Peace Garden News

Senator John Hoeven announced that the U.S. Senate has passed the North Dakota Trust Lands Completion Act, a bill he introduced with Senator Kevin Cramer and former Congressman Kelly Armstrong. The legislation aims to facilitate development on state-owned lands and minerals by allowing the State of North Dakota to exchange these assets within Tribal Reservations for federal land and minerals of equal value.

"We’ve advanced this legislation, in partnership with the State of North Dakota and tribal governments, to empower the lands and resources within our borders and on reservations to be better utilized for the benefit of the public," stated Hoeven, who serves on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "Allowing these equal-value exchanges is a win-win for the state and the tribes."

Senator Cramer emphasized that "fragmented mineral rights complicate energy and mineral development." He described the act as "an easy fix to federal and state land transfers" that will promote energy resource development in North Dakota.

Currently, more than 130,000 acres of minerals and over 31,000 surface acres within Tribal Reservations in North Dakota remain largely undeveloped due to existing federal laws restricting land exchanges between state and federal entities. The act aims to resolve these issues by permitting equal value transactions between North Dakota and the Interior Department.

The legislation promises several benefits: enabling access to promised lands and minerals upon statehood for funding education and other public purposes, while granting tribes greater control over their reservation territories. Valuations for these exchanges will follow Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions as well as Uniform Standards for Professional Appraisal Practice. Existing rights will be respected, with no impact on Indian treaty rights or National Grasslands.