Bridges to a New Era provides an in-depth legal and policy review of tribal co-management in the U.S. and its application on federal public lands. The Report traces its legal roots and framework and examines more recent innovations in cooperation and shared governance, from the vision of the Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition to the proposed management of the Badger-Two Medicine in Montana.

Instead of treating federal Indian and federal public land law as separate endeavors, the Report clarifies the connections between them in the hope of catalyzing a new era of federal policy built on justice, reconciliation, healing, and sharing. The Report places co-management in the historical context of public lands and the first principles of federal Indian law. But its primary focus is on the future and those actions that can be taken by Congress and the Executive to ensure a new and brighter future for Native Nations and public lands.