S3478-119

In Committee

Indian Buffalo Management Act

119th Congress Introduced Dec 15, 2025

Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.

Summary

What This Bill Does

This bill directs the Department of the Interior to support Tribal buffalo restoration and management through consultation, technical assistance, contracts, cooperative agreements, grants, surplus-buffalo transfers, and related tribal-governance protections.

Who Benefits and How

Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations would gain federal support for buffalo herd restoration, habitat management, cultural use, subsistence, and related economic development.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Department of the Interior would have to consult with Tribes, create buffalo-management policy, protect confidential tribal information, and administer new agreements, grants, and transfer programs.

Key Provisions

  • States purposes and findings tying buffalo restoration to Tribal culture, subsistence, and economic development.
  • Defines buffalo, buffalo habitat, Indian land, and Tribal organization for the act.
  • Directs Interior to work with Tribes, award grants and agreements, and provide technical assistance for buffalo restoration and management.
  • Allows surplus buffalo on federal land to be transferred to Indian land and lets the Secretary waive related charges.
  • Requires consultation, protects confidential tribal information, preserves treaty rights, and sunsets the authority after 7 years.

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

This bill directs the Department of the Interior to support Tribal buffalo restoration and management through consultation, technical assistance, contracts, cooperative agreements, grants, surplus-buffalo transfers, and related tribal-governance protections.

Key Policy Areas

Agriculture, Environment, Tribal Affairs

Primary Purpose

This bill directs the Department of the Interior to support Tribal buffalo restoration and management through consultation, technical assistance, contracts, cooperative agreements, grants, surplus-buffalo transfers, and related tribal-governance protections.

Policy Domains

Agriculture Environment Tribal Affairs

Main Provisions

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations restoring or managing buffalo
  • Tribal communities seeking cultural, subsistence, and economic benefits from buffalo restoration
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Department of the Interior officials administering buffalo-management policy and funding
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Legislative Progress

In Committee
Introduced Committee Passed
Dec 15, 2025

Mr. Heinrich (for himself and Mr. Mullin) introduced the following …

Dec 15, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

Dec 15, 2025

Introduced in Senate

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Tribal Nations
3 mentions across 3 clauses
+3 positive

Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations receiving buffalo-restoration grants, agreements, or technical assistance, Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations seeking buffalo from federal lands, Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations whose eligibility turns on the act's definitions

Government
1 mention across 1 clause
-1 negative

Department of the Interior staff administering tribal buffalo support programs

5/9
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Agriculture Environment Tribal Affairs
Actor Mappings
"the_secretary"
→ Secretary of the Interior

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology