DOI announces initiative to spur economic development, expansion in Indian Country

As part of President Obama’s 7th annual White House Tribal Nations Conference, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn today announced that the Department of the Interior has expanded leasing provisions to give Indian landowners greater control over the use and development of their land. They also announced the launch of Native One Stop, a website where tribal members can locate important federal resources they may be eligible to receive.

The article quotes Secretary Jewell:  “These reforms help expand opportunities for individual landowners and tribal governments to generate investment, expand economic opportunity and provide greater transparency and workability through the Bureau of Indian Affairs’s leasing and right-of-way processes.” 

Can you imagine Obama announcing a new policy to give states and individual landowners "greater control over the use and development of their land" to "generate investment" and "expand economic opportunity" for the rest of us?