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Indigenous Land Watch

Government actions that change land ownership and public lands affecting Indigenous peoples — tracked from the government's own notices, in the open.

The beat

They were here before it was called America. This watch tracks what the federal government does with the land now: land-ownership changes, public lands, and the decisions of the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, parks & recreation authorities and the Bureau of Indian Affairs — land-into-trust decisions, public-land disposals and exchanges, and tribal consultation notices.

Named sources
The Federal Register · BLM ePlanning · U.S. Forest Service project pages · National Park Service planning · Bureau of Indian Affairs notices · tribal nation releases.
The standard
An item is listed when it can be pointed to in one of those records, with the source linked on the item. Consultation notices, trust decisions and disposals are recorded as the documents state them — including when a decision is reversed.

On the record

The watch is standing up. The first items below were verified against the Federal Register during the build; the watch grows from the named sources as actions publish. Items are never backfilled from coverage — if it is not in a named record, it is not listed.

Land into trust · Reversal · Bureau of Indian Affairs — Federal Register, April 2, 2026

Interior's trust acquisition for the Koi Nation reversed (Sonoma County, California)

What the record says
The Bureau of Indian Affairs published notice that the Department of the Interior's January 13, 2025 decision to acquire land in trust for the Koi Nation of Northern California — the 68.60-acre Shiloh site in Sonoma County — has been reversed. A federal district court declared the acquisition decision invalid on September 30, 2025, and the notice records the land's return from trust status.
Why it is on this watch
Land-into-trust decisions determine tribal jurisdiction, taxation and development rights. A reversal of this size is a material change in the land's legal status, decided in court rather than by the agency — exactly the kind of action this watch exists to document.

Public-land disposal · Proposed · Bureau of Land Management — Federal Register, July 23, 2026

BLM proposes direct sale of public land in Socorro County, New Mexico

What the record says
The Bureau of Land Management's New Mexico State Director announced intent to amend the resource management plan and prepare an environmental assessment for a non-competitive direct sale of public land in Socorro County, together with conveyance of a 10-acre reversionary interest on a Recreation and Public Purpose patent. The notice opened the public scoping and comment period on the proposed sale.
Why it is on this watch
Direct, non-competitive sales move public land into private or local hands without an auction. The comment window in the notice is the public's one structured chance to be heard before the plan is amended.

Public-land disposal · Realty action · Bureau of Land Management — Federal Register, May 1, 2026

BLM direct sale of 157.31 acres in Emery County, Utah, to Ferron City

What the record says
BLM proposed the direct sale of a 157.31-acre parcel of public land in Emery County to Ferron City. The parcel is currently leased to the City under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act and contains the municipal golf course the City built and operates. The surface estate would be sold for no less than the appraised fair market value of $173,000, under the Dingell Act and FLPMA, so the City can manage the course outside the lease's requirements.
Why it is on this watch
A disposal at appraised value with the price stated in the notice is the transparent end of the spectrum — recorded here so the watch carries routine, documented sales alongside contested ones, on the same evidentiary standard.