Land and Natural Resources

The relationship between Tribal Nations and their ancestral lands, waters, and natural resources is foundational to Tribal identity, culture, and sovereignty. Tribal Nations have served as the primary stewards of these resources since time immemorial. This portfolio focuses on affirming Tribal sovereignty by protecting Tribal homelands, securing water rights, ensuring the return of ancestral lands, and establishing Tribal Nations as rightful co-managers of federal lands. A central goal is to protect sacred and cultural landscapes from harmful development and to ensure that Tribal authority over the management of fish, wildlife, and natural resources is respected and upheld.

NCAI's advocacy in this portfolio is a direct execution of mandates passed by its membership. These resolutions affirm that the federal government has a legal and moral trust obligation to protect Tribal resources and sacred landscapes. This work is guided by resolutions directing NCAI to:

• Modernize the Federal Trust: Support "trust reform legislation" that provides a "self-determination mechanism to increase Tribal control" over trust assets (ANC-14-051). This includes supporting legislation that streamlines trust management, consolidates appraisal processes, and puts Tribal Nations in the best position to make decisions for their communities.

• Protect Sacred Lands from Mining: Oppose the transfer or destruction of sacred lands for mining operations, such as the "irreparable" harm threatened by the Resolution Copper mine at Oak Flat (MSP-15-001, ABQ-19-062). This mandate includes advocating for the reform of outdated mining laws and supporting Tribal Nations protecting their homelands from new projects, like the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine (ANC-22-013, SAC-22-014).

• Defend Tribal Water Rights (WOTUS): Oppose any redefinition WOTUS that narrows the scope of the Clean Water Act. Such rollbacks threaten Tribal water quality, interfere with the exercise of treaty rights, and violate the federal government's fiduciary responsibilities.

• Protect Tribal Buffalo Grazing Access: Uphold Tribal grazing rights on public rangelands and oppose BLM permit cancellations that undermine Tribal bison restoration and pastoral management (MEM-26-003).

• Elevate Tribal Priorities in Federal Fisheries: Ensure that the newly established USDA Office of Seafood explicitly incorporates Tribal priorities, traditional harvesting practices, and sovereign commercial fishing interests into federal programs and market development (MEM-26-009).

• Facilitate Interagency Land-into-Trust Transfers: Urge the Secretary of the Interior and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs to actively accept and process land transfers from other federal agencies into trust status for Tribal Nations, eliminating administrative bottlenecks to homeland restoration (MEM-26-012).

• Defend Consultation under the Endangered Species Act: Fiercely oppose legislative and regulatory changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that weaken or eliminate the federal government's fiduciary duty of government-to-government consultation with Tribal Nations (MEM-26-014).

• Fund Indian Water Right Settlements: Advocate for the immediate passage of pending Indian Water Right Settlements in Congress and secure a permanent, mandatory federal funding mechanism to guarantee settlement execution and water delivery infrastructure (MEM-26-017).

• Defend the Arctic Refuge and Porcupine Caribou: Stand in steadfast solidarity with the Gwich'in people and impacted Tribal Nations to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Porcupine Caribou herd from harmful oil and gas development and lease sales (MEM-26-033).

• Retain the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule: Oppose any legislative repeal or administrative rollback of the 2001 Roadless Rule, defending 44.7 million acres of national forest roadless areas that harbor sacred sites, treaty-reserved resources, and critical watersheds (MEM-26-040).

• Uphold Tribal Citizenship in Marine Mammal Protections: Direct federal agencies to close the agency-imposed blood quantum gap in the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), affirming that Tribal citizenship and enrollment must serve as the sole standard for Alaska Native status and subsistence rights (MEM-26-041).

Focus Areas and Goals

1. Modernizing Trust Management: Advocating for trust reform legislation, such as the Indian Trust Asset Reform Act, to reduce federal bureaucracy, streamline leasing and appraisals, and place Tribal Nations in the best position to manage their own lands and resources.

2. Affirming Land-Into-Trust ("Carcieri Fix"): Advocating for legislation like the Tribal Trust Land Reaffirmation Act (H.R. 5257) to provide a "Carcieri Light Fix." This reaffirms the trust status of all existing trust lands, protecting Tribal Nations from "expensive and burdensome lawsuits" that have challenged their homelands since the 2009 Carcieri v. Salazar decision.

3. Reforming Federal Mining Laws: Pushing for the reform of outdated laws like the General Mining Act of 1872, especially as 97 percent of nickel and 79 percent of lithium deposits are within 35 miles of reservations. Reforms must standardize Tribal consultation, protect sacred sites, and fund Tribal participation as "cooperating agencies" in environmental reviews.

4. Protecting Sacred and Cultural Landscapes: Mobilizing to protect sacred sites from "irreparable" harm, including advocating for the repeal of the 2015 NDAA provision (Section 3003) that mandates the transfer of Oak Flat to a private, foreign-owned mining company.

5. Securing Tribal Water Rights: Defending Tribal water rights by opposing rollbacks to the WOTUS definition under the Clean Water Act, ensuring federal and state water quality standards protect treaty-reserved rights.

6. Advancing Tribal Co-Stewardship: Ensuring federal agencies (particularly the BLM and Forest Service) fully implement co-stewardship policies, moving beyond consultation to active co-management of ancestral public lands.

