National Wildlife Refuges in North Dakota

The National Wildlife Refuges in North Dakota: As you look down this list, you'll see that a lot of them are "easement refuges," meaning the land is still privately owned (and trespass laws still hold) but the owner has either given up some right in exchange for some benefit ("conservation easement = tax credits") in order to allow the US Fish & Wildlife Service to manage the property as part of a National Wildlife Refuge. Quite often this benefit is in the form of tax credits, a legal financial instrument that can be sold on the open market. Because the North Dakota banking regulations do not allow a bank to own agricultural land, this is one way many ranchers and farmers have been able to hold onto their properties in hard times.