The state Industrial Commission’s Outdoor Heritage Fund has awarded $7 million to Audubon Dakota.

The money is to initiate the North Dakota Conservation Forage Program.

"The chief question is: How do we get more habitat on the landcape, but keep land working and producing food," said Audubon Dakota executive director Marshall Johnson.

Johnson said the plan is to enroll up to 30,000 acres of marginal cropland, to restore forage based cover.

Cities in North Dakota will be receiving money from the so-called “Operation Prairie Dog.”

That program allocates money from oil taxes. The money is to be used for infrastructure spending.

"Based on the oil forecast for the rest of this biennium, we would expect that only the very first bucket in the operation would be filled," said state Budget Director Joe Morrissette. "That bucket did fill up in the month of November."

The October state revenue report was a mixed bag.

"We fell short of the original Legislative forecast by about 25 percent," said state Office of Management and Budget director Joe Morrissette.

However, Morrissette said it falls in line with the newer state revenue forecast, issued in September.

"And that forecast shows we'll be able to make it through this biennium, despite the shortfall, without having to call for an across-the-board state budeg reduction," Morrissette said.

A program to plug and reclaim orphaned oil wells, using federal coronavirus relief funds, will continue through the end of the year.

The program uses money from the “Cares Act,” to employ crews who do the plugging and the reclamation of the land.  It was designed to keep some oilfield workers employed – so they could stay in North Dakota.

"We have employed people for over 105,000 man-hours of work," state mineral resources director Lynn Helms told the state Industrial Commission. "We spent $32.5 million on plugging and reclamation."

Minot will be moving its city hall.

The current city hall is close to the Souris River – and has been affected by floods.

Minot Mayor Shaun Sipma says in 2005, the city applied to the National Disaster Resiliency Grant Progarm for funding to relocate City Hall. And the city council has chosen the old Wells Fargo bank building in downtown Minot. Sipma says the purchase price for the building is $2.6 million. He says the project will cost around $10 million, for remodeling.