Feds send purchase offers to landowners on Lummi reservation

LUMMI, Wash. – The federal government said it sent offers to buy parcels from nearly 900 landowners on the Lummi Indian Reservation in northwest Washington to help consolidate tribal land.

Interior Department Deputy Secretary Michael Connor said Tuesday that more than $4 million in offers were made.

The voluntary land buy-back program is aimed at helping Native American tribes buy parcels of reservation land that have been accumulated by many owners.

The parcels that get sold will be consolidated and held in trust ownership for the Lummi tribe. The agency said the tracts identified reflect that tribe’s priorities.

Since 2013, the program has paid more than $720 million and put nearly 1.5 million acres of land into trust for tribal governments.