A regional planning organization in western North Dakota is looking at ferry service across Lake Sakakawea.
The ferry would cross the lake in the Twin Buttes area.
Vision West ND is a planning consortium made up of 19 western North Dakota counties, the Three Affiliated Tribes and some other government groups. The consortium's Deb Nelson said the project is now a part of the tribal government’s transportation plan – and she said that will help the proposal fly.
"We need an additional north-south route for our people to be able to travel across the lake," Nelson said.
Nelson said there’s still work to do before that happens.
Meanwhile, Vision West ND is working to bring unmanned aircraft to western North Dakota.
"We're hoping that we might be able to help communities in western North Dakota become a test site for unmanned aircraft systems," Nelson said. "We've just started exploring that possibility."
Nelson said it’s part of an overall strategy of expanding economic opportunities in the west.