North Dakota's governor said the state would likely go to court to prevent the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from transferring 24,000 acres of land it no longer needs around Lake Sakakawea to the Three Affiliated Tribes.

Gov. John Hoeven said the plan isn't fair and could create a confusing map of go and no-go areas around the lake

Hoeven made his comments Monday at the first in a week-long series of public hearings the corps is holding on its draft plan to transfer the land to be held in trust for the reservation.

The transfer would be the most significant change in the land's status since it was acquired by the corps back in the '40s for construction of Garrison Dam and the permanent flood of Lake Sakakawea.

Hoeven said the transfer isn't fair because the majority of land taken inside the reservation boundaries was privately owned, by both tribal and non-tribal members, not by the tribal government. He also said the land, which is above 1,854 feet elevation and no longer needed to operate the dam, is now open for public hunting and fishing and he objected to taking it out of the public domain at the same time the state is working to provide more free hunting.

The governor said he's talked to the Attorney General about the state's options to block the transfer, if it comes to that.

The corps will decide whether to go forward with the draft plan in final form. The corps said it would not transfer another 12,000 acres inside the reservation boundary that is leased for recreation sites and for wildlife management areas.

About 45 people attended the hearing, far fewer than when the plan was originally opened to public discussion a year ago. Tribal chairman Tex Hall made the formal request in 2004, saying it was part of the tribe's longstanding quest to get back land it gave up for the dam.

Paul Danks, who heads up natural resources for the tribes, said he was surprised by the governor's continued resistance, but said he couldn't comment further.

Danks said the tribe's position is that it is pleased that the corps intends to transfer 24,000 acres of grazing land and that it will continue to request the 12,000 acres that were left off the table.

"We think it's great, we're a little disappointed that we didn't get the full 36,000. We will make a request for the remainder,"Danks said..

Todd Hall, a tribal member, said tribal people are also citizens of North Dakota and that issues like access could be worked out.

He said he would "pray" that Hoeven changes his position, since a transfer would return the land to local control.

Dale Frink, state water engineer, said the transfer could complicate water permits from Lake Sakakawea, by adding another level of government to the process.

McLean County State's Attorney Ladd Erickson has taken a lead legal role on the matter.

He said the only way to legally identify land in North Dakota is by the township grid system, or by meets and bounds.

Erickson said the land would have to be surveyed and platted at the time of transfer, rather than described by a simple elevation line, so that counties would know precisely where reservation boundaries begin for taxation purposes.

Erickson also said the transfer is being done under a 1984 Fort Berthold MIneral Restoration Act, which was intended to transfer mineral ownership to the tribes, not land ownership.

Terry Fleck, who represented a statewide Lake Sakakawea friends' group, said it would be easier to agree to the transfer if people knew how the tribe planned to manage the land and had a plan for long-term development.

"When 24,000 acres of land changes hands and is managed differently, it changes the face of North Dakota and it changes it forever," Fleck said.

The hearings continue today at 10 a.m. in Dickinson and at 5 p.m. in Hazen.

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or lauren@;westriv.com.)