GRAND FORKS - North Dakota's wide-open spaces will soon became a little more crowded, at least above ground.

Officials with the Grand Forks Air Force base are beginning a series of public meetings to discuss a new mission to fly unmanned planes in areas that private pilots are used to having to themselves.

"The reality is, there's a lot of caution that's being applied, from the highest level down," said Col. John Michel, who took over as base commander in July. "But it's all about airspace. Because at the end of the day, how else are you going to train?"

The meetings are scheduled Monday in Grand Forks, Tuesday in Devils Lake, Wednesday in Langdon and Thursday in Carrington.

"We want to honor everybody's voice. It's kind of like the essence of what makes America great," Michel said.

Aviation experts at the University of North Dakota say the state is considered a safe place to fly drones because it's sparsely populated. However, the military does not own a great deal of North Dakota airspace, like it does with testing areas in other states such as Nevada.

"The most restrictive environment in the world for operating unmanned aerial systems is in the United States," Michel said. "On the other hand, unmanned aerial systems is the future. So we've got to figure this out."

The Grand Forks base, which has been home to aerial refueling planes since the early 1990s, was selected for the unmanned planes after the last round of base realignments. It will wind down its tanker mission by 2010.

The base will be home to the Predator and Global Hawk unmanned aerial systems, as part of a joint mission with the National Guard's 119th Wing from Fargo.

"Depending on interpretations, some see this as a period of angst," Michel said. "Quite honestly, we see this as a period of opportunity. We're very excited."

The Predator drone carries cameras, sensors and radar and is used for surveillance and reconnaissance. It can be equipped to fire missiles. The Air Force first used an armed version of the Predator drone in combat in Afghanistan in 2001.

The larger Global Hawk is known as the military's eye in the sky. It's equipped to fly at altitudes of 60,000 feet or higher, and can provide detailed images of large blocks of land.

Unmanned aerial systems are a "100 percent growth industry," Michel said.

"Now, if we were talking about stocks and we were talking about making a bet on a business, I think this is a pretty good one to be in," Michel said.

Michel, 43, was promoted to colonel in August 2005. He has a bachelor's degree, two masters degrees, and in 2008 earned a doctorate in transformational leadership studies. In his office he has dozens of books on what he calls "corporate agility," and he has stressed how important it is to market the base.

"Our Air Force is going through a big change and transformation, if we haven't got the memo," he said.