OPA

WASHINGTON – Today, Thursday, September 24, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will join U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in a press conference call to discuss more than $5 million in funding to help Native American and Alaska Native youth become college- and career ready. Under a new Native Youth Community Projects (NYCP) program, the Department of Education is making grants to a dozen recipients in nine states that will impact more than 30 tribes and involve more than 48 schools, some of which are schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Education.

Parts of this funding will also help in the transition from federal control of Bureau of Indian Education schools to tribal control, an ongoing effort to establish educational self-determination for tribal communities. These awards are a demonstration of President Obama’s strong commitment to improving the lives of American Indian and Alaska Native children and a key element of his Generation Indigenous “Gen I” Initiative to help Native American youth.

Secretaries Jewell and Duncan will also be joined by Ahniwake Rose, the Executive Director of the National Indian Education Association, and Gloria O'Neill, President and CEO of Cook Inlet Tribal Council, a grant recipient.

Also today, Secretary Jewell will participate in the National Tribal Energy Summit. The Summit is a White House Council on Native American Affairs interagency effort and includes participation from the U.S. Department of the Interior, as well as the U.S. Departments of Energy and Agriculture. The two-and-a-half day event will explore energy development and security issues identified by tribes and DOE’s Indian Country Energy and Infrastructure Working Group.

WHO: Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior

Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education

Ahniwake Rose, Executive Director, National Indian Education Association

Gloria O'Neill, President and CEO, Cook Inlet Tribal Council

WHAT: Press conference call to discuss Native youth community education project grants

WHEN: TODAY, Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. EDT

MEDIA: Members of the media who wish to join this call should dial 1-888-469-0506 and use the passcode EDUCATION.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Education today, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of the Interior, announced the award of more than $5 million in grants to help Native American youth become college- and career-ready.

Under the new Native Youth Community Projects (NYCP) program, the Department of Education is making grants to a dozen recipients in nine states that will impact more than thirty tribes and involve more than 48 schools. These awards are a demonstration of President Obama’s strong commitment to improving the lives of American Indian and Alaska Native children and a key element of his Generation Indigenous “Gen I” Initiative to help Native American youth. “These grants are an unprecedented investment in Native youth, and a recognition that tribal communities are best positioned to drive solutions and lead change,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

“These grants are a down payment on President Obama’s commitment last summer at his historic trip to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota to create new opportunities for American Indian youth to cultivate the next generation of Native leaders.”

“The investments we're announcing today underscore the Obama Administration's commitment to self-determination by putting tribal communities in the driver’s seat for developing a strong and prosperous future for Indian Country,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, who joined Education Secretary Arne Duncan in announcing the funding awards today and is responsible for the management of more than 180 Bureau of Indian Education Schools, three of which are recipients of these Native Youth Community Projects program grants. “These grants provide tools to tribes to not only assist in the transition from federal to tribal control of school operations and management but also ensure college-readiness for the next generation of Native American leaders.”

Each grant will support a coordinated, focused approach chosen by a community partnership that includes a tribe, local schools, and other organizations. For example, the program allows tribes to identify culturally-appropriate, community-specific supports for college and career readiness – whether it’s early learning, language immersion or mental health services.

The President’s FY 2016 budget proposal calls for increased investments across Indian Country, including a total request of $20.8 billion for a range of federal programs that serve tribes – a $1.5 billion increase over the 2015-enacted level. The budget proposal includes $53 million for fiscal year 2016 – a $50 million increase from this year’s budget – to significantly expand the Native Youth Community Projects program.

For more on the Administration’s investment in Native American issues, visit www.whitehouse.gov/nativeamericans.

Among the projects:

Alaska Cook Inlet Tribal Council Inc., $600,000 – The Cook Inlet Tribal Council, in partnership with the Anchorage School District, will administer Journey Ahead, a middle-school intervention designed to improve the college and career readiness of Alaska Native and American Indian students in Anchorage. The project will stress outcomes key to developing college and career readiness, including academic achievement, attendance, and a respectful school climate with caring adults.

