Daines Introduces Northern Cheyenne Lands Act

Press Release

Representative Steve Daines today announced his introduction of the Northern Cheyenne Lands Act, which works to provide the Northern Cheyenne Tribe with a resolution to long-fought land and mineral resource claims against the United States. Daines' bill allows the Northern Cheyenne Tribe more control over their lands, mineral resources and trust funds, strengthening tribal sovereignty for the Tribe and increasing the Tribe's ability to serve their people.

H.R. 4350, the Northern Cheyenne Lands Act, provides long-overdue relief to the Northern Cheyenne Tribe by correcting a federal error that occurred more than 100 years ago and strengthens the Tribe's control over its land base, natural resources and trust funds. Daines' bill works to consolidate land into trust in the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, transfer into trust tribally owned sacred lands, and settle claims brought by the Tribe against the United States for a breach of trust.

"The Northern Cheyenne Lands Act provides the Northern Cheyenne Tribe with a long-overdue resolution to the federal government's breach of trust with the Tribe and empowers the Northern Cheyenne people to control their land and their resources," Daines stated. "The Northern Cheyenne people have long struggled to secure and maintain a landbased homeland, and this legislation will ensure that the Tribe is better able to use their land and protect the sites most sacred to them. I'm proud to have worked hand in hand with the Northern Cheyenne people to find a solution that secures the Tribe's land and protects the Tribe's heritage for future generations."

Protecting the Tribe's right to control their land and minerals is a significant component of Daines' Northern Cheyenne Lands Act, and has been a central tenant of the Tribe's ongoing work to consolidate Tribal ownership of Reservation lands, to protect sites that are sacred to the Tribe and to ensure that the Tribe is empowered to control the disposition of Tribal funds.

"Our Tribe has been seeking this kind of greatly-needed relief from Congress for many years, reaching back to my first administration in the early 1990's and prior to that," Northern Cheyenne Tribal President Llevando "Cowboy" Fisher stated. "This legislation is a number one priority of the Tribe, as it involves our Reservation lands and subsurface which we made many historic sacrifices to restore and preserve, and also our permanent fund. If the bill is passed, our control over our Reservation will be solidified and our economic development opportunities will be substantially enhanced. We thank Representative Daines for his work on this."

The Tribe and its members currently own over 95 percent of the surface lands on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation and all but approximately 5,000 subsurface acres of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.

The legislation also directs the Secretary of the Interior to transfer the funds in the Northern Cheyenne Trust Fund to the Northern Cheyenne Tribe Permanent Fund consistent with the American Indian Trust Reform Act of 1994.

When the Northern Cheyenne Reservation was expanded in 1900, the United States government failed to secure some subsurface rights within Reservation boundaries into trust for the Tribe. In 2002, the Tribe agreed to settle its claims against the United States government if those subsurface acres were transferred into trust for the Tribe and the Tribe could secure funds to mitigate nearby coal development outside reservation.

Great Northern Properties (GNP) is the current owner of the subsurface and is willing to forego its subsurface rights on the Reservation to facilitate this Tribal solution. To compensate GNP for the loss of saleable coal found in those subsurface areas, the Northern Cheyenne Lands Act transfers some subsurface acres in the Bull Mountains and in East Fork area from federal ownership to private ownership for GNP.

The Northern Cheyenne Lands Act also qualified surface owners' rights in Bull Mountains and East Fork by requiring consent if surface mining ever is proposed for those acres, which provides the same protections as if the coal remained in federal ownership.

Similar legislation has been supported by the five-member Montana State Board of Land Commissioners, the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council, and the National Congress of American Indians.

Additional Background on the "Northern Cheyenne Lands Act"

The "Northern Cheyenne Lands Act" would exchange 3,200 acres in the Bull Mountains (41 million tons of saleable coal) and 1,050 acres in the East Fork area (71 million tons of saleable coal) of coal tracts for 5,000 acres of subsurface acres on the reservation currently owned by Greater Northern Properties (containing 117 million tons of saleable coal).

Daines' legislation also places 932 acres of non-trust land on the reservation and 635 acres of land in South Dakota into trust for the Tribe. Once transfers are complete, GNP will implement a revenue sharing agreement with the Tribe.

Daines' legislation also directs the Secretary of the Interior to transfer the monies in the Northern Cheyenne Trust Fund, which was established as part of the Tribe's water settlement, to the Northern Cheyenne Permanent Fund. The principle of the Trust Fund is $5 million.

The Tribe will waive and release its breach of trust claims against the United States for the United States continuing failure to acquire the coal owned by GNP on the Reservation and arising from management of the Northern Cheyenne Trust Fund.

Source