North Dakota Man Camp Project Fall 2013 Media Kit

NORTH DAKOTA
MAN CAMP PROJECT
A study of workforce housing in the Bakken
NORTH DAKOTA MAN CAMP PROJECT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Importance of Housing After technology and markets, labor is the most important factor in profitable and sustainable energy production. Housing is foremost among the factors affecting recruitment and retention of labor. The NDMCP utilizes a combination of archaeological and ethnographic methods to gather data for industry, communities, and policy makers. Consistent with a zero harm philosophical approach, the project provides information to help resolve uncertainties connected to housing labor and the related impacts on the environment, infrastructure, and community well-being. Temporary worker housing needs are determined by the rapidly changing ebbs and flows of oil and gas exploration and extraction, along with the varying rhythms of indirect sectors such as trucking, construction, and related service needs. All of these separate but interdependent activities are essential to production, but the discreet needs and patterns of each complicate development decisions necessary to providing temporary, intermediary, and long-term housing. While limited sectors have become relatively precise in calculating and providing on-demand housing, too often industry, policy makers, and developers have insufficient information, which results in poor planning and resistance to the types of infrastructure development essential to efficient profitability, and to attracting and retaining a quality workforce. In conjunction with costly infrastructure miscalculations from previous booms there is an unfortunate and unnecessary animosity between long-term residents, the industries that are enriching those communities, and the newly arrived workers necessary to North Dakotas oil and gas industry in the present and the future. To date, the boom has created in excess of 65,000 new jobs in western North Dakota. In contrast, existing and planned temporary housing has only produced approximately 20,000 beds. And yet, information necessary for sound housing decisions has too often depended on either sensational media reports or poorly coordinated bureaucratic records.
North Dakota Man Camp Project
bret.weber@und.edu william.caraher@und.edu
The Unique Approach of the North Dakota Man Camp Project The NDMCP offers a more proficient and comprehensive approach to looking at all of this by bringing together archaeologists, architectural historians, social work researchers, and artists to document the social, material, and environmental conditions of workforce housing in the Bakken. The North Dakota Man Camp project offers a rich, up to date set of perspectives on the long-term costs, benefits, and impacts of various forms of labor housing. The Three Main Types of Temporary Worker Housing In patterns similar to those documented since the earliest oil booms in Pennsylvania and Texas, the NDMCP has identified three types of temporary labor housing in western North Dakota. Type I housingsometimes referred to as crew campsconsists of uniform, institutional housing that makes the most efficient use of resources and has the smallest and least permanent environmental footprint in relation to the number of beds provided. Additionally, by consolidating worker shifts and addressing needs in a collective manner, Type I housing minimizes the impact on transportation, water, and sewage infrastructure. However, with little personalization or individual freedoms and only a limited sense of community, Type I housing is not always the most attractive to workers, especially those engaged in indirect sectors (trucking, construction, and service). Type II campsakin to RV parksare often individually owned, temporary units that most closely replicate the sense of community found in working-class suburbs. However, they make greater demands on existing infrastructure and with less tightly controlled administration they have a greater environmental impact. Additionally, units that are only meant for temporary living have increasingly become near permanent housing structures operating independent of building and safety codes. Type III camps can be best described as living rough with no fixed electrical, water, or sewage infrastructure. This is the least desirable form of housing both for workers and host communities and offers the lowest quality of material existence, especially in relation to harsh weather conditions. Additionally, Type III housing is the least
controllable from a community perspective, creates the highest potential for health concerns, and has the greatest per-capita environmental impact. Providing Value to Industry, Policy Makers, and Communities The NDMCP is providing a substantial and updated data set that links the material situation with the social environment in all the different types of Bakken workforce housing. The nuanced connection between the social and material offers both evidence of continuity with past booms and perspectives for future optimization of labor housing solutions in the Bakken and elsewhere. This work provides valuable information for industry, policy makers, and local communities. The Pictures on the Following Page The top left corner is a scene from a typical Type I, crew camp. Note the efficient use of space and low environmental footprint, but also the relative sterility and lack of community. Next to it is an aerial photo a Type II camp. The NDMCP utilizes a variety of recording techniques to offer a particularly rich data set. The winter scene below is of a dry Type II with no water or sewage hook-ups. Many of the units are not designed for permanent habitation or the harsh winter climate (note the make-shift insulation around the base of many of the units), creating potential health and safety hazards. The next two pictures illustrate the sprawling nature of much of the temporary labor housing in the Bakken. The picture on the right was taken in a city that had been decommissioned in the 1980s, and then became an ad hoc collection of trailers and campers. The poorly constructed sewage system serving multiple trailers created a stench that was noticeable throughout the town. The bottom picture is of a Type III camp with no infrastructure, meaning people live rough.
ABOUT NORTH DAKOTA MAN CAMP PROJECT

