Access to Geotechnical Data of Tribal Lands

All geotechnical data is available to oil and gas enterprises and potential investors who wish to explore and develop new energy and mineral reserves on Indian lands.

With the written permission from the Tribe, which can be obtained from the Branch of Geotechnical Data Services under the Division of Energy of Mineral Development (DEMD), a non-Tribal entity may view and interpret seismic data before committing to investing extensive resources into a major project.

There are two options for accessing this data, depending on the licensing agreement that the respective Tribe has with a company or a seismic data broker.

1. The first option is to view the data in the DEMD office in Lakewood, CO, either on a workstation or via a print version of the data. Interpretation and notes can be made, but the data cannot leave the DEMD office.
2. The second option is to check out a physical copy of the digital data on a secure hard drive for a set period of time (typically one year). After obtaining permission in writing from a Tribe, DEMD will write up a confidentiality agreement that must be signed by the company requesting the data from DEMD. The data must be returned to the DEMD office by the agreed upon due date, and all copies of the data must be erased and removed from the internal hard drives on the computers of the company who checked out the data.

For more information, please contact the Branch of Geotechnical Data Services office at (720) 407-0602.