Community leaders in North Dakota's oil patch areas are ramping up efforts to encourage census involvement, noting that population totals have a decade-long impact on federal funding.
County officials are hoping the next census, which begins this month, accurately reflects their population size, the Bismarck Tribune reported. Since the shale oil boom in places like Williston and Watford City, the population increase has not matched their official census counts.
“It’s really important to our local communities for people to participate in the census because these numbers have a 10-year impact, and there are no go-backs,” said Lindsey Harriman, co-chair of the Williams County Complete Count Committee. “We don’t get to update these numbers halfway through. We want to make sure we get it right this time.”