Interior Department Announces New Initiative to Spur Economic Development and Expansion in Indian Country
Press Release
As part of President Obama's 7th annual White House Tribal Nations Conference, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn today announced that the Department of the Interior has expanded leasing provisions to give Indian landowners greater control over the use and development of their land. They also announced the launch of Native One Stop, a website where tribal members can locate important federal resources they may be eligible to receive.
The expanded leasing provisions announced today make the right-of-way process on tribal lands more transparent and requires a firm timeline for approval by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and affected landowners. A right-of-way is legal permission to cross tribal land, individually owned Indian land or government land for a specific purpose, including building and operating a road, railroad, power line, telecommunications lines, waterline or pipeline.
The new rule, effective 30 days after today's publication in the federal register, makes the right-of-way process more transparent by clearly delineating when a Bureau of Indian Affairs-approved right-of-way is required for access to Indian land, as well as when bureau approval and landowner consent are required for amendments, assignments and mortgages of right-of-way grants.
"Together with the forward thinking of the HEARTH Act, under which tribes may approve all surface leases on tribal lands, today's action to update rights of way regulations on Indian lands is an important part of the Administration's agenda to modernize outdated regulations that apply to Indian country," said Secretary Jewell, who delivered opening remarks at the 7th annual White House Tribal Nations Conference. "These reforms help expand opportunities for individual landowners and tribal governments to generate investment, expand economic opportunity and provide greater transparency and workability through the Bureau of Indian Affairs's leasing and right-of-way processes."
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