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N.D. (AP) — North Dakota officials are selling the rights to drill for oil on almost 70,000 acres of state land.

Associated Press (AP) Bismarck, ND State trust lands commissioner Lance Gaebe says Tuesday’s auction is expected to draw strong interest.

Gaebe says some of the 809 lease tracts are in Mountrail and McKenzie counties, in North Dakota’s best oil-producing area. The leases give the holder the right to drill for oil within five years.

The sale money will go into a trust fund that benefits schools. The fund now has more than $1.6 billion in assets.

Some protests were raised before Tuesday’s sale about the inclusion of some environmentally sensitive land. More than 3,800 acres were eventually held out of the sale, although it could be leased later.