Destination managers in rural states, like North Dakota, understand the benefits of tourism and, thus, the importance of studying visitors' intentions. This study investigated visitors' perceptions of destination image, value and satisfaction and those variables' relationship with future behaviors, with a specific focus on their intent to return and make recommendations to others. The results showed that destination image directly affects visitors' perception of value and revisit intentions, and it indirectly affects satisfaction and recommendation intentions. The results also demonstrate how tourism practitioners can apply past models to their destination. The overall findings support the concept that a positive image is important to attracting repeat visitors.

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While the economic impacts of professional sports events and entertainment facilities in major metropolitan areas have been the subject of numerous studies, sports and entertainment facilities in smaller cities have received less attention. This study addresses the economic impact of a multi-purpose sports and auditorium facility located in a small metropolitan area. Intercept surveys at eleven representative events provided information on attendees' expenditures and residence and on the role of the event in motivating visits to the area. Data on attendee expenditures, together with facility operation and vendor outlays, were applied to an input–output model to estimate secondary impacts. The results indicate that the events hosted at the facility varied substantially in their potential to draw attendees from outside the local area and that attendees' expenditure patterns also varied by event type. The overall economic impact of the facility was substantial.

Leafy spurge is an exotic, noxious, perennial weed which is widely established in the north central United States and is an especially serious problem in the northern Great Plains. In 1997, the Agricultural Research Service and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, US Department of Agriculture, initiated a major Integrated Pest Management (IPM) research and demonstration project, The Ecological Area-wide Management (TEAM) Leafy Spurge (TLS), to develop and demonstrate ecologically based IPM strategies that can produce effective, affordable leafy spurge control. A key component of the TLS project was expanding the use of biological control agents. To assess the level of insect utilization and implementation and the level of current and perceived future control of leafy spurge as a result of biological control agents, a mail survey of 468 individuals that obtained biological control agents (insects) at TLS-sponsored events and of all the county weed boards in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming was conducted. Forty-six percent of the landowner/land managers and 70% of the county weed boards responded to the questionnaire. Respondents reported basic information about the number and characteristics of release sites, and characteristics of the leafy spurge stands, as well as the level of control to date and perceived level of eventual control.