“It’s just not going to happen.”

More than 525 people from across the country have been arrested during months of protests over the four-state, $3.8 billion pipeline, all here in support of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe that’s fighting the project because it believes it threatens drinking water and cultural sites on their nearby reservation. The agency instead urged a “peaceful and orderly transition to a safer location.”

Late Monday, Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault II denounced Dalrymple’s order as a “menacing action meant to cause fear,” and accused the Republican governor of trying to “usurp and circumvent federal authority.”

Archambault noted that the evacuation order, which the governor said he issued for the campers’ well-being in the face of dangerous winter weather, came a week after police turned water hoses on protesters in sub-freezing temperatures. Demonstrators have protested for months against plans to run the $3.8 billion pipeline, owned by Energy Transfer Partners LP, beneath Lake Oahe, formed by a dam on the Missouri River, about a half mile (0.8 km) from the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. He has been totally professional in what is not a typical law enforcement challenge in North Dakota.”

With winter looming, the Corps has decided to close the land north of the Cannonball River where the Oceti Sakowin protest encampment have flourished on Dec. 5, also citing the confrontations between protesters and authorities, according to a letter Archambault said he received.
North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple issues an executive order which expels thousands of Native American and environmental protesters who are camped on the federal property that is near the site of the oil pipeline project which they oppose, saying that the "emergency evacuation" is necessary to protect them from harsh winter conditions.