This week Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs Chair John Barrasso (R-WY) introduced legislation to reform the process for the federal government to take land into trust for Indian tribes. The Interior Improvement Act (S.1879) responds to the 2009 Supreme Court decision (Carcieri v. Salazar) that restricted trust acquisitions to only those tribes that were in existence at the time of the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934.
The Committee’s previous Democratic Chair withdrew his bill to simply overturn the court decision and instead indicated his intent to support Chair Barrasso’s bill.
The legislation would restore the ability of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for any recognized tribe and reaffirms previous acquisitions for tribes that were recognized after 1934. The bill requires early notification of affected county governments and contiguous Indian tribes and provides incentives for cooperative agreements with local governments. County governments would have 30 days to make initial comments on trust applications. An additional minimum 30-day notice would be allowed after a completed application is filed.
Hearings on the legislation have yet to be scheduled. A similar bill has not been introduced in the House, but Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) has introduced a bill to simply overturn the Carcieri decision. RCRC has strongly supported reforms to the fee-to-trust system that better establish the role of local governments as a component of any Carcieri fix measure and will be engaged in the discussions as this bill moves forward in the process.