(a) Prior to acquiring land under a license with the United States army corps of engineers pursuant to the fish and wildlife coordination act, the secretary shall give notice of the proposed acquisition to the board of commissioners of every county in which such land is located. The board of county commissioners shall call and hold a public hearing on the proposed acquisition. If the land is located in two or more counties, a joint public hearing may be held if approved by a majority of the boards of county commissioners of such counties. Notice of the time, date and location of the hearing shall be published once each week for two consecutive weeks in the official county newspaper. The second publication shall be no sooner than 10 days prior to the public hearing. At such hearing, the secretary or the secretary’s designee shall give a description of the land proposed to be acquired and the reasons for the acquisition. After the public hearing, the secretary may enter into the license to acquire the land.

(b) The provisions of this section shall not apply to land acquired pursuant to the wildtrust program nor to licenses entered into with respect to Hillsdale reservoir project lands.