North Dakota Trust Lands Completion Act of 2026
Introduced March 21, 2025 · Last action May 20, 2026
Plain English Summary
This bill allows North Dakota to swap state-owned land parcels (especially those within or near Indian reservations) for equivalent federal Bureau of Land Management land elsewhere in the state. When North Dakota relinquishes state land within reservation boundaries, that land reverts to the federal government and can be taken into trust for the affected Indian tribes. The bill sets up a formal appraisal and equalization process to ensure fair value exchanges.
Who benefits
Indian tribes with reservations in North Dakota (who gain land brought into trust status within reservation boundaries); North Dakota state government and the Board of University and School Lands (who gain access to federal unappropriated land outside reservations, potentially valuable for school trust fund revenue); ranchers and grazing permit holders whose permits continue uninterrupted; mineral lessees whose leases are transferred with selected federal land.
Who pays / loses
Federal Bureau of Land Management (loses control of unappropriated federal land conveyed to North Dakota); federal taxpayers (indirectly, through loss of federal mineral and leasing revenue from transferred federal land); private parties seeking to acquire, mine, or lease federal land in North Dakota (who lose access to federal land that becomes state-owned or trust land). North Dakota loses state ownership of land grant parcels within reservations, though this is exchanged for federal land elsewhere.
Funding & Lobbying Interests
The financial interests supporting this bill include: North Dakota's school trust system and Board of University and School Lands (seeking to expand land holdings that generate revenue for schools); Indian tribes with North Dakota reservations (seeking to restore land to trust status); mineral and energy extraction companies operating in North Dakota (interested in stable ownership and lease arrangements post-conveyance); agricultural interests and grazing permit holders in North Dakota (seeking continuity of land access and grazing rights); and potentially timber and forestry interests if selected federal land contains timber resources. No sponsor finance data was provided.
Sponsor
Vote Record
No recorded votes.
Campaign Finance — Primary Sponsor
Top contributing industries
Other$445,706.23
Agriculture$17,550
Energy$16,000
Finance$13,300
Healthcare$9,925
501(c)(4) disclosure: Contributions from 501(c)(4) "dark money" organizations are not required to be publicly disclosed and are not reflected in the figures above. Data sourced from FEC public disclosure filings.
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