Oversight Hearing: Status of the Cobell Land Consolidation Program
January 1, 2017
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The Frame
The program manages the consolidation of highly fractionated tribal lands, which directly affects how individual tribal members can sell their land interests and how tribes manage their reservation land holdings.
Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.
Individual tribal members
They are eligible to sell their fractionated land interests to the federal government at fair market value.
Tribal Nations
They receive the beneficial interest in land allotments purchased by the federal government.
U.S. Department of the Interior
The agency responsible for administering the buy-back program and holding land titles in trust.
Last recorded activity January 1, 2017.
Next step not available in the current record.
Summary
Key Facts
- The Land Buy-Back Program was established as part of a $3.4 billion settlement in the Cobell v. Salazar lawsuit.
- The program operates under the Indian Land Consolidation Act.
- The Secretary of the Interior offers to purchase interests in highly fractionated land allotments from individual tribal members at fair market value.
- Purchased land interests are transferred to the tribe where the reservation is located, while the Secretary of the Interior retains title in trust.
- The hearing was held on May 23, 2017, by the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs.
- The hearing was conducted to perform a status check on the program's implementation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Land Buy-Back Program?
Who owns the land after the government buys it from an individual?
Why It Matters
The program manages the consolidation of highly fractionated tribal lands, which directly affects how individual tribal members can sell their land interests and how tribes manage their reservation land holdings.
News Coverage
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Transition of Land Ownership
The program represents a structural shift in land management by consolidating fragmented individual interests into unified tribal ownership.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.govinfo.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance60How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy20Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz10Current news / social attention level
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