayers, hopefully, 

will at least double that and invest half. Now, the U.S. Attorney, 

Montana Attorney General, they can decide today to put boots on 

the ground with badges and guns, and this is a target rich environment, and when they start cuffing up people, where are they going 

to take them? The inn is full. Now, we could change our priorities 

and funding mechanisms and move personnel on a dime, but nobody’s talking about the fact that if we need to recognize we have 
29 

a jail shortage. We do not have capacity. If we decide that we do 

not today and we have the money, we are 24 to 36 months out before those jail beds come on line. 

So let me close with an analogy and a question. Why would a 

farmer plant more grain than they have room in the bin to store? 

And while our country has been dependent on foreign oil, how 

much money have we spent as a country protecting oil interests 

abroad? And I just raise the question on a proportionate level, are 

we investing that same amount of money to protect the people who 

are living in the Bakken region, and with that Senator I’ll close 

and I look forward to any questions. 

Senator TESTER. Fair point, Sheriff. Thank you for your testimony. I appreciate it very much. I am going to change the format 

a little bit based off of your testimony since it is fresh in my mind. 

You bring up a point—if we start arresting folks, and the need is 

great out there, I think everybody kind of accustomed to the fact; 

the percentages the Attorney General brought up and the rest of 

the testimony, I would like to know your view about our jail capacity, and I think I will put this to Tim and to Mike Cotter. What 

is your perspective on that? Is it an issue that we need to be dealing with in a proactive way? Obviously, the Sheriff’s dealing with 

it in a proactive way in Dawson County, is it big enough we need 

to deal with it statewide and from a Federal standpoint? 

Mr. FOX. As I mentioned earlier in my testimony, Senator, those 

who bear the greatest burden of the benefit that is coming out of 

the Bakken I believe about to receive their share back, and that 

will be part of the legislature’s duty and the Governor’s duty in the 

next legislature; and I might add that it is not just jails; it is victim’s services; it is mental health services; anything and everything 

related to the justice system is overtaxed and overburdened here, 

and sheriff’s become very creative in moving people around, but 

every time you have to take a prisoner to another jail or another 

county or someplace else there’s a day’s worth of wages, someone 

whose not there when the call for help is made, so you know, I can 

not even begin to imagine the kind of stress this puts not only on 

the sheriff’s department, police department, others here locally, but 

on the people, because as you get creative, one of the things you 

start doing is releasing people you would rather not release because you just do not have room for them. Another thing you might 

do is you, you find an outstanding warrant, you do not pick them 

up just because you have no place to put them; so those are touch 

decisions for law enforcement, and you know thatholistic approach 

that I was speaking about I think will be very important. That’s 

one of the reasons that I am exploring something new and different 

which is putting together a task force to identify the needs for law 

enforcement, first responders, victim services and the like and setting up a foundation for the companies who are benefiting from the 

Bakken boom to be investing in so that money again also rolls 

around or is more targeted to the individual needs that are necessary here in these communities. 

Senator TESTER. Gotcha. 

Mr. FOX. I hope that answers your question. 

Senator TESTER. It does. I mean I think basically you agree 

there’s a jail shortage, but there’s also mental health services and 
30 

family services and other services that we are short on, Tim, we 

are short, bingo. Mike Cotter, would you address the jail issue if 

you could? 

Mr. COTTER. I will, Senator, thank you very much. It is obvious 

that when down in Sheriff Anderson’s county when they built that 

jail they did not anticipate that—— 

Senator TESTER. Right. 

Mr. COTTER [continuing]. They would ever need—— 

Senator TESTER. Sure. 

Mr. COTTER [continuing]. A larger jail. And I know that—— 

Senator TESTER. And it is probably the same thing here in Richland County, too. I mean you guys have a pretty new facility, pretty recent, the same thing, so yes, go ahead. 

Mr. COTTER. And with respect, we do not have a Federal holding 

facility, we do not have a Federal prison in Montana, but what the 

Marshal Service does once that goes into the Federal system they 

are, the defendants, are housed in county jails whether it is Yellowstone County, they are up in Shelby, they are in Lewis and Clark 

County, and there is no doubt in my mind that Sheriff Anderson 

probably has some Federal prisoners in his jail as well or those 

that are arrested through the efforts of the Montana Highway Patrol through interdiction, couriers with drugs, that’s where they 

wind up, and they eventually get moved into the Federal system, 

and we do not have a jail capacity here in the eastern part of the 

State. 

Senator TESTER. I got it. 

Mr. COTTER. We do not. 

Senator TESTER. OK. Thanks. You might as well keep the mic, 

Mike, we are going to go a little different way. We have a little different area that’s very important. You all spoke about the prevalence of increased criminal activity and the evolving nature of the 

crimes that are happening here in the Bakken. From your perspective, from your work, what is the primary criminal threat to the 

communities here if you could talk about a primary? You might 

have to talk about more than one, but—— 

Mr. COTTER. Well, there is more than one, Senator, and when I 

started this job 5 years ago, methamphetamine was not necessarily 

a big problem, but we are awash in meth—— 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Mr. COTTER [continuing]. In Montana. We are also seeing heroin, 

which is something we did not see 5 years ago; and the other thing 

that we do see is violent crimes. My family is from Miles City, and 

I have to tell that the 100 years that my family lived in that community I do not think they ever locked the door to their house, but 

violent crime is now here in Eastern Montana, and this all came 

about and our focus was brought to it with the Arnold murder. 

Senator TESTER. Right. 

Mr. COTTER. And it was a wakeup call; and you know, people 

choose to live in this part of the State because they enjoy it, it is 

a good place to be, it is a good place to raise a family, it is family 

oriented communities, but that is no longer with the problems that 

have come in recently. 
31 

Senator TESTER. So with the meth, excuse me, Mike, but with 

the meth and the heroin and the violent crime, would you say they 

are all attached at the hip? 

Mr. COTTER. I would say yes they are. I picked up the Billings 

Gazette today. There was a six pound meth bust yesterday. The 

two men were complained to have been joined, and, I am going to 

address the task force that created the Project Safe Bakken and 

the work that has been done. I mentioned one matter and that was 

the Armstrong case. The partnerships that were created in that 

task force in order to dismantle that drug trafficking organization, 

it involved agents—and there were scores of law enforcement that 

were involved. The DEA was involved, FBI was involved, Montana 

DCI, Sidney Police Department, the border patrol, Sweetgrass 

County Sheriff’s Office and the Montana Highway Patrol, and we 

have something good that is going on in terms of law enforcement 

with respect to that task force and that is the only way that we 

can address these issues. 

Senator TESTER. OK. Mike Gottlieb or Scott Vito, do you have 

anything to add as to far as what you are seeing as the primary 

criminal throughout here? 

Mr. GOTTLIEB. I will defer to Montanans in terms of what the 

most serious threat is locally, but I will say I think the U.S. Attorney makes a fantastic point here, the consequences of drug trafficking and what we are seeing in the Bakken region in terms of 

not just the violence, but in terms of dangers on the road, the public health consequences, and really as the Sheriff mentioned, what 

it does to the fabric of our communities. I think it shows that we 

need a strategy that’s strong on law enforcement, but it is also 

multifaceted and it needs to take into consideration prevention efforts, mental health efforts, public health efforts, and that’s what 

we are trying to push here with the Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy and the National Drug Control Strategy, and 

that’s a balanced approach, and we commend you all in this region 

for your efforts in that regard. 

Senator TESTER. Scott, anything to add? 

Mr. VITO. I would say methamphetamine, drug crimes and the 

violent criminals associated with that trafficking in the Bakken 

area as well as across the State. You see in Billings the large scale 

methamphetamine seizures, those are destined to the Bakken, but 

they are also being distributed in Billings and Bozeman and Helena and those places, so the methamphetamine trafficking being 

brought into the Bakken tends to have a spillover affect into both 

North Dakota and Montana in the larger picture. 

Senator TESTER. OK. And you might as well keep the mic, Scott, 

and anybody can add to your answer, is there, and I do not want 

to get into profiling, but is there a profile that you are looking at 

or is it—as far as the criminals, or is it across the board? 

Mr. VITO. It is pretty much across the board. It is economics really and General Fox mentioned you can buy an ounce of methamphetamine in California for $300 and you can bring it to the 

Bakken and sell it for $3,000, you are always going to have that 

flow into the area, and so our efforts to address that is pretty much 

what we have always done in the criminal investigative field. We 

work those cases and we try to expand it and go back and stop the 
32 

suppliers so that larger source or supply doesn’t make it into the 

Bakken. 

Senator TESTER. OK. Do the rest of you feel the same way that 

it is pretty much across the board. OK. And this is for anybody 

that wants to answer it and multiple if you would like, we hear a 

lot about organized crime. I had a listening session up in Poplar 

a month ago and we heard about organized crimes existence here 

and how there’s no separation. Could you talk about the extent of 

organized crime that is in this region? And it doesn’t matter, whoever wants to talk. You have the mic, Scott, so you can hand it off 

or keep it. 

Mr. VITO. Sure. And again, we go back to the economics of criminal activity. Any large scale market for those things such as drugs 

would draw those elements in. We have seen an increase in connections to Mexican drug trafficking organizations coming into the 

Bakken directly through the State of Montana and other trafficking 

routes, so it is not just the guy on the street selling a rock of crack 

or an ounce of methamphetamine. It is a larger scale—— 

Senator TESTER. So without giving away any trade secrets here, 

is it flowing from the Mexican border up here or is it flowing to 

Canada, Mexico to Canada and back through, how’s it getting here? 

Mr. VITO. I would say Mexican border. That is the most prevalent route. 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Mr. VITO. Through California. 

