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- By Brian Edwards
- Policy and Law
Tribal leaders urged Congress yesterday to fix a program allowing tribes to manage their own trust assets that expires next year.
The Indian Trust Asset Management Demonstration Program, created under the 2016 Indian Trust Asset Reform Act (ITARA), is set to expire in 2026. Despite being designed to promote tribal self-determination over trust assets, only two tribes have successfully established plans in nearly a decade.
“This is unacceptable,” Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.), chair of the Indian and Insular Affairs Subcommittee, said during the Feb. 25 oversight hearing. “The subcommittee has seen time and time again how much better suited tribes are to manage their own programs and assets.”
Witnesses testified that the Department of the Interior has significantly limited the program by restricting eligible assets to forest resources and surface leases, ignoring the law’s broader intent.
The need for broader trust asset definitions emerged as a central concern. Glenn Gobin of the Tulalip Tribes in Washington explained how efforts to include coastal tidelands in the tribe’s management plan were rejected because of the DOI’s narrow interpretation that the program was limited to forestry resources.
“The law does not limit what trust assets are subject to the plan, and there is no language in the bill that would support limited or narrow reading of the scope of trust resources,” Gobin said. He explained that protection of these tidelands is “both necessary and indispensable” to preserve tribal fishing and shellfish resources.
Amber Schultz-Oliver, executive director of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, which helped develop the original bill, said the organization “intentionally did not define the term trust resources” to avoid limitations.
“There is no basis legal or otherwise for the department's continued view that the law is limited to forestry and surface leases,” Schultz-Oliver said.
Witnesses also highlighted serious funding challenges when tribes assume management responsibilities. Under the current structure, tribes take on functions previously performed by federal agencies without receiving corresponding resources.
“If the BIA is not there to do that trust responsibility, the tribe is going to take that on and ensure that work gets done,” Guy Capoeman, president of the Quinault Indian Nation, testified. “In order to do that work, we need those funds to pull that off … They go hand in hand.”
Cody DeSautel, president of the Intertribal Timber Council, reinforced the concern. “Tribes carrying out forest management activities under ITARA are performing functions previously considered inherent federal functions, yet funds are not made available to the tribes for these additional responsibilities,” he told subcommittee members.
Tribal witnesses also pointed to significant delays in implementation. The Department of Interior took over two years after ITARA's passage to provide initial guidance to tribes, and applications face lengthy review processes.
Capoeman said his tribe spent almost three years seeking answers on implementation. “These issues are not unique to Quinault, but are instead endemic to ITARA," he said.
The witnesses called for making the demonstration program permanent, removing application barriers, and clarifying that trust assets should be broadly defined.
DeSautel stressed the success of existing programs, noting that the Coquille Indian Tribe and Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians have implemented plans for forest resources that demonstrate “effectiveness in promoting tribal self-determination, environmental stewardship and economic sustainability.”
Committee members from both parties expressed support for expanding the program. Rep. Mike Kennedy (R-Utah) suggested that the Bureau of Indian Affairs was intentionally misreading the law. “It seems like there's an intentional misreading of this law that the Bureau has no interest really in these people being able to manage,” Kennedy said.
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.), the ranking member, emphasized the need for funding to accompany greater tribal authority. “If we don't fund these programs, when you go to take them over, even if you were then able to contract those down, you're not bringing enough money down,” she said.
Rep. Val Hoyle (D-Oregon) noted that her state has been “leading the way on forest management” with two Oregon tribes becoming the first to secure approved management plans. She suggested field hearings so lawmakers could see firsthand how tribes manage forests.
“I think the Pacific Northwest is leading the way, and being able to have our colleagues come out and see what's happening there ... would be beneficial for everyone,” Hoyle said.
