While many North Dakotans who saw the movie "Wooly Boys" praised the tale about a Badlands sheep rancher and his grandson, the film turned out to be a lackluster investment.

The Bank of North Dakota disclosed on Thursday that it has written off $1.66 million of the $3.9 million loan it made more than six years ago to finance the picture. The write-off, which means the state-owned bank does not expect to collect its money, came shortly after "Wooly Boys" was released in January 2004.

It flopped at theaters, earning less than $370,000 during a nine-week theater run, according to two Web sites that track movies' box-office grosses, boxofficemojo.com and the-numbers.com. Most of the movie was filmed in the western North Dakota Badlands in the fall of 2000.

It was issued on DVD in April 2005 and has been shown on Starz, a movie cable channel.

North Dakota's Industrial Commission disclosed the write-off after the commission and its bank advisory board privately reviewed a list of problem loans during a Thursday meeting at the Bank of North Dakota's Bismarck headquarters.

The "Wooly Boys" bad debt was the largest of 17 soured loans, dating back to 2001, that the bank made public on Thursday. They were worth $3.13 million.

Gov. John Hoeven, Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem make up the commission, which is the bank's board of directors.

Hoeven and Johnson defended the loan as a worthwhile business risk on a movie that includes extensive Badlands scenery. Hoeven was president of the bank in July 1999, when the loan was approved by Johnson and his two commission colleagues at the time, Gov. Ed Schafer and Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp.

"Clearly it's a tough business, but the Bank of North Dakota is about economic development, trying new things," Hoeven said. "I think it was an effort to promote the state, and particularly to promote tourism in the Badlands."

Johnson said the loan was discussed in detail during the commission's deliberations. The announcement of the write-off was delayed to ensure the bank could collect as much of its loan as it could, he said.

"I think the Bank of North Dakota … needs to take risks. Frankly, the bank probably has taken less risk than what I think it could take in some circumstances," Johnson said.

By writing off a loan, a bank indicates the money is not likely to be repaid, although collection efforts continue. The loan is no longer counted as part of the bank's assets, which makes for a more accurate depiction of the bank's financial condition.

"Wooly Boys" features Peter Fonda and Kris Kristofferson as Badlands sheep ranchers. Its story focuses on the Fonda character's efforts to establish a relationship with his city-dwelling, technology-loving grandson, played by Joseph Mazzello.

Both Hoeven and Johnson said they enjoyed the film. "I think they made a good movie, but it never really got enough exposure," the governor said.

The Bank of North Dakota on Thursday also wrote off a $540,000 loan from Integra Castings USA LLC, a Cando foundry that closed last June, and $367,153 in debts owed by Heartland Durum Growers Cooperative, which voted in August 2004 to dissolve. Heartland Durum owned Bushel 42, a defunct Crosby pasta plant.

The Integra Castings and Heartland Durum money was included in a group of 10 loans, worth $1.43 million, that the bank wrote off in 2005 alone. Last year, the bank also collected $228,225 on loans that had previously been declared uncollectable.

Eric Hardmeyer, the bank's president, said the write-offs are tiny when compared to the bank's $1.44 billion loan portfolio.