Federal Reserved Landholding Classifications; Multi-Use Public Land Stewardship Doctrine

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Restore Indigenous Land Ownership

AKA “Deregulate Bureaucratic Control Over Tribal Lands and Stewardship”


Which agency/agencies promulgated the regulation? *
Department of the Interior (DOI), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Forest Service (USFS)
Which title, parts, and/or sections of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) should be rescinded? *
43 CFR Part 2400 (Land Classification), 43 CFR Part 3000 (Minerals Management), 36 CFR Part 200 (USFS Administration) Amend § 2430.2–1 to include: “Lands identified by federally recognized tribal governments as suitable for sovereign reclamation or ancestral stewardship shall be eligible for reclassification and disposal outside of competitive sale mechanisms, upon demonstration of sustained historical and cultural relationship to the land in question.”
What is your name?
—OPTIONAL--
Is your proposed rescission a notice of proposed rulemaking, final rule, direct final rule, interim final rule, or interpretive rule? *
Interpretive Rule
What is the name of the regulation being rescinded, if applicable? *
Federal Reserved Landholding Classifications; Multi-Use Public Land Stewardship Doctrine
Please provide a short summary of the justifications for the rescission. *
Streamline federal land governance by returning select categories of public land to the jurisdiction of qualified Indigenous sovereign entities with demonstrated land stewardship capabilities, reducing duplicative regulatory administration and advancing localized conservation.
Please insert the address of the agency. [NPRM, DFR, and IFR only]
U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street NW Washington, DC 20240
Please insert the contact information for the agency. *
(202) 208-3801
What is the background for the regulation being rescinded? *
Vast portions of U.S. land are held in federal stewardship under doctrines dating to the 19th and early 20th centuries. These classifications were developed without consent of or partnership with the original stewards of the land—Indigenous nations. Meanwhile, federal agencies face staffing and resource constraints managing these lands, resulting in inefficiency and wildfire mismanagement.
Explain the reasons for the rescission. *
Returning stewardship to Indigenous communities aligns with best practices in environmental conservation, respects tribal sovereignty, and reduces taxpayer-funded federal oversight burdens. Deregulating centralized federal landholding structures enables localized governance with proven conservation benefit.
Describe the text of the relevant C.F.R. provisions as it will exist after the rescission. *
Federal agencies shall classify select tracts of land for potential transfer of governance to qualified tribal nations, with exceptions for areas with ongoing federal military or diplomatic use. Public lands thus reclassified will be subject to local governance rules aligned with tribal law, and no longer subject to overlapping federal stewardship unless invited.
Please insert the name of the current agency head. *
Doug Burgum
Please insert the title of the agency head. *
Secretary of the Interior

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