Tribal officials said Thursday that eastern Montana’s Fort Peck Indian Reservation is feeling the adverse effects of the nearby oil boom — without any of the economic gains.
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester hosted a listening session focused on human trafficking in Poplar, Montana, where he heard from tribal citizens and leaders about rising crime overall related to the increased oil drilling in western North Dakota and the far eastern edge of their state.
“Because of our proximity to the Bakken oil field … we are already seeing the negative effects of oil and gas development without any financial benefits,” said Rusty Stafne, chairman of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux tribes. “Washington has been quick to promote the exploitation of natural resources, but slow to provide the necessary funding for the increased demand on our services and infrastructure,” he said.
In recent years, the oil boom has transformed that area, bringing in tens of thousands of workers and nearly eliminating unemployment. But it has also spiked crime and tested local infrastructure and services.
“Montana and North Dakota have been especially hit hard with an increase in crime, including human trafficking, due to the explosive influx of people and resources following the oil and gas boom in the Bakken,” said Tester.
The senator said while there is no way to quantify human trafficking in eastern Montana and on the reservation, it has gone up sharply since the oil boom began. “We know that energy development brings tremendous opportunity to the region, but with that comes a bit of bad,” he said.
Local law enforcement have struggled to keep up. Eastern Montana’s Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office has just 10 deputies covering an area roughly the size of Delaware. But increased crime toward the heart of the oil patch in the east often pulls them away from the reservation.
“With the Bakken, we’re down on the east end dealing with all of that and not able to give as many officers to the reservation as we used to,” said Tina Bets His Medicine, administrative assistant at the sheriff’s office.
Several members of North Dakota’s Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation came to the hearing to voice concerns about their reservation, Fort Berthold. Fort Berthold currently represents about 300,000 of North Dakota’s 1 million barrels of oil produced daily. The reservation has been flooded with workers, but also crime.
Jodi Lee Spotted Bear of Fort Berthold called the impact that Fort Peck has seen so far from the oil boom “a drop in the bucket” of what could come.
“The level of violence and drugs has only gone up in our area — maybe you’ll be touched by it as well,” she said.