Mr. COTTER. Senator, I will give an example of a case that was 

prosecuted in 2013 in Billings by the U.S. Attorneys’ Office. It was 

a case that came through the work of DEA, Montana DCI and Billings PD. The defendants were Alvarado and Martinez. They were 

members of the Sinaloa Cartel. They were in Montana for a period 

of only 6 months. At sentencing, they admitted to moving 80 to 90 

pounds of meth, pure meth, into Montana toward the Bakken. In 

the debriefing, they admitted to 400 pounds. At the time of the arrest, they had $56,000 cash, 2 pounds of coke; 6 pounds of meth; 

100 grams of heroin; 17 guns were seized, two of which were SKS 

assault style weapons; and it is estimated that 175 weapons were 

traded for drugs and those weapons did go south. These men were 

connected to high levels of the Sinaloa Cartel, so you know we have 

big City problems in Montana. 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Mr. COTTER. It is not what it used to be. 

Senator TESTER. Pass the mic all the way down to the end to 

Sheriff Anderson. Sheriff, you have been in your position for, just 

a say a number of years, and you have seen the challenges that 

your law enforcement agency had. Could you talk about what the 

changes have been over the last 10 years, pre-Bakken to today, 

what are your officers seeing that disturbs you? 

Mr. ANDERSON. Obviously, the drugs and the outside influence 

and the economic opportunity that the Bakken creates with workers that have high wages and—but collateral to that, increased domestic violence calls, and those are the most dangerous calls for 

law enforcement to respond to. Interestingly enough, Highway 16, 

we were running into some road rage issues. Prior to the Attorney 

General diverting troopers out here, we were having some horrific 
33 

accidents, head-ons, that were really hard on first responders and 

law enforcement, so a pretty significant uptick in that area. As I 

think about it, thefts of copper. These methamphetamine users 

that are addicted are stealing a lot of copper and so we are seeing 

an increase there, but you know I could prattle on but there’s a 

brief stamp job for yes. 

Senator TESTER. That’s good. Attorney General Fox, in your testimony you talked about working with Montana Petroleum Association. I applaud that effort by the way, because I think if we can 

cutoff demand it really helps the situation, and if you can get those 

folks to work with your office and other offices or give them the 

tools. Can you just talk about how long the relationship has been 

going on, what’s the receptivity of it, is there anything that the 

folks at the table that sitting with you or I or the Governor’s office 

that can do to help kind of forge a partnership that would—— 

Mr. FOX. Sure. I started this discussion with the Petroleum Association, Dave Gold, last year. 

Senator TESTER. Yep. 

Mr. FOX. My experience in the private sector has been that when 

the public agencies and private individuals and companies put 

their heads together good things can come of it, so I am a big fan 

of public/private collaborations and partnerships, and you know we 

see various things that these companies who are working here and 

benefiting from the Bakken do for their communities, and they are 

usually very community oriented. They want to be a part of the 

community, and tapping into that mentality I thought that what a 

great opportunity for a public/private partnership in a big way to 

get the kinds of resources directed to those who need them. Of 

course, as Montana’s Chief Law Enforcement Officer, my primary 

concern is public safety, and so my vision on this, and I have already discussed it with the NDA and several other members and 

there are people who are ready to write checks, but my vision is 

is that it is the local folks who need to drive the understanding of 

what the needs are, so that’s why I intend to put together a task 

force who would then identify those needs and then a foundation, 

because it is always good to have a tax write-off, for the oil companies and oilfield service companies and others to contribute to and 

then have that money flow directly back here. We would have a 

very defined geographical area envisioned for the foundation such 

as law enforcement, victim services, first responders—— 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. FOX [continuing]. And the like. 

Senator TESTER. Are there tools that you can give them that they 

can utilize during the interview process and hiring process that 

might be able to—— 

Mr. FOX. Right. We have offered that, and to my knowledge we 

have not had our first training yet but we are setting it up. 

Senator TESTER. OK, good. 

Mr. FOX. We want to make sure that, again, we partner on those 

things to help them make sure they are hiring folks that are not 

going to be a problem. That’s good business. 

Senator TESTER. Yes, exactly right. That is good business. The 

next two questions are for—are for Mike Gottlieb and Scott Vito 

and it is about jurisdictional lines of both your respective agencies, 
34 

the FBI and the DEA, and I have noticed that the Bakken was 

split at the North Dakota border with Montana. As a result, and 

correct me if I am wrong if it is been changed, but Sidney’s jurisdiction is in Denver; Williston’s jurisdiction is in St. Louis, and Mike 

Gottlieb this is for you. Are those jurisdictional boundaries an impediment from your perspective? 

Mr. GOTTLIEB. I think what you are referring to, Senator, are the 

High-Intensity Drug Trafficking areas that— 

Senator TESTER. Yes, that’s correct. 

Mr. GOTTLIEB. So you are absolutely right. The State of Montana 

falls into the Rocky Mountain HIDTA, which is Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah; and North Dakota falls within the Midwest 

HIDTA, which is based in Kansas City and includes a number of 

States in the Midwest. 

Senator TESTER. Right. 

Mr. GOTTLIEB. And I do not believe that poses an impediment 

whatsoever. I think what we have seen and we have learned at 

ONDCP really is, and I think it is certainly true in the Bakken, 

is that no one agency, no one level of government, no one State is 

going to be able to solve these types of issues, and I would think 

the HIDTA Program and the emphasis it places on cooperation and 

collaboration is essential, and the folks in the Bakken, both in 

North Dakota and Montana, have shown not just a willingness to 

do that, but actually a demonstrated commitment to work together. 

I know the U.S. Attorney in Montana works very closely with his 

counterpart in North Dakota, and we see those two HIDTAs, both 

the Rocky Mountain HIDTA and the Midwest HIDTA working together on a regular basis so we are very pleased with that. 

Senator TESTER. So you are not getting conflicting direction from 

St. Louis or Denver? 

Mr. GOTTLIEB. No, we are not; and in fact, I mean although it 

is actually Kansas City and Denver is where the management offices would be for those particular HIDTAs. 

Senator TESTER. Right. 

Mr. GOTTLIEB. But in both cases it’s local control. 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Mr. GOTTLIEB. I mean it is really an effort governed by folks in 

Montana and North Dakota to work collaboratively, and the direction’s not coming from Washington, D.C., Kansas City, or Denver 

in terms of how to operate. 

Senator TESTER. I got you, and I have talked to FBI Director 

Comey, and I would ask you the same question, but he gave me 

the same answer that doesn’t matter; that border doesn’t matter; 

the region doesn’t matter; that it is seamless. 

Mr. VITO. That’s correct. That’s how we look at it. The task force 

approach working with State, local and tribal partners bringing everyone to the table. There’s so few in Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota that we all have to work together to get the job 

done so—— 

Senator TESTER. That’s good. And of course you know, I know we 

have a staff member from Hoeven’s office here, I hope he’s still 

here, yes, he’s still here. I just want to make sure that I put a lot 

of pressure and make sure those FBI agents came to Montana and 

not to North Dakota, but no, just kidding. [Laughter.] 
35 

The fact is is that the problem is there in North Dakota as well 

as Montana and it is a serious problem. Scott, could you talk about, 

I do not know what’s going on as far as staffing in North Dakota, 

but I do know that, and we talked about it literally before this 

hearing started, about the term that the person’s here, how long 

they are here. Is there any plans to extend on a regular basis the 

staffing here in Eastern Montana by FBI agents? 

Mr. VITO. Right. We have been staffing probably 60 to 90 day 

TDY’s over the course of the last year. 

Senator TESTER. Wait, say that one more time. 

Mr. VITO. Sixty to 90 day TDY’s over the course of the last year. 

Moving forward from probably, hopefully, November time period we 

are going to be looking to a 12 to 18-month TDY time period. 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Mr. VITO. That will allow more continuity and more cases to be 

developed, and longer termed cases. 

Senator TESTER. OK. That’s good. And can you talk about, and 

maybe you can and maybe you can not, can you talk about the 

FBI’s long-term plan for agents in this region, and I am talking 

about North Dakota and Montana. Do they have plans to put more 

agents into this area? 

Mr. VITO. Right. The process is ongoing as I am sure you are well 

aware after talking to Director Comey. Both sides will have agents 

working the crime problem. We do not know exactly how many and 

where yet, but it is definitely a commitment from the FBI to maintain agents in the Bakken region. 

Senator TESTER. And you do a regular assessment on need I 

would assume? 

Mr. VITO. We do. 

Senator TESTER. And do you bring in local law enforcement when 

you do that assessment and highway patrol and let me put it this 

way, do you bring in all your collaborators when you do that assessment? 

Mr. VITO. Right, absolutely. We engage in conversation with all 

of our partner agencies in the area. 

Senator TESTER. Are the Tribes a part of that, too? 

Mr. VITO. They are. 

Senator TESTER. OK. Thank you very much. Just hang on here 

for a second. Mike Cotter, I want you to talk a little bit about, it 

was touched on I think by Mike Gottlieb, I want you to talk a little 

bit about your coordination efforts with your counterpart in North 

Dakota when it comes to meth, heroin, violent crimes. Are you able 

to connect up with those folks and have regular conversation? Is 

that something that you do or is it something that you do only 

when it looks like it’s absolutely necessary. I just kind of want to 

get the idea on what kind of communication is going between the 

U.S. Attorney Offices in the respective States. 

Mr. COTTER. I have Purdon on speed dial. 

Senator TESTER. You have what now? 

Mr. COTTER. I have Tim Purdon on speed dial. [Laughter.] 

