North Dakota considers ending longstanding weather modification program

FILE-Image of the state Capitol of North Dakota at Bismarck.(Photo credit: KAREN BLEIER/AFP via Getty Images)
Legislation is being discussed to end a weather modification program in North Dakota.
Republican Sen. Todd Beard introduced the North Dakota bill which he claims would eliminate weather modification and penalize the practice as a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to 30 days in jail and/or a $1,500 fine, the Associated Press reported.
North Dakota’s hail suppression program is the longest-running aerial cloud seeding program in the world and has used airplanes since the early 1960s, Darin Langerud, director of the Atmospheric Resource Division of the state Department of Water Resources, tells the AP.
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Langerud also shared with the AP that North Dakota counties sponsor the program, which operates from June through August. The program is cost-shared with North Dakota, which regulates the program.
What they're saying:
"We are tired of government controlling our weather," Williams County farmer Doug Stangeland told a state Senate panel on Thursday. "It's time that God does what he does. Let the creator of the weather do what he does."
Roger Neshem, a North Dakota farmer said, "I think it is a good thing to make this a misdemeanor and make it illegal." Neshem told the AP local concerns went unaddressed by officials, including flights he said were outside of permitted areas.
What is "cloud seeding"?
The backstory:
Cloud seeding is performed by airplanes releasing tiny particles of silver iodide in clouds to lower the size of hail and increase rainfall to help crops in the semi-arid climate, according to the Associated Press.
Opponents in North Dakota of cloud seeding view it as inefficient and harmful and cite the number of counties that have stopped their involvement in weather modification.
Cloud seeding is done in two counties and parts of a third, including Bowman County, in North Dakota, where some residents explained to state legislators its success in lowering hail losses for agriculture, homeowners and businesses. In 2016, the majority of voters in the county rejected abolishing their weather modification authority.
Do other states have weather modification programs?
Citing the North Dakota’s Atmospheric Resource Board, the AP noted that states, including California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and Wyoming, and Alberta in Canada, have weather modification programs.