Due Date Approaching for Landowners with Fractional Interests at Rosebud Indian Reservation

Due Date Approaching for Landowners with Fractional Interests at Rosebud Indian Reservation

Owners Must Respond by August 16, 2014

The Department of the Interior has sent purchase offers exceeding $50 million to more than 11,000 landowners with fractional interests at the Rosebud Indian Reservation. These offers provide landowners the opportunity to voluntarily sell their interests, which will be consolidated and held in trust for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation.

Rosebud landowners who choose to sell must return completed purchase offer documents by August 16, 2014, including:

· Signed and notarized Deed

· Exhibit A - Purchasable Interest Inventory with clearly marked selections

The Buy-Back Program was created to implement the land consolidation component of the Cobell Settlement, which provided a $1.9 billion fund to purchase fractional interests in trust or restricted land from willing sellers, at fair market value, within a 10-year period. Interested sellers will receive payments directly into their IIM accounts. Consolidated interests will be transferred to tribal governments for uses benefiting the tribes and their members.

To date, the Buy-Back Program has successfully concluded transactions worth nearly $91 million and has restored the equivalent of more than 250,000 acres of land to tribal ownership.

Staff Ready to Answer Owner Questions. Landowners can contact the Trust Beneficiary Call Center at (888) 678-6836 with questions about their purchase offers, visit their local Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) or Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) office, or find more information at: www.doi.gov/buybackprogram/landowners. Frequently asked questions are online at: www.doi.gov/buybackprogram/FAQ.

Sellers Receive Fair Market Value. In addition to receiving fair market value for their fractional land interests based on objective appraisals, sellers also receive a base payment of $75 per offer, regardless of the value of the land.

Participation Is Voluntary. Participation in the Buy-Back Program is voluntary. Selling land does not impact a landowner's eligibility to receive individual settlement payments from the Cobell Settlement. Cobell Settlement payments are being handled separately by the Garden City Group: 800-961-6109.