SUBCOMMITTEE ON INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE AFFAIRS
1324 Longworth House Office Building
Thursday, April 19, 2012
11:00 a.m.

• Press Release - Indian Tribal Leaders Raise Concerns About Lack of BLM Consultation with Tribes During Hydraulic Fracturing Rulemaking (4/19/2012)
• Official Hearing Transcript

OVERSIGHT HEARING ON:

• "Bureau of Land Management’s Hydraulic Fracturing Rule’s Impacts on Indian Tribal Energy Development"

OPENING STATEMENT:

The Honorable Don Young
Chairman

WITNESSES AND TESTIMONY:

Panel I

Tim Spisak
Deputy Assistant Director
Minerals and Realty Management
Bureau of Land Management

Panel II

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

The Honorable Wesley Martel
Council Vice Chairman
Shoshone Business Council

Larry Decoteau
Tribal Council Representative
District 4
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians

The Honorable Scott Russell
Vice President
National Congress of American Indians

Wilson Groen
President and CEO
Navajo Nation Oil & Gas Company Exploration and Production
(Truth in Testimony Form)

BACKGROUND:

The Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs will hold an oversight hearing to hear testimony on Bureau of Land Management’s Hydraulic Fracturing Rule’s Impacts on Indian Tribal Energy Development. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has drafted a proposed rule to create additional red tape for oil and gas operators using hydraulic fracturing on “public lands,” a term which the Department of the Interior deems to include lands the United States holds in trust for the exclusive use and benefit of Indians. The proposed rule could drive oil and gas operators from Indian lands and deprive historically impoverished tribes of a needed source of private investment, tribal royalty revenues, and high-wage jobs.