The National Park Service is proposing to create the first tribal national park in the U.S.

The agency wants to turn over the 133,300-acre South Unit of the Badlands National Park to the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. The proposal, which requires Congressional approval, is open to public comment.

"We're setting precedence, kind of a scary place but kind of an exciting place to be too," deputy superintendent Steve Thede told the Associated Press.

The land was taken from the tribe during World War II. More than 800 people were forced to leave in just a week.

Get the Story:
Proposal would create tribal national park (AP 9/6)

An Opinion:
Doris Respects Nothing: Park service abusing lands (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 9/7)

Related Stories:
Editorial: Let Oglala Sioux Tribe decide fate of Badlands (7/11)
Editorial: Badlands cleanup good for Oglala Sioux (7/2)
Oglala Sioux Tribe debates return of parkland (6/9)