"At issue over ownership of the mineral rights, which the Trump administration determined belonged to the state of North Dakota, is millions of dollars in oil and gas revenues."

"FARGO — The Biden administration reversed a Trump administration position and upheld the Mandan, Hidatsa Arikara Nation's claim to mineral rights beneath the Missouri River within the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

The memorandum opinion by Robert T. Anderson, the solicitor for the U.S. Department of Interior, filed on Friday, Feb. 4, restores a line of federal decisions dating back almost 86 years.

A federal judge in Washington froze the Trump administration's break from precedent after the tribe filed lawsuits challenging the move, which came at the urging of the state of North Dakota.

At stake in the legal dispute are millions of dollars in oil and gas revenues from deposits beneath Lake Sakakawea, a reservoir on the Missouri River created by Garrison Dam."

Patrick Springer repors for Native News Online February 4, 2022. [2]