Cite as: 533 U. S. 353 (2001)
Opinion of O'Connor, J.
on oil and gas production by nonmembers); Rice v. Rehner, 463 U. S. 713 (1983) (concurrent jurisdiction of Federal and State Governments to issue liquor licenses for transactions on reservations); Washington v. Confederated Tribes of Colville Reservation, 447 U. S. 134 (1980) (concurrent jurisdiction of state and tribal governments to tax cigarette purchases by nonmembers). Saying that tribal jurisdiction must "accommodat[e]" various sovereign interests does not mean that tribal interests are to be nullified through a per se rule. Id., at 156.
The majority's rule undermining tribal interests is all the more perplexing because the conduct in this case occurred on land owned and controlled by the Tribes. Although the majority gives a passing nod to land status at the outset of its opinion, ante, at 360, that factor is not prominent in the Court's analysis. This oversight is significant. Montana recognizes that tribes may retain inherent power to exercise civil jurisdiction when the nonmember conduct "threatens or has some direct effect on the political integrity, the economic security, or the health or welfare of the tribe." 450 U. S., at 566. These interests are far more likely to be implicated where, as here, the nonmember activity takes place on land owned and controlled by the tribe. If Montana is to bring coherence to our case law, we must apply it with due consideration to land status, which has always figured prominently in our analysis of tribal jurisdiction. See supra, at 388-392.
This case involves state officials acting on tribal land. The Tribes' sovereign interests with respect to nonmember activities on its land are not extinguished simply because the nonmembers in this case are state officials enforcing state law. Our cases concerning tribal power often involve the competing interests of state, federal, and tribal governments. See, e. g., Cotton Petroleum Corp., supra; Confederated Tribes, supra; Rehner, supra. The actions of state officials on tribal land in some instances may affect tribal sovereign interests to a greater, not lesser, degree than the
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