The North Dakota Man Camp Project seeks to document the materials and social environment of crew camps associated with the Bakken Oil Patch in western North Dakota. Our collaboration brings together research questions from world archaeology with those central to the study of the American West and labor history. Our research focuses on the communities created by the boom, namely man or crew camps established to provide accommodations for workers who came into the area to work in the oil industry or in related services. The North Dakota Man Camp has received funding from the Instituted for Energy Studies and the Office of Research at the University of North Dakota.
COLLABORATORS
Principal Investigators Dr William Caraher, Department of History, University of North Dakota Dr Bret Weber, Department of Social Work, University of North Dakota Dr Carenlee Barkdull, Department of Social Work, University of North Dakota Dr Kostis Korelis, Department of Art History, Franklin & Marshall, Lancaster PA Dr Richard Rothaus, Trefoil Cultural and Environmental John Holmgren, Photographer, Franklin & Marshall, Lancaster PA Kyle Cassidy, Photographer, Philadelphia Aaron Barth, Graduate Student, History, North Dakota State University Robert Caulkins, Graduate Student, History, University of North Dakota Julia Geigle, Graduate Student, Social Work, University of North Dakota
MEDIA & SOCIAL MEDIA

PRINT & DIGITAL
September 2012 Grand Forks Herald, front page feature (attached) Man Camp Studies Bismarck Tribune newspaper: Bakken Breakout (attached) UND studies impact of man camps in oil patch
Link: http://bismarcktribune.com/bakken/und-studies-impact-of-man-camps-in-oilpatch/article_214068d8-05b0-11e2-9707-001a4bcf887a.html
February 2013 Forum Communications Co. Reporters Oil Patch Dispatch blog (attached) UND researchers document life in the man camps.
Link: http://oilpatchdispatch.areavoices.com/2013/02/10/und-researchers-document-life-in-mancamps/
Grand Forks Herald, front page of Section C (attached) Researchers document oil boom Discovery Magazine, University of North Dakotas research magazine, (attached) Man Camps
Link: http://webapp.und.edu/dept/our/discovery/man-camps
RADIO
Prairie Public Radio broadcast, Tuesday, April 9, 2013 Man Camps in the Oil Patch
Link: http://www.prairiepublic.org/radio/mainstreet?post=49220
Prairie Public Radio broadcast, Tuesday, September 10, 2013 Oil Patch Housing Study
Link: http://www.prairiepublic.org/radio/mainstreet?post=51946
TELEVISION
Studio One broadcast, feature story, March 7, 2013 Man Camp Research
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p-hcWaIbkA
MORE
Dr Bill Carahers Blog (To date, there are 61 blog posts for Work Camps) http://mediterraneanworld.wordpress.com/category/work-camps/
#OilCampsND
CONFERENCES & COMMUNITY PRESENTATIONS

May 2012 - Poster presentation Center for Community Engagement, Buffalo ND (Dr Bret Weber and Dr Carenlee Barkdull) October 2012 - Conference paper Midwest Association for Canadian Studies Conference, Grand Forks (Dr Bill Caraher) November 2012 Conference paper Council on Social Work Education, Washington DC (Dr Bret Weber and Dr Carenlee Barkdull) March 2013 - Invited presentation OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute), Grand Forks (Dr Bill Caraher and Dr Bret Weber) March 2013 - Invited presentation Richmond University, Richmond, Virginia (Dr Bill Caraher) April 2013 - Invited presentation North Dakota State University, for the Curtis Amlund Speaker Series (Dr Bill Caraher and Dr Bret Weber) June 2013 - Conference paper Society for Industrial Archaeology, Minneapolis-Saint Paul (Dr Richard Rothaus) June 2013 - Invited presentation North Dakota Humanities Council, (Dr Bill Caraher) July 2013 Conference paper International Consortium on Social Development, Kampala, Uganda (Dr Bret Weber and Dr Carenlee Barkdull)
FORTHCOMING Society of American Archaeology in Austin, Texas, Spring 2014 (Dr Bill Caraher)
NORTH DAKOTA MAN CAMP PROJECT BY THE NUMBERS

Research visits to the oil patch: 6 Project collaborators: 10 Man Camps documented: 51 Recorded interviews with oil patch residents: 54 Sketches produced: 75 Photographs in the study collection: exceeds 5000
FUTURE WORK
Continued travel to and documentation of the man camps in the Bakken through interviews, photographs and data collection Continued presentations for conferences and community events Publication of project report Publication of Photo Book photography by Kyle Cassidy
A SELECTION OF NEWSPAPER, MAGAZINE & DIGITAL CLIPPINGS
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UND studies impact of man camps in oil patch

