So far, the program has spent $61.2 million and restored 175,000 acres, said Interior Deputy Secretary Mike Connor. To buy even that much land, officials had to locate and contact owners in all 50 states and several countries to find out if they were willing to sell, Connor said.
Last month, tribal leaders from four reservations criticized the buyback program’s slow pace and complained they were being shut out of decisions over what land to buy. The leaders from tribes in Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington state spoke before a U.S. House panel.
Reservations in focus
These are the American Indian reservations the Department of Interior plans to focus on in the next phase of a $1.9 billion buyback program of fractionated land parcels to turn over to tribal governments. The program is part of a $3.4 billion settlement over mismanaged money held in trust by the U.S. government for individual Indian landowners.
o Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana.
o Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota.
o Coeur D’Alene Tribe of the Coeur D’Alene Reservation, Idaho.
o Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, Montana.
o Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon.
o Crow Tribe, Montana.
o Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana.
o Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona.
o Lummi Tribe of the Lummi Reservation, Washington.
o Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah Indian Reservation, Washington.
o Navajo Nation, Arizona.
o Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana.
o Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota.
o Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, Kansas.
o Quapaw Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma.
o Quinault Tribe of the Quinault Reservation, Washington.
o Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota.
o Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, North Dakota and South Dakota.
o Squaxin Island Tribe of the Squaxin Island Reservation, Washington.
o Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota and South Dakota.
o Swinomish Indians of the Swinomish Reservation, Washington.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior.