On December 5, 2022, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) published proposed revisions to 25 C.F.R. Part 151—the regulations governing the United States’ discretionary acquisition of land in trust for the...more
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has proposed revising the regulations governing the acquisition of land into trust for Indian tribes. The proposed revisions, if adopted, would streamline the fee-to-trust process and eliminate...more
Fee-to-trust, sometimes also called land-into-trust, is the process by which tribes can have land taken into trust by the federal government. Congress authorized the Department of the Interior (DOI) to take land into trust...more
Over the last few years, the Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) updated the federal regulations on leases and rights-of-way on Indian trust land. Important tax provisions were included in the new...more
On December 19, 2014, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced the promulgation of a final rule that will allow land to be taken into trust for federally-recognized tribes in Alaska. Allowing trust lands in Alaska is a seismic...more
In response to last year’s United States Supreme Court case of Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians v. Patchak, 132 S. Ct. 2199 (2012) (“Patchak”), the Bureau of Indian Affairs (“BIA”) issued a final rule on...more
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that, if adopted, will substantially alter the rights of those who would challenge a decision by the BIA to acquire land in trust for an...more
Last year’s decisive (8-1) decision by the United States Supreme Court in Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians v. Patchak, 132 S. Ct. 2199 (2012) (“Patchak”) appeared to be a major blow to tribal gaming and...more