S. 622, Leech Lake Reservation Restoration Amendments Act of 2025

S. 622 would amend the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act to require the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to transfer to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe tribe certain federal land located in the Chippewa National Forest in Cass County, Minnesota. The Department of Agriculture would need to transfer land that federal records show was transferred by the Department of the Interior to USDA without the unanimous consent of the rightful landowners.

S. 622 would allow USDA to substitute other National Forest System land located in Cass County for land required to be transferred under the bill for one of the following reasons:

• To avoid inholdings, that is land that is completely surrounded by public land, or
• To transfer land that is adjacent to or near existing Leech Lake trust land and land of cultural importance to the tribe.
• The bill would allow USDA to transfer land to the tribe on a rolling basis as the land is identified and surveyed.

Receipts generated from the sale of timber and minerals and the issuance of special use permits—for example, for recreational events—on federal land are recorded in the federal budget as offsetting receipts, that is, as reductions in direct spending. Under current law, some of those receipts are spent without further appropriation, which results in an offsetting increase in direct spending of a similar magnitude as the receipts.

CBO cannot determine which parcels of land would be transferred under the bill and whether those parcels would include timber and mineral rights or special use authorizations. However, CBO expects that any loss of receipts from the land transfers would increase net direct spending by a negligible amount over the 2025-2035 period.

In addition, the Secretary of Agriculture would need to provide for public engagement and comment. Based on the cost of similar activities, CBO estimates that public comment, as well as any other administrative costs for USDA to implement S. 622 would be insignificant. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Margot Berman. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.