§3056 Prohibition on disclosure

Summary

The Secretary must not release, under the Freedom of Information Act, details about human remains or cultural objects that were reburied on National Forest land. The Secretary also must keep private information about resources, cultural items, uses, or activities that have a traditional cultural purpose and were given to the Forest Service by an Indian or Indian tribe with a clear promise they would be kept confidential. The Secretary also does not have to give out the identity, use, or exact location of traditional tribal sites or other cultural items not covered by the reburial rule. The Secretary can disclose reburial information only after talking with the affected Indian tribe or a lineal descendant, deciding that sharing it will further the law’s purposes and is needed to protect the remains or items from harm, theft, or destruction, and trying to reduce any harm the tribe or descendant warns about. For other traditional sites or cultural items, the Secretary may disclose only after consulting tribes and only if the disclosure will further the law’s purposes, will not create an unreasonable risk of harm, theft, or destruction (including for individual specimens), and is allowed under other laws.