The Department reluctantly concedes that there may be a trend toward allowing estoppel against the government but contends that if that is indeed the case, North Dakota has declined to go along with it. To support this contention, the Department relies primarily on Werre v. Bowman County, 79 N.D. 617, 58 N.W.2d 792 (1953) and Abbey v. State, 202 N.W.2d 844 (N.D. 1972). While it is true that we have not applied estoppel against the government in the past, we do not accept the Department's position that estoppel against the government is not available as a matter of law.