Associated Organizations

Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission

Native American Fish & Wildlife Society

NATHPO

NARF

United South and Eastern Tribes

U.S. DOI

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Associated NCAI Bodies

Associated Committees and Subcommittees:

Land & Natural Resources Committee

Litigation and Governance Committee

Energy and Mineral Policy Subcommittee

Environmental Protection & Land Use Subcommittee

Human, Religious, and Cultural Concerns Subcommittee

Trust Lands, Natural Resources, Agriculture Subcommittee

Associated Task Forces:

Climate Action 

Large Land Based Tribal Nations Task Force

Tribal Border Task Force

Associated Legislation

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (1971)

AIRFA

Clean Water Act (1972) & Clean Air Act (1970, 1990 amendments)

General Mining Act of 1872 (Reform Target)

HEARTH Act (2012)

Indian Land Consolidation Act (1983)

Indian Trust Asset Reform Act (H.R. 812)

National Defense Authorization Act of 2015, Section 3003 (Repeal Target)

NEPA (1969)

NHPA (1966), Section 106

NAGPRA (1990)

Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (1977)

Tribal Forest Protection Act (2004)

Tribal Trust Land Reaffirmation Act (H.R. 5257)

Past Year Achievements

1. Led by the Land & Natural Resources Committee, the General Assembly passed critical emergency resolutions establishing a unified policy mandate against federal environmental rollbacks. This included formalizing strategies that demand FPIC frameworks become the baseline for all federal land management and trust asset decisions.

2. Protecting Sacred Lands from Deregulation (2025):

   1. September 2025: NCAI submitted formal comments to the USDA opposing the proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule. The comments argued this action was "arbitrary and capricious" and violated the federal trust responsibility by failing to protect treaty rights to hunt, fish, and gather on national forest lands. NCAI stated that the agency's wildfire rationale was "pretextual" and that it failed to conduct pre-decisional, government-to-government consultation.

   2. March 2025: In comments to the CEQ, NCAI stated that any "American Energy Dominance" policy must not come at the expense of Tribal Nations and that "efficiency and certainty do not supersede the Federal government's trust responsibility."

3. Deepened collaborative efforts with conservation partners, including The Wilderness Society and the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), to defend critical cultural landscapes from industrial encroachment. A primary focus was safeguarding the Bears Ears National Monument against extractive threats, including uranium mining and fossil fuel leasing, while actively pushing federal agencies to solidify intertribal co-management structures for the landscape.

4. Advocating for Trust Land Stability: NCAI actively supported the introduction of the Tribal Trust Land Reaffirmation Act (H.R. 5257). This bipartisan "Carcieri Light Fix" reaffirms the trust status of all existing Tribal lands, protecting them from decades of legal uncertainty and "expensive and burdensome lawsuits"

5. Fighting the Erosion of NEPA (2025): NCAI worked to defend the integrity of NEPA and its requirement for Tribal consultation.

   1. March 2025: NCAI, jointly with NATHPO, opposed the new Administration's IFRto remove the 2024 NEPA regulations. NCAI argued the IFR was promulgated without government-to-government consultation, breached the federal trust responsibility, and illegally used the "good cause" exception under the Administrative Procedure Act.

   2. July 2025: NCAI submitted comments opposing the Department of the Army's rescission of its NEPA regulations. NCAI argued the action violated E.O. 13175 by failing to consult and eroded protections for sacred sites and trust resources by replacing public, codified rules with "non-codified" procedures.

6. Mobilizing Mandates at the 2026 Midyear Convention in Memphis (June 2026): The General Assembly adopted a critical slate of natural resource resolutions that directed national policy execution across several fronts:

   1. Buffalo Restoration and Grazing (MEM-26-003): Mobilized against BLM permit cancellations to safeguard Tribal buffalo herds and pastoral grazing access.

   2. Marine & Seafood Sovereignty (MEM-26-009 and MEM-26-041): Secured formal directives ensuring Tribal inclusion in the USDA Office of Seafood and demanding the elimination of the administrative blood quantum gap under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

   3. Interagency Trust Land Transfers (MEM-26-012): Launched an advocacy campaign pressing DOI to streamline the acceptance of lands from other federal agencies into trust.

   4. Wildlife and Consultation Defense (MEM-26-014 and MEM-26-033): Formally opposed legislative rollbacks to Endangered Species Act consultation and stood in solidarity with the Gwich'in people against oil leasing in ANWR.

   5. Water Settlements & Forest Protections (MEM-26-017 & MEM-26-040): Reaffirmed support for permanent Indian Water Right Settlement funding and adopted emergency mandates opposing the repeal of the Roadless Rule.

7. Advancing Inter-Tribal Fish and Wildlife Stewardship: Participated in a featured panel at the annual Native American Fish and Wildlife Society (NAFWS) National Conference, addressing inter-tribal co-management agreements, species reintroduction programs, and strategies to defend Tribal treaty-reserved subsistence rights against federal and state overreach.

8. Coordinating Homeland Restoration Retreats: Actively engaged in strategic planning retreats with the NARF Homelands Coalition, aligning national legislative and administrative actions to expedite land-into-trust applications and address lingering legal obstacles stemming from Carcieri v. Salazar.

Next Year Goals

In 2027, NCAI will carry its members’ directives to Congress to secure passage of the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act and advocate for the passage of the Tribal Trust Land Reaffirmation Act (H.R. 5257) and the Indian Trust Asset Reform Act (H.R. 812) to modernize trust management and secure Tribal homelands. A primary goal will be to execute the mandate of Resolution #CT-25-043 by opposing any administrative rescission of the BLM Conservation and Landscape Health Rule. Furthermore, NCAI will advocate for comprehensive reform of the 1872 General Mining Law and the repeal of the Oak Flat land transfer.