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012 2:00 PM ASSOCIATED PRESS
GRAND FORKS, N.D. Two University of North Dakota professors are studying the long-term impact of man camps on the landscape in western North Dakotas oil patch. Professors William Caraher and Bret Weber said they imagine that long after the oil boom ends and the workers leave, sprawling patches of leveled gravel and hints of blue tarp or a few grommets may be the only remnants of the hastily patched-together housing. Since April, the two professors have twice taken a small team to the oil patch to study the signature a man camp leaves on the landscape. These man camps are only going to be there for 20 or 30 years, depending on labor needs, Caraher said. Whats it going to look like in 300 or 500 years? The team has studied 30 camps in five cities so far, and has broken them down into three types. Camps that are located closer to cities and offer comfortable living, good food and clean rooms likely wont leave much of a footprint on the landscape because theyre designed to be completely portable, Caraher said. The second kind of camp is RV parks, while the third type features people living in tents or broken-down campers. Those two kinds of camps might leave more of an impact on the land, partly because of discarded objects, the researchers said. Caraher and Weber plan to visit the camps several more times, thanks to a grant from the Institute of Energy Studies at UND. Well continue off and on as long as the oil boom continues to make it interesting, and certainly if the boom busts, Caraher said.
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UND researchers document life in man camps

Posted on February 10, 2013
William Caraher, associate professor of history at the University of North Dakota, documents whats left of a camp site that housed temporary workers in Tioga, N.D. Amy Dalrymple/Forum News Service
TIOGA, N.D. An RV camp here that was recently full of workers and their families is now abandoned with wooden pallets, a dozen coolers, a set of dumbbells and other debris left behind. Researchers studying North Dakotas man camps retraced their steps Saturday to find that their favorite camp from their visit six months ago is now deserted. Some of the camping spots appeared to have been abandoned fairly recently and quickly with a six-pack of beer, food in some of the coolers and a rug still hanging on a clothesline. The team of University of North Dakota professors, an archaeologist and a photographer are touring the Oil Patch this weekend to continue their work on the North Dakota Man Camp Project, which involves studying the social and material conditions of workforce housing.
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They visited Tioga, Wheelock and Williston on Saturday and will tour the Watford City area today. William Caraher, associate professor of history, said initially the team planned to visit western North Dakota once for the research, but they discovered the study was too big for one trip and that conditions are evolving. Bret Weber, assistant professor of social work, said the lack of housing is a nexus for all other social issues. In one way it all either directly or indirectly comes back to housing, Weber said. The group is studying three types of camps: the large, organized crew camps, less formal RV parks and trailer courts that have water and sewer hookups and the most rustic camps, which lack water and electricity. Archaeologist Richard Rothaus said the abandoned camp in Tioga affirmed his expectation that the most primitive camps will be the ones to leave behind the most artifacts for future generations to find. The more organized the camp, the less there will be left, said Rothaus, owner of consultant firm Trefoil Cultural and Environmental. Weber said that camp, which lacked utility hookups, housed workers who were working on construction projects in town and the men, women and children had been eager to share their stories. The people were fantastically welcoming, Weber said. Weber, who is interviewing residents, said hes found that many who live in the most organized crew camps often want to move to RV parks so they can have their own space, a grill, invite visitors and enjoy a greater sense of community.
Bret Weber, right, assistant professor of social work at the University of North Dakota, interviews oil truck driver Clint Brees in Tioga, N.D. Amy Dalrymple/Forum News Service
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Caraher and Rothaus take photos and thoroughly document each park they visit for aspects such as their heating source, foam insulation and shipping pallets used for walkways or decks. Theyre really inventive, Caraher said of how some residents winterize their RVs. One of the groups goals is to document the living conditions of the oil boom so people in the future will know what it was like. Renowned photographer Kyle Cassidy traveled from Philadelphia to accompany them this weekend. He is taking portraits of people in the Oil Patch to make the research project more visually dynamic. Cassidys documentary photography book Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes received recognition including being named to Amazons list of Best 10 Art Books of 2007. Cassidy said this trip to North Dakota was a fact-finding mission for him and he expects to be back to photograph more. Im very motivated by meeting people that I would never have met in my ordinary life and hearing their stories, Cassidy said. This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Bakken, Grand Forks, housing, North Dakota, oil, Tioga, University of North Dakota, Williston by Amy Dalrymple. Bookmark the permalink [http://oilpatchdispatch.areavoices.com/2013/02/10/und-researchers-document-life-in-man-camps/] .
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Posted by admin May 8, 2013 Printer-friendly
Research on temporary settlements in North Dakotas oil patch aims to improve workforce housing statewide
