State Historical Society asks lawmakers for staff, archives upgrades and funding for military gallery, Medora transit and theater grants

Bill Peterson, director of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, told the Appropriations - Education and Environment Division that the agency seeks additional staff and project funding to handle rising workloads, comply with new federal rules and complete several one‑time projects included in House Bill 1018.

Peterson said the agency employs 83.5 full‑time equivalent positions, manages a collection of artifacts he described as “around 11,000,000 objects,” and provides services ranging from archaeological reviews of federally funded projects to public programming and the State Archives. “We reach more than 600,000 North Dakotans every year,” Peterson said, adding that combined in‑person visits, web users and social media reach about 2,000,000 people.

The request matters to communities across the state because it bundles operating and one‑time funding for preservation projects, staffing for archives and education programs, and a large expansion project at the Heritage Center. Peterson told the committee the agency has seen a 42% increase in archaeology and historic‑preservation workload since 2022 and a near‑67.7% increase in exhibit work since 2021, driven in part by federal infrastructure projects and rising energy development.

Agency priorities and staffing requests

Peterson described several personnel and capacity needs the agency has asked the Legislature to fund: - Additional FTEs in archaeology and historic preservation to handle increased project reviews and to expand in‑house use of non‑destructive field technologies. - Temporary and permanent positions in the State Archives to address a legacy backlog; Peterson said the archives receive about 1,000 linear feet of paper and 49,000 digital records biennially, while current staffing processes roughly 20 linear feet and 20,000 digital files per biennium. - Education positions to support National History Day and curriculum work after participation rose sharply (National History Day participation grew from about 140 students to…