He is very accessible as am I to him. So we speak often on various issues whether it is Bakken or Indian Country or anything 

along those lines or border issues, but I think the sharing of intelligence under the umbrella project Safe Bakken between North Da-
36 

kota and Montana through the, like in Montana schematic, and 

through Montana DCI and through its counterpart in North Dakota, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, as well as the sharing 

of intelligence between FBI on both sides, DEA on both sides, 

ATF—— 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. COTTER. It is ongoing. And I can tell you, Senator, that there 

are agents from Montana who are members of the Bureau, members of ATF, and members of the DEA that actually operate in 

North Dakota; they do. 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Mr. COTTER. And it’s to get the job done. 

Senator TESTER. Good. Project Safe Bakken included a grant and 

I will get this title right, ‘‘Special Assistant United States Attorney 

for Fort Peck’’. 

Mr. COTTER. Correct. That’s is from the Office on Violence 

Against Women (OVW). 

Senator TESTER. Right. 

Mr. COTTER. Office on Violence Against Women, yes. The same 

is true for Fort Berthold. 

Senator TESTER. OK. And so basically this would be a tribal prosecutor—— 

Mr. COTTER. Yes. 

Senator TESTER [continuing]. To Federal crimes on the Reservation done by your office, right? 

Mr. COTTER. Well, that’s correct, but that individually will also 

be a tribal prosecutor who will prosecute cases in Tribal Court if 

there is an event or a case where it would get prosecuted in Federal court. 

Senator TESTER. Is that person currently hired? 

Mr. COTTER. The position has been posted but not yet filled. 

There is also one over at—— 

Senator TESTER. Fort Berthold? 

Mr. COTTER. Yes. 

Senator TESTER. And so the person has already been hired? Are 

they currently working? I mean they are there? 

Mr. COTTER. Yes, they are. 

Senator TESTER. Well, that’s good news then. Who is it? Can you 

tell me who it is? 

Mr. COTTER. I do not recall the young man’s name, sorry. 

Senator TESTER. All right, sounds good. This is for Mike Gottlieb. 

I don’t think this is a fair comparison, but I am going to ask the 

question anyway, can you talk about the differences in anti-trafficking operations between the U.S. Canadian border and the U.S. 

Mexican border? 

Mr. GOTTLIEB. I think, and it is a tricky question, I think the 

concept remains the same. I think the key is cooperation between 

the U.S. Government and our law enforcement officials and folks 

in Canada and folks in Mexico, and what I can comment on specifically are our collaboration, our partnership with our Canadian 

partners because I think that’s essential for where we sit today and 

we could not be more pleased. I think the T3National Northern 

Border Counternarcotics Strategy, T1 sets forth a whole number of 

action items and a whole number of ways which we in the United 
37 

States collaborate with our Canadian partners both in terms of integrated border activities, in terms of shared personnel, so we 

think the concepts remain the same and are very pleased with our 

partnership with the Canadians. In terms of drug trafficking, I 

think as Mr. Vito said, some of it varies in terms of where drugs 

are coming from, dependingon what particular substances and 

whether they are trafficked across the Southern border or whether 

they are trafficked from the Northern border down into the United 

States, and I defer to Scott on those particular issues, but the general concepts remain the same and the key is partnership. 

Senator TESTER. OK, good, thank you. This is a question for Cotter and Fox and will probably be the last one. We will go to Tim 

Fox, Attorney General. What are the most pressing needs for prosecutors and aid workers in the Bakken to be able to most effectively address the sexual violence issue? 

Mr. FOX. Address what? I’m sorry. 

Senator TESTER. Domestic and sexual violence issues. 

Mr. FOX. Well, we have identified a number of things in our office, and I know that the U.S. Attorney’s Office has as well back 

to the Department of Justice. We believe that training is paramount. How do I say it? There are some old mindsets about how 

these cases should be investigated and prosecuted, and I think 

what we have been proactive in is traveling around and doing 

training for county attorneys and deputy county attorneys on how 

to successfully investigate and prosecute a sexual assault case. I 

also believe that more resources for victim services are absolutely 

imperative, and there’s a shortfall and always has been in victim 

services, and we need to make sure there are more professional resources available there for all victims of crime, but in particular 

sexual assault, domestic abuse and those kinds of things. One of 

the things that we are going to ask the legislature to do in this 

next session is designate within our Prosecution Services Bureau 

a Sexual Assault Prosecution Unit. We have those kinds of units 

for other types of crimes. We have seen I think such a need here 

in Montana and across the Nation for those kinds of services and 

that type of training and the right personnel that we want to make 

it a priority at the Department of Justice; and really quickly if I 

can say I anticipated a question that you didn’t ask. 

You asked the last panel, you know, what are your greatest 

needs and your top priorities; from our perspective from the Federal Government, more resources for the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s 

Office in particular. I think we need additional prosecutors, and I 

hope Mike would agree with me in his office. We certainly do need 

those FBI agents. I think it would be best stationed here in Sidney. 

That’s where they have been. They have worked hard here we want 

to see that continue. 

And then last, Senator, you and I and our offices have worked 

on the penalizing that we get, particularly with Federal funds to 

go to our drug task forces. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. FOX. We get penalized under the Sex Offender Registration 

Notification Act (SORNA), under the Prison Rape Elimination Act 

(PRETA), and under the National Institute for Background Check 

System (NICS). All of those penalties, if they are assessed this year 
38 

or the next fiscal year will amount to about $120,000 to money that 

will not go to our drug task forces. Our local agencies are strapped; 

they need the help. If there’s a way to have a moratorium on those 

penalties, Senator, we would sure appreciate it. 

Senator TESTER. Amen to that, Attorney General. I appreciate 

you bringing those points up. It is very important, and you know 

as well as I do the kind of services your office offers and every one 

of these costs money. It doesn’t happen by accident. It happens 

with vision and you got to have some resources, so I appreciate you 

bringing that point up, but I’m sure Cotter will disagree. [Laughter.] 

No, I know he won’t; but let’s get back to the pressing need for 

prosecutors and aid workers when it comes to domestic and sexual 

violence, if you could touch on that, and then if you want to respond to the Attorney General you sure may. 

Mr. COTTER. Thank you, Senator. With respect to sexual assault 

and domestic violence, jurisdictionally, those matters fall to us if 

they occur on Tribal lands or in Indian Country, and we are within 

my office we are sufficient number of aides because we have an 

aide assigned to each Reservation to handle matters. We have victim/witness people in our office. The FBI has victim/witness specialists who work with victims until the case is indicted and comes 

to our office. The BIA is also involved and tribal police. On each 

of our Reservations, we have child protective teams that meet, 

SART teams as well as NDT; those are a group of professionals; 

law enforcement, lawyers, county attorneys as well as healthcare 

providers who identify people who are either in terms of need or 

help or perhaps victims of assaults. If an assault occurs off tribal 

lands, it becomes a county matter that has to be dealt with by local 

county attorneys with perhaps assistance from the Montana Attorney General. 

Senator TESTER. Right. 

Mr. COTTER. There was this struggle that we have, quite honestly, with respect to staffing. It was during the period of sequestration. We were down a number of attorneys. Today, I can tell you 

we are allocated 26 FTEs, we have 25 on board. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. COTTER. We certainly are keeping pace with prosecutions as 

they are coming forward. I believe that in the next 12 months, I 

have made this statement publically and I will make it again, I 

have learned that drugs or narcotics cases will be coming into our 

office, specific of the Bakken. We will probably incite 100 individuals in the next 12 months, maybe 125. That’s not to say that if 

I was offered another FTE I would take it. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. COTTER. And I would also add a staff person to also help. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. Well, thank you and thank you all for your 

testimony. Thank you for your correct answers to the questions. I 

very much appreciate the work you do. You guys have an incredibly tough job on all levels, and the fact is that I think that you 

have touched on the synergy that happens, and we have touched 

on some of the things that we are lacking, whether it’s jails, whether there’s a number of things, but the truth is, is that you guys do 

a great job and I just want to thank you for the work that you do. 
39 

Every one of you have stepped up to the plate and done a job that 

we all could be proud of as policymakers, so thank you all very 

much and thanks for your time today. 

Mr. COTTER. Thank you, Senator. 

Senator TESTER. You bet; thanks, Mike. And as this panel is dismissed, we are going to go to our final panel of the day which includes Tony Preite from the USDA; Mike Tooley from the Department of Transportation; John Dynneson from the Richland County 

Sheriff’s Office; Paul Groshart, Richland County Housing Authority; and Commissioner Loren Young from Richland County, if you 

guys would kind of meander your way up. 

Senator TESTER. So the last Panel if we could get the folks to 

come on up and I want to thank you guys for waiting around. We 

are saving the best for last here, obviously. It is pretty tough to 

beat the last two panels, but you guys will do just fine. This panel 

will speak about infrastructure challenges that have arisen for the 

explosion in the Bakken. Infrastructure covers a lot of different 

things and we have a lot of different perspective up here. First we 

have Tony Preite who is State Director of the Montana Rural Development Program for the Montana USDA. In that capacity, he 

oversees that office’s grants and loan programs and coordinates 

with State and local officials on infrastructure and economic development projects important to Montana. Tony has an incredible experience in economic development in Montana. No one can quite do 

what he’s done because he’s been at it a while, more than 50 years 

serving the State in various roles including a period with the U.S. 

Department of Commerce; the Montana Department of Commerce; 

and Bearpaw Development in Havre, Montana. Thank you, Tony. 

We look forward to your testimony. 

We also have Mike Tooley who is Director of the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT). He serves on the U.S. Department of Transportation National Freight Advisory Committee. 

