Good and valuable state that it is, and the place of my birth, North Dakota today is a poster child for a future many people fear, one in which finite natural resources — including those valuable to people nationwide — are controlled by powerful political factions whose sole intent is to maximize the resources' extractive values.

Case in point: The fight that has simmered the past year in the Flickertail state over a proposed constitutional amendment that would have boosted conservation spending in North Dakota by tens of millions of dollars a year — much like the Legacy Act has done in Minnesota since being approved by voters in 2008.

The plan (Measure 5) was necessary, conservationists believed, because spending on the environment has long lagged in North Dakota — the nation's last, best duck-breeding state — a problem made exponentially worse in recent years by the oil boom in the northwest part of the state.

Had the idea been approved, 5 percent of the state's oil extraction tax revenue would have been directed to clean water, wildlife and parks. The plan was supported by a who's-who of conservation, wildlife, clean water and environment groups, including The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever.

In opposition was a lineup that seemed to galvanize nearly everyone and everything North Dakotan, including, almost, mom and apple pie: the Farmers Union, Farm Bureau, Stockmen's Association, Grain Growers Association, Corn Growers Association, and a host of chambers of commerce, including the Greater North Dakota Chamber and those from Bismarck-Mandan, Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot.

The campaign leading up to the Nov. 4 vote was bruising, with the crop-producing groups and their allies claiming the initiative was the skulduggery of "out-of-state'' organizations intent on controlling North Dakota and North Dakotans. Particularly targeted was Memphis-based Ducks Unlimited, in large part because its regional director, Steve Adair, headquartered in Bismarck, headed up the effort.

Another lightning rod for farm groups was the proposal's constitutionally mandated funding. Additionally, a consortium of special interests argued their needs were greater than the environment's, and that money should be spent first on education, social programs, property tax relief and/or the state's seniors.

Given that 80 percent of North Dakotans who voted on the measure opposed it, it's reasonable to conclude conservation advocates miscalculated in one or more ways. That said, political successes, and in particular conservation political successes, are often measured in fractional increments, and maybe the idea will arise again, and gain more support.

Perhaps it's that possibility that farm groups fear, because, in the wake of their ballot victory, they seem intent on scoring a knockout punch of North Dakota conservation interests — paradoxically, at the expense of their producer members.

Writing to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently, the farm groups asked that the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which is part of the Agriculture Department, sever its ties with Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever "farm bill biologists'' who work in NRCS offices, and who help farmers and ranchers implement oftentimes complicated conservation programs included in the federal farm bill.

Such partnerships between the cash-and-staff-strapped NRCS and nonprofit groups are long-standing and employed nationwide.

Barry Hazer is among those who have benefited. He owns 1,500 acres near Woodworth, N.D., and has worked with Pheasants Forever farm bill biologist Rachel Bush.

"She's done wonderful work for us,'' Hazer said. "In my opinion, she and the others in similar jobs have been a real help to the farm community. Without them, I don't know what would happen. You have to get these programs done by the book, and it's tough to get them right.''

Importantly, farm bill biologists working in the Dakotas, Minnesota and elsewhere only work with interested producers. No coercion exists. And no conspiracy: These aren't employees of "outside groups'' trying to hoodwink farmers and ranchers.

Which raises an important point. Ducks Unlimited is not an "outside group'' in North Dakota. It employs 55 in its Bismarck office, and since 1985 has spent more than $85 million in the state to support what many there want: increased resource stewardship.

Finally, rumors to the contrary notwithstanding, farm bill biologists have nothing to do — zero — with wetland determinations performed by NRCS professionals. Nor can they access confidential producer income or other information.

They're just there to help.

Dennis Anderson • 612-673-4424