The state House wants North Dakota to put some money behind its recently earned snow angel record.

In a bill that appropriates money for the operation of the state Historical Society, the House added $10,000 for a "snow angel project." The state Senate rejected this and other changes to the bill, leaving members of both chambers to work out their differences.

Rep. Bob Martinson, a Bismarck Republican who proposed the snow angel funding, said it will help the state take full advantage of its record today and defend it in the future. He said it would be used to pay for promotional items - such as T-shirts, coffee mugs and posters - and for future attempts at breaking the record if another state should reclaim it.

On Feb. 17, North Dakota set the world record for simultaneous snow angel creation when about 9,000 people made angels on the state Capitol grounds. The event, which cost about $1,000, was paid for out of the general historical society budget.

"We already spend a lot of money promoting North Dakota, but we got more international publicity for this than for anything else," said Martinson, a former director of the state tourism department.

He said the financial benefits in added publicity and tourism will far outweigh the $10,000 price tag.

Marilyn Snyder, curator for education for the Historical Society of North Dakota, who organized the snow angel event, said her agency didn't ask for the money, but could put it to very good use in building on the success of the snow angel record.

She said additional ideas for the money include a snow angel party, where participants would be invited back to Bismarck this summer to celebrate the record, and road signs proclaiming the record.

"We are the snow angel capital of the world, so we need to promote ourselves some more," Snyder said.

Even though it's but a fraction of the state"s nearly $2.5 billion general fund budget, the funding has raised a few eyebrows in the state Senate.

The Senate Appropriations Committee decided it would like to review this change and others with the House before accepting it.

Sen. Randel Christmann, a Hazen Republican who serves on appropriations, said he'd like to see the money used elsewhere. He said the $10,000 would be better spent on items such as education or human services.

"I think just about anything in any of our other agencies would be a better use than this," Christmann said.

(Reach reporter Jonathan Rivoli at 223-8482 or jonathan.rivoli@;bismarcktribune.com.)