By Ernest Scheyder and Terray Sylvester
CANNON BALL, N.D. (Reuters) - U.S. military veterans plan to build a barracks on Friday at a protest camp in North Dakota to support thousands of activists who have squared off against authorities in frigid conditions to oppose a multibillion-dollar pipeline project near the Standing Rock Native American reservation.
Veterans volunteering to be human shields have been arriving at the Oceti Sakowin camp near the small town of Cannon Ball, where they will work with protesters who have spent months demonstrating against plans to route the Dakota Access Pipeline beneath a lake near the Sioux reservation, organizers said.
The Native Americans and protesters say the $3.8 billion pipeline threatens water resources and sacred sites.
Some of the more than 2,100 veterans who signed up on the Veterans Stand for Standing Rock group's Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) page are at the camp, with hundreds more expected during the weekend. Tribal leaders asked the veterans, who aim to form a wall in front of police to protect the protesters, to avoid confrontation with authorities and not get arrested.
The plan is for veterans to gather in Eagle Butte, a few hours away, and then travel by bus to the main protest camp, organizers said, adding that a big procession is planned for Monday.
Protesters began setting up tents, tepees and other structures in April and the numbers swelled in August at the main camp.
Joshua Tree, 42, from Los Angeles, who has been visiting the camp for weeks at a time since September, said he felt pulled to the protest.
"Destiny called me here," he said at the main camp. "We're committed. This cause has created momentum."
'GO HOME'
Those voices have been heard by companies linked to the pipeline as well, including banks that have been targeted by protesters for their financing of the pipeline.
Wells Fargo & Co (N:WFC) said in a Thursday letter it would meet with Standing Rock elders before Jan. 1 "to discuss their concerns related to Wells Fargo's investment" in the project.
There have been violent confrontations near the route of the pipeline with state and local law enforcement, who used tear gas, rubber bullets and water hoses on the protesters, even in freezing weather.
The number of protesters in recent weeks has topped 1,000. State officials on Monday ordered them to leave the snowy camp, which is on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land, citing harsh weather, but on Wednesday they said they would not enforce the order.
"There is an element there of people protesting who are frightening," North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said on Thursday. "It's time for them to go home."
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday he supported the completion of the pipeline and his transition team also said he supported peaceful protests.
Members of the North Dakota Veterans Coordinating Council denounced the involvement of veterans in a protest that has damaged property and asked them not to take part.
North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple said on Wednesday it was "probably not feasible" to reroute the pipeline but he would try to rebuild a relationship with Standing Rock Sioux leaders.
On Friday, Morton County Commission Chairman Cody Schulz said his office has been working in conjunction with the governor's office to meet with tribal leaders soon.
FREEZING COLD
Morton County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Maxine Herr said 564 people have been arrested since the start of demonstrations.
State officials never contemplated forcibly removing protesters, and Dalrymple said his evacuation order stemmed mainly from concerns about dangerously cold temperatures. Engineers interviewed by Reuters also said such weather made some aspects of pipeline construction more difficult.
The temperature in Cannon Ball is expected to fall to 4 degrees Fahrenheit (-16 Celsius) by the middle of next week, according to Weather.com forecasts.
The 1,172-mile (1,885-km) pipeline project, owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP (N:ETP), is mostly complete, except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River.
Protesters, who refer to themselves as "water protectors," have been gearing up for the winter while they await the Army Corps decision on whether to allow Energy Transfer to tunnel under the river. The Army Corps has twice delayed that decision.
The pipeline operator said in a legal filing in late November that delays following the projected Jan. 1 startup would cost about $84 million a month.
Trump is due to meet on Friday with Democratic U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, who, according to a source familiar with the matter, is under consideration for a Cabinet position in the Trump administration.