[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5468 Introduced in House (IH)]






107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5468

     To provide for a Federal land exchange for the environmental, 
   educational, and cultural benefit of the American public and the 
       Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 25, 2002

Mr. Taylor of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. Jones of North Carolina, 
Mr. Kildee, and Mr. Carson of Oklahoma) introduced the following bill; 
            which was referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To provide for a Federal land exchange for the environmental, 
   educational, and cultural benefit of the American public and the 
       Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

     This Act may be cited as the ``Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians 
Land Exchange Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Since time immemorial, the ancestors of the Eastern 
        Band of Cherokee Indians have lived in the Great Smoky 
        Mountains of North Carolina. The Eastern Band's ancestral 
        homeland includes much of seven eastern States and the land 
        that now constitutes the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
            (2) The Eastern Band has proposed a land exchange with the 
        National Park Service and has spent over $1,500,000 for studies 
        to thoroughly inventory the environmental and cultural 
        resources of the proposed land exchange parcels.
            (3) Such land exchange would benefit the American public by 
        enabling the National Park Service to acquire the Yellow Face 
        tract, comprising 218 acres of land adjacent to the Blue Ridge 
        Parkway.
            (4) Acquisition of the Yellow Face tract for protection by 
        the National Park Service would serve the public interest by 
        preserving important views for Blue Ridge Parkway visitors, 
        preserving habitat for endangered species and threatened 
        species including the northern flying squirrel and the rock 
        gnome lichen, preserving valuable high altitude wetland seeps, 
        and preserving the property from rapidly advancing residential 
        development.
            (5) The proposed land exchange would also benefit the 
        Eastern Band by allowing it to reclaim the Ravensford tract, 
        comprising 144 acres adjacent to the Tribe's trust territory in 
        Cherokee, North Carolina, and currently within the Great Smoky 
        Mountains National Park. The Ravensford tract is part of the 
        Tribe's ancestral homeland as evidenced by archaeological finds 
        dating back no less than 6,000 years.
            (6) The Eastern Band has a critical need to replace the 
        current Cherokee Elementary School, which was built by the 
        Department of the Interior over 40 years ago with a capacity of 
        480 students. The school now hosts 794 students in dilapidated 
        buildings and mobile classrooms at a dangerous highway 
        intersection in downtown Cherokee, North Carolina.
            (7) The Eastern Band ultimately intends to build a new 
        three-school campus to serve as an environmental, cultural, and 
        educational ``village,'' where Cherokee language and culture 
        can be taught alongside the standard curriculum.
            (8) The land exchange and construction of this educational 
        village will benefit the American public by preserving Cherokee 
        traditions and fostering a vibrant, modern, and well-educated 
        Indian nation.
            (9) The land exchange will also reunify tribal lands now 
        separated between the Big Cove Community and the balance of the 
        Qualla Boundary, reestablishing the territorial integrity of 
        the Eastern Band.
            (10) The Ravensford tract contains no threatened species or 
        endangered species listed pursuant to the Endangered Species 
        Act of 1973. The 218-acre Yellow Face tract has a number of 
        listed threatened species and endangered species and a higher 
        appraised value than the 144-acre Ravensford tract.
            (11) The Congress and the Department of the Interior have 
        approved land exchanges in the past when the benefits to the 
        public and requesting party are clear, as they are in this 
        case.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are the following:
            (1) To acquire the Yellow Face tract for protection by the 
        National Park Service, in order to preserve the Waterrock Knob 
        area's spectacular views, pristine wetlands, and endangered 
species and threatened species from encroachment by housing 
development, for the benefit and enjoyment of the American public.
            (2) To transfer the Ravensford tract, to be held in trust 
        by the Department of the Interior for the benefit of the 
        Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, in order to provide for an 
        education facility that promotes the cultural integrity of the 
        Eastern Band and to reunify two Cherokee communities that were 
        historically contiguous.
            (3) To promote cooperative activities and partnerships 
        between the Eastern Band and the National Park Service within 
        the Eastern Band's ancestral homelands.

