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Senators want bison declared national mammal
• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- U.S. senators from the Dakotas and other areas are making another attempt at having the bison declared the national mammal.
• Sens. Tim Johnson and John Thune of South Dakota and John Hoeven and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota are among those introducing the National Bison Legacy Act on Wednesday. The bill is backed by the Intertribal Buffalo Council and the National Bison Association.
• Similar legislation introduced in 2012 stalled in Congress.
• Tens of millions of bison once roamed most of North America, but overhunting reduced the population to about 1,000 animals by the turn of the 20th century. Conservationists including President Theodore Roosevelt saved the species from extinction in 1905 by re-establishing herds in Oklahoma, Montana and South Dakota.
• About 400,000 bison now roam pastures and rangelands across North America.
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SD school announces new minor in petroleum systems
• RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) -- The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology is adding a minor in petroleum systems as part of a broader initiative to focus on the booming energy industry.
• "The energy industry is rapidly growing in our region. Many of our graduates are already hired into the industry and we are well-positioned to expand both teaching and research in this field," school President Heather Wilson said in a statement.
• The Rapid City school is equidistant from three of the largest energy-producing regions in the country: the Williston Basin to the north, the Powder River Basin to the northwest and the Denver Basin directly south. The college announced in April that it was launching a Shale Research Institute with the help of Rapid City-based engineering consultant RESPEC. Shale formations, such as the Bakken in North Dakota, hold oil.
• The new minor in petroleum systems will be available to all Mines and Technology students beginning in the fall, pending approval from the state Board of Regents. Coursework will include drilling and production engineering, fluid mechanics and a field course.
• The school said it likely will add a staff member to support the program, and is (Continued on page 13)
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