Sponsors (4)
The bill strengthens Tribal sovereignty, cultural restoration, conservation, and economic opportunity around buffalo stewardship but increases federal costs, adds administrative and coordination complexity (including potential constraints on emergency disease responses and public transparency), and creates uncertainty because its authorities expire after seven years.
Tribal governments and Tribal communities gain a formal government-to-government role, clearer authority, and guaranteed consultation in buffalo and habitat management so Tribes can set and defend management priorities.
Tribal communities gain access to funding, technical assistance, and capacity-building to restore and manage buffalo herds, enabling cultural uses, subsistence food sources, and program participation.
Indigenous communities retain existing treaty rights unchanged by the Act, preserving legal protections and access to reserved resources and services.
Federal taxpayers and the budget face increased costs because the Act expands grants, technical-assistance programs, and allows fee waivers for transfers to Tribes.
All program authorities and funding created by the Act will expire after seven years unless Congress reauthorizes them, creating planning uncertainty and risking abrupt loss of services and support for beneficiaries.
State and federal public-health and land-management officials, and nearby communities, could face reduced federal flexibility and delayed disease-response actions because required consultations and tribal-priority protections may slow emergency measures.
Based on analysis of 9 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes federal support (grants, agreements, transfers, technical assistance) for Tribal-led buffalo restoration and management and protects Tribe-identified confidential information, with a 7-year sunset.
Introduced December 15, 2025 by Martin Heinrich · Last progress December 15, 2025
Creates federal authority to support Tribal-led restoration and management of buffalo (Bison bison bison) and buffalo habitat on Indian land. It authorizes the federal Secretary to provide grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, technical assistance, and transfers of surplus federal buffalo to Indian Tribes and qualifying Tribal organizations, requires consultation and a Departmental policy aligned with Tribal plans and laws, protects Tribe-identified culturally sensitive information from disclosure, and preserves treaty rights. All authorities expire seven years after enactment.