03.21.25

North Dakota Delegation Reintroduces Legislation to Empower Greater Development of State-Owned Energy Resources

ND Trust Lands Completion Act Would Allow Equal Value Exchanges to Reduce Fragmentation of State, Tribal Lands & Minerals

WASHINGTON – Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer and Representative Julie Fedorchak today announced they have reintroduced the North Dakota Trust Lands Completion Act, bicameral legislation to enable greater development of state-owned lands and minerals. Specifically, the bill would authorize the State of North Dakota to relinquish state-owned lands and minerals contained within the Tribal Reservations to the U.S. Department of the Interior and, in exchange, receive federal land and minerals of equal value within North Dakota. The delegation secured Senate passage of the legislation last Congress, a critical step that will help streamline the bill’s advancement in the 119th Congress.

“Energy development on state and federally-held lands not only plays a critical role in supporting economic growth and our nation’s energy security, but it produces significant revenue to help fund education, infrastructure and a wide range of priorities,” said Senator Hoeven, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “Through equal-value exchanges, our legislation would help the State of North Dakota and Native American Tribes reduce the fragmentation of their minerals and surface acres, easing the development of these important resources and unlocking their potential for the benefit of North Dakotans and tribal members.”

“Our Trust Lands Completion Act is a win-win-win solution for North Dakota, tribes, and the federal government,” said Senator Cramer. “It’s proof not every transaction in Washington requires a loser. This will restore tribal land ownership and go a long way toward simplifying energy and resource development to generate more revenue for education in the state. It’s time to pass this bill.”

“This legislation is a commonsense solution to a longstanding problem,” said Representative Fedorchak. “By allowing North Dakota to exchange fragmented state-owned lands within Tribal Reservations for federal lands of equal value, we’re unlocking new opportunities for responsible energy development while ensuring tribes have greater control over their own lands. It’s a win-win for North Dakota—empowering our state to better utilize its resources and cut through bureaucratic barriers that have held back development for too long.”

“This legislation will promote more productive trust lands to enhance North Dakota K-12 education funding, while also providing North Dakota Tribes with the opportunity to further consolidate lands within their reservations. I look forward to working with our delegation to build on the success we achieved last Congress where it unanimously passed the United States Senate,” said Joseph Heringer, North Dakota Trust Lands Commissioner.

“We were glad to help shape how the draft bill would restore some Reservation land previously taken from us,” said Mark Fox, Chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. “We support its introduction and look forward to working closely with our congressional delegation and the Congress to ensure the preservation of our treaty rights to land and minerals on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.”

Currently, North Dakota holds more than 130,000 acres of minerals and over 31,000 surface acres within Tribal Reservations alone, which are largely unavailable for development. At the same time, existing federal laws do not adequately allow for the state and federal government to exchange land and minerals. This leaves surface and mineral rights within the Tribal Reservations fragmented, while limiting the state’s ability to generate revenue from the land and minerals it owns. The North Dakota Trust Lands Completion Act would resolve this issue by allowing equal value transactions between North Dakota and the Interior Department to exchange land and mineral rights, thereby:

  • Enabling North Dakota to access the lands and minerals that were promised upon statehood to fund education and other public purposes.
  • Providing Tribes greater ownership over the lands within their reservation boundaries.

Valuations conducted under this legislation would be determined by the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions and the Uniform Standards for Professional Appraisal Practice. Valid existing rights will be respected in these transactions and there will be no impact on any Indian treaty rights or to the National Grasslands. The full text and a summary of the legislation can be found here and here, respectively.

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