Prior to taking the helm at the Montana Department of Transportation, Mike served the Montana Highway Patrol for 28 years, including four as Colonel. Mike, thank you for your service, thank 

you for being here today. 

We have John Dynneson. Is that correct, John? 

Mr. DYNNESON. That’s correct. 

Senator TESTER. Did I get you right? He’s the Deputy Sheriff 

with Richland County Sheriff’s Office here in Sidney. He also 

serves as coroner for Richland County and is president of the Richland County Law Enforcement Association. Previously, John 

worked approximately 25 years with the Sidney Police Department. 

He is also involved with various groups within the community including Richland County Coalition Against Domestic Violence and 

the Foundation ofCommunity Care. John, thank you for taking the 

time to be with us today. 

Mr. DYNNESON. Thank you, Senator. 

Senator TESTER. Paul Groshart is the Executive Director of the 

Richland County Housing Authority. You have a big job. It was created in 1950. It is the largest affordable housing provider in Eastern Montana. Paul first worked on affordable housing in 1986. He 

has served as president of the Montana Association of Housing and 

Rehabilitation Organization and was a trustee of the Public Hous-
40 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Preite appears in the Appendix on page 102. 

ing Authority Directors Association. He served as a member of the 

Sidney City Council for 8 years and was council president for two 

of those years. I want to thank you for being here today, Paul. 

And finally, Loren Young, Commissioner of Richland County. 

Among his priorities as chairman is addressing the counties infrastructure needs, particular affordable housing. We appreciate that. 

Loren has served on numerous boards and committees in Richland 

County prior to running for his seat as commissioner including the 

Montana Oil, Gas and Coal Counties Board. Loren is a fourth generation agricultural producer farming for over 40 years with his 

farmer, with his father, and now with his son. Congratulations on 

that. And, Loren, I understand you got harvest done. That’s always 

a good feeling. It’s good to have you here. 

Mr. YOUNG. Back down to normal now. 

Senator TESTER. There you go. Tony Preite, you have the floor. 

TESTIMONY OF ANTHONY PREITE,1 STATE DIRECTOR, UNITED 

STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, MONTANA OFFICE 

OF RURAL MONTANA 

Mr. PREITE. Thank you, Senator Tester. I am pleased to have the 

opportunity to discuss the Bakken and the work of my agency, 

USDA Rural Development. First, I would like to express my appreciation to you for continuing to focus on the challenges and opportunities that oil and gas development have provided to rural Northeastern Montana and Western North Dakota. For most of my career I have studied the needs in economic development of State and 

local economies. While activity in the Bakken has created much 

needed jobs in a region that has been long underserved, it has also 

brought additional challenges to the area. The sense of excitement 

about the energy boom has today been replaced with deep and intense conversations about issues of housing, traffic, crime, water 

and waste and other social needs. USDA Rural Development Programs play a key role in investing in rural economies. Rural development staff and programs help deliver safe and affordable housing, support for business growth, community facilities for health 

and safety, reliable electricity for our homes and industry, 

broadband to expand the access to education, healthcare, businesses and social services and clean, safe water to support healthy 

rural communities. The USDA Rural Development has a nationwide loan for over $200 billion in direct and guaranteed loans. Continued investment in key infrastructure is essential to ensuring 

rural America is a place where families and business can grow and 

thrive. Since 2009, USDA Rural Development in Montana has invested more than $37,500,000 in single family housing in the 

Bakken area. 

Over that same period in the Bakken counties in Montana and 

North Dakota, USDA Rural Development has supported 22 new or 

improved broadband service projects for residents, schools, hospitals and businesses. We have funded 27 water and waste water 

projects and provided grants and loans to assist 60 small and 

midsize businesses. Local development corporations and cooperatives in the region have also been served. Thanks to the new tools 
41 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Tooley appears in the Appendix on page 107. 

in the 2014 Farm Bill aimed at improving program delivery, we 

will be able to continue to build on these investments. Over the 

course of the last 2 years, USDA Rural Development has participated in numerous meetings with local, State and tribal leaders. 

We have tried to maintain a leading role in planning and development sessions with community organizations and engaged in listening sessions throughout the region. These interactions make clear 

that technical assistance, coordination and community outreach are 

key in meeting the overall needs in the area. 

That is why USDA Rural Development has worked to deliver 

programs that ensure that taxpayers’ dollars make the greatest impact. A focus on community economic development while using the 

regional strategy is our goal like in the Bakken. We can develop 

important sources of growth and help extend limited resources in 

the region by providing a set aside with preference for projects that 

are part of a regional approach as described in the 2014 Farm Bill, 

USDA Rural Development will be able to more effectively support 

rural places that are working in a cooperative effort to realize the 

long-term community and economic development goals. 

In Montana, USDA Rural Development has played a lead role in 

the formation of the Eastern Montana Coalition, a cohesive areawide planning organization in the Bakken. The benefits of this Coalition are numerous including better service throughout the entire 

area, and the Coalition also provides a unified force and voice for 

the region, especially when approaching State and Federal leaders 

for assistance. As the Montana Director for Rural Development, I 

am committed to ensure that USDA Rural Development will continue to serve a leadership role in the Bakken. We also recognize 

the importance and fully support the participation and help of all 

other partners and efforts to better serve the region. 

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your continued support for providing 

assistance to the Bakken area. USDA Rural Development joins you 

in your efforts to ensure that the residents of the Bakken are wellserved. I hope I have provided you with some insight as to how 

USDA Rural Development has and continues to contribute to the 

Bakken, and I look forward to responding to any questions. Thank 

you. 

Senator TESTER. Tony, thank you for your testimony, thank you 

for your insight. Mike Tooley, you are up. 

TESTIMONY OF MIKE TOOLEY,1 DIRECTOR, MONTANA 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Mr. TOOLEEY. Mr. Chairman, good morning. Thank you for being 

here today and thank you for asking me to testify before the Committee and before you. I think it is terrific that you are here to hold 

this field hearing and outreach session in Montana’s active Bakken 

region. It has obviously made a big difference in how the Montana 

Department of Transportation does business. Our focus is to provide safe and efficient transportation to the motoring public and to 

support economic activity here in the Bakken, but for as it is almost always the case for any infrastructure agency, our needs vastly outpace the resources that are available, so it is essential that 
42 

we are making the best most timely decisions. To provide some 

scale to the issue, our MDT own infrastructure of 12,000 road miles 

in the State of Montana. 

Nearly 30 percent of that is within the Bakken region in the 

Glendive district. The numbers that I am going to give you, Chairman, are related only to MDT owned infrastructure, and please be 

aware that there are also major impacts to local streets and county 

infrastructure. What have we seen? We have seen a significant increase in traffic volumes largely made up of heavy truck traffic. We 

have seen the increase in truck traffic as much as 32 percent between 2007 and now. Pavement designs are largely driven by the 

heavy truck traffic and this kind of an increase can drastically impact the life and condition of pavement. As a matter of fact, as part 

of the Bakken Impact Study that we finished in 2012, we determined that the MDT District 4, which we are in today, has an estimated additional $52 million dollars in annual need over the next 

20 years to address pavement distress. 

That is just our infrastructure. In addition to pavement, the increased volumes of high truck traffic also have impacts on roadway 

operations and safety and I will address some of those things that 

we have done to address those shortly. We have also had a hard 

time in the Bakken attracting and retaining employees and contractors in this district. While on a statewide, State employee basis, 

this may not be an issue; unfortunately, I am the exception. I employ a large number of truck drivers that have CDLs; I employ mechanics; I employ welders and they are all very attractive to the 

oil patch. As a matter of fact, I have seen a statistic that says that 

they are hiring up to 30 CDL holders a week, and one of the first 

places they will come is where somebody has a CDL already, and 

unfortunately, that may be one of my snowplow drivers and that 

becomes an impact to the community. 

Once we have trained and hired staff, they can easily move on 

to better paying jobs in the oil development industry. One of the 

things that we are doing to address that is workforce development 

through tribal colleges, and specifically on the Flathead Reservation and Fort Peck Community College, MDT does provide grants 

that trains individuals to hold jobs in our agency or in that type 

of line of work. We think it is important to develop those technical 

skills and keep those workers working right here in the Bakken in 

a place that they will probably stay. Increased competition, however, isn’t limited just to our staff, but it also includes raw materials and private engineering and construction services. We have 

seen a massive increase for key materials which drive up the 

project costs or decreases the buying power that we have in comparison to other districts. We have had instances where prime contractors have come out here to work. We see few or no bids from 

contractors or subcontractors for highway projects due to the increased demand in the area; and so now the prime contractors have 

to bring more of their staff in instead of hiring a subcontractor increasing immobilization costs and the entire project costs more. It 

is important because we want to make the right decisions and continue to invest in infrastructure across the State. Connectivity for 

us is important. We don’t want to have one district have great 

roads; the next one not have good roads. It is very important and 
43 

through the process that we use, we use the Performing Program 

Process to manage our assets and that allows MDT to make appropriate investment decisions, and this process directs the longer 

term direction of investment for MDT. And in fact, some of the recent P–3 recommendations are directing more funding to this district for system improvements. And in response to increased truck 

traffic, our agency was able to modify pavement design in several 

recent and upcoming projects to make sure that they last longer 

and accommodate the added truck traffic. Studies show that both 

short term and easily implemented improvement projects and longterm needs are there. We have identified some easily implemented 

improvements that address or head-off some emerging issues, and 

in this area specifically we did a quarter study on Montana 16/200, 

Glendive to Fairview. It was a 60-mile study along with a safety 

audit that caused us to take some immediate action including installing some passing lanes that might not have been the original 

design; installing centerline rumble strips; and increasing the 

shoulder widths. We also, as part of the Safety Study, determined 

that we needed to normalize or match the speed limits in that 

quarter between passenger vehicles and trucks, and so now the entire quarter has the same speed limit no matter what you are driving, and I think that has contributed greatly to safety. 

