Turtle Talk

John D. Leshy has published “Public Lands and Native Americans: A Guide to Current Issues” in the Public Lands & Resources Law Review.

Here is the abstract:

After briefly summarizing the dispossession of Indigenous peoples beginning around 1500 in what became the U.S., and the U.S. decision beginning around 1890 to hold title to and conserve some 600 million acres of land, this paper addresses the rise in recent decades of Native American influence on those lands. It focuses on three manifestations of that influence: (a) conserving cultural and ecological values; (b) seeking to “co-manage” or “co-steward” those lands with federal land management agencies; and (b) seeking to regain some measure of formal ownership, or “land back.” The paper delves into the details of each, showing the many variables involved depending on local circumstances, and highlighting the political and policy complications that can make progress difficult, particularly on (b) and (c).