Exhibit 31.1  Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

I, Joseph S. Micallef,
President of the Trustees and Chief Executive Officer of Great Northern Iron Ore
Properties, certify that:

| | 1. |  | I have reviewed
this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Great Northern Iron Ore Properties;
| | -- |  | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | 2. |  | Based on my
knowledge, this Annual Report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements
made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this Annual Report;
| | -- |  | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | 3. |  | Based on my
knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in
this Annual Report, fairly present in all material respects the financial
condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Registrant as of, and
for, the periods presented in this Annual Report;
| | -- |  | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | 4. |  | The
Registrants other certifying officers and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the Registrant and we have:
| | -- |  | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| |  | a) |  | designed
such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and
procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information
relating to the Registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us
by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this Annual
Report is being prepared; and
| |  | -- |  | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| |  | b) |  | evaluated the
effectiveness of the Registrants disclosure controls and procedures and
presented in this Annual Report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the
disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
Annual Report based on such evaluation; and
| |  | -- |  | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| |  | c) |  | disclosed in
this Annual Report any change in the Registrants internal control over
financial reporting that occurred during the Registrants most recent
fiscal quarter (the Registrants fourth quarter in the case of an Annual
Report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
affect, the Registrants internal control over financial reporting;
| |  | -- |  | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---

Exhibit 31.1  Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (continued)

| | 5. |  | The
Registrants other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on our
most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
Registrants auditors and the audit committee of the Registrants
board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent function):
| | -- |  | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| |  | a) |  | all significant
deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal
control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
the Registrants ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
information; and
| |  | -- |  | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| |  | b) |  | any fraud,
whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a
significant role in the Registrants internal controls over financial
reporting.
| |  | -- |  | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

|Date: February 12, 2004 | By: /s/ Joseph S. Micallef                                           
|----------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------
|                        | Joseph S. Micallef, President of the Trustees,Chief Executive Officer

---