Suquamish Tribe Now Part of Federal Land Buyback Program

BREMERTON, Wash. (AP) — The Suquamish Tribe's Port Madison Reservation in Kitsap County is one of more than 60 reservations selected to join a $1.9 billion federal initiative to return land to the control of tribal governments.

The Kitsap Sun reports the reservation now part of the U.S. Interior Department's "Land Buyback Program." The federal program targets land with split or "fractionated" ownership, with the goal of returning it to tribal ownership for uses that benefit the reservation.

A Suquamish Tribe spokeswoman, April Leigh, says about 1,820 acres of trust land on the Port Madison Indian Reservation has fractionated interest. She says most of the property is undeveloped wildlife corridors and places of cultural significance.

Other tribes from Washington added to the program are the Kalispel, Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Quileute, Skokomish, Spokane and Tulalip.