In addition to short-term improvements, MDT’s district staff has 

identified many projects to address area needs. Right now on the 

books we have over 100 miles of recently completed and planned 

projects in the Glendive district through 2019 for a total investment of about $50 million dollars. Many of these investments are 

influenced by the energy impacts. However, the most responsive aspects of our program is in maintenance, and we have recognized 

need to invest more State funds in that area and $6 million more 

that could have previously been allocated to other districts is now 

coming to the Glendive district to address that; however, our efforts 

extend beyond highways. We fund law enforcement for overtime 

patrols to arrest DUI drivers, and we also work with other outside 

entities such as Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. We are investing $5 million dollars in this area to upgrade rail crossings. 

That includes installing stop signs, flashing lights and new 

crossbuck for $5 million dollars. We also pay very much attention 

to air transportation through the essential air service. We have 

seen a 27 percent increase in air traffic and air travel in this region 

thanks to the Bakken. I heard Chairman Stafne speak to folks that 

can’t get around, and we invest $6.5 million dollars per year statewide in transit to make sure that folks who may not have their 

own transportation have those needs met. 

To close, we anticipate the impact in the Bakken to continue for 

at least two more decades and recognize that additional funding 

and attention to our infrastructure is necessary. To maintain the 

condition and operation of our systems, we feel that funding levels 

must at least remain where they are with impacts for inflation. 

Montana’s transportation infrastructure is dependent on the continued and predictable Federal participation and a strong Federal 

investment in the Nation’s transportation systems. These Federal 

programs are essential for our economy. In Montana, $0.87 of every 

construction project is federally funded. Supporting the industry, 
44 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Dynneson appears in the Appendix on page 110. 

the jobs and the growth in the Bakken and ensuring the Nation is 

poised to capitalize on the investments here are important and that 

requires Federal participation, and I again would just like to say 

thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. Your staff 

has been extremely good to work with. I understand that we may 

not see you every day, but I know you are involved behind the 

scenes in Washington and thank you for all you do. 

Senator TESTER. Thanks, Mike, appreciate your testimony. John 

Dynneson. 

TESTIMONY OF JOHN DYNNESON,1 DEPUTY SHERIFF, 

RICHLAND COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT 

Mr. DYNNESON. Yes. Thank you, Senator. Prior to being on the 

third panel today sitting here listening to the other testimony, it’s 

obvious that the testimony I provide to you much of that information has already been presented; however, there are a few points 

that I would like to address. A common theme echoed by many in 

this region is the need for an increase and experienced staff and 

staff that is able to afford the living situation in this region long 

enough to stay and obtain the necessary experience to effectively 

serve our communities. Though our sheriff’s office and local police 

departments have had some outstanding individuals willing to 

serve our continued commitment to effectively serve our communities require more officers, jail staff and dispatchers. These are 

only just a few of employment opportunities available and necessary to facilitate the work our law enforcement agencies are expected to undertake and provide. Finding individuals willing to 

work in these areas rather than seek higher paying oilfield employment is difficult. 

Besides finding an experience person and locating others willing 

and able to dedicate adequate time to train persons, multiple obstacles still stand in the way. Housing infrastructure—though slowly 

increasing—is still lagging. Increased construction of housing units 

does not remedy the issue of affordable housing. With housing 

prices at alarming rate in this region in relation to comparable 

housing in other parts of the country, our local agencies and departments are faced with budget concerns and the need to provide 

further monetary assistance or housing subsidies to address those 

needs of prospective and existing personnel. It is not only the high 

cost of living or the high cost of housing that is astonishes the people, but everything here is limited and comes with a price. The 

costs associated with living in the region including groceries, home 

repairs, vehicle maintenance and childcare, are unprecedented 

compared to many areas of the Unites States and our State. What 

the State and Federal Government may not see is that adequate 

childcare is extremely limited here in the region. Enticing the right 

recruits to join our local agencies is difficult. It is difficult enough 

without mentioning all the accompanying hardships that those potential employees may face for themselves as well as their families. 

Logically, the increase in population comes with a growth in crime. 

Increased incidences of abuse, mental health concerns, growing 

numbers of homeless and other strains on local infrastructures as 
45 

well as other unsavory ideas such as organizations coming to this 

area that support criminal activity. Currently, all of our local State 

agencies work together to address the impacts on our communities. 

These agencies include Mental Health, Child and Family Services, 

Sidney Health Center, Richland County Coalition Against Domestic 

Violence and other service agencies. All of these agencies are affected by the same issues as law enforcement; concerns with affordable housing and the lack of experienced personnel willing and able 

to live and work in the area of the Bakken region and the lack of 

childcare. 

In regards to Federal agencies, I want to express our need that 

we need the assistance of the FBI here because the FBI has the 

time and the resources that are necessary to devote to the particular crimes of high-profile cases that the local and county law 

enforcement agencies cannot match at this time. Currently, the 

FBI rotates agents through this region based on temporary duty. 

From my observations, I believe that it would be helpful if FBI personnel were assigned to this region as a permanent position. 

Though our local and State officials continue to do a great job in 

their work in this region, the permanent FBI official would provide 

much needed assistance to the cities and counties in Eastern Montana. Besides assisting local law enforcement, the FBI officials 

would be expected to proactively investigate, assist in prosecuting 

Federal crimes that are committed in this area. This would primarily consist of but not limited to the drug investigations, human 

trafficking and white-collar crime. If permanent officials were assigned here, it would like require a Federal stipend or some type 

of assistance to deal with the high cost of living to this region. In 

addition to the FBI and other Federal agencies, may require financial and personal increases in order to effectively serve the Bakken 

area. It may not be necessary for those dedicated personnel to be 

stationed in our city or in our or county rather; however, setting 

up a task force and importing personnel to assist in protecting our 

region would be helpful. This increased presence would aid local 

entities in dealing with crimes that surpass the capacity of available local personnel and provide additional expertise and cover 

issues outside the bounds of the local jurisdictions. 

Again, Senator, I appreciate the Subcommittees’ consideration of 

our testimony today and we are hopeful that our emphasis on these 

issues will lead to further assistance from the Federal Government 

and appropriate agencies. Though our local law enforcement personnel is dedicated to do everything it can to protect the residents 

of Richland County and the Bakken region, we welcome further efforts, financial support and additional resources in order to more 

effectively remedy the issues affecting our personnel, our agencies, 

and most importantly, the residents of Richland County and the 

residents of the region of the Bakken area. Thank you very much. 

Senator TESTER. Thank you, John, for your testimony. I very 

much appreciate it, and you might be on the third panel but your 

testimony was very insightful, thank you. 

Mr. DYNNESON. Thank you. 

Senator TESTER. Paul Groshart. 
46 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Groshart appears in the Appendix on page 114. 

TESTIMONY OF PAUL GROSHART,1 DIRECTOR, RICHLAND 

COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITY 

Mr. GROSHART. Thank you, Senator Tester, for inviting me to 

give testimony at this hearing on affordable housing in our community. I apologize if this first part sounds like a teacher giving a lesson, but several decades ago when I did go to college I graduated 

to be a teacher, so it may sound like a history lesson instead of testimony, but 30 years ago Sidney residents would probably have 

known their neighbors by their first name, knew where they 

worked, how many children were in the family and what they liked 

to do for their hobbies. The residents of Sidney and the surrounded 

area were like an extended family, distant cousins if you will; and 

when families moved into the area they were often invited to join 

service groups, churches, chamber of commerce and school organizations. 

Thirty years ago also marked the end of the first oil boom in our 

county. That boom saw a span of 7 years. It brought high-paying 

jobs, but by the time it ended there were several reposed homes for 

sale, mobile home parks abandoned, trailer houses abandoned and 

infrastructure costs left unpaid by special improvement districts. 

1984 was a long time ago for many, but for some of us here in the 

community, the economic collapse lasted a long time and made our 

community financially distressed for several years after that. Fast 

forward to the present and most everyone here can attest to the 

fact that the oil boom is back bigger and better, but not so much 

for those wanting to move here and make Sidney their home. Right 

now in 2014, there are jobs available in our area, high-paying jobs 

that typically pay three to four times more than minimum wage. 

Someone moving to the area may very well have that job, they may 

very well have job security, but they do not have the most important thing they need to succeed here in the Bakken, an affordable 

place to live. 

If you are fortunate to own your own home or are in the process 

of buying a home, no doubt as a resident of Sidney, you are much 

better off than those who in the community who are renters. Those 

who rent now, see that the lack of rental housing in our community 

is an acute and serious problem with no short term solution in 

sight. For instance in 2013, a rental market study was prepared for 

the Richland County Housing Authority, and based on that study 

just one year ago, the rents for existing rental units for 2012 were 

rising at a rate of 5 to 10 percent every month. The vacancy rate 

for privately owned rental properties was at 0 percent; waiting lists 

for private housing were nonexistent as turnover was rare. Furthermore, a more followup market study that we did in 2014 revealed that the same units that were filled prior to the year 2000 

had rent increases in 2012 and 2013 were now increasing their 

rents from 30 percent to 300 percent after a vacancy occurred or 

when a lease expired. This vast increase in rent puts the local 

working families in jeopardy of losing their rental housing because 

rents can now exceed 50 percent or more of the take-home pay. The 

families affected by this increase work at local retailers such as 
47 

restaurants, hotels and stores, and they may even be the teachers, 

hospital workers, and law enforcement officials that we rely on. 

