Coal in North Dakota

Federal coal in North Dakota is being eyed by energy companies for possible use in gasification o...  More »

Federal coal in North Dakota is being eyed by energy companies for possible use in gasification or coal-to-liquid plants in the next 20 years. The Bureau of Land Management is holding meetings this week in Bismarck, and Dickinson to gather comments about the future management of the federal coal in the state. John Hartley is a BLM project manager in Dickinson. He says the BLM crafted its last management plan for coal in 1988 and it needs an update. The BLM says North Dakota has about 5 million acres of federal coal. The agency's last management plan identified about 574,000 acres with more than 10 billion tons of a low-grade coal that could be leased. State geologist Ed Murphy says interest is growing because of new coal technologies. He says he believes more of western North Dakota will see coal production over the next twenty years.  « Less