WASHINGTON Along with being a self-proclaimed champion of public lands , Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke vowed to be an advocate for Americas indigenous communities and their right to self-determination.

Sovereignty should mean something , the former Montana congressman told the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs during a January confirmation hearing. And after being sworn in, Zinke issued a statement in which he said our sovereign Indian Nations and territories must have the respect and freedom they deserve.

But a major change to the Department of the Interiors Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations , which addresses the widespread problem in Indian Country of land parcels being owned by sometimes hundreds of tribal members, is the latest example of Zinke and the Trump administration not living up to their promises to native peoples, former Interior officials say.

The Land Buy-Back Program targets land fractionation , which can threaten tribal sovereignty. As parcels of land granted to tribal members in the 1880s have been handed down from one generation to the next, ownership has been divided, or fractionated, among the heirs. With so many shared interests in some cases, parcels have over 1,000 owners lands have become all but impossible to use. Through the program, the federal government purchases fractional land interests from individual owners and restores tribal jurisdiction over the land.

The Interior Department announced a revised strategy Monday that it says will more effectively allocate the remaining $540 million from the landmark settlement in Cobell v. Salazar, money to be used to buy the multiple titles to individual land parcels. Not mentioned in the release, however, is that the decision cuts dozens of tribes out of the program entirely.

The proposed change to the program represents everything that Indian Country has come to fear from Secretary Zinkes leadership, said one former Department of Interior official who requested anonymity to comment candidly. Its a solution in search of a problem that doesnt exist; an effort to undermine an Obama Administration initiative for the sake of being contrary; and a move that will widely impact Indian communities without any formal government-to-government consultation, the former official said in an email.

The Interior Department did not respond to HuffPosts requests for comment.