On April 22, 2003, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) in the Department of the Interior filed a Federal Register notice (68 FR 19845) calling for nominations of Tribal officials to participate in a working group to address the rapidly increasing fractionation of ownership of Indian land. This fractionation is due to the system of allotments established by the General Allotment Act of 1887. The President’s fiscal year (FY) 2004 Budget incorporates a request for a significant increase for the Indian Land Consolidation program aimed at reducing the number of individual owners in parcels of Indian lands allotted to individuals. The Department has been actively working with tribal groups on the issue and will therefore not be convening a new working group.