Hearing set on N.D. land buy proposal

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A group that advises the governor on North Dakota land purchases by nonprofits is holding a hearing on a proposed buy in the Williston region.

Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring says the Natural Areas Acquisition Advisory Committee will consider a proposal by the American Foundation for Wildlife to buy 983 acres near the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers from five landowners.

Gov. John Hoeven will have the final say under the approval process spelled out in North Dakota's anti-corporate farming law.

Goehring says the wildlife group already owns more than 1,700 acres in the confluence region. The foundation wants to buy the new tract and transfer it to the state Game and Fish Department as a wildlife management area.

The hearing is March 30 in Fairview, just across the Montana border.

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