Pine Ridge Agency

8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. MST

The Bureau of Indian Affairs Pine Ridge Agency is located in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, provides services to the Oglala Sioux Tribe, which boasts an enrollment of 46,855 members. The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation consists of approximately 2.1 million acres and it is located in the southwest portion of the state and occupies areas in Shannon, Jackson, and Bennett counties.

Critical Activities/Services Provided to Tribe:
The trust services provided by the Agency include Real Estate Services (Leasing, Rights-of-Ways, and Acquisition & Disposition), Fire Management, Social Services, Land Operations, Probate & Estate Services, and Facilities Management. The non-trust services include Executive Direction and Administrative Services. There are 53 Agency employees. The Agency also managed 25 P.L. 93-638 programs that have been contracted by the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Land Operations:

• Issued 376 New Range Unit Permits
• Works with Tribe to advertise permits for allocations
• Conducted necessary TAAMS work for permits
• Coordinate billing and collection processes with Office of Special Trustee
• Reviewed all On/Off Grazing Applications
• Prepared Grazing Plans for 32 Range Units
• Conducted 25 Range Unit Inspections
• Resolved 11 Trespass Cases
• Inspected 259 Farm–Pasture Leases
• Prepared 162 lease stipulations for Farm-Pasture Leases Documented 9 Lease Violations
• Provided GIS Services, Aerial Photography
• Updated GIS Boundary Layers and Range Unit Coverage

Probate Services:

• Average of the last year’s reported deaths was 25 per month. Approximately 20 of those require a probate.
• There are over 20,000 unique land owners (meaning counted only once). These include enrolled members of the Tribe, owners who are not enrolled but own land in trust, members enrolled in one of the other Agencies within Great Plains Region, and members enrolled in tribes outside the Region.
• There were 8,274 original allotments on the Pine Ridge Reservations. In these allotments, there are 204,000 plus Indian land owner interests, 157,000 interests less than 2%, 1600 non-Indian interests.

Wildland Fire:

• Suppression - Provide fire protection for Life & Property
• Hazardous Fuels - Reduce/remove fuel loading in the Wildland Urban Interface
• Prevention & Mitigation - Provide programs to all ages to educate on the importance of fire prevention & safety
• Preparedness - Ensure Program is prepared for fire suppression activities

Social Services:

• Average about 400 General Assistance Cases per month
• Working with Tribal and State Agencies to integrate all child placements
• Works with the Oglala Sioux Tribe on Gang Violence Issues and present solutions