North Dakota (Wahpeton) Circle of Nations School, $440,217 – The Circle of Nations School Native Youth Community Project will improve education indicators for college and career readiness through a community-wide approach providing academic, social, health, and other supports promoting school engagement and commitment to learning, which the project partners identified as the primary barrier among students at the U.S. Bureau of Indian Education-funded boarding school that serves students in grades 4-8.

New Mexico Native American Community Academy Foundation, $472,806 – The Native American Community Academy Foundation (NACA) will expand its network of high-performing schools dedicated solely to Indigenous education in Northwest New Mexico. Following a 3-year piloting phase, the NACA-Inspired Schools Network emerged out of community efforts to establish the first network of high-performing schools that seek to reimagine what Indigenous education and the school experience can be for Native students by creating schools of academic excellence and cultural relevance Following are all of the grant recipients and levels of funding.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Interior announced today a proposal to create an administrative procedure and criteria that the Secretary of the Interior would apply if the Native Hawaiian community forms a unified government that then seeks a formal government-to-government relationship with the United States. Under the new proposal, the Native Hawaiian community — not the Federal government — would decide whether to reorganize a Native Hawaiian government, what form that government would take, and whether it would seek a government-to-government relationship with the United States.

“The United States has a long-standing policy of supporting self-governance for Native peoples, yet the benefits of the government-to-government relationship have long been denied to Native Hawaiians, one of our nation’s largest indigenous communities,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. “Today’s proposal is testament to the Obama Administration’s strong support for our nation’s Native peoples’ right to self-determination.”

The proposal, which takes the form of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), builds on more than 150 Federal statutes that Congress has enacted over the last century to recognize and implement the special political and trust relationship between the United States and the Native Hawaiian community. The NPRM comes on the heels of a robust and transparent public comment period as part of an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) process that began last year and included public meetings. More than 5,000 members of the public submitted written responses to the ANPRM, and they overwhelmingly favored creating a pathway for reestablishing a formal government-to-government relationship.

“We’ve listened to the feedback we received during the public meetings and in writing and worked to improve the proposal to reflect those comments,” added Jewell. “We appreciate the many voices on this topic and look forward to hearing from the public on this proposal.”

If a government-to-government relationship is reestablished, it can provide the community with greater flexibility to preserve its distinct culture and traditions and special status under Federal law that enables the community to exercise powers of self-government over many issues directly impacting community members.

The Native Hawaiian community has not had a formal government since the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893. In 1993, Congress enacted the Apology Resolution, which offered an apology to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the United States for its role in the overthrow and committed the Federal government to a process of reconciliation. As part of that reconciliation process, in 2000 the Department of the Interior and the Department of Justice jointly issued a report identifying as its lead recommendation the need to foster self-determination for Native Hawaiians under Federal law.

Today’s proposal is available for review at www.doi.gov/ohr, and public comments on it will be accepted for the next 90 days. Members of the public are encouraged to read the proposal and provide comments in writing by email to part50@doi.gov, on www.regulations.gov (docket no. DOI-2015-0005), or by U.S. mail/hand delivery to the Office of the Secretary, Department of the Interior, Room 7228, 1849 C St. NW, Washington, DC 20240. The public is also encouraged to participate in teleconferences on the proposed rule, a schedule of which is available here.

WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior today announced that an additional $10 million has been transferred to the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund (the Fund), bringing the total amount contributed so far to nearly $30 million. Funded in part by the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), and authorized by the Cobell Settlement, the Fund is designed to be a permanent endowment which provides financial assistance through scholarships to American Indian and Alaska Native students wishing to pursue post-secondary and graduate education and training.

“I am thrilled that the first Cobell scholarships have been awarded. Graduating from college and law school was life changing for me, and wouldn't have been possible without financial support,” said Interior Solicitor Hilary Tompkins, a member of the Navajo Nation, who negotiated the Cobell settlement for the Interior Department. “The Cobell scholarship program is key to advancing self-determination by opening doors to the next generation of leaders in Indian Country.”

