The case for making ITARA’s tribal management authority permanent

Guest Opinion. Tribal nations, America’s original land stewards, are facing a legislative hurdle that could severely restrict their ability to manage 19.3 million acres of trust forest lands.

Currently, tribes’ only pathway to enduring self-directed forest management is a demonstration authority established under the Indian Trust Asset Reform Act (ITARA) in 2016. However, the ITARA demonstration expires this month, threatening to undo the progress many tribes have made in advancing self-determination through effective trust management.

Beyond the immediate policy risk, the potential expiration of ITARA overlooks the profound role tribal stewardship plays in sustaining landscapes and communities. When the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians implemented ITARA in 2020, the decision represented more than a bureaucratic shift or an administrative experiment. It was a reclamation of a deliberate, sovereign act meant to restore centuries-old traditional Indigenous governance.

Across Indian Country, tribes have long implemented stewardship practices that government-defined management plans often fail to recognize, such as restoring meadows and maintaining diverse ecosystems that historically supported hunting, gathering, and community life. These approaches are rooted not in short-term planning cycles, but in deep, place-based knowledge passed down across generations.

The Cow Creek Umpqua Tribe and Intertribal Timber Council (ITC) is calling attention to this urgent issue and strongly supporting Rep. Jeff Hurd’s (R-CO) Indian Trust Asset Reform Amendment Act (H.R. 5515). This bipartisan legislation would permanently remove outdated federal barriers and provide tribal nations with greater autonomy over their lands, natural resources, and trust assets.

The significance of H.R. 5515

Since 2016, ITARA has allowed tribes to manage forests under their own Indian Trust Asset Management Plans (ITAMPs). However, restrictive interpretation by the Department of the Interior has limited participation and stalled crucial wildfire mitigation and forest health projects. The Cow Creek Umpqua Tribe and others — including the Coquille Indian Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua & Siuslaw Indians — demonstrate what is possible: culturally informed forest management, reduced approval timelines, and stronger local economies.

H.R. 5515 strengthens sovereignty at a foundational level by updating statutory definitions that determine who can exercise authority over trust assets. The bill explicitly broadens the definition of “Indian Tribe” and clarifies what constitutes a “Tribal Organization,” ensuring that decision-making power resides in entities controlled by tribal citizens.

By affirming tribal authority to approve organizations acting on their behalf, especially for projects spanning multiple tribes or requiring cross-boundary collaboration, H.R. 5515 prevents outside entities or federal agencies from imposing governance structures that weaken tribal control or sideline tribal priorities. This shift not only modernizes outdated statutory language but also embeds tribal self-governance more deeply into law amid ever-changing federal policies and leadership.

Making this authority permanent removes the uncertainty that has hindered tribal planning and investment. Tribes participating in the program can create comprehensive management strategies ranging from forestry and watershed care to leasing and resource development. Provided their actions align with an approved ITAMP, tribes can shape the future of their lands without seeking prior approval from the secretary of the Interior. This enables tribes to manage lands in ways that reflect traditional knowledge, cultural values, environmental stewardship goals, and long-term economic priorities, without federally imposed timelines or bureaucratic constraints.

The ability to enact forest management plans and conduct leasing and land-use activities without government micromanagement empowers tribes to respond more quickly to wildfire threats, design climate-adaptive forestry regimes, prioritize culturally important resources, and support local workforce development and forest-based enterprises.

Affirming tribal authority

The bill’s provisions do not alter the federal government’s trust responsibility. Instead, the locus of decision-making shifts firmly toward tribal governments themselves. The government’s obligations remain intact, while expanding tribal authority over how trust assets are managed and protected.

Tribes utilizing these authorities have demonstrated that local decision-making leads to stronger environmental outcomes, more accountable governance, and more resilient tribal economies. These frameworks not only strengthen tribal sovereignty but also modernize trust management by recognizing that tribal nations are best positioned to manage their own natural resources, infrastructure, housing, and forest lands in ways that reflect community priorities and long-term sustainability goals.

Although the Secretary of the Interior has the authority to extend existing ITARA demonstration projects beyond the June 2026 deadline, Congress must act swiftly to pass H.R. 5515. Temporary extensions alone are not enough. Tribal nations need long-term certainty and durable self-governance authorities that fully recognize their sovereignty and inherent right to manage their own trust lands.

Legislative efforts such as H.R. 5515 acknowledge that tribal nations are not just stakeholders in federal land management decisions, but governments with the legal authority to direct the future of their lands and resources.

A critical lesson from the Cow Creek Umpqua Tribe’s experience is that ITARA does not weaken the federal trust responsibility; it allows tribes to exercise greater authority while that responsibility remains intact.. ITARA reframes this relationship by aligning authority with responsibility. When tribes like the Cow Creek Umpqua Tribe make decisions about their lands, they do so not as contractors under federal supervision but as sovereign governments entrusted with the same accountability, foresight, and care that define any responsible nation.

Jason Robison is the Land & Resources Officer for the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians and a board member and operations chair for the Intertribal Timber Council, a nonprofit consortium of tribes and Alaska Native Corporations. The views expressed within this opinion piece are those of the council and reflect the official position of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians regarding tribal self-governance, forest stewardship, and the permanent extension of authorities under the ITARA.