SEC. 3. LAND EXCHANGE.

    (a) In General.--Within 90 days after the effective date of this 
Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall exchange the Ravensford tract, 
currently in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, for the Yellow 
Face tract adjacent to the Waterrock Knob Visitor Center on the Blue 
Ridge Parkway.
    (b) Treatment of Exchanged Lands.--Effective upon receipt by the 
Secretary of a deed for the lands comprising the Yellow Face tract (as 
described in subsection (c)) to the United States, all right, title, 
and interest of the United States in and to the Ravensford tract, (as 
described in subsection (d)), including all improvements and 
appurtenances, are declared to be held in trust by the United States 
for the benefit of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians as part of the 
Cherokee Indian Reservation.
    (c) Yellow Face Tract.--To effectuate this land exchange, the 
Eastern Band shall cause the following lands to be deeded to the United 
States. Parcels 88 and 89 of the Hornbuckle Tract, Yellow Face Section, 
Qualla Township, Jackson County, North Carolina, consisting 
respectively of 110.4 and 108.2 acres more or less, together with all 
improvements and appurtenances thereto. The lands shall thereafter be 
included within the boundary of and managed as part of the Blue Ridge 
Parkway by the National Park Service.
    (d) Ravensford Tract.--The lands declared by subsection (b) to be 
held in trust for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are as follows: 
The tract currently located within the Great Smoky Mountains National 
Park and identified on Map No. 133/80020, entitled ``Ravensford Land 
Exchange Tract'', as on file and available for public inspection in the 
appropriate offices of the National Park Service and the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs, consisting of 144 acres more or less.
    (e) Legal Descriptions.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall file a legal 
description of the areas described in subsections (c) and (d) with the 
Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Indian Affairs and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources of the Senate. Such legal descriptions shall have the same 
force and effect as if the information contained in the description 
were included in those subsections except that the Secretary may 
correct clerical and typographical errors in such legal descriptions. 
The legal descriptions shall be on file and available for public 
inspection in the offices of the National Park Service and the Bureau 
of Indian Affairs.

SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS.

    (a) Government-to-Government Agreements.--In order to fulfill the 
purposes of this Act and to establish cooperative partnerships for 
purposes of this Act the Director of the National Park Service and the 
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians shall enter into government-to-
government consultations and shall develop protocols to review planned 
construction on the Ravensford tract. The Director of the National Park 
Service is authorized to enter into cooperative agreements with the 
Eastern Band for the purpose of providing training, management, 
protection, and preservation of the natural and cultural resources on 
the Ravensford tract.
    (b) Construction Standards.--The National Park Service and the 
Eastern Band shall develop mutually agreed upon standards for size, 
impact, and design of construction consistent with the purposes of this 
Act on the Ravensford tract. The standards shall be consistent with the 
Eastern Band's need to develop educational facilities and support 
infrastructure adequate for current and future generations and shall 
otherwise minimize or mitigate any adverse impacts on natural or 
cultural resources. The standards shall be based on recognized best 
practices for environmental sustainability and shall be reviewed 
periodically and revised as necessary. All development on the 
Ravensford tract shall be conducted in a manner consistent with such 
standards.
    (c) Tribal Employment.--In employing individuals to perform any 
construction, maintenance, interpretation, or other service in the 
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Secretary of the Interior 
shall, insofar as practicable, give first preference to qualified 
members of the Eastern Band.

SEC. 5. GAMING PROHIBITION.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to satisfy the terms for an 
exception under section 20(b)(1) of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act 
(25 U.S.C. 2719(b)(1)) to the prohibition on gaming on lands acquired 
by the Secretary of the Interior in trust for the benefit of an Indian 
tribe after October 17, 1988, under section 20(a) of such Act (25 
U.S.C. 2719(a)).
                                 <all>