The
House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs held a hearing this morning on fracking on tribal lands.
The
Bureau of Land Management is
considering rules to regulate
hydraulic fracturing, a controversial energy-processing technique that's commonly known as fracking.
At issue is whether tribes have been adequately consulted and whether the agency has authority over Indian lands.
Most of the tribal witnesses said they haven't been consulted.
Tex Hall, the chairman of the
Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, pointed out that the BLM official who said tribes have been included in the process didn't stay for the remainder of the hearing.
"It's disrespectful. It should be unlawful. He should be reprimanded," Hall said of the BLM witness, Tim Spisak, who is the deputy assistant director for minerals and realty management at the agency.
"He's a lackey,"
Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the chairman of the subcommittee, said later in the hearing. Young criticized the Obama administration for not allowing a higher-ranking official to testify.
Tribal leaders also disputed the BLM's authority to impose the fracking regulations on reservations. The agency has unlawfully included tribal and trust lands in the definition of "public" lands, they said.
"Indian lands are not public lands. Indian lands are for the exclusive use and benefit of Indian tribes," Irene Cuch, the chairwoman of the
Ute Tribe, told the subcommittee.
The BLM rules are currently being reviewed by the
White House Office of Management and Budget. Toward the end of the hearing, Young said he would try to block the proposal through the appropriations process.
Audio from the hearing can be accessed below:
• Opening Statements
Panel I
• Testimony |
Q&A
Tim Spisak
Deputy Assistant Director, Minerals and
Realty Management, Bureau of Land Management
Panel II
• Testimony |
Q&A
The Honorable Irene Cuch
Chairwoman, Ute Indian Tribe
Business Council
The Honorable TJ Show
Chairman, Blackfeet Tribal Business Council
The Honorable Mike Olguin
Vice Chair, Southern Ute Indian Tribal
Council
The Honorable Tex “Red Tipped Arrow” Hall
Chairman, MHA Nation – Three
Affiliated Tribes
Panel III
• Testimony |
Q&A
The Honorable Scott Russell
Vice President, National
Congress of American Indians
Wilson Groen
President and CEO, Navajo Nation Oil & Gas Company
Exploration and Production
The Honorable Wesley Martel
Council Vice Chairman, Shoshone Business
Council
Larry Decoteau
Tribal Council Representative, District 4, Turtle
Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians
Committee Notice:
Oversight
Hearing on "Bureau of Land Management’s Hydraulic Fracturing Rule’s Impacts on
Indian Tribal Energy Development" (April 19, 2012)
Related Stories:
Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Subcommittee
hearing (4/18)
House hearings on
tribal energy and Pascua Yaqui land bill (4/10)
North Dakota tribe asks Congress to block fracking
proposal (3/30)
Blackfeet Nation brings
fracking technology to reservation (3/28)
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