North Dakota v. United States

Background

Between 1961 and 1977 North Dakota’s governors approved county-by-county consents allowing the federal government to acquire easements over up to about 1.5 million acres of wetlands for waterfowl production areas. By 1977 the Fish and Wildlife Service had obtained easements over about half that acreage. North Dakota then passed 1977 laws requiring county approval, letting landowners limit easements, and capping easements at 99 years. The United States sued in 1979, and lower courts sided with the federal government.

Reasoning

The Court framed the question simply: could the State revoke earlier gubernatorial consents or apply its 1977 restrictions to easements acquired under those consents? Relying on the plain text of the federal loan and stamp laws and their history, the Court concluded that Congress intended state approval to enable long-term federal planning and did not allow revocation at will. The Court also applied prior federal-land-acquisition principles to hold that state rules hostile to federal interests cannot be used to defeat existing federal easement agreements.

Real world impact

The decision means existing federal easements in North Dakota remain enforceable and state statutes passed in 1977 cannot be used to undo them. The federal government may continue to use prior consents to acquire or enforce easements. Future consents or new state rules were not finally resolved by this opinion.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice O'Connor agreed the consents could not be revoked at will but would have remanded to let lower courts decide whether the federal government unreasonably delayed, which could affect revocability.