The Fund, administered by the American Indian Graduate Center (AIGC), will disburse approximately $2 million in funds in its first round of awards over the next several months. Scholarship recipients represent more than 80 tribal nations who will be attending more than 175 different academic institutions. The Cobell Board of Trustees is responsible for the oversight and supervision of the activities of the fund’s administering organization.

The Buy-Back Program was created to implement the land consolidation component of the Cobell settlement, which provided $1.9 billion to purchase fractionated interests in trust or restricted land from willing landowners. Consolidated interests are transferred to tribal government ownership for uses benefiting the reservation community and tribal members.

Interior makes quarterly transfers to the scholarship fund – up to a total of $60 million – as a result of Land Buy-Back Program sales. The amount contributed is based on a formula required under the terms of the Cobell settlement that sets aside funding contributions based on the value of the fractionated interests sold.

“AIGC has been working diligently over the last few months to receive, process and distribute the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund,” said Joan Currier, Interim Executive Director of the AIGC. “We received more than 2,500 applications from talented students, and we were able to award $2 million in scholarships to more than 340 undergraduate and graduate students for 2015/2016. This truly is an exciting opportunity for Indian students. We are working with the Cobell Board of Trustees and are reviewing the application and selection process as we look towards the next academic year. We encourage all students to reapply for 2016/2017, starting in January 2016, at AIGCS.org.”

“We are delighted with the significant transfer to the Cobell Scholarship Fund. The latest distribution aids our mission of carrying out the vision of Elouise Cobell to enhance educational opportunities for American Indians and Alaskan Native students,” said Alex Pearl, Chairman of the Cobell Board of Trustees. “With the beginning of the new school year and the initial distribution of funds to recipients, we are aware now more than ever of the quality, capabilities, and talents of our tribal youth. Indian Country is not immune from the national concern about rising student debt and access to education. Our Board understands the financial aid needs in Indian Country are enormous. We are committed to creating a uniquely tuned scholarship program attentive to the needs and issues of Native students. The Cobell Board is grateful for the leadership demonstrated by Solicitor Hilary Tompkins and looks forward to continue working with her and the Department of the Interior in this unique shared effort to minimize the barriers faced by Native students in accomplishing their educational goals.”

Providing Native youth with increased access to higher education opportunities supports the Obama Administration’s Generation Indigenous (Gen-I) initiative to remove barriers to Native youth’s success.

Since 2013, the Buy-Back Program has paid nearly $685 million to individual landowners and restored the equivalent of more than 1.4 million acres of land to tribal governments.

Landowners can contact the Trust Beneficiary Call Center at 888-678-6836 or visit their local Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) to update their contact information, ask questions about their land or purchase offers, and learn about financial planning resources.

More information and detailed frequently asked questions are available at http://www.doi.gov/buybackprogram to help individuals make informed decisions about their land.

SHINNECOCK NATION, N.Y. – U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will visit the Shinnecock Nation in New York today, Thursday, October 1 to kick off the Tribal Solarthon as part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to helping build clean energy and strong economies in Indian Country. GRID Alternatives, the nation’s largest nonprofit solar installer, is partnering with the Shinnecock Nation to bring solar power to this northeastern coastal community, which suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Sandy three years ago.

This event helps to kick off part of GRID Alternative’s two-week Tribal Solarthon to bring solar power and job training to four tribal communities in New York, California, Arizona and South Dakota. GRID Alternatives is working to raise funds and install solar energy infrastructure for 50 families on the Shinnecock Nation and a battery backup system, starting with two installations this week that will also provide hands-on job training for tribal members.

“Grid Alternative’s partnership with the Shinnecock Nation and other tribal communities serves as a model for helping to build a sustainable energy future and solar technology workforce in Indian Country,” Secretary Jewell said. “This partnership shows how the tribal, federal and private sectors can work together to remove barriers to economic development, advance tribal self-determination and add clean energy to the grid.”

Tribal solar development harnesses renewable resources on tribal lands as a reliable and cost-effective way to provide jobs and power homes, businesses and economies. It also aligns with President Obama's Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote the deployment of renewable energy technologies and community resilience measures.

