A wide variety of cooperatives outside the agricultural sector have been playing an important role in the nation's rural and urban areas by providing housing for the elderly and poor, affordable health care, child care, and education. These firms may constitute both business models that reduce...

Rural areas in the western United States have experienced enormous social and economic changes due to the development of nearby energy resources. Since the late 1970s, such effects have been quite noticeable in western North Dakota, an area richly endowed in lignite coal and petroleum reserves....

Macro-economic forces, technological innovations in equipment, abundant wildlife populations, changing participation levels, and land access are all contributing to a changing environment for wildlife managers and outdoor recreationists. Since the late 1970s, numerous studies have periodically...

Biobased products and fuels appear to have a very bright future. A consortium led by NDSU is currently engaged in a project that would use cellulose nanofibers derived from wheat straw to make a product that could substitute for fiberglass and plastics in many applications, including automotive...

Recreational activities related to North Dakota's wealth of natural resources are well-established in North Dakota. In recent years, North Dakota's abundant resources have attracted visitors from around the country and the world. In addition to providing recreational activities for residents and...

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), first enacted in 1985, seeks to achieve both conservation and agricultural supply control objectives through voluntary, long-term (10 year contracts) retirement of cropland. By fall 2000, the program had enrolled about 31.4 million acres nationwide, and...

Switchgrass, a warm-season perennial grass, native to the region, has received considerable interest for its potential role as a dedicated feedstock for cellulosic-based bio-fuels. This research examined the farm-gate price needed for switchgrass to provide per-acre net returns equal to those...

The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic contribution of crude oil and natural gas exploration, extraction, transportation, and processing in North Dakota in 2005. Primary data for the study came from three separate surveys of firms involved with various aspects of the petroleum...