User:Ryschtaar/project2

Introduction

Welcome. These pages have been designed to acquaint the reader with the legal and practical challenges facing Indian nations engaged in land acquisition and consolidation. Our goal is to provide the breadth and depth necessary to make the land acquisition process accessible and achievable.

Whether one arrives here with

• a specific land purchase in mind,
• a desire to get fee land into trust status,
• questions about consolidating fractionated interests,
• or a personal story about land acquisition in Indian country,

these pages should provide the resources necessary to both learn and share.

If you feel something has been overlooked or not given the appropriate amount of attention, please let us know; these pages are a resource for you, and your input will help ensure others have the best tools available.

The Project

Land within the original boundaries of every reservation and other areas of high significance where tribes retain aboriginal interest are in Indian ownership and management.

– Mission, Indian Land Tenure Foundation.

Any tribal body vested with the authority to acquire land from federal, state or private agencies or entities is obliged to answer at least three questions: what land is available to be acquired, what methods of acquisition are available, and what funding sources are available. The answer to each of these questions has both direct and indirect effects on the others – perhaps a funding source has been designated exclusively to acquire vulnerable grasslands, or perhaps a private land owner prefers the tax deduction accompanying a conservation easement to selling her land outright. Understanding the interrelatedness of the three questions, they must be approached, initially, in a linear manner. While most land transactions will be triggered by the identification of a desirable tract, a systematic approach to such identification is the most complicated step and its analysis will be addressed first.

These pages have been divided according to these three tasks

• Identifying what land is available,
• What methods of acquisition are available, and
• What funding sources are available.

A fourth task is implicit in the first three -- what does the process map of a transaction look like?

We hope addressing the practical challenges to land acquisition, mapping the process and addressing ad hoc challenges, will be a collaborative effort. While attorneys are acquainted with statutory provisions and agency officers know the rules and regulations, only those working in land management offices have the experience and insight necessary to understand such provisions and how the exercise of agency discretion actually plays out in Indian country. We hope you will be willing to share your experiences with other users and provide the context necessary to understand the practical effects of land acquisition programs, statutes, rules and regulations.

Substantive and Procedural Questions

As mentioned previously, there are three major substantive questions that need to be addressed in any land acquisition:

• What land is available,
• What methods of acquisition are available, and
• What funding sources are available.

There are, of course, ancillary concerns including

• Tax strategies,
• Use of legal counsel, and
• Publicity.

Tax planning, being highly transaction and case specific, is currently beyond the scope of these pages. While the use of legal counsel and the degree of publicity surrounding a transaction are also highly case specific, we hope that land management offices will be willing to share their experiences regarding these issues.

Additional Resources

Please check out our resources page for

1. Answers to frequently asked questions,
2. A checklist of steps in the land acquisition process,
3. A list of federal legislation affecting land use planning, and
4. Links to external resources including
   1. Government publications and
   2. Research Guides