Last week, Secretary Jewell participated in the National Tribal Energy Summit to discuss progress on energy projects and clean energy jobs in Indian Country. The Summit was a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development and the National Congress of State Legislatures with participation from the U.S. Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce, among others. Its purpose was to further tribal energy investment and economic development across Indian Country.

Last year, Secretary Jewell approved the 200-megawatt Moapa Solar Energy Center Project on the Moapa River Indian Reservation, located about 20 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The project – the second approved Moapa solar installation – will provide enough energy to power about 60,000 homes and support an estimated 500 jobs during peak constriction along with 10 permanent positions.

WHO: Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior

Bryan Polite, Tribal Chairman, Shinnecock Nation

Stan Greschner, VP of Government Relations and Market Development, GRID Alternatives

WHAT: Remarks at Shinnecock Nation Tribal Solarthon

WHEN: TODAY, Thursday, October 1, 2015

9:55 AM EDT – Media check-in

10:10 AM EDT – Press conference and media availability

10:40 AM EDT – Work on Solarthon project – opportunity for b-roll

WHERE: Shinnecock Community Center

100 Church Street Southampton, NY 11968

MEDIA: Credentialed members of the media are encouraged to RSVP here.

DURANT, Okla. – As part of the Obama Administration's commitment to strengthen the government-to-government relationship with tribal nations and fulfill federal trust obligations, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will join Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby and Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton on Tuesday, October 6, to announce a historic settlement regarding the U.S. government's management of funds and resources it holds in trust for these tribal nations.

Interior Solicitor Hilary C. Tompkins, a member of the Navajo Nation, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Lawrence S. Roberts, a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, will also join the signing ceremony and announcement at the Choctaw Event Center. Tuesday's announcement marks a significant milestone in the Obama Administration's commitment to resolving tribal trust management lawsuits with Native American tribes.

The Choctaw Nation is the third largest Native American tribe in the United States, with approximately 176,000 enrolled members and 10,864 square miles of tribal lands in southeastern Oklahoma. The tribe’s growing business enterprises have allowed it to work to improve the lives of tribal members who have a rich tradition of serving in the military, maintaining a strong tribal government based on their cultural heritage, and serving as leaders in the State of Oklahoma.

The Chickasaw Nation has more than 60,000 enrolled members and includes 7,648 square miles of south-central Oklahoma, encompassing all or parts of 13 Oklahoma counties. The Chickasaw Nation has a strong history of self-sufficiency and self-governance guided by their cultural values and traditions.

WHO: Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Hilary C. Tompkins, Interior Solicitor Lawrence S. Roberts, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Jack Austin, Assistant Chief, The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Joe Coley, Tribal Chaplain, The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Gary Batton, Chief, The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Bill Anoatubby, Governor, The Chickasaw Nation

WHAT: Historic settlement announcement with Chickasaw, Choctaw Nations

WHEN: Tuesday, October 6, 2015 10:15 a.m. CDT – Media check-in 10:30 a.m. CDT – Announcement 11:00 a.m. CDT – Media availability

WHERE: Choctaw Event Center 4451 Choctaw Road Durant, OK 74701

MEDIA: Credentialed members of the media are encouraged to RSVP here

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that the Department of the Interior has accepted from the State of Washington the partial civil and criminal jurisdiction it held over the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The state has held this authority over the Yakama Nation, a federally recognized tribe located in the southwestern portion of Washington, for more than half a century.

“While tribal self-governance has long been the Federal Government’s guiding principle for Federal Indian policy, it has been slow in coming in the area of criminal justice,” Washburn said in a letter conveying the decision to the Yakama Nation. “We believe that this step will advance tribal self-governance and tribal sovereignty for the Nation. More importantly, we believe that it will produce improved public safety for the Nation and its people.”

The Yakama Nation resides on a reservation comprised of over 1.1 million acres, which was established in 1855 by a treaty signed by Washington Territory Governor Isaac Stevens and tribal representatives. The Yakama Reservation is located on the east side of the Cascade Mountains in Yakima and Klickitat counties.

