2/26/2007:
The North Dakota Geological Survey was established on this date, February 26th, 1895, and was originally headed by a geology professor from the University of North Dakota who was the ex-officio State Geologist. Early work of the Survey included studies of water supplies and lignite resources in the state. State government was quick to react to the discovery of oil 1953, when they gave the state Industrial Commission "jurisdication and authority over all persons and property, public and private, necessary to enforce the provisions of oil and gas conservation legislation". The relationship between the state geologist and the state Industrial Commission was made closer by a series of legislative acts until 1989, when the legislative assembly officially placed the State Geologist and the Geological Survey under the North Dakota Industrial Commission and moved the offices from Grand Forks to Bismarck. On July 1st, 2005, the Oil and Gas Division and the Geological Survey merged to become divisions of the Department of Mineral Resources.
Of course, long before the establishment of the Geological Survey and the appointment of the first state geologist was..geology itself. In the book, "The History of North Dakota", Elwyn Robinson writes, "The story of North Dakota begins with geology." The state is divided into three distinct geological regions.from east to west, the Red River Valley, The Drift Prairie and the Missouri Plateau. And the oil that lies deep beneath the surface of the Williston basin in the Missouri Plateau was probably formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals buried in the deposits of an ancient salt sea!
With today's renewed interest in the oil and gas resources of the state, and increased activity in the Williston Basin, current sate geologist, Edwin Murphy will be busier than ever investigating and watching over our state's mineral resources.
Sources
"The History of North Dakota", Elwyn B. Robinson
"North Dakota Blue Book 2005-2007"
www.dmr.nd.gov/ndgs/
Written by Merrill Piepkorn