Posted 11/18/2024

For immediate release:

Nov. 18, 2024

For more information, contact:

Randy Schmitt, NDSA president: (701) 537-3440 • schmittranch@hotmail.com

Jason Leiseth, NDSF president: 701-586-3714 • jpleiseth@gmail.com

Julie Ellingson, NDSA executive vice president: (701) 223-2522 • jellingson@ndstockmen.org

Elizabeth Hasenwinkel, NDSA communications director: (701) 833-1162 • ehasenwinkel@ndstockmen.org

Application, nomination forms available for

Out of the Ashes Wildfire Disaster Relief Program

Application and nomination forms are now available for the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association’s (NDSA) and North Dakota Stockmen’s Foundation’s (NDSF) Out of the Ashes Wildfire Disaster Relief Program. The groups teamed up to support the state’s cattle ranchers who suffered serious losses in the wildfires that ignited across North Dakota last month. Livestock industry losses included pasture, hay, stored feed, fences, buildings, farmsteads and livestock. Sadly, the fires also claimed two human lives.

The Out of the Ashes Wildfire Disaster Relief Program will help cattlemen and women offset those losses and those that are sure to linger even after the last flame was put out. The NDSA and NDSF kickstarted the fund with their own $50,000 contribution and invited others to join them. Support for the effort has been incredible and, to date, the fund totals approximately $620,000. This is the largest disaster relief program the organizations have ever administered. The groups continue to accept donations for the effort. One-hundred percent of the money raised will be distributed to producers in need through the application and nomination process.

Producers can download application forms from www.ndstockmen.org. Nomination forms can also be found there. Nomination forms can be used to submit the names and information of individuals who could use a helping hand, but may not apply for assistance themselves. Applications and nominations can be dropped off or mailed to the Out of the Ashes Wildfire Disaster Relief Program, c/o North Dakota Stockmen’s Association and Foundation, 4520 Ottawa St., Bismarck, ND 58503. The submission deadline is Jan. 10, 2025.

“It’s hard to imagine what these producers went through,” said NDSA President Randy Schmitt, a Rugby, N.D., cow-calf producer. “The fires impacted their homes, their livestock, their communities, their whole world. We want to help them in their time of need.”

Jason Leiseth, NDSF president and Arnegard, N.D., cattleman, added, “We know that the losses were great, but so has been the outpouring of support from people across the state and country. Together, we can help rekindle hope for those who have suffered.”

For more information about the Out of the Ashes Wildfire Disaster Relief Program, call (701) 223-2522 or e-mail ndsa@ndstockmen.org.

The NDSA is a 95-year-old beef cattle producers’ trade organization that works to unite, protect, promote, educate and serve the state’s beef industry. The NDSF is a charitable organization that supports the beef industry with scholarship, leadership, promotion, research and building projects and disaster relief. Besides this latest effort, the organizations have distributed more than three-quarters of a million dollars in direct aid to cattle producers recovering from catastrophic floods, blizzards, drought and wildfires since 2009.

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