What I'm trying to do is light a spark under folks to take it into their own hands a bit and make those personal stories known. That relates very well at the congressional level.

There's an entire generation of hunters in North Dakota that are just accustomed to CRP being there. We're talking 21 years, and that's what they know on the landscape. I remember what the landscape looked like in the '70s, and believe me, I prefer the conservation activities on cropland remain, and also, CRP is an integral part of what is out there now.

The potential that exists, quite frankly, for CRP to go away is there in 2007. In the wildlife world, we recognize it as the best conservation program there's ever been.

The potential to lose half in 2007 and another 800,000 acres the following year is a tremendous impact to natural resource opportunities in the state.

I believe we might be trying a bit too hard. Sometimes, when you know how good you are, and you know what you're capable of, you can be really intolerant of your own mistakes.

He's always cool under pressure. He's always been that way. He was trying to stay calm, and I was going crazy.