New Federal Land Bill Tests Boundaries of Indigenous Rights
Senate Republicans on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee are proposing legislation within the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that would allow for the sale of up to three million acres of public land within 11 western U.S. States that are currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. This land being sold would include sensitive landscapes such as wilderness study areas, critical habitats, and other areas of critical environmental concern. The sale of this land could harm the environment, and limit or terminate access to the people who value this land.
One group of people who may be affected the most are Native Americans. Native Americans’ may lose the ability to access land that they may deem sacred or spiritually significant. A recent example involves Oak Flat, a sacred Apache site located in Arizona’s Tonto National Forest. U.S. District Judge Steven P. Logan temporarily blocked its transfer to the mining company Resolution Copper due to its deep religious and cultural significance. Articles 11 and 12 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) reinforce this action by explicitly protecting Indigenous peoples’ rights to maintain, protect, and access their cultural and spiritual sites, including sacred landscapes and ceremonial grounds. Like Oak Flat, sections of the Otero Mesa would be open for sale. This region similarly is important to the Apache people, with one tribal member declaring it to be “One of the most sacred of places.”
Additionally, under President Clinton’s Executive Order 13175 the federal government must engage in meaningful consultation with tribal governments when drafting policy that contains tribal-implications. On top of that, Article 19 of UNDRIP similarly mandates that States must consult with native governmental bodies in order to receive free, prior, and informed consent before adopting measures that may affect Indigenous peoples. If this legislation is quickly passed without proper communication and consent; this would be disregarding these obligations, and disrespecting the sovereignty of tribal areas that will be impacted.
If this new legislation passes, millions of acres of land will be placed at risk of degradation for the interests of corporate buyers. This threatens not only environmental integrity for huge swaths of the American West, but also sets a dangerous precedent for the treatment of tribal lands and the rights of Native peoples’ to enjoin them.