A different Devils Lake perspective

Hi everyone,

I wanted to try and get a different perspective on everything going on in the Devils lake basin. I understand on this site there has been a lot of rock throwing and “rights” this and “rights” that in regards to access and fishing. I was up there the last four days and with being a business owner that depends on Devils Lake I think I can say that I am highly interested in keeping the fishing opportunities but also can see some of the frustration on other business owner, farmers, and resident’s faces. I say some of the frustration because I got a good hunch that unless you are living through this, there is no way anyone could understand the pain and loss these folks are going through. You might say I live in Fargo, Jamestown, Grand forks ect and I have experienced flooding and true, you have, and my heart goes out to you but the one main difference is your water went away after a while, theirs isn’t. It is locked in a basin where walls are just lifted and more land is left to the flooding waters. Residents are dealing with access issues of their own, such that,  am I even going to be able to get back to my house when I leave work; knowing that if they can’t and a road doesn’t get raised here or there, they lose the house, land, belongings and everything else. I know for a fact, people have moved campers into Devils lake just for this reason, if they can’t get home they will have a place to stay. There has been a lot of bashing on farmers, imagine this. The 100,000 acre farm has been in your family for years, providing a means of work and in some years, barely putting bread on the table, other years I am sure have been banner but you have always took the good with the bad. Now, Mother Nature unleashes the wrath of water and the lake begins to rise but not to worry, the Corps is diligently studying it and will soon find a solution to save what you have left 7 plus years ago. Fast forward to today, you’re down to 10,000 acres and still trying to put bread on the table, lake is still rising, Corps is still supposedly thinking. Tax bill is due on that 100,000 acres, do you pay it so you still own the land that is making you nothing in hopes that you  still have a farm if the water levels go down or do you default and let the state take over that land? The business owner that is near the lake, you look at these Resorts and think, wow, what a cash cow they got going on here, but with the rising lake waters they lose more and more land and have to pay out more and more to try and keep what they have left. Keep in mind, some resorts use to be farms that lost nearly everything once, tried to turn lemons into lemonade by going with a resort and now are slowing losing that. Who do all these people in the region turn to for help? City doesn’t have a lot of money, county is broke, and the state is starting to push a little. Has the President declared a disaster area and opened up federal funds, oh wait their broke too. Do you depend on FEMA for a buyout, insurance if you can still afford the premiums? How about the Corps?

I know for a fact that I have not even scratched the surface with what I have wrote and what people are feeling, I don’t think that you can put that into words but my point in writing this is for us sportsman that uses the Devils Lake Basin as an outdoor recreation outlet as we should, need to have some compassion and understand what these folks are going through. Next time you’re up in that area, I challenge you to take 10 minutes with someone who lives in the area and just listen, they need to vent in a constructive manner and you will receive a better understanding  what is truly happening in their lives and who knows you might even make a new friend in the process.