Member Focus North Dakota Department of Trust Lands
Commissioner Joseph Heringer
NASTL would like to welcome and introduce you to the new North Dakota Land Commissioner, Joseph Heringer. He was appointed to the position by the Board of University and School Lands on
March 14, 2022 succeeding Jodi Smith.
Joseph is a native of Bismarck and, with the exception of getting his bachelor’s degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, is a life-long North Dakota resident. He received his law degree from the University of North Dakota, home of the Fighting Hawks. He is a licensed attorney with over 20 years of combined investment and trusts/estates management experience.
In his free time, he serves on the board of the Ronald McDonald House Charities in Bismarck. We are looking forward to networking with Joseph and warmly welcome him to NASTL.
Spring Member Meeting Update
On April 13th NASTL conducted a Zoom meeting with 15 member States and 4 Affiliates. There was discussion regarding the ACE legislation with John Andrews (Snell & Wilmer) giving a history of the bill, and Allen Freemyer letting us know that it will not be able to continue without bipartisan support. Federal actions that impact management were discussed.
There was also a discussion lead by Christine Mikell of ENYO Renewable Energy and Troy Herold of the Utah trust lands office regarding renewable energy opportunities and trust lands. Troy’s presentation can be found here.
Executive Director Schneider reminded call participants that NASTL's 2021 Resolutions are scheduled to sunset this summer unless they are refreshed and renewed at the summer meeting. Participants were encouraged to review the resolutions ahead of the meeting and also to let Lisa or Allen Freemyer know if there are new resolutions recommended for consideration in Park City.
We will continue to address these issues and many more during our annual summer conference in Park City, Utah July 10-13, 2022.
A Note from our Summer Conference Hosts
Welcome Back to Utah!
The Utah School and Institutional Trust LandsAdministration (SITLA) is proud to be hosting the 2022 National Association of School Trust Lands (NASTL) summer conference. The last time we all got together in Utah was back in 2015 in Moab, surrounded by the stunning southern Utah landscape. This year, we thought we’d take you to the mountains.
We look forward to seeing you in Park City, nestled in the lush Wasatch Mountain Range. We have a new director to introduce, thought-provoking conference session topics, exciting sites to see, and great restaurants
and bars to share with you.
We look forward to seeing you in July and hearing about all things
trust lands from around the country.
Denver International Airport (Photo Credit Glen Martin, Denver Post)
The Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) has provided a link through the Western Policy Network to connect states to key information tied to funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the American Rescue Plan (ARP).
As Allen Freemyer has advised NASTL, there are sources of funding through the BIL and ARP that could help our member states with issues on trust lands such as dealing with orphan wells.
The Enabling Act of 1894 was enacted to create the State of Utah. Enabling Acts can have restrictions written into them in addition to creating trust parcels to be managed to generate revenue for schools.
Utah was one of those states that was granted statehood only if there was a prohibition of polygamy. Polygamy is generally associated with Utah and Brigham Young, but did you know that Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma also had to prohibit polygamy in order to become states?
NASTL would like to welcome and introduce you to the new North Dakota Land Commissioner, Joseph Heringer. He was appointed to the position by the Board of University and School Lands on
The Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) is proud to be hosting the 2022 National Association of School Trust Lands (NASTL) summer conference. The last time we all got together in Utah was back in 2015 in Moab, surrounded by the stunning southern Utah landscape. This year, we thought we’d take you to the mountains.
