A postcard mailed by the North Dakota Weather Modification Association to Ward County voters in May has opponents of the county’s cloud seeding program crying foul.

North Dakotans Against Weather Modification is questioning what it sees as the use of co-mingled county funds in production and distribution of a mailer promoting weather modification just weeks before an election on a related measure.

“It’s taxpayer money,” said Roger Neshem, Berthold, spokesman for North Dakotans Against Weather Modification.

The intensity and diversity of public opinion surrounding cloud seeding has led the Ward County Commission to turn to voters to decide the future of the program in the county.

Today, Ward County is one of only 5 North Dakota counties who continue to use tax dollars for cloud seeding. In fact, this project is only 5 of 3,242 counties in the whole United States currently cloud seeding for hail suppression. Participation in the project began to shrink due to uncertainty and ineffectiveness, yet funding grew. How did that happen?

How much tax money will we spend before we realize we still have draught, we still have hail, and we’re still spending money that could be used elsewhere instead of weather modification/cloud seeding in Ward County, North Dakota?

Weather modification is a hot topic right now, because of the current ballot measure for Ward County. Here are my issues with the project: Secrecty, excessive use, no significant proof that weather modification or cloud seeding prevents hail!

Prepare for the propaganda onslaught! In the weeks to come we will be bombarded by special interest money citing all the benefits of weather modification. They will toss out numbers such as 30 to 1 and low costs of 40 cents per acre. They will cite studies and evaluations that have all been said to contain “No scientifically credible evidence hail can be suppressed.”

Prepare for the propaganda onslaught! In the weeks to come we will be bombarded by special interest money citing all the benefits of weather modification. They will toss out numbers such as 30 to 1 and low costs of 40 cents per acre. They will cite studies and evaluations that have all been said to contain “No scientifically credible evidence hail can be suppressed.”

Prepare for the propaganda onslaught! In the weeks to come we will be bombarded by special interest money citing all the benefits of weather modification. They will toss out numbers such as 30 to 1 and low costs of 40 cents per acre. They will cite studies and evaluations that have all been said to contain “No scientifically credible evidence hail can be suppressed.”

What do the hail suppression efforts do? We’re wondering the same thing and so is this farmer who was hailed on after a cloud seeding effort was made on a storm at his farm.

Weather Mod is a Waste written by Joanne from Foxholm, ND and concerned citizen in Ward County expresses her opinion about weather modification and cloud seeding in her county. This was originally published in the Minot Daily News on April 30, 2020.

As originally published in the Bismarck Tribune There was never much followup on this story about the results of the National Resource Council study. Perhaps it’s because proponents did not like the results it yielded? The study..