Sen. Dorgan touts Indian provisions in farm bill

Politics

Friday, May 16, 2008

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said Indian Country will benefit from provisions in the farm bill passed by the Senate on Thursday.

Dorgan said his committee worked on several provisions in H.R.2419. He listed them as follows:

Ensure a tribal presence on the Northern Great Plains Regional Authority. The bill changes the regional economic development authority’s governing body and purpose, and includes a new provision guaranteeing a tribal presence on the authority’s governing board.

Help tribes improve and expand their conservation efforts. Tribes have been included as eligible entities or partners and tribal lands are given special status in the Wetlands Reserve Program, the Wetlands Reserve Enhancement and Reserved Rights Pilot Program, the new Conservation Stewardship Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program.

Reauthorize the primary food assistance program for those living on reservations. The Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) has been amended to give the Secretary discretion to allow tribes to run their own distribution program for elderly and low-income members living on reservations. In 2007, USDA estimated that more than 90,000 individuals per month received food packages under this program.

Address dietary problems in Indian Country by promoting food assistance programs that purchase traditional and locally-grown foods, including bison meat. The Secretary is authorized to purchase bison meat for the distribution program and, where practicable, purchase at least 50 percent of the distributed food from traditional and locally-grown foods produced by Native producers.

Reauthorize Tribally-Controlled Colleges and Universities and expands extension services at these institutions.

Help tribes reduce fractionated farmland for individual tribal farmers. The bill authorizes the Secretary to make and insure loans to eligible purchasers to purchase unencumbered fractionated, non-trust land.

Expand tribal access to broadband, 911 and emergency preparedness grants and loan programs. Defined as “substantially underserved trust areas”, most reservations will qualify for discretionary waivers of matching fund requirements, credit support requirements, lower loan rates (2 percent as a floor) to participate in Rural Utility Service Programs.

Expand tribal access and use of national forest lands and products for cultural and burial purposes. Under this new section, tribes have access to national forest lands for reburial of human remains and cultural items. This section also prevents unauthorized disclosure of burial sites, and expands tribal access to forest land for traditional and cultural purposes.