[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 84 (Wednesday, June 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H5074-H5075]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          MINERAL LEASING IN FORT BERTHOLD INDIAN RESERVATION

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the 
Speaker's table the Senate bill (S. 2069) to permit the mineral leasing 
of Indian land located within the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in 
any case in which there is consent from a majority interest in the 
parcel of land under consideration for lease, and ask for its immediate 
consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Utah?
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I yield 
to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) to explain the legislation.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my friend, the gentleman from 
American Samoa, yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, S. 2069 would permit the leasing of mineral rights in 
any case in which the Indian owners of an allotment that is located 
within the boundaries of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation and held 
in trust of the United States have executed leases to more than 50 
percent of the mineral estate of that allotment.
  S. 2069 would facilitate oil and gas exploration on the Fort Berthold 
Indian reservation by allowing the Secretary of Interior to approve 
mineral leases affecting individually owned Indian land if a majority 
of the owners of the undivided mineral interest consent to that mineral 
lease.
  S. 2069 would supersede a 1909 law which provides that the Secretary 
may not approve a mineral lease affecting individually owned Indian 
land unless every single person who has an undivided mineral interest 
in that land consents.
  Approximately 70 percent of the individually owned tracts of land in 
the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation are owned by groups of 20 or more 
individuals. Some tracts are owned by 200 individuals. In many 
instances these individuals have not been identified, nor can they be 
located.
  The requirements of the 1909 law have proven to be so difficult to 
meet that very little oil production has taken place on individually 
owned Indian land within a geological basin which has produced over one 
billion barrels of oil.
  The Mandan Indian Nation and Hidatsa Indian Nation and the Arikara 
Indian Nation all support S. 2069. The administration supports S. 2069.
  The House, on November 12, 1997 passed legislation which contained 
the language which is now S. 2069. In effect, we will be passing for a 
second time a bill which can go directly to the White House for the 
President's signature.
  This is a good piece of legislation. It solves a big problem created 
by an out-of-date law, and I recommend its passage. I appreciate the 
gentleman yielding to me.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Further reserving the right to object, Mr. Speaker, 
this important and bipartisan bill has as its single goal the promotion 
of economic development on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in 
North Dakota, home to the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Indian tribes.
  Their reservation sits on the oil-rich Williston Basin, and the 
tribes seek to gain much-needed revenues through a development 
agreement with the Alberta Energy Company. The lands surrounding the 
reservation have been the subject of much exploratory activity. That 
agreement would allow these tribes to develop oil and gas reserves on 
tribal lands as well as lands allotted to tribal members.
  But congressional approval of mineral leasing rights is required in 
this instance in order to overcome the problem of fractionated 
heirship, a problem that is widespread throughout Indian country. 
Basically, fractionated heirship is the result of Federal and Indian 
policy which provides that lands held in trust for Indians are passed 
down from generation to generation so that each successive generation 
of heirs owns an undivided interest in the original lands.
  Thus, parcels of lands such as those allotted in Fort Berthold have 
as many as 200 owners. Seventy percent of the Fort Berthold allotments 
have 20 owners. So in order to execute a lease, every individual with 
an ownership interest in a parcel of land has to agree to the lease. If 
one person objects, the lease will fail. The same thing will happen if 
one owner cannot be found.

                              {time}  1045

  This arrangement simply creates too much of a headache for interested 
developers to make it worth their while to bring their activities to 
allotted Indian lands.
  What the Fort Berthold bill does is allow a leasing agreement to go 
forward when less than 100 percent of the owners of a particular 
allotment agree to the lease. In this case, the bill requires that at 
least as many owners as own 50 percent of the ownership interest in an 
allotment must agree to the lease. Furthermore, the Secretary of the 
Interior must still approve the leasing arrangements, thus continuing 
to exercise the United States' trust responsibility. Of course, the 
bill only applies to the Fort Berthold Reservation.
  In a certain sense, Mr. Speaker, there will be a lot of tribes 
watching this situation. Fractionated heirship is a widespread problem, 
and it is a major source of the trust funds problem that also plagues 
the tribes and the administration. The administration has already sent 
Congress legislation to consolidate allotment ownership. But if the 
Fort Berthold situation works out well, I believe other tribes may well 
look to this legislation for ideas as well.
  Mr. Speaker, again I thank the gentleman from Utah, the chairman of 
the Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands, for his leadership 
and management of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gutknecht). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from Utah?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the Senate bill, as follows:

                                S. 2069

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. LEASES OF ALLOTTED LANDS OF THE FORT BERTHOLD 
                   INDIAN RESERVATION.

       (a) In General.--
       (1) Definitions.--In this section:
       (A) Indian land.--The term ``Indian land'' means an 
     undivided interest in a single parcel of land that--
       (i) is located within the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation 
     in North Dakota; and
       (ii) is held in trust or restricted status by the United 
     States.
       (B) Individually owned indian land.--The term 
     ``individually owned Indian land'' means Indian land that is 
     owned by 1 or more individuals.
       (C) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (2) Effect of approval by secretary of the interior.--
       (A) In general.--The Secretary may approve any mineral 
     lease or agreement that affects individually owned Indian 
     land, if--
       (i) the owners of a majority of the undivided interest in 
     the Indian land that is the subject of the mineral lease or 
     agreement (including any interest covered by a lease or 
     agreement executed by the Secretary under paragraph (3)) 
     consent to the lease or agreement; and
       (ii) the Secretary determines that approving the lease or 
     agreement is in the best interest of the Indian owners of the 
     Indian land.
       (B) Effect of approval.--Upon the approval by the Secretary 
     under subparagraph (A), the lease or agreement shall be 
     binding, to the same extent as if all of the Indian owners of 
     the Indian land involved had consented to the lease or 
     agreement, upon--
       (i) all owners of the undivided interest in the Indian land 
     subject to the lease or agreement (including any interest 
     owned by an Indian tribe); and
       (ii) all other parties to the lease or agreement.
       (C) Distribution of proceeds.--The proceeds derived from a 
     lease or agreement that is approved by the Secretary under 
     subparagraph (A) shall be distributed to all owners of the 
     Indian land that is subject to the lease or agreement in 
     accordance with the interest owned by each such owner.
       (3) Execution of lease or agreement by secretary.--The 
     Secretary may execute a

[[Page H5075]]

     mineral lease or agreement that affects individually owned 
     Indian land on behalf of an Indian owner if--
       (A) that owner is deceased and the heirs to, or devisees 
     of, the interest of the deceased owner have not been 
     determined; or
       (B) the heirs or devisees referred to in subparagraph (A) 
     have been determined, but 1 or more of the heirs or devisees 
     cannot be located.
       (4) Public auction or advertised sale not required.--It 
     shall not be a requirement for the approval or execution of a 
     lease or agreement under this subsection that the lease or 
     agreement be offered for sale through a public auction or 
     advertised sale.
       (b) Rule of Construction.--This Act supersedes the Act of 
     March 3, 1909 (35 Stat. 783, chapter 263; 25 U.S.C. 396) only 
     to the extent provided in subsection (a).

  The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time, was read the 
third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.

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