University of North Dakota researchers Bret Weber and William Caraher got to know each other while mapping out the remains of a late Roman city on the south coast of Cyprus. The city was gone, of course. The only things that remained were bits of pottery, fragments of walls, and hints of decoration suggesting previous settlement. Its a far cry from North Dakota, where workforce housing has sprung up across the state to accommodate local and out-of-town workers employed in the Bakken oil patch and related industries.
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Caraher We had this idea that we could use some of the same techniques that I used in Mediterranean archaeology to document these man camps, said Caraher, UND associate professor of history. The thought was to have Bret, who has a Ph.D. in history as well as a masters degree in social work, bring in his experience doing oral history and qualitative research to capture the human stories while I document the material culture of the Bakken Boom. While driving from site to site, the two revised and articulated their research questions. The project became more focused with Webers background in housing issues, as an academic specialist in social policy, a member of the Grand Forks City Council, and a founder of the Grand Forks Community Land Trust. With my interest in housing, we realized that the project took on a social policy angle, said Weber, UND assistant professor of social work. We werent just going to document life in Bakken man camps, but we were going to think about how the state can make life in workforce housing better. Over the course of three trips to the Bakken oil patch, Caraher and Weber teamed up with Richard Rothaus, an archaeologist with Trefoil Cultural and Environmental in Sauk Rapids, Minn.; Aaron Barth, a Ph.D. student in the joint UND/NDSU history program; Kostis Korelis, an architectural historian from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa.; and two photographers, John Holmgren and Kyle Cassidy. We all see the world through a myopia fashioned by our circumstances which is one reason its great to work with people from completely different fields, said Cassidy, who provides an artistic vision to help capture the human experience of the Bakken. Together, we layer these different interpretations, and its that diversity of observation that I think makes this work so well. Were all waking up in the same place, but were seeing very different landscapes. So far, the North Dakota Man Camp Project has documented close to 30 man camps ranging from state-of-the-art housing provided by global corporations like Target Logistics to groups of campers neatly arranged in RV parks or clustered without power or water in shelterbelts.
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Weber The range of housing in the Bakken is staggering right now, Weber said. We created a typology of camps with the most elaborate modular camps managed by groups like Target Logistics as Type 1 camps. RV park type camps with a diverse range of units, masted electrical hook-up, and connections to water and sewage are designated as Type 2 camps. Camps without power or water in irregular settings are Type 3 camps. Weber and Barth have collected close to 50 interviews with man camp residents, operators, and staff. Caraher has meticulously photographed the camps, Kourelis has prepared architectural drawings of representative units, and the team has developed careful descriptions of the space in the camps. While the work has just begun, the team is starting to make some preliminary observations about life in the camps that weave together the personal experiences of people living in the Bakken and the material culture that constitutes the new settlements in the western part of the state. The most remarkable thing we have discovered is that a substantial part of the Bakken workforce does all they can to carve out domestic life in even the most humble of settings, Caraher observed. One of the Type 3 camps, in a shelterbelt, built a horseshoe pit and an elaborate outdoor kitchen. Type 2 camps often include fenced-in lawns, decks, mudrooms, gardens, and other amenities that youd find in a suburban subdivision. Additionally, theyve found that, despite the title man camps, all three types can include men, women, and children. And all three include people earning high salaries and people struggling to earn enough to stay in the patch. As the landscape of the western part of North Dakota continues to develop, Weber and Caraher plan to continue their work to document and analyze the changing living conditions in the Bakken. Their work in the oil patch is for the most part a flip-side of their Cyprus research. But there is, say Caraher and Weber, an eerie similarity between the vanquished Roman city and the open North Dakota prairie. Brian Johnson William Caraher and Bret Weber, UND professors of history and social work, respectively, contributed to this article.
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NORTH DAKOTA
MAN CAMP PROJECT
bret.weber@und.edu
| william.caraher@und.edu

North Dakota Man Camp Project Fall 2013 Media Kit

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NORTH DAKOTA

MAN CAMP PROJECT

A study of workforce housing in the Bakken

NORTH DAKOTA MAN CAMP PROJECT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

North Dakota Man Camp Project

North Dakota Man Camp Project

North Dakota Man Camp Project

North Dakota Man Camp Project

ABOUT NORTH DAKOTA MAN CAMP PROJECT

North Dakota Man Camp Project

MEDIA & SOCIAL MEDIA

North Dakota Man Camp Project

North Dakota Man Camp Project

CONFERENCES & COMMUNITY PRESENTATIONS

NORTH DAKOTA MAN CAMP PROJECT BY THE NUMBERS

North Dakota Man Camp Project

A SELECTION OF NEWSPAPER, MAGAZINE & DIGITAL CLIPPINGS

North Dakota Man Camp Project

UND studies impact of man camps in oil patch

North Dakota Man Camp Project

North Dakota Man Camp Project

UND researchers document life in man camps

North Dakota Man Camp Project

North Dakota Man Camp Project

North Dakota Man Camp Project

You are here: Home Features, Man Camps Man Camps

North Dakota Man Camp Project

North Dakota Man Camp Project

North Dakota Man Camp Project

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