II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4444 

To take certain mineral interests into trust for the benefit of the Crow 

Tribe of Montana, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 3, 2024 

Mr. DAINES introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To take certain mineral interests into trust for the benefit 

of the Crow Tribe of Montana, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Crow Revenue Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) BULL MOUNTAINS TRACTS.—The term 

8 ‘‘Bull Mountains Tracts’’ means the mineral inter9 ests that— 


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1 (A) are located in Musselshell County, 

2 Montana; 

3 (B) comprise approximately 4,530 acres of 

4 subsurface interests owned by the United States 

5 located in— 

6 (i) T. 6 N., R. 26 E., sec. 2; 

7 (ii) T. 6 N., R. 26 E., sec. 24; 

8 (iii) T. 6 N., R. 27 E., sec. 4; 

9 (iv) T. 6 N., R. 27 E., sec. 8; 

10 (v) T. 6 N., R. 27 E., sec. 10; 

11 (vi) T. 6 N., R. 27 E., sec. 14; 

12 (vii) T. 6 N., R. 27 E., sec. 22; 

13 (viii) T. 7 N., R. 26 E., sec. 24; 

14 (ix) T. 7 N., R. 26 E., sec. 26; 

15 (x) T. 7 N., R. 26 E., sec. 34; 

16 (xi) T. 7 N., R. 27 E., sec. 20; and 

17 (xii) T. 7 N., R. 27 E., sec. 22; 

18 (C) comprise approximately 940 acres of 

19 surface interests owned by the United States lo20 cated in— 

21 (i) T. 6 N., R. 26 E., sec. 2; 

22 (ii) T. 6 N., R. 27 E., sec. 8; 

23 (iii) T. 6 N., R. 27 E., sec. 10; 

24 (iv) T. 6 N., R. 28 E., sec. 8; and 

25 (v) T. 7 N., R. 27 E., sec. 34; and 


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1 (D) are generally depicted on the map en2 titled ‘‘Bull Mountains Tracts’’ and dated Jan3 uary 30, 2024. 

4 (2) HOPE FAMILY TRACTS.—The term ‘‘Hope 

5 Family Tracts’’ means the aggregate mineral inter6 ests that— 

7 (A) are located in Big Horn County, Mon8 tana, within the boundaries of the Crow Res9 ervation; 

10 (B) comprise approximately 4,660 acres of 

11 subsurface interests owned by the Hope Family 

12 Trust located in— 

13 (i) T. 4 S., R. 37 E., sec. 33; 

14 (ii) T. 4 S., R. 37 E., sec. 34; 

15 (iii) T. 5 S., R. 37 E., sec. 1; 

16 (iv) T. 5 S., R. 37 E., sec. 2; 

17 (v) T. 5 S., R. 37 E., sec. 3; 

18 (vi) T. 5 S., R. 37 E., sec. 10; 

19 (vii) T. 5 S., R. 37 E., sec. 11; 

20 (viii) T. 5 S., R. 37 E., sec. 12; 

21 (ix) T. 5 S., R. 37 E., sec. 13; 

22 (x) T. 5 S., R. 37 E., sec. 14; 

23 (xi) T. 5 S., R. 37 E., sec. 15; 

24 (xii) T. 5 S., R. 38 E., sec. 5; 

25 (xiii) T. 5 S., R. 38 E., sec. 8; 


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1 (xiv) T. 5 S., R. 38 E., sec. 9; 

2 (xv) T. 5 S., R. 38 E., sec. 16; and 

3 (xvi) T. 5 S., R. 38 E., sec. 17; and 

4 (C) are generally depicted on the map enti5 tled ‘‘Hope Family Tracts’’ and dated January 

6 30, 2024. 

7 (3) HOPE FAMILY TRUST.—The term ‘‘Hope 

8 Family Trust’’ means the Joe and Barbara Hope 

9 Mineral Trust. 

10 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of the Interior. 

12 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

13 of Montana. 

14 (6) TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the Crow 

15 Tribe of Montana. 

16 SEC. 3. MINERAL RIGHTS TO BE TAKEN INTO TRUST. 

17 (a) COMPLETION OF MINERAL CONVEYANCES.—Not 

18 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

19 in a single transaction— 

20 (1) as authorized by section 9(b) of Bureau of 

21 Land Management Lease MTM–97988 dated June 

22 1, 2012, the Secretary shall accept the relinquish23 ment of that Lease; 


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1 (2) the Hope Family Trust shall convey to the 

2 Tribe all right, title, and interest in and to the min3 eral interests in the Hope Family Tracts; and 

4 (3) the Secretary shall convey to the Hope 

5 Family Trust all right, title, and interest of the 

6 United States in and to the mineral interests and 

7 surface land in the Bull Mountains Tracts. 

8 (b) TRUST STATUS.—On the request of the Tribe, 

9 the mineral interests conveyed to the Tribe under sub10 section (a)(2) shall be held in trust by the United States 

11 for the benefit of the Tribe. 

12 (c) NO STATE TAXATION.—The mineral interests 

13 conveyed to the Tribe under subsection (a)(2) shall not 

14 be subject to taxation by the State (including any political 

15 subdivision of the State). 

16 (d) REVENUE SHARING AGREEMENT.—The Tribe 

17 shall notify the Secretary, in writing, that the Tribe and 

18 the Hope Family Trust have agreed on a formula for shar19 ing revenue from development of the mineral interests de20 scribed in subsection (a)(2) if those mineral interests are 

21 developed at a later date. 

22 SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY FOR OTHER FEDERAL BENEFITS. 

23 No amounts or other benefits provided to the Tribe 

24 under this Act shall result in the reduction or denial of 

25 any Federal services, benefits, or programs to the Tribe 


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1 or any member of the Tribe to which the Tribe or member 

2 of the Tribe is entitled or eligible because of— 

3 (1) the status of the Tribe as a federally recog4 nized Indian Tribe; or 

5 (2) the status of the member as a member of 

6 the Tribe. 

Æ 


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