WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tomorrow, Thursday, January 30, 2014 Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Chairman Ronald Trahan of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, located in Montana, will announce a cooperative agreement to implement the Land Buy Back for Tribal Nations Program (BuyBack Program) on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The Buy-Back Program will purchase trust or restricted interests from willing sellers and transfer those interests to the Tribes in order to unlock lands for tribal development and other priorities.
Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn will also participate in the ceremony in Secretary Jewell’s office at Interior’s headquarters. The event will be available via live stream at doi.gov/live.
This cooperative agreement, the second to be signed under the Buy-Back Program, will help provide resources to the CSKT tribal government in order to facilitate outreach and education about the Buy-Back Program, solicit interest from owners, provide appraisals for the purchases and further identify tribal priorities. The Buy-Back Program was created to implement the land consolidation component of the Cobell Settlement, which provided $1.9 billion to purchase fractionated interests from willing sellers and consolidate those interests across Indian Country. The Buy-Back Program allows interested individual owners to receive payments for voluntarily selling their land. Consolidated interests are immediately transferred to tribal governments and stay in trust for uses benefiting the tribes and their members.
WHO:
- Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior
- Kevin Washburn, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs
- Ronald Trahan, Chairman, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
WHAT: Announcement of Cooperative Agreement for Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
WHEN: Tomorrow, Thursday, January 30, 2014, 11:30 a.m. EST
WHERE: Secretary’s Office Main Interior Building 1849 C Street NW Washington, DC 20240
RSVP: Media wishing to attend the event MUST RSVP TODAY by 6 pm EST.
NOTE: Media interested in attending tomorrow’s event must arrive no later than 11:00am EDT to clear security procedures.
LIVE STREAM: This event also will be live streamed for coverage at doi.gov/liv
