Donald Andrews, Chief Appraiser at the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribe talks shop with Gregg Talbert, a CDOT appraiser during a break.

Merv Tano explains the advantages and disadvantages of contingent valuation.

Denver, November 22, 2003. The International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management just concluded a very successful workshop on valuation of tribal lands and resources. We thought it important to put on a workshop on this subject because upward of 90 percent of Indian leases, rights-of-way, and easements will be up for renegotiation in the next 10 years. These include oil and gas leases, transmission rights-of-way, and the like. In general, tribes have received very little in the way of rents from these leases, etc. If tribes are to get fair value for their lands and resources it is crucial that the value of these lands and resources are accurately assessed. The workshop was the first in a series of similar workshops designed to provide tribal council members, economic development specialists, attorneys, and natural resource managers the theories and techniques they need to more accurately determine the value of their assets and to identify the cultural, environmental, political and other interests that are at stake but that historically are usually not considered in negotiations.

Mervyn Tano, president of the Institute and Tom Tulk, an Institute associate shared teaching duties covering topics such as “Approaches to Identifying and Accommodating Tribal Interests in Rights-of-Way and Leases,” “The Opportunity Cost Doctrine,” and “Contingent Valuation.” In attendance was a diverse and energetic group of participants including representatives from the Pueblo of Sandia, Chippewa Cree Tribe, Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribe, and Jicarilla Apache Nation, a contingent from the Colorado Department of Transportation, and representatives from First Nations Development Institute and National Conference of State Legislatures.

In 2004 the Institute will be putting on other workshops on environmental protection, energy development, intellectual property, and other topics. Please see our workshop calendar for specific subjects, dates, and locations.