BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Theodore Roosevelt’s great-grandson wants to stop development near the site of former president’s badlands ranch in western North Dakota.
The ranch itself is now part of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. But great-grandson Tweed Roosevelt has asked President Barack Obama to designate the area including an adjacent plot as a national monument.
The designation would block a proposed gravel mine and threaten plans for a bridge over the Little Missouri River.
The Forest Service bought the 5,200-acre parcel across from Roosevelt’s Elkhorn ranch in 2007 for $5.3 million. Conservation groups contributed $500,000 toward the purchase.
But the deal didn’t include mineral rights and a Montana businessman now wants to create a gravel mine there.
Tweed Roosevelt argues the mine would bring unwanted heavy machinery, roads, noise and dust to the area.
