North Dakota Field Office

The North Dakota Field Office manages over 4.1 million acres of Federal and Indian Trust mineral estate in the western one-third of the state and about 58,000 acres of public land, mostly in Dunn and Bowman Counties.

The North Dakota Field Office manages approximately 2,500 Federal oil and gas leases, and also has trust responsibility for over 3,000 oil and gas leases located on the Fort Berthold Reservation or on Turtle Mountain Tracts which are scattered across the northern portion of North Dakota. In fiscal year 2015, the BLM North Dakota Field Office administered leases that generated $186,040,000 Federal and $477,500,000 Indian; for a total of $663,354,000 in royalties. The North Dakota Field Office also processed 890 Applications for Permit to Drill last fiscal year.  Along with BLM’s drilling oversight and surface protection, the BLM provides inspection and enforcement for production accountability.
 
Recreation opportunities include the historic Schnell Recreation Area near Richardton, which includes three miles of hiking trails and six primitive campsites. 
 
The public lands have yielded important scientific fossil discoveries, including dinosaurs, catfish, sharks, and rhinoceros. The North Dakota Field Office also holds wild horse and burro adoptions.