In 2012, the Washington State legislature enacted legislation providing a path for the state and tribal nations to follow in addressing retrocession. In July 2012, the Yakama Nation filed a petition for retrocession with the governor that was followed by government-to-government consultations with the state. In 2013, the Nation entered into a memorandum of understanding with Yakima County regarding the procedures to serve state court arrest warrants on tribal members on trust land within the reservation.

After following the procedures set forth in the state’s bill, which included a six-month extension by the state, the governor in January 2014 submitted his proclamation on retrocession to the Secretary of the Interior for approval. Since that time, the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Justice Services (OJS) has been engaged with the Yakama Nation Tribal Police Department and Corrections to determine the capacity of the Nation’s law enforcement services. In preparation for retrocession, the Nation committed additional resources to its law enforcement services, nearly doubling the size of its police department by funding 10 new officer positions.

In September 2014, OJS finalized an assessment of the police department which found that it would be prepared to handle increased responsibilities as a result of retrocession.

In addition, OJS began an assessment of the Yakama Nation Tribal Court in December 2014, which provided recommendations for improving tribal court operational activities and assisted in developing a strategic three- to five-year plan for it. In May 2015, OJS issued the assessment and strategic plan, which included findings and recommendations, resulting in one-time federal funding to improve the court that will help the Nation further the pursuit of justice and ensure that the rights of individuals are protected.

Washington is one of 16 states authorized by Congress under Public Law 280 (67 Stat. 588), enacted in 1953 during the period in federal Indian policy known as the Termination Era, to assume criminal jurisdiction over American Indians on federal Indian reservations and to allow civil litigation that had come under tribal or federal court jurisdiction to be handled by state courts.

Among other purposes, Public Law 280 altered criminal jurisdiction on federal Indian lands by transferring it from the federal government to certain states. The law has been widely criticized by tribes and states as creating more harm than good, such as gaps in jurisdiction. Today’s decision attempts to remedy some of the jurisdictional problems Public Law 280 created on the Yakama Reservation.

The states required by Public Law 280 to assume civil and criminal jurisdiction over federal Indian lands were Alaska (except the Metlakatla Indian Community of the Annette Island Reserve, which maintains criminal jurisdiction), California, Minnesota (except the Red Lake Reservation), Nebraska, Oregon (except the Warm Springs Reservation), and Wisconsin. In addition, the federal government gave up all special criminal jurisdiction in these states over Indian offenders and victims. The states that elected to assume full or partial jurisdiction include Arizona (1967), Florida (1961), Idaho (1963, subject to tribal consent), Iowa (1967), Montana (1963), Nevada (1955), North Dakota (1963, subject to tribal consent), South Dakota (1957- 1961), Utah (1971) and Washington (1957-1963).

In 1968, a legislative shift occurred when Congress authorized certain of these states to retrocede their civil and criminal jurisdiction back to the United States via the Secretary of the Interior.

The Secretary is authorized to accept retroceded authority from a state after consultation with the U.S. Attorney General, and the federal government has done so for 31 tribes since 1968. The most recent retrocession prior to today’s announcement occurred when the State of Nebraska retroceded its civil and criminal authority over the Santee Sioux Nation in 2006.

While there are misconceptions about what “retrocession” actually entails, it does not change the boundaries of a tribe’s reservation nor expand or contract a tribe’s formal legal authority or jurisdiction. The tribe’s jurisdiction will simply no longer be concurrent with the state’s; instead, tribal jurisdiction will be exclusive for certain purposes. Retrocession is accepted by the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with terms set forth in a proclamation by the governor of the state retroceding its jurisdiction.

As required by Executive Order, the Interior Department consulted on the retrocession request with the U.S. Department of Justice, which recommended a six-month waiting period between the date of acceptance and the actual transfer of jurisdiction in order to allow for an orderly transfer of authority from the State of Washington to the federal government and to ensure no jurisdictional gaps develop as a result. Accordingly, Interior’s decision is that retrocession will be fully implemented as of 12:01 a.m. PST on April 19, 2016.

The Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs oversees the BIA, which is headed by a director who is responsible for managing day-to-day operations through four offices – Indian Services, Justice Services, Trust Services, and Field Operations. These offices directly administer or fund tribally based infrastructure, economic development, law enforcement and justice, social services (including child welfare), tribal governance, and trust land and natural and energy resources management programs for the nation’s federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes through 12 regional offices and 81 agencies.

The BIA Office of Justice Services’ mission is to enhance public safety and protect property in Indian Country by funding or providing law enforcement, corrections and tribal court services to the nation’s federally recognized tribes. It also coordinates emergency preparedness support on federal Indian lands by working cooperatively with other federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies throughout Indian Country. It also operates the Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M., which provides training and professional development to BIA and tribal law enforcement personnel. Visit www.indianaffairs.gov/bia/ojs for more information about OJS and its work.

The Department of the Interior (Department) is considering whether to propose an administrative rule that would comprehensively update 25 CFR part 140 (Licensed Indian Traders) in an effort to modernize the implementation of the Indian Trader statutes consistent with the Federal policies of Tribal self-determination and self-governance. The current regulations were promulgated in 1957 and have not been comprehensively updated since 1965. The purpose of this advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) is to solicit public comments on whether and how the Department should update 25 CFR part 140, including how the Indian Trader regulations might be updated to govern who trades on Indian land and how the regulations can better promote Tribal self-determination regarding trade on Indian lands. In this ANPRM, the Department also announces dates and locations for Tribal consultations and public meetings to consider this issue.

As part of our efforts to promote economic development in Indian Country, we are seeking your input on the need to update the "Licensed Indian Traders" Regulations currently found at 25 CFR 140. The current regulations were promulgated in 1957 and have not been comprehensively updated since 1965. We seek to modernize these regulations through the formal rulemaking process to reflect the current Federal policy of promoting tribal self-determination.

The Tribal Leader letter announcing the consultation sessions is available here. Consultation sessions have been added to the calendar and the deadline for comments has been extended to October 30, 2017. The Tribal Leader letter announcing the extension is available here.

To read more - visit the Indian Traders (25 CFR 140) page

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of President Obama’s commitment to help strengthen Indian communities, and following nation-to-nation consultations with tribal leaders, the Department of the Interior is expanding the implementation strategy for the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program).

The move to engage a significant amount of tribal governments expands on the Department’s initial plan to launch pilot efforts with less than a dozen tribes, allows for a greater amount of engagement across Indian Country, and provides more flexibility and transparency for tribal governments. The cooperative agreements would make funds available to tribal governments to implement key aspects of the Buy-Back Program, such as owner outreach and education. Tribes have the opportunity to actively participate in the process, including identifying acquisition priorities, which will improve the program’s effectiveness and efficiency while minimizing administrative costs.

“This is a major step forward toward strengthening tribal sovereignty by supporting consolidation of tribal homelands,” said Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. “We are moving quickly to establish individualized cooperative agreements, which address the specific needs of each tribe and provide resources for tribal communities to implement the program. Although the task ahead is challenging, we have been given a historic opportunity to work together with Indian Country to meet this challenge.”

The Buy-Back Program was created to implement the land consolidation component of the Cobell Settlement. The Settlement provided for a $1.9 billion Trust Land Consolidation Fund (Fund) to consolidate fractional trust or restricted land interests across Indian Country. The BuyBack Program allows interested individual owners to receive payments for voluntarily selling their land. All lands sold will immediately be held in trust for the tribe with jurisdiction.

Interior holds about 56 million acres in trust for American Indians. More than 10 million acres are held for individual American Indians and nearly 46 million acres are held for Indian tribes. The Department holds this land in more than 200,000 tracts, of which nearly 94,000 – on about 150 reservations – contain fractional ownership interests available for purchase by the Buy-Back Program.

This solicitation will expand the program implementation work already underway and requests tribes to work with Interior to determine the estimated schedule in which they wish to ultimately conduct outreach and engagement. An open solicitation period will be held through March 14, 2014, during which tribes with jurisdiction over these most fractionated locations are invited to submit letters of interest or cooperative agreement applications for participation in the program. Additional solicitations will follow this initial period. Significant outreach, mapping and mineral evaluations are already occurring at many locations.

