The U.S. House of Representatives this week unanimously approved legislation led by U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak (R-ND) that would address her home state’s outdated land ownership laws. The bill has advanced to the U.S. Senate.
“This bill improves land management for everyone involved — tribes, local communities, taxpayers, outdoorsmen, and our state,” Rep. Fedorchak said, noting that it would create “a transparent, structured process to reduce fragmented land ownership that has existed since statehood while protecting tribal treaty rights, public access, grazing agreements, and existing conservation protections.”
“This is a common-sense solution, and I look forward to getting it across the finish line for our state,” added the congresswoman.
The House passed the North Dakota Trust Lands Completion Act of 2026, H.R. 2252, which Rep. Fedorchak sponsored on March 21, 2025 to allow North Dakota to exchange certain state land grant parcels (e.g., lands granted to North Dakota by Congress when it became a state) located wholly or partially within an Indian reservation for certain federal land of substantially equivalent value.
North Dakota manages oil, gas, and agriculture leases on state land grant parcels to generate revenue for education and other public benefits. However, tribal reservations were created on state land grant parcels and reduced the amount of land available for revenue generation, according to the Congressional Record bill summary.
H.R. 2252 would allow the North Dakota Board of University and School Lands to exchange with the U.S. Department of the Interior state land grant parcels located wholly or partially within tribal reservations for certain public land in North Dakota administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
Upon the request of a tribe, the Department of the Interior would be required to hold exchanged land within the tribe’s reservation in trust on behalf of the tribe, the summary says.
Importantly, according to Rep. Fedorchak, the bill does not automatically exchange a single acre of land, rather it creates a process that can be used if all parties choose to move forward.
“Outdated land ownership laws should not stand in the way of resource development, economic opportunity and educational investment in North Dakota. H.R. 2252 authorizes strategic land exchanges that consolidate fragmented tribal land and empower the state to generate more energy revenue that helps fund education and other public services,” said U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR), chairman of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, which passed the bill in March. “I commend Rep. Fedorchak for advancing practical legislation that strengthens rural communities and improves stewardship of North Dakota’s lands and resources.”