Pursuit's Take
Indian tribes and their members hold considerable energy resources and may decide to use these resources to provide economic benefits and improve the well-being of their communities. However, according to a 2014 Interior document, these resources are underdeveloped relative to surrounding non-Indian resources.
In three prior reports on Indian energy development, GAO found that the Department of the Interior’s (Interior) Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has inefficiently managed Indian energy resources and the development process and thereby limited opportunities for tribes and their members to use those resources to create economic benefits and improve the well-being of their communities. GAO has also reported numerous challenges facing Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education and BIA and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Indian Health Services in administering education and health care services, which put the health and safety of American Indians served by these programs at risk.
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