Reep v. State

SANDSTROM, Justice.

[¶ 1] Several owners of land next to navigable waters in North Dakota appeal from summary judgments determining the State owns the mineral interests under the land in the shore zone, the area between the ordinary high and low watermarks of the navigable waters. We conclude that the State owned the mineral interests under the shore zone of navigable waters upon statehood in 1889 under the equal footing doctrine and that the enduring language of the anti-gift clause now found in N.D. Const, art. X, § 18, precludes construing the language now codified in N.D.C.C. § 47-01-15 as…