OIPA accuses Cherokee Nation of threatening document

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A dispute over a measure that would change the way drilling leases are granted on restricted American Indian land escalated Monday between a tribe and a petroleum industry trade

Tuesday, October 15th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A dispute over a measure that would change the way drilling leases are granted on restricted American Indian land escalated Monday between a tribe and a petroleum industry trade group.

Mickey Thompson, executive vice president of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, said Monday that he had obtained a copy of a document that outlines actions the Cherokee Nation may take to retaliate against those opposing the proposed regulation.

``Threaten tribal regulations over oil and gas access, accounting, taxation, etc. Prepare tribal law to regulate and tax producers,'' the document stated.

House Resolution 2880 by U.S. Rep. Wes Watkins, R-Okla., passed the House but stalled in the Senate when Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., held up consideration after oil and gas producers complained about the legislation's possible effects on their industry.

The resolution would remove Oklahoma district courts from transactions involving restricted land controlled by members of the Five Nations _ the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Creeks, Choctaws and Seminoles.

Thompson told The Daily Oklahoman's Washington bureau that his group no longer will negotiate on the measure.

``If they want to threaten us with special taxes and regulations, they're a sovereign nation and they should just get with it,'' Thompson said.

Mike Miller, a spokesman for the Cherokee Nation, said he did not know who drafted the document obtained by Thompson. He said a number of strategies had been discussed by tribal leaders to get the bill passed.

``Apparently some ideas were put on paper,'' Miller said. ``We followed through with the ones we thought were good, which was taking the high road.''

Miller said tribal officials have been trying to satisfy the objections raised by oil and gas producers and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. The threat of new taxes and regulations is not the policy or actions of the Cherokee Nation, he said.

``The OIPA has publicly attacked a bill that has been in the works for several years, right on the eve of its passage, with very personal attacks on the chief,'' Miller said.

Members of the tribes testified before a Senate committee last month that no other tribes in Oklahoma or in the nation have to go through a state court process to sell or lease land.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs negotiates and approves transactions for other tribes, but a series of laws, the last in 1947, put the Five Nations' land affairs in state court.

Tribal leaders say the oil and gas leasing aspect of the legislation is a relatively small concern that would affect few leases in eastern Oklahoma. They say the biggest benefit from the BIA's involvement would be the legal help in settling probate issues.

Thompson said the changes would effectively shut down oil and gas exploration on those lands because of the bureaucratic hassles involved.

Oklahoma Corporation commissioners Denise Bode and Bob Anthony also have raised concerns with the legislation because of the oil and gas provisions and because of other matters, such as electricity transmission, regulated by the panel.

The document outlines grass roots efforts to persuade Inhofe and Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., to push the bill to passage, Thompson told The Oklahoman. It also contains intelligence gathering steps to get information about Bode, who is running for attorney general, and oil and gas producers in the state, Thompson says.

Miller said the tribe was ready to address any specific concerns the association has.

``They don't raise issues. They raise negativity and throw nonissues into the mix,'' Miller said.