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To address the exorbitant costs of air ambulance services, North Dakota passed House Bill 1255, codified as North Dakota Century Code § 23-27-04.10. Under this law, for an air ambulance service provider to be on the primary caller list, it must be a participating provider of health insurance carriers which collectively hold at least seventy-five percent of the health insurance coverage in North Dakota. In response to this bill, Valley Med Flight, Inc. moved to prevent enforcement of the law. The District Court of North Dakota granted relief based on preemption under the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. This Note discusses relevant case and statutory law, and addresses the need for air ambulance regulation for not only North Dakota, but the entire United States. In so doing, this Note examines arguments for and against state regulation of air ambulance service providers, the regulation of insurance providers, and the regulation of health care providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In United States v. Brigham Oil & Gas, L.P., the United States District Court of North Dakota refused to adopt an expansive interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBT A) and held that oil and gas companies' use of reserve pits, which resulted in the deaths of numerous protected birds, did not fall under the prohibitions of the MBT A. The court expressly found "take," within the context of the statutory language of the MBT A, refers to conduct directed at birds, such as hunting and poaching, not acts or omissions having the incidental or unintended effect of causing bird deaths. As a result, oil development and production activities, which incidentally kill protected birds, do not fall under the MBTA's prohibitions. Although this decision does not constitute new case law regarding the applicability of the MBT A, it is significant because it expands the holding of existing Eighth Circuit precedent to exclude commercial activity by oil and gas producers from the prohibitions of the MBTA. The decision also contributes to the disagreement among the circuit courts regarding the proper scope of the MBT A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information regarding various contributions and personality of the late Judge Ronald N. Davies during his tenure as a judge at the North Dakota District Court. It discusses several court cases of the U.S. related to Davies' career including Aaron v. Cooper, Stromsodt v. Parke-Davis & Co., and Merchant National Bank & Trust Co. v. United States. Also discusses brief information regarding the case related to the Little Rock School District.