So who decides what is low income in our area? HUD annually 

publishes a report on median incomes for nearly every community 

in our State. Right now, the medial income for Sidney and our 

county is $70,600 for a 4-person family. This means that there are 

wage earners below that amount and wage earners above. It is not 

the average, but should give everyone here in this room an idea of 

wages are being paid in Richland County. If we compare it to Rosebud County, our median income is $10,000 higher; compared to 

Park County, we are $16,000 higher; and when we compare the 

median income to places like Helena and Billings, we are about 

equal to their median incomes. Why is housing not a problem in 

Billings and Helena? The supply of housing in those areas probably 

exceeds the demand right now. There are more places to rent; there 

are different levels of quality; and there are far more providers of 

affordable housing such as housing authorities. Our housing authority was created in 1950 and has a contractual relationship with 

the Unites States Department of Housing and Urban Development 

to provide housing to low income community members. 

Who can qualify for assisted housing programs? A majority of our 

owned homes and managed properties are for people who earn less 

than 30 percent of the median income. For instance, a single person wishing to rent a 1-bedroom apartment from me has to earn 

less than $12,250 per year to qualify; a 2-person family would have 

to earn less than $15,730 a year; a 3-person family less than 

$19,790; and a 4 person family has to earn less than $23,850 per 

year to qualify for assisted housing. 

What can Congress do to help us? First of all, I thank Senator 

Tester for his support of the Small Housing Authority Reform Proposal (SHARP). As long as I have been with HUD, they seem to 

come up with acronyms for everything. Some of the issues that affect housing authorities, although there are only 14 in the State of 

Montana, HUD has come along with a new requirement for a fiscal 

needs assessment program that would cost our housing authority 

anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000 just to tell them what’s wrong 

their housing. They started program 2 years ago called Rental Assistance Demonstration Program which would allow housing authorities to opt out of public housing and create properties that 

have vouchers or Project Based Section 8, so we’d like to have that 

support also. Of course, I know the programs have been brought up 

that there are Section 8 Programs and I would like to just address 

that. Three years ago prior to this oil boom coming, we administered a Section 8 rental assistance program here in the community 

and Fairview and Savage and we had 92 participants. What that 

means is we were helping pay rent for 92 families or single people 

in the three communities. We are now down to 42 families. It’s not 

that those 50 116 people somehow went away; it’s that we cannot 

afford to pay the rents that the landlords are now requesting. HUD 

has a limit, they say ’fair market rent’ they call it where a 2-bedroom place in Sidney is about $800 a month. 

Unfortunately, that doesn’t ever happen anymore. The rents are 

just too high for that program to work here. So the answer as far 

as we are concerned in my area here is there has to be a little bit 
48 

more involvement from the Federal Government to maybe declare 

us a disaster area and maybe we can hit some other kind of funding because the restriction for the low income people here as far 

as their income, they just don’t exist for us. So thank you again for 

your allowing me to speak today. 

Senator TESTER. Paul, thank you for your testimony; thank you 

for your work, and I know it’s a difficult conundrum, but I think 

working together we could find some solutions. Commissioner 

Young, you’re up. 

TESTIMONY OF LOREN YOUNG, CHAIRMAN, RICHLAND 

COUNTY COMMISSION 

Mr. YOUNG. Thank you, Senator Tester, for inviting me to the 

hearing today, and I also want to make a note that you have a very 

wonderful staff to work with on the local level. You are very 

blessed with that. 

Senator TESTER. Thank you. 

Mr. YOUNG. Well, I kind of went into about four or five different 

areas here and have some statistics and since Paul just got done 

talking, I am going to also mention that we are doing a joint venture with the city for city and county employees on a little housing 

project and being we have the housing authority we kind of let 

Paul decide how that’s going to go out, so I wanted to announce 

that kind of joint venture with us for law enforcement especially, 

for city and county. 

And my next subject I want to talk about is the workforce that 

all in common has been said here. It has been a revolving door. It 

is quite a problem to compete with government salaries with the 

oilfield, and as a county commissioner and a bean counter it is a 

very scary trend that we have seeing these budgets. Our county 

budget, our monthly payroll, is just a few thousand, about $40,000 

to $50,000 shy of a million dollars a month, and conventional methods of creating revenue and taxes through levies and stuff, it is a 

tremendous burden that’s being put on the county taxpayers that 

if the oil revenues are lost, it can’t be maintained, so I am sure you 

already know that. 

The other area I wanted to talk about was our health department. I went back 10 years and got some statistics, and this is the 

slow part of the department, it only went up 122 percent in 10 

years, and most of the problems is the increased traffic flow of outof-State workers that arrive here, but they are very overwhelmed, 

and that’s the statistics for that one. 

The next one I went into was law enforcement. I went back 10 

years there. Law enforcement costs here have went up 288 percent 

to the best of my knowledge fingering through that Black Mountain 

program. We also just got done building a new $17 million plus dollar jail. As Mr. Anderson I believe, or one of the gentlemen earlier 

stated, there have been times where the reports come to our office 

in the excess of 40 people in there, but it is averaging in the 30s. 

We built it for 24 adults and 12 juveniles, and we pretty much had 

to boot the juveniles out and put the adults in there, and every 

morning when the county attorneys come to work and the Justice 

of the Peace that’s sitting here they have to look at the list and 

see who’s bad, and who’s badder, and who’s baddest and the bad 
49 

gets to go home, and the badder and the baddest stays so it’s really 

a problem to deal with. 

Also, with law enforcement here I asked Judge Mohr to give me 

some statistics. In 2013, Judge Mohr saw 4,773 cases across the 

bench. I did a little math on that. That’s 13 cases a day 7 days a 

week or 91 to 92 cases a week, and he’s well on his way to that 

number and probably exceeding that number this year again, so 

just a little statistic there that I would like to pass on. 

All right, Mr. Dynneson talked a lot about the sheriffs and the 

law enforcement and we talked about the housing so I will let that 

be on that one. Now, I am going to move to county attorneys. County attorneys are overwhelmed in our county. The statistic that I 

come up with on the county attorney is 954 percent based on the 

expenditures from 2004 to the new budget that was just submitted 

to me in the last month, or last couple months, so it’s a very overwhelming thing that’s going on there and I just wanted to pass 

that number on because it’s just mind-boggling and I think these 

gentlemen who spoke on the panel before me can relate to me with 

the increased domestic violence, increased drugs and the murders 

and everything that’s going on here, so I guess that’s all I am going 

to say about the county attorneys’ office. 

My last one that I want to talk about is roads and bridges and 

the county department. The road department has went up 743 percent in the last 10 years based on numbers that pulled. One of our 

biggest calls and the most problem we have course is rough roads. 

That’s a daily thing. But dust suppression is a nightmare. Everybody in the country is mad because of the dust that’s coming in so 

I believe a lot of this has came back in the 70s, maybe 1973, the 

Constitution was opened up and something put in there about the 

Montanans are entitled to a clean and health environment. Well, 

they play that trump card on us and we literally pay out. It’s in 

the excess of $100,000 to $200,000 a year in buying Mag. Chloride. 

We have dedicated a whole crew of people to handle the road patrol 

work and the semis and we have even put up storage tanks and 

we have semi loads of Mag. Chloride brought to us to try to appease the public with all the phone calls that the commissioners 

and the road bosses get and it’s really a task. We have about 35 

people on the road department and it looks like they don’t get anything done. It’s quite a bit of deterioration on the roads with the 

truck traffic. And also, I will add here that our public works director had a counter out on one of the local gravel pits where all the 

gravel is heading into North Dakota and we are getting nothing for 

it but a worn out road and giving that man back there, Shane 

Mintz, a headache because of all the road work it requires to maintain the roads out there; and we have about 2,200 and some odd 

loads that went on that road in one day out there into North Dakota. Well, that’s fine; that’s business. I’m for business. But I’m 

going to give you a little statistic here that you are not going to 

believe me but that’s fine; 2,280 semis in one on this road. One 

80,000 pound semi is equivalent to approximately 2,300 ordinary 

vehicles like you and I drove to work today, so when you take the 

math and you work that out this is one day, it would be equivalent 

wear and tear on these roads of 5,244,000 ordinary vehicles on that 

one stretch of road, and I will admit that this isn’t something that 
50 

goes on 24 hours a day, it goes on and then it slows down, it peaks 

up and it peaks down, but these are the kinds of things that we 

have to deal with. 

And I also have some pictures I am going to give Senator Tester 

in regards to some accidents that have happened on some of the 

roads in my area. There’s been probably 20 rollovers since the first 

of the year on some of these roads that were built in the 1940s. 

I don’t want to get the Department of Transportation in trouble. I 

think they do a wonderful job at trying to take care of the roads, 

but we probably have one of the finest district directors in Glendive 

that money can buy, but he ain’t got enough money to take care 

of these roads out here. Why can’t you guys come and do a onetime infusion for the impacted Bakken counties and get him some 

money so that he can do something with these roads. I know that 

they try to go on the fairness issue and based on population and 

stuff and I have seen the numbers and they are fair numbers when 

you look at them, but this is the area that’s creating a $200 and 

some million dollar surplus for the oil companies and I would like 

to see the Federal Government help the State out with a one-time 

infusion for this Bakken region for road rebuilding. 

