BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota's attorney general says a new law intended to clarify disputed ownership of minerals under a Missouri River reservoir doesn't apply in a case scheduled before the state Supreme Court next month.
Gov. Doug Burgum signed the measure last month that limits the state's mineral claims under Lake Sakakawea to a smaller area than it had claimed.
But Wayne Stenehjem says in court documents that the land that is the subject of a lawsuit was already under the Missouri River and was not "inundated" by water when Lake Sakakawea was created in the 1950s. He says that means the state owns the minerals.
The state land board discussed the issue in a closed-door meeting Thursday but took no action. Burgum is the chairman of the board.