Montana mineral swap locks private interests into tribal trust deal
S. 239 — Crow Revenue Act · Filed by Steve Daines (R-MT) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jan 24, 2025 · Reported out
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What it does
This bill transfers approximately 4,660 acres of mineral rights in Montana from the Hope Family Trust to the Crow Tribe, to be held in federal trust. In exchange, the federal government transfers approximately 4,530 acres of federal mineral interests to the Hope Family Trust. The bill also facilitates a surface-land swap between Musselshell Resources LLC and the federal government. The Crow Tribe gains mineral assets and exemption from state taxation; the Hope Family Trust and Musselshell Resources LLC gain federal mineral and surface interests.
Why we flagged it
The bill's primary mechanism is transferring mineral interests into federal trust for the Crow Tribe, a legitimate tribal sovereignty measure. However, it simultaneously executes a private land exchange (Hope Family Trust and Musselshell Resources LLC swap private/federal interests) within the same legislative vehicle, making it a hybrid tribal-benefit and private-exchange bill.
What the text implies
- The revenue-sharing formula between the Crow Tribe and Hope Family Trust is negotiated privately and not disclosed in the bill; the public cannot assess whether the Tribe's mineral benefit is fairly valued or whether the Hope Family Trust captures disproportionate upside.
- The bill requires the Tribe to notify the Secretary of a revenue-sharing agreement before conveyances occur, but does not require the agreement to be filed publicly or reviewed for fairness, creating a transparency gap.
- Musselshell Resources LLC gains approximately 959 acres of federal surface interests in exchange for private surface interests; the comparative value and public benefit of this swap is not disclosed.
- The bill exempts the Tribe's mineral interests from state taxation in perpetuity, which may reduce Montana's tax base if mineral development occurs, but the fiscal impact is not quantified.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The Crow Tribe gains valuable mineral assets and tax-exempt trust status, strengthening tribal sovereignty and revenue potential. However, the bill facilitates a private land exchange (Hope Family Trust and Musselshell Resources LLC gain federal interests) without clear public competitive bidding or valuation transparency, and the revenue-sharing agreement between the Tribe and Hope Family Trust is not disclosed in the bill, creating uncertainty about whether the Tribe's benefit is maximized.
Who stands to gain
- Crow Tribe of Montana (mineral assets, tax exemption)
- Hope Family Trust (federal mineral interests in Bull Mountains)
- Musselshell Resources LLC (federal surface interests)
Named in the bill
Crow Tribe of Montana, Hope Family Trust (Joe and Barbara Hope Mineral Trust), Musselshell Resources LLC, Secretary of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, State of Montana, Musselshell County, Montana, Big Horn County, Montana
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Jan 24, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jan 24, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Indian Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs”
- Aug 5, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 4 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $120,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 4 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Steve Daines, the sponsor, reported $901,144 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Crow Tribe of Indians — $60,000 on 2 filings
- Global Mining Holding Company, LLC — $60,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 16, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (6,481 characters) on Aug 19, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 16, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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