Tribe seeks land buybacks

The Coeur d'Alene Tribe is seeking tribal members who own land on the reservation and are willing to sell their ownership interests.

The Tribe was awarded $4.1 million from the U.S. Department of the Interior to make such purchases.

"The reason for the land buyback program is to consolidate ownership so that the land can be returned to a beneficial use and allow the tribe to manage its resources efficiently," said Heather Keen, the Tribe's spokeswoman.

Much of the trust land on the reservation is fractionated. It is not uncommon to find parcels on the reservation with more than 20 owners.

"Land fractionation is a problem across Indian Country because the General Allotment Act split tribal lands into individual allotments that were passed along to multiple heirs over the years, which resulted in fractionated parcels of land now owned by dozens of individual Indians," Keen said.

"Fractionation can make it difficult to gain consensus amongst the many landowners with regards to how to use the land, so the lands often lie idle."

The funding can only be used to purchase fractionated trust land and will focus only on tribal members willing to sell. The funding is not for purchasing from non-tribal landowners or land outside the reservation.

The purchase program is a 10-year program that will end in 2022.

The Tribe has not yet purchased any land under the program, as the agreement with DOI was signed just last month.

"We need to complete the land appraisal before we can make any purchases," Keen said. "We will purchase as many interests at fair market value as we can with the $4.1 million."

The appraisal process, being conducted by the Office of Appraisal Services within the DOI, is expected to be completed by Aug. 1. However, the Tribe has already begun reaching out to landowners.

"We encourage anyone who owns trust land or thinks they might own an interest in trust land on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation to contact us," said Tyrel Stevenson, an attorney for the Tribe. "We'll be creating a database over the coming months so that when we're ready to start buying, we know who to contact first."

Landowners can call 686-5123 or email buyback@cdatribe-nsn.gov for more information on the program.

All trust landowners are invited to attend an informational session on the program. Food will be served.

The sessions are:

* Tuesday, 5-7 p.m., Rose Creek Longhouse, Worley

* June 18 5-7 p.m., Benewah Wellness Center, Plummer

* June 19, 5-7 p.m., Evangeline Abraham Longhouse, Desmet.

Nationwide, the buyback program has made nearly 20,000 purchases to date. The program has concluded transactions worth more than $62 million and has restored the equivalent of more than 177,000 acres of land to tribal governments.

There are more than 245,000 owners of 3 million fractionated interests spanning about 150 Indian reservations eligible for the program.