North Dakota Trust Lands Completion Act of 2026

The bill would authorize the North Dakota Board of University and School Lands to relinquish state land grant parcels located wholly or partially within an Indian reservation in exchange for parcels of unappropriated federal land administered by the Bureau of Land Management, of substantially equivalent value. It sets procedures for selection lists, appraisals, equalization payments or ledger accounts for value gaps, public notice of appraisals, and deadlines for the Secretary of the Interior to approve selections and convey land. If a tribe requests it, relinquished reservation land conveyed to the Secretary must be taken into trust for that tribe and become part of its reservation. The bill excludes certain federal lands from eligibility, such as areas of critical environmental concern, wilderness-type conservation lands, military reservations, and specific townships. It preserves existing grazing leases and permits on exchanged land, does not affect tribal treaty rights or already-trust land, and does not resolve pending litigation over land or mineral ownership in North Dakota.

The State of North Dakota's Board of University and School Lands, the Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management, Indian tribes whose reservations overlap state trust land, and current grazing permittees and lessees on affected parcels would all be directly involved in or affected by the land exchanges.

Tribes could regain land within their reservation boundaries currently held by the state, while North Dakota could consolidate its school trust lands outside reservations to generate more predictable oil, gas, and agricultural lease revenue for education funding. Grazing permittees would keep existing leases, and appraisal and consultation requirements would shape how quickly and fairly exchanges proceed.

The state would submit selection lists of desired BLM parcels to the Secretary of the Interior in one or more phases; the Secretary would have 180 days to approve or reject each phase and 60 days after approval to begin conveyance. Independent appraisers would value both the relinquished state parcels and selected federal parcels, with equalization payments or a ledger account used to reconcile unequal values (capped at 25% of federal parcel value). Appraisals would be posted publicly 30 days before each exchange. Tribes could request that relinquished reservation land be placed in trust on their behalf, requiring consultation between the state, Interior, and affected tribes before conveyance.