North Dakota Supreme Court Sides With State Over Minerals Law -- The Bismarck Tribune -- July 30, 2020

Link here.  Archived.

The North Dakota Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the state over a law intended to clarify long-disputed ownership of minerals under a Missouri River reservoir.

The court's opinion released Thursday centers around a law signed by Gov. Doug Burgum in 2017 that limited state mineral claims under Lake Sakakawea to a smaller area than it had previously claimed. The move has been estimated to cost the state nearly $187 million it already had collected in oil-drilling royalty payments that must be returned.