Indian Country’s Energy Resources Could Power America’s Future

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By Leland McGee

January 07, 2025

Guest Opinion.  As Indian Country welcomes in 2025 and the beginning of another massive change in political  leadership in Washington, D.C., tribes must better position themselves for the rebuilding of the United States’ depleted infrastructure, while also positioning themselves to gain the economic  benefits from developing their enormous amount of natural resources. This is especially true in the primary economic sector of hydrocarbon and industrial mineral resource drilling and mining operations. 

Some of the largest deposits of hydrocarbon energy resources and hard-rock minerals are located  on Indian lands. From Alaska to the eastern seaboard, tribes in every state have energy and  mineral deposits of significant volumes ready for commercial production. 

Of the 56 million acres of land that the Federal government has a trust management  responsibility over throughout Indian Country, conservative estimates identify present and future  hydrocarbon resource potentials in the billions of barrels (BBL) of light sweet crude oil, trillions  of cubic feet of natural gas and coalbed methane, along with billions of tons of high-volatile  bituminous coal.  

In addition, billions of tons of commercial grade base, precious, and industrial mineral deposits  are present on Indian lands. They include hard-rock aggregates, sand and gravel, gypsum, lithium, cobalt, quartz, nickel, copper, zinc, pharmaceutical-grade calcium, critical minerals such as  lithium and cobalt and rare earth minerals such as neodymium and praseodymium, which are  extremely valuable in the technology industry. 

The latest data from the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) states that these resources generated  $1.6 billion in royalty revenue paid to Indian individuals and tribes in fiscal 2022. It is estimated that  an additional 15 million acres of undeveloped energy and mineral resources may exist on individual Indian and Tribal lands. This makes energy and minerals second only to gaming in revenue and wealth generation. Forestry and grazing, in comparison, only generated $50 million and $30 million, respectively. 

The Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress have promised a “restructuring” of  the nation’s economy that includes domestic energy independence and a rebuilding of the  nation’s crumbling infrastructure. Both are critically needed to achieve physical and  financial improvements in this country’s job market and community-based enterprise expansions. Tribes can and should play a vital role in this economic resurgence. A key to beginning this effort is for tribes to fully exercise their sovereignty over their lands and natural resources by developing them under their own policies, statutes, and regulations. The promulgation of such under tribal law guarantees that the Tribe is the decision-maker in all steps of development,  marketing, and revenue share management.  

Developers today are far different from those of the past. Environmental regulations are  standard and customary practice in today’s energy and mineral resource development. Tribes can best position themselves to exceed in implementing these environmental protections by creating the statutory and regulatory framework that their development projects will operate under. In fact, the most successful projects in Indian country were developed under this model, with the tribe being the ultimate decision-maker in how resources will be developed, including the guarantee of full remediation practices over those projects beginning on day one of development. 

There are those who will argue that such is the federal government’s responsibility. But let’s face it, for over a century the federal government has done a terrible job not only in assisting tribes  in developing their energy and mineral resources, but also protecting those Indian lands from which the resources were exploited. Too many times, tribes were left on their own to clean up their  lands from unscrupulous developers. So much so in fact that Congress just last month passed the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hard Rock Mines Act of 2024 (H.R. 7779) that  helps tribes seek cleanup partnerships over these abandoned sites without the attachment of  environmental liability to those parties. 

In 1982, Congress passed, and President Reagan signed into law, the Indian Mineral Development Act (IMDA) giving tribes more autonomy to directly negotiate development  agreements over their energy and mineral resources. However, it also reiterated that the federal  government had a trust responsibility to ensure that those development agreements were in  the best interest of the tribe, not only financially, but also environmentally. 

Therefore, as tribes and development companies create more sophisticated agreements under the IMDA, comprehensive energy and mineral information must be fully understood, evaluated, and negotiated by the federal trustee as part of these agreements. By having a more thorough  understanding of both the geo-technical data and economic information, Tribes can confidently  enter into complex agreements knowing they have a sound economic and business arrangement. 

The DOI’s Division of Energy and Mineral Development (DEMD) is responsible for developing, implementing, and reviewing bureau-wide policies, plans, processes, environmental  impact studies, industry leasing and development activities, and other functions related to development and production of energy and mineral resources on Indian lands. This division provides advice and data concerning geotechnical, economic, and land-use issues to tribes and Indian landowners who are seeking to manage and develop their energy and mineral resources. It  is critical that the DEMD remain effective in performing these trust responsibilities because the  resources (oil, gas, coal, and solid minerals) are non-renewable (i.e., not replaceable after  extraction). 

In consultation with tribes, the DEMD assists them in the exploration and development of active  and potential energy resources worth hundreds of billions of dollars in potential revenues to tribes and individual Indian landowners. This does not consider the wealth multiplying effect  realized from investing these revenues into tribal economic or industrial projects that employ  Indian people and create an economic base for sustainable growth. Since 1982, the DEMD has helped to define billions of dollars of additional energy resource potential on Indian lands. This demonstrates a dramatic multiplier effect for each dollar invested in the Division’s budget. The Division is now at the stage of further defining additional resources through additional  geologic and geophysical studies. Additionally, the division assists tribes in the economic  analysis, marketing and lease negotiations that reflect the tribes’ economic, environmental and  social needs. 

You may have noticed that until now, the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) has not been mentioned.  That is because the DOE only seems to focus on renewable energy opportunities in Indian  country. Granted, renewable energy must continue to be part of the 21st century’s answer to  energy production in the United States. But that doesn’t help those tribes with vast hydrocarbon  energy resources on their lands waiting to be developed. The world is at least 50-plus years  from beginning to replace its dependency on hydrocarbon energy resources. Besides, most “renewable” energy technology is more like an “alternative” energy resource, with much of its technology and manufactured components heavily dependent on hydrocarbons and industrial minerals. We must face the reality of a world with growing energy needs by increasing  our clean hydrocarbon technologies, refocusing on nuclear energy technology, and continuing our renewable energy efforts as part of a trifecta of global energy development. 

One can only hope that the new administration and Congress face the reality that we need more U.S. energy development that is abundant, dependable, economically viable and environmentally friendly. Tribes need to do their part as well. We need to reestablish a national  Indian energy coalition — something like the former Council of Energy Resource Tribes (CERT). That coalition needs a strong vision and leadership, and should be heavily vested in national and state political advocacy. Indian tribes, their lands and natural resources are abundant with energy and mineral deposits. These resources are worth hundreds of billions of dollars. 

Tribal governments are highly sophisticated and very capable of placing these resources under development, as well as creating after-market industries directly associated with the development of these much-needed resources.  It is time for tribes to take the lead in moving these resources into the global marketplace  and our economies for our current and future generations to come. Now is the opportune time to  exploit this opportunity and thrust Indian country into the forefront of energy and mineral  development in the United States. 

Leland McGee, a Cherokee Nation citizen, is CEO of The Sequoyah Group, a Sacramento-based consulting firm specializing in sustainable business development on Indian lands. During his 30-year federal career, he served in various leadership roles, including Chief of Federal Oversight at the Bureau of Indian Affairs during the Bush administration.