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Tribal buffalo efforts hit by frozen IRA/RCPP grants; advocates urge Congress to unfreeze funds
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Summary
Tribal leaders and conservation partners asked the Appropriations subcommittee to preserve and unfreeze recently appropriated Indian Tribes and USDA conservation grants supporting tribal buffalo restoration, warning the holds jeopardize newly established and expanding tribal herds and related food‑sovereignty, conservation and economic goals.
Representatives from tribal groups and conservation partners told the House Appropriations subcommittee that an unprecedented round of federal investments in tribal buffalo herds — made through Interior and USDA programs — are effectively frozen and at risk of being rescinded or delayed by recent administrative actions.
Heather Dawn Thompson of World Wildlife Fund explained that the federal investments support intertribal herd development, tribal acquisitions of habitat and conservation partnerships. She said tribes and partners have already leveraged prior appropriations to create herd expansions, land protection and new food‑sovereignty enterprises. Thompson asked the committee to maintain current funding levels for the Intertribal Buffalo Council (roughly $2.5 million) and to direct $25 million in Office of Trust Services natural resource funds toward grasslands and buffalo conservation.
Her testimony and others' highlighted that Interior and USDA competitive RCPP and IRA allocations supporting tribal buffalo programs now total tens of millions of dollars but are frozen administratively; witnesses described $18 million in DOI‑held amounts and about $67 million held at USDA as a rough tally of impacted grants. "This is the first time these investments have been made at scale," Thompson said, and urgent action is needed so tribal projects already scoped and planned can move forward.
Why it matters: tribal buffalo programs support cultural restoration, food sovereignty, grassland habitat and tribal economies. Freezing the funds interrupts projects that depend on equipment, range improvements, acquisitions and operational start‑up costs.
What lawmakers can do next: witnesses asked Congress to press the administration to unfreeze the IRA/RCPP grant awards and to maintain the FY26 appropriations for intertribal buffalo programs; they also asked appropriators to consider clearer report language directing departmental execution of congressionally authorized grants.
