Tangle of rules await Norton new BIA

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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JANUARY 11, 2001

As Republicans prepare for a White House controlled by George W. Bush, the President-elect is being asked to overturn or change a number of rules and regulations affecting mining, timber harvesting, and other protections of federal land.

But while many critics of the Clinton administration have yet to publicly call for rescinding any initiatives affecting Indian Country, the new heads of the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs -- along with other officials whose agencies have ties to tribes -- will inherit a tangle of complex and occasionally controversial set of proposals.

During the past year, a Bureau headed by the now departed Kevin Gover proposed a handful of rules affecting blood quantum, trust land management, and gaming on recently acquired lands. Their counterparts at the National Indian Gaming Commission also proposed a set of rules affecting environmental health and safety at gaming facilities while the Bureau of Land Management recently released a lengthy draft environmental statement affecting oil and gas development for the Southern Ute Tribe of Colorado.

In some instances, the proposals are hotly contested. Opposition to the blood quantum rules runs high and is often passionate, as critics charge the Bureau will be writing tribes out of existence with them. The regulations were proposed in April 2000 but comments on them were extended after protests were raised, particularly by Californians.

In other cases, such as the regulations affecting trust management -- one of the key issues facing the Department of Interior -- the proposed changes are complex. The Federal Register document on leasing, grazing, probate, and funds held in trust for tribes and American Indians is almost 80 pages of three-column type.

How the Department of Interior headed by Gale Norton pending her Senate confirmation will handle these proposals and others is open for question. With the exception of her testimony on including tribes in tobacco funds distribution and support of settling the water rights of Ute tribes, the former Attorney General of Colorado's public record on Indian issues appears limited.

Her criticism of too much control by the federal government, however, puts her in line with other Republicans who advocate returning more power to states. For tribes battling encroachments of their sovereignty by state taxation and regulation, her stance could be troublesome.

But as Secretary of Interior, she would already face requests by Republican lawmakers who have called on the new administration to reform "top to bottom" the entire BIA. Along with the replacement for Gover, the Interior and the Bureau no doubt face increased scrutiny from non-Indians on issues of gaming, land acquisition, and tribal recognition.