MEDORA (AP) - An oil company has staked out an area near the site of Theodore Roosevelt's historic Badlands ranch in western North Dakota.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park Superintendent Valerie Naylor tells The Bismarck Tribune the prospect of oil wells near the historic Elkhorn Ranch represents the worst threat to the park in its history.
ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy has staked out an area for up to four oil wells less than a mile from the 1880s-era cabin site. State Mineral Resources officials who will make a recommendation to the Industrial Commission have scheduled a permit hearing March 28.
Any oil wells also would require a federal permit because they would be on the Little Missouri National Grasslands.
XTO spokeswoman Emily Snooks tells The Dickinson Press that protecting the environment is a priority.