And on that issue, I think I am kind of running out. I know I 

have overused my time. We have also done quite a lot of work with 

the City of Savage, it’s a non-incorporated town, and we got the 

sewage lagoon fully funded thanks to all the different agencies involved; and you asked earlier about red tape and I think that’s an 

understatement. CDBG has been great to work with but there’s a 

lot of red tape there, but it doesn’t matter, I’m not singling them 

out because the whole works is just awful for red tape. I bet one 

of the first things that happened when I got into office was a Order 

on Consent for the lagoon being out of compliance and I have been 

working on that almost 41⁄2 pushing 5 years now and we still 

haven’t even moved an ounce of dirt, so that’s bureaucracy and 

that’s red tape that’s causing all those problems and it’s nightmare 

and now Sidney’s facing it and it is a terrible thing that we have 

to do all this red tape, so I guess I’ll go ahead and hang up the 

mic now and let you ask your questions and thank you. 

Senator TESTER. Thank you, Commissioner Young, for your testimony. I very much appreciate it and my first question is probably 

going to be self-explanatory by the testimony that you have already 

given, but I will give you an opportunity to be brief and say it 

again, and it is a question that I asked the first panel and Attorney 

General Fox pointed out that I did not ask the second panel and 

that is from your perspective what’s the biggest challenge you have 

out there because this Panel’s about infrastructure. Who’s got the 

mic? Commissioner, what’s your biggest challenge as a county commissioner if you were to pick one? 

Mr. YOUNG. Oh, I would say that trying to keep the roads caught 

up to the traffic is probably our worst challenge. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. YOUNG. Helena has done a real good job with the severance 

tax and we are ahead of the game because, just a little history note 

here, Richland County is the county that where the very first 

Bakken oil well just northwest of town here was drilled. Everybody 

thinks everything is North Dakota, but it happened right here just 
51 

northwest of town; but roads are a nightmare. That’s our No. 1 

complaint. 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Mr. YOUNG. And we do the best we can with what we have. I 

know we have tremendous revenue stream but it’s still not enough. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. YOUNG. And of course we try to make good decisions. 

Senator TESTER. Just curious, you said you have folks on your 

road crew, how much has that changed in the last 5 years? 

Mr. YOUNG. Well, I believe 10 years ago they had about 15, 13 

to 15. 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Mr. YOUNG. But we can’t even find anybody to hire that’s experienced. 

Senator TESTER. I gotcha. 

Mr. YOUNG. They don’t want to work for what counties are paying. They want that $35/$40/$50 an hour. 

Senator TESTER. I gotcha. Point well taken; thank you. Paul? Not 

that you are working on housing or anything, but what’s your biggest challenge? 

Mr. GROSHART. Parking my car at the office now that school has 

started. We have seen a large increase in the number of rental 

units made available in the last year, probably last year and half; 

unfortunately, as mentioned before, rents are on the $2,000 range 

or higher, and as a business person, you know as well as anyone, 

that if you are going to invest your money in something like housing you want to get your money back out faster rather than later, 

so as we find out when we go to the bank to do a project, they are 

talking 10 years/20 years. If you are going to 10 or 20 years you 

are going to have to get your money out faster. 

There’s a HUD program called 221(d)(4) that is a mortgaged 

guarantee program for multi-family developers, and basically that 

helps lower the interest rate for the loan that the developer may 

go get. That is about the only alternative that I am aware of in the 

multi-family area that could help our community if there was a developer available that wanted to do this kind of housing and give 

him a 40-year mortgage instead of 10 or 20 years. They could keep 

the rents affordable for that long of a period. The housing authority 

and our affiliate the Richland Affordable Housing Corporation, we 

own one of those properties that we were able to purchase with 

home funds in 2001. The original owner was from Kennewick, 

Washington. He had ran out of his need to have that kind of a 

project. We were able to buy it and keep it locally, but it is a 

221(d)(4) project where the mortgage was guaranteed. There was 

also a Section 8 rental assistance into that project so you did increase the amount of housing available for low income housing 

families. 

Senator TESTER. OK. Thanks, Paul. John, if you were to pick the 

one thing that’s biggest infrastructure priority for you what would 

it be? 

Mr. DYNNESON. Probably maintaining a workforce, an experienced workforce, and then of course if this region expands we are 

going to have the same issues that we currently have is the overcrowding of the jail and workspace within the facility that we have. 
52 

Senator TESTER. Good, thanks. OK, Mike Tooley. 

Mr. TOOLEY. Thanks for asking that question, Senator, and it 

goes back to part of my response toward the end of my closing, it 

would be dependable funding, not just funding, but dependable. Let 

me explain why that is. The Department of Transportation knows 

what to do and where the problems are, we just don’t have the resources to address it. 

It’s the same issues the counties deal with. My needs are $1.5 

billion per year to do what we should be doing. Right now, the 

State of Montana between State and Federal funds, we are making 

an investment of $440 million a year between State and Federal 

funds; and so you can do the math, we fall behind every year. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. TOOLEY. So one of the most difficult things for us is our inability to plan based on short-term funding fixes. Congress recently 

transferred funds into the highway trust fund to make it solvent 

through the end of May, which was great because we were able to 

keep those construction projects going, but what we like to do at 

the DOT is get 85 percent of our contracts let by March. 

Senator TESTER.Yes. 

Mr. TOOLEY. So that helps the contractors know what they need 

to buy or who they need to staff and it keeps prices low. Unfortunately, the two-thirds of the year is two-thirds of the funds and so 

we don’t have a full year of funding and so we have to be pretty 

tentative on how let those contracts. It dries up costs. It keeps the 

contractors from hiring the personnel they need, buy the materials 

they need, and it all winds up in cost increases, so we need dependable long-term funding so we know that we can implement the 

plans the work that we know needs to be done. A one-tine infusion 

to the Commissioner’s question, that might help, but the problem 

is you have to plan these projects. Administrator Mintz has a big 

backlog of projects that he could probably work on, but it doesn’t 

mean because the money’s here today that it’s going to get done 

today, and so if that’s something that Congress is interested in 

doing I think that the State DOTs would want to be part of that 

conversation to make sure that your intent is met at the end. 

Senator TESTER. Right. 

Mr. TOOLEY. So basically, coming back to dependable long-term 

funding, something we can plan on and actually do some work. 

Senator TESTER. Thanks, Mike. We don’t have to take this up 

today, but at some point in time I do want to have a conversation 

with you about what the capacity is in this State for road building. 

You say you have a $1.5 billion dollar need out there and there’s 

no doubt about that because we have been all over the State and 

you do a great job but there is plenty of need. We are doing about 

a third of that or a little less than a third of that a year. If you 

had $1.5 billion, do we have the construction capability to spend 

that kind of money? You don’t have to answer that now, but we do 

need to visit about it. Go ahead if you want you can, but we can 

talk about that later. 

Mr. Preite, you deal with everything from soup to nuts, what’s 

the biggest infrastructure need from your office? 

Mr. PREITE. Well, Senator, I think the challenge that I spend 

most of my time is trying to figure out a way to bring people to-
53 

gether so we can get the most effective use of the resources that 

we have available to us out there. Now, in this particular area, the 

Bakken, no question the resources are scarce resources. 

That’s going to take a while to get that done. Having said that though, as an example, Governor Bullock is proposing the $45 million dollar bond issue. It’s got to go to the Legislature and then it 

will be available. Now, we should be working, and we are working, 

with other people to try to figure out the best way to at least at 

a minimum match that with other resources and leverage it so that 

at a minimum we have double that. Now, we spent a lot of time— 

I have to acknowledge this we have like 17 or 18 community meetings over a 2-year period a couple of years ago in the area, and 

what we found is every time we had one of those meetings at least 

people in the communities were incorporating, in-cooperating I 

should say, we need to bring, and we do it, but we need to do a 

better job of bringing everybody together to the table. Now, at 

USDA Rural Developmental I have in my work plan scheduled 10 

to 12 community meetings in this area, primarily, but throughout 

Montana in the next 18 months, and at these meetings I am going 

to go back because several years ago I had these meetings and 

whenever we would have them and have all of the departments 

there, and that’s the best way to cut red tape, is to bring those people there and let them, the CDBG people, my people, the trust people, transportation people, the SBA people; we have them all there 

and we invite them all there and we are going to sit down, they 

are going to present their programs, and then at the end of the 

meetings there’s going to be tables at the end for individual consultations so that the people at the meeting can best understand 

the resources that are there and other participants from the local, 

State and Federal agencies understand what other people have. 

Sometimes we take it for granted that everybody knows what’s 

available out there; no, they don’t. There are more resources there 

that are available that are not being tapped. 

Now, I want to make a claim here that there’s enough resources 

to take care of all the problems, but we can do a whole lot better 

job than we are doing in coordinating our efforts. So, Senator, 

that’s really what I am really concerned is that knowing that we 

have scarce resources; knowing we have these needs, we can not 

afford to let opportunities escape us. We can not afford to not take 

the actions necessary to get the best utilization and if I don’t get 

another opportunity, I just need to say your staff has been terrific, 

just great to work with. 

Senator TESTER. You will probably get another opportunity. Mike 

Tooley, this question has to do with staff retention and recruitment 

and it will go to John Dynneson and Loren Young after you get 

done, but your question is a little bit different than the question 

I am going to ask them, and that is do you have the flexibility to 

offer additional stipends for different regions of the State, particularly this one because rental costs are so high, as Paul pointed out, 

do you have the flexibility within your budget to be able to say, 

’Yes, I’m going to pay this guy an extra $500 a month because the 

cost of living is so high’? 

Mr. TOOLEY. Senator Tester, that’s exactly what we do. We, in 

the Bakken area, offer a housing stipend of $500 a month, and 
54 

what that has done has helped at least with the retention side for 

existing employees. We are still having positions that are open 

until filled, which is something in my years of State government 

I rarely see, but we have had the flexibility through statewide policy to effect that type of stipend. 

Senator TESTER. Good. 

Mr. TOOLEY. And it does work. 

