Kestrel Aerial Services

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY: Bakken Energy Development

A brief reconnaissance flight over the energy developments in the Bakken Shale of Western North Dakota and Eastern Montana. High gusty winds made the flying difficult and the atmosphere hazy, but I still managed to capture a few images of energy sprawl, the prolifieration of "man camps," and general transformation of the landscape.

   
Dust signifies the beginning of the morning rush hour as pickups and tractor-trailers disperse along the section roads.
   
Rush hour on the outskirts of Williston, North Dakota.
     
  
An RV man camp.
   
Brand new grain storage silos and farm equipment are the upside of the energy boom.
   
A characteristic social gathering on the northern plains.
     
  
A drill rig juts while the prairie rolls.
   
At the edge of pothole contry
   
Pipelines extend in every direction...
     
  
Not bending for natural obstructions....
   
but directed by unseen elements.
   
It is said that truck drivers are earning approximately $190,000 per year.
     
  
A new hotel going in at the edge of historic downtown Williston.
   
Williston is now surrounded by a 5 mile ring of seemingly unzoned land occupied by pipe yards, man camps, and old and new neighborhoods.
   
Brought to you by....
     
  
Many pipelines converge here.
   
A small farm compound in the background.
   
Any power pole and transformer represents an opportunity to host a man camp.
     
  
Community.
   
Several years ago, I landed my plane in the CRP field on the left, and hunted pheasant around the old abandoned farmstead that used to sit here.
   
This oddly shaped piece of ground must have been too rocky/high/low/wet to farm, but makes a good camp location.
     
  
A camp just outside of Williston.
   
All of the natural gas flaring confuses me about the point of all this energy harvestings.
   
A long way from town.
     
  
On the Montana border looking east.
   
The outskirts of Williston