COVID-19 Updates and Information Following guidance from the White House, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Trespass

Trespass is defined in the General Forestry Regulations section of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) (25 CFR § 163.1) as:

The removal of forest products from, or damaging forest products on, Indian Forest Land, except when authorized by law and applicable federal or tribal regulations. Trespass can include any damage to forest resources on Indian Forest land resulting from activities under contracts or permits or from fire.

Indian Affairs (IA) policy on forest trespass is described in 53 IAM 7: Forest Trespass. The associated Indian Affairs Forest Trespass Handbook addresses all forest trespass cases caused by unauthorized harvest or human-caused wildfire and  provides guidance for the detection and investigation of trespass incidents, appraisal of damages, preparation of appropriate reports, enforcement, litigation, settlement, distribution of collections, and prevention of trespass on Indian lands.

The punishment of trespassers is as important as the recovery of damages because it serves as a deterrent to reduce future trespass activities. The Secretary of the Interior (Secretary), acting through the BIA or through Tribal programs to which authority has been assumed by delegation or by contract, is responsible for protecting Indian forest lands from trespass and for recovering damages when trespass occurs.

The following templates are identified in the Indian Affairs Forest Trespass Handbook, and are required to implement the policy described in 53 IAM 7: Forest Trespass.

Templates:

Was this page helpful?

This Page Was Not Helpful Because The Content:

indianaffairs.gov

An official website of the U.S. Department of the Interior

Looking for U.S. government information and services?
Visit USA.gov