Senator TESTER. Perfect. John, yours and Loren’s is a little bit 

different because it’s two-forked: Number 1, do you have the flexibility? And Number 2, do you have the budget to be able to fulfill 

that flexibility if you have it? Do you understand what I’m saying? 

Mr. DYNNESON. Yes. 

Senator TESTER. If you so choose to give an additional stipend, 

are the dollars there to do it? 

Mr. DYNNESON. I believe that they probably are. You need to understand, though, that I am here representing the Sheriff and I am 

not sure what communications he’s has in regards to that. 

Senator TESTER. What’s said in the room stays in the room. OK? 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. DYNNESON. OK. But I would applaud Mr. Groshart, the 

county commissioners and the City council for the efforts that they 

have made to start this housing project. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. DYNNESON. But what I would like for everyone to consider 

is the support people. Those are primarily for law enforcement. The 

support staff, the entry-level people that come in; the cooks, the 

janitors, the secretaries; they are kind of forgotten about, and a 

single lady with a child or a man with a child. a married couple 

comes to town they both have to work. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. DYNNESON. But if there’s no daycare, you have that issue. 

Senator TESTER. Amen. 

Mr. DYNNESON. So I applaud them for what they are doing, but 

there needs to be some consideration for those level-entry that do 

support us as much as they do. 

Senator TESTER. OK. First of all, I should have echoed that after 

your testimony, I too, want to thank you for the joint venture to 

build housing to help recruit and retain staff. I think that’s good 

thinking outside of the box and I can’t commend you enough. 

As far as recruitment and retention, that’s a plumb; housing is 

a plumb, if you get this project done, to be able to get them in with 

rental prices that I assume since this is a joint venture the rental 

prices will probably be lower than what they are—— 

Mr. YOUNG. Yes, they would be. We are not going to be renting 

apartments out for $2,200 a month. 

Senator TESTER. Right, exactly. 

Mr. YOUNG. Most of them $1,000 down and another $2,000 retainer. 

Senator TESTER. There you go. So that’s good. The question is do 

you have the flexibility to offer incentives over and above wages? 

And you are going to look at a whole package if you have a housing 

component. 

Mr. YOUNG. I believe that we do probably have the authority to 

offer stipends and incentives like that. 
55 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. YOUNG. But so far we have just wanted to focus on basically 

the law enforcement because that seems to be the worst revolving 

door. We are blessed to really have a lot of people that are established and living here and have their homes. 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Mr. YOUNG. And we have not really wanted to go down that road 

because when you start stipends you start mutiny on the bounty. 

Senator TESTER. You got it. I understand. 

Mr. YOUNG. But we have to come up with a price if we are going 

to work on the housing authority that allows retention of these employees in law enforcement without having to pay that high rent, 

but also it’s fair enough that we won’t have too many of the constant employees wanting to put their name on the list and move 

into the new housing so it’s a hard balance. 

Senator TESTER. OK. Pass the mic over to Paul. Paul, I kind of 

touched on this issue with the Mayor and with Leslie. When it 

comes to housing, is there enough land that can be developed for 

housing? Is that an impediment for housing in Sidney? 

Mr GROSHART. Yes. The City basically was in a mode for a number of years where they didn’t annex a lot of land next to the City 

in for any developments, and now that land is really becoming limited, and when you do annex in land the City’s obligated to extend 

the services, meaning water and sewer, which adds on to the cost 

of the project itself, so we are basically landlocked in a way because 

we have a railroad on the east side of town, the hills on the west, 

and you either go north or south, and there is some prime farmland there that could be developed, but again it’s getting the services out to that area. Perhaps, on your way to town you saw the 

new Town Pump out on the four corners, and that is a huge development there for the community, but it is outside the City limits. 

Senator TESTER. I did. OK, the Bakken I think needs about $750 

million bucks, three-quarters of a billion dollars in infrastructure 

needs. Tony, given that magnitude, given the fact that you have already addressed leveraging of funds and how critically important 

that is, could you talk about if there are other programs out there 

that you see that could be plussed up to really meet the needs of 

a high-growth area like this area? 

Mr. PREITE. Well, Senator, I am sure there are other programs 

out there. That’s what I was trying to get out earlier in that, the 

day is gone when just one Federal agency or one vendor or whatever can take care of the needs of a project. Now, as far as the need 

for the infrastructure here in the Bakken in North Dakota and 

Montana, sure it’s a significant amount, and today, no, we don’t 

have the resources today to address each one of them in an orderly 

manner, but we still need to start the process of planning; you still 

need to start the process of bringing all of the potential resources 

that are with all agencies, local, State, Federal and the private sector. We haven’t talked very much about the private sector, especially, in talking about the housing. We don’t have, or it doesn’t appear that we have, and you please correct me because you are the 

expert on it, but it doesn’t appear that we have the entrepreneurial 

dollars to go out and to build multi-family complexes or even apartments and stuff, and I know you are working very hard on that, 
56 

but that’s something we have to work on; that all of those fit in 

the same bucket. 

Senator TESTER. Right. 

Mr. PREITE. In the final analysis. There are resources out there 

that we have never utilized and we are going to have to revisit 

that. 

Senator TESTER. Yes, that’s fine, Tony, thanks. I’m want to go 

back to a point that we brought up in the second panel, the Attorney General was developing a plan with the Montana Petroleum 

Association on hiring and helping law enforcement that way and I 

said I applaud that effort and I do. The question is from a infrastructure standpoint, and I talked about this on the first panel, is 

there an avenue by which, or have you approached this avenue, by 

which you could ask the oil companies to pitch in a few extra 

bucks? Lore, do you want to answer that, that’s fine? 

Mr. YOUNG. Us commissioners, Mr. Mitchell is the other commissioner that’s here in the house, we have a really good relationship 

with most of the oil companies—— 

Senator TESTER. Sure. 

Mr. YOUNG [continuing]. Our road boss and the commissioners, 

but when we bring up funding they all say that we pay that 9-point 

something percent severance tax and we are paying that to the 

State and it’s coming back to us and they feel that that’s pretty 

much their commitment. 

Senator TESTER. OK. 

Mr. YOUNG. Now, some of them have stepped up and furnished 

trucks and equipment if we furnish material. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. YOUNG. There’s a couple of companies that are really good 

to work with. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Mr. YOUNG. But very few of them. 

Senator TESTER. Yes, I gotcha. I just wanted to know just for the 

record. I appreciate that, Loren. We are going to bounce around a 

little bit. I want to get back to Mike, and Mike I will tell you from 

my perspective, I want to apologize that we don’t have a Highway 

Bill done, a 5-year Highway Bill that is paid for and funded so you 

can plan, so your contractors you contract with can go out and buy 

the equipment they need to meet the contracts that you are going 

to let. That aside, could you talk a little bit about if the money was 

there, how do you make determinations for allocations? You talked 

about there’s a $50 million dollar additional just in road maintenance, but how do you make that allocation? Because you have 

roads in Western Montana that need work; you got roads in Central Montana that need work; and you got roads in Eastern Montana that need work. How do you make that allocation so that 

everybody’s not totally mad at you? 

Mr. TOOLEY. That’s a good question, Senator. The way we do it 

is we look at a number of different factors, among them being pavement condition; we look at congestion; and we look at safety. Those 

are the three big things that we put into consideration, and it’s a 

pretty complicated process to get there. It’s managed through the 

districts through people like Mr. Mintz that when those scores or 

when everything is added up it rises to the top and those are the 
57 

projects that wind up being nominated and put into the program. 

As far as how the actual funding distribution is, it usually comes 

back largely to pavement condition, and certain percentage then is 

derived from that. In this current case, the Glendive district is 

number 2 only to Missoula in terms of pavement condition and 

funding, and so funding has actually been shifted from some of the 

other districts like Billings and Butte and Great Falls to come out 

this way. While Missoula’s remain pretty stagnant, Glendive has 

continued to rise, and so it’s a really delicate balancing act for us. 

Senator TESTER. Well, I want to thank you and I want thank you 

all for your testimony. I know we could literally go on. We are past 

noon by a bit and I wanted to kind of wrap this up by noon, but 

I just want to thank you all for your work; local, State, Federal law 

enforcement; highways; county commish; housing; Priete, everything that you do, I just want to say thank you very much for what 

you do. I want to thank you for taking the time this morning because I know you all had a whole bunch other stuff you could have 

been doing so thank you for your testimony; thank you for what 

you have done. We have covered a fair amount of ground here 

today, and the issues are out there. I think where we go from here 

is going to determine whether we can address the issues here in 

the Bakken in a way that meets the needs of the people here and 

meets the needs of the businesses here, and I think that there has 

been a ton of information put out on the challenges. They are 

many. We need to remember there is a lot of positive out there too 

to help. The Bakken has helped for energy sufficiency for this country, so we are going to take this information back; we are going to 

scrutinize it and try to compress and take it back to our colleagues 

in the Senate and continue to work with the State and local officials along the way to try to get some things done here to solve 

some of the problems that we have heard about today and there 

has been a bunch. For the record, this hearing record will remain 

open for 15 days for any additional comments or questions that you 

may want to put in the record; and with that, once again, thank 

all the panelists and this hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, proceedings adjourn at 12:19 p.m.] 

(59) 

A P P E N D I X 
60 
61 
62 
63 
64 
65 
66 
67 
68 
69 
70 
71 
72 
73 
74 
75 
76 
77 
78 
79 
80 
81 
82 
83 
84 
85 
86 
87 
88 
89 
90 
91 
92 
93 
94 
95 
96 
97 
98 
99 
100 
101 
102 
103 
104 
105 
106 
107 
108 
109 
110 
111 
112 
113 
114 
115 
116 
117 
118 

Æ