Ducks Unlimited is giving 400 acres of land in Wells County to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department to manage for wildlife habitat and hunting.

The package includes 160 acres of cropland and 240 acres of land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, a federal program that pays farmers to idle erodible land and plant protective cover on it.

Officials say it's believed to be the first time Ducks Unlimited has donated land to the state.

The land in the Fessenden and Bowdon areas was given to Ducks Unlimited by a landowner who has chosen to remain anonymous, said Jeff Nelson, director of the Ducks Unlimited Great Plains Regional Office in Bismarck.

"His preference was that it be publicly owned, not only for wildlife habitat but hunting," Nelson said. He said the land "has the potential of attracting 80 to 100 duck pairs per square mile."

Randy Kreil, the Game and Fish Department's wildlife chief, said the agency will pay full property taxes on the land and make it available for hunting. Some of the land already is enrolled in the state's Private Lands Open To Sportsmen program, or PLOTS, which pays landowners to keep their property open to public hunting.

One of the parcels of land is next to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service waterfowl production area and the other is close to a similar area, Kreil said.

"It will make a nice complex, not only in terms of waterfowl production but also public access opportunities," he said.

Wells County Commissioner Mary Hager and Tax Equalization Director Cindy Melby said they were not aware of any opposition to the plan.

Nelson said the landowner chose to donate the property through Ducks Unlimited so the conservation group could grant an easement to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The easement ensures wetlands on the property will be not be drained and that grassland will not be cultivated, or hayed before July 15, Nelson said.

"The donor's perspective is, it was a cleaner transaction to simply give the property to Ducks Unlimited and have Ducks Unlimited put the easement on it. He didn't want to get involved with all that," Nelson said.

Since the land was donated and not sold to the conservation group, the transfer did not have to go through the Natural Areas Acquisition Advisory Committee, which advises the governor on land purchases by nonprofits.

That process takes into account local opinions on a proposed land sale, and gives the governor the final say.

Gov. John Hoeven still reviewed the donation plan and signed off on it, said his spokesman, Don Canton.

"This does apply to our target of a million acres of public hunting land," Canton said. "We're at upwards of 900,000 acres now. We're looking to hit that number (1 million) this year."

In January, Hoeven rejected a Ducks Unlimited proposal to buy 2,320 acres of wetland-rich ranch land in Sheridan County, saying the plan did not create significant new protection for the property. The advisory committee had recommended that he deny the sale.

Ducks Unlimited owns 160 acres in North Dakota, all of it in Sheridan County.