Extraction on Tribal Lands Contributes to State Coffers

Over 2 million surface and subsurface acres of land on federally recognized Indian reservations are being leased for oil and gas extraction, grazing, timber, and other uses whose profits contribute to state governments, according to an investigation by High Country News and Grist.

Anna V. Smith and Maria Parazo Rose describe the results of the investigation, noting that “Indigenous lands and resources bankroll public institutions, often at the expense of tribal citizens, Indigenous land management practices, and tribal sovereignty and self-determination.”

According to the analysis, the state trust lands in question are spread over 79 reservations in 15 states. “In at least four states, five tribal nations are themselves paying to lease land inside their own reservations — almost 58,000 collective acres.”

The authors add that some states have completed or are in the process of returning land to Indigenous control through various means. “At the forefront are Washington, which is currently implementing legislation to return lands, and North Dakota, which is moving new legislation through Congress for the same purpose. But because of the lands’ value and the states’ financial obligations, it’s difficult to transfer complete jurisdiction back to Indigenous nations.”