“We have heard from tribal leaders and individual landowners that they want predictability and transparency on the timing of implementation efforts,” said Kevin K. Washburn, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. “This open solicitation puts much of the timing in the hands of tribal governments and will allow the program to move on a quicker timeline.”

Implementation decisions will still rely on a number of factors, such as the severity of fractionation; degree of ownership overlap between tracts; geographic location to maximize efficiency and resources; appraisal complexity; and overall interest of the tribe as indicated by their cooperative agreement application.

More information on this solicitation is available here.

Outreach and tribal engagement will also continue with the tribes that represent the locations with the remaining 10 percent of fractionated lands. Flexible purchase ceilings will be used to protect against the risk of premature exhaustion of the available funds.

The program also released an Updated Implementation Plan today, which builds upon significant consultation and feedback from tribal nations over the past year. Updates outlined in the plan include a number of steps that tribal nations can take now to prepare for involvement in the BuyBack Program. These steps include increasing owner awareness of the value and benefits of participation in the program and designating an authorized tribal point of contact to engage with the Program.

The Updated Implementation Plan can be found here.

WASHINGTON, DC – In advance of the 5th White House Tribal Nations Conference, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced a final rule that demonstrates the Obama Administration’s continuing commitment to restoring tribal homelands and furthering economic development on Indian reservations. The final rule will provide for greater notice of land-into-trust decisions and clarify the mechanisms for judicial review, depending on whether the land is taken into trust by the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, or by an official of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

This rule finalizes a proposed rule that was published on May 29, 2013, and was the subject of a Tribal consultation held earlier this summer in Reno, Nevada. In response to requests from commenters, the Department extended the 60-day public comment period, which ended September 3, 2013. In total, the Department received more than 65 comment submissions.

“This rule provides greater certainty to tribes in their ability to develop lands acquired in trust for purposes such as housing, schools and economic development,” said Assistant Secretary Washburn. “For such acquisitions, the rule will create a ‘speak now or forever hold your peace moment’ in the land-into-trust process. If parties do not appeal the decision within the administrative appeal period, tribes will have the certainty and peace of mind to begin development without fear that the decision will be later overturned.”

For the Bureau of Indian Affairs trust acquisition decisions, which are generally for non-gaming purposes and constitute the overwhelming majority of land-into-trust decisions, the final rule ensures that parties have adequate notice of the action and clarifies the requirement that exhaustion of administrative remedies within the Department is necessary to seek judicial review.

For decisions made by the Assistant Secretary, the rule clarifies that the Assistant Secretary’s decision is final and allows the Assistant Secretary to proceed with taking the land-into-trust with no waiting period. Because a simple change in ownership status itself is not an act that causes irreparable harm in many cases, it will place the burden on litigants seeking to block such action to come forth and demonstrate such harm if they wish to prevent the trust acquisition from occurring, while not affecting the right to judicial review of the basic decision.

The final rule also effectively repeals a requirement for a 30-day waiting period which was first created in 1996. The waiting period was intended to ensure that interested parties had the opportunity to seek judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 704) before the Secretary acquired title to land in trust. See 61 FR 18082 (Apr. 24, 1996).

The legal landscape changed, however, on June 18, 2012, when the Supreme Court issued its decision in Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians v. Patchak, 132 S. Ct. 2199 (2012). In that decision, the Supreme Court held that the law does not bar Administrative Procedure Act challenges to the Department’s determination to take land in trust even after the United States acquires title to the property, unless the aggrieved party asserts an ownership interest in the land as the basis for the challenge.

Following Patchak, the 1996 procedural rule, which established a 30-day waiting period before taking land into trust to allow for Administrative Procedure Act review, is no longer needed. Unless judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act is precluded on some other basis, such as standing, timeliness, or a failure to exhaust administrative remedies, judicial review of the Secretary’s decision is available under the Administrative Procedure Act even after the Secretary has acquired title to the property.