Oops!

 
Our mission is to protect human health, the environment and our cultural resources, and to protect and develop our natural resources; while preserving the diverse human cultures and animal and plant ecosystems that exist within the boundaries of the Osage Reservation.  

 

INITIATIVES, CHALLENGES, AND FUTURE DIRECTION 

 

The Environmental and Natural Resources (ENR) Department’s ongoing and recent initiatives on and for the Reservation are: to complete an in-depth characterization and environmental inventory; to complete the inventory and mapping of oil and gas related environmental contamination; to develop an oil and saltwater pollution prevention outreach program; to develop an environmental complaints/investigations program; to develop a surface water quality monitoring program; to develop a solid waste management plan; to develop an emergency response program; to develop the environmental regulatory infrastructure necessary to assist with environmental compliance; and to develop a natural resource inventory and management plan.  

 

Our Department faces many challenges every year in securing funding for each year; making sure that we meet our commitments to the funding agencies; attending to the numerous requests of agencies, businesses, and individuals doing business with the Tribe; fighting political battles where those battles might make a difference; and trying to protect the environment along the way. Our department stays busy but we enjoy it that way.  

 

The Department plans to finish the assessment/characterization of the Osage Reservation as well as assuming regulatory authority from the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the Osage Underground Injection Control Program; to develop water quality standards for the Osage Reservation; to develop an NPDES Program and assume regulatory authority for the program by applying for TAS and Program Authorization; and to develop the Natural Resource regulatory infrastructure necessary to protect natural resources.