Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations

Considerations for Federal and State Landback

Year

This policy brief showcases how geographic information system (GIS) techniques can be used to identify public and/or protected land in relation to current and historic reservation boundaries, and presents maps showcasing the scope of landback opportunities.

These lands include federal- or state-owned or managed land within current external reservation boundaries; within former reservation boundaries; near or abutting current reservation land; and protected areas designated for conservation management (which can include land held in fee).

The sentiment to give all U.S. national park landback to the stewardship of Indigenous Peoples is gaining momentum. These areas indeed may provide a cohesive set of initial opportunities towards that aim, and can lean on management or co-management agreements in strategic areas that present win-win solutions for both public agencies and American Indian nations in expanding their footprint.

While historically the laws that diminished reservations were intended to create opportunities for private ownership and settlement by non-Indigenous people, it is in fact the case that, 140 years later, six federal agencies currently manage approximately one-third the land that had been within former reservation boundaries.

A quarter of land just outside of present-day reservation boundaries (within a 10-mile buffer) is managed by one of six federal agencies, largely made up of the Bureau of Land Management (11%) and the Forest Service (11%).

Identifying where these parcels are, especially in relation to current or former reservation land, is a powerful first step for tribes and government agencies to begin to develop strategies for landback. Making this information more accessible will help streamline the process.

Resource Type
Citation

Laura Taylor and Miriam Jorgensen. "Considerations for Federal and State Landback."  Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development. Published October 22, 2022.

Osage Nation to receive $7.4 million in Cobell Land Buy-Back program

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The Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations has come to the Osage and the federal government is proposing $7.4 million to buy back fractionated land interest from individual tribal members. According to tribal development and land acquisition director Bruce Cass, who is working with Osage attorney Terry Mason Moore on the project, the Nation will be contacting 680-690 individual landowners concerning roughly 64,000 acres about the program. Those eligible for the buy-back program are individuals who own an interest in a parcel of land with multiple owners. There must also be a clear land title, and all estates in probate will not receive offers. The BIA has already been working to identify those individuals eligible for offers, Cass said. A majority of the fractionated land lies in the southern part of Osage County.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Duty, Shannon Shaw. "Nation to receive $7.4 million in Cobell Land Buy-Back program." Osage News. January 26, 2015. Article. (http://osagenews.org/en/article/2015/01/26/nation-receive-74-million-cob..., accessed January 26, 2015)