[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2941 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2941

To correct the south boundary of the Colorado River Indian Reservation 
                  in Arizona, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 25, 2003

Mr. Grijalva (for himself, Mr. Flake, Mr. Renzi, Mr. Hayworth, and Mr. 
   Pastor) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To correct the south boundary of the Colorado River Indian Reservation 
                  in Arizona, 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, FINDINGS, PURPOSES.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Colorado River 
Indian Reservation Boundary Correction Act''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Act of March 3, 1865, created the Colorado River 
        Indian Reservation (hereinafter ``Reservation'') along the 
        Colorado River in Arizona and California for the ``Indians of 
        said river and its tributaries''.
            (2) In 1873 and 1874, President Grant issued Executive 
        Orders to expand the Reservation southward and to secure its 
        southern boundary at a clearly recognizable geographic location 
        in order to forestall non-Indian encroachment and conflicts 
        with the Indians of the Reservation.
            (3) In 1875, Mr. Chandler Robbins surveyed the Reservation 
        (hereinafter ``the Robbins Survey'') and delineated its new 
        southern boundary, which included approximately 16,000 
        additional acres (hereinafter ``the La Paz lands''), as part of 
        the Reservation.
            (4) On May 15, 1876, President Grant issued an Executive 
        Order that established the Reservation's boundaries as those 
        delineated by the Robbins Survey.
            (5) In 1907, as a result of increasingly frequent 
        trespasses by miners and cattle and at the request of the 
        Bureau of Indian Affairs, the General Land Office of the United 
        States provided for a resurvey of the southern and southeastern 
        areas of the Reservation.
            (6) In 1914, the General Land Office accepted and approved 
        a resurvey of the Reservation conducted by Mr. Guy Harrington 
        in 1912 (hereinafter the ``Harrington Resurvey'') which 
        confirmed the boundaries that were delineated by the Robbins 
        Survey and established by Executive Order in 1876.
            (7) On November 19, 1915, the Secretary of the Interior 
        reversed the decision of the General Land Office to accept the 
        Harrington Resurvey, and upon his recommendation on November 
        22, 1915, President Wilson issued Executive Order No. 2273 ``. 
        . . to correct the error in location said southern boundary 
        line . . .''--and thus effectively excluded the La Paz from the 
        Reservation.
            (8) Historical evidence compiled by the Department of the 
        Interior supports the conclusion that the reason given by the 
        Secretary in recommending that the President issue the 1915 
        Executive Order--``to correct an error in locating the southern 
        boundary''--was itself in error and that the La Paz lands 
        should not have been excluded from the Reservation.
            (9) The La Paz lands continue to hold cultural and 
        historical significance, as well as economic development 
        potential, for the Colorado River Indian tribes, who have 
        consistently sought to have such lands restored to their 
        Reservation.
    (c) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are:
            (1) To correct the south boundary of the Reservation by 
        reestablishing such boundary as it was delineated by the 
        Robbins Survey and affirmed by the Harrington Resurvey.
            (2) To restore the La Paz lands to the Reservation, subject 
        to valid existing rights under Federal law and to provide for 
        continued reasonable public access for recreational purposes.
            (3) To provide for the Secretary of the Interior to review 
        and ensure that the corrected Reservation boundary is 
        resurveyed and marked in conformance with the public system of 
        surveys extended over such lands.

SEC. 2. BOUNDARY CORRECTION, RESTORATION, DESCRIPTION.

    (a) Boundary.--The boundaries of the Colorado River Indian 
Reservation are hereby declared to include those boundaries as were 
delineated by the Robbins Survey, affirmed by the Harrington Survey, 
and described in section 1.
    (b) Restoration.--Subject to valid existing rights under Federal 
law, all right, title, and interest of the United States to those lands 
within the boundaries declared in subsection (a) that were excluded 
from the Reservation pursuant to Executive Order No. 2273 (November 22, 
1915) are hereby restored to the Reservation and shall be held in trust 
by the United States on behalf of the Colorado River Indian Tribes.
    (c) Description.--Consistent with the provisions of this Act, the 
following described lands are hereby restored to the boundaries of the 
Colorado River Indian Reservation:
            (1) Beginning at a point at the corner common to townships 
        3 and 4 north, ranges 21 and 22 west of the Gila and Salt River 
        meridian, Arizona, which is the designated southeast corner of 
        the present reservation pursuant to Executive Order Numbered 
        2273.
            (2) Thence easterly along the township and section line 
        common to section 6, township and section line common to 
        section 6, township 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt 
        river meridian for 79.15 chains to angle point 2 established by 
        G.P. Harrington in 1912 near the corner common to section 5 and 
        6, township 3 north range 21 west and sections 31 and 32, 
        township 4 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River 
        meridian.
            (3) Thence south 71 degrees 30 minutes east 31.77 chains to 
        angle point 3 established by Harrington (1912) and presently 
        located on the line common to lots 3 and 6 of section 5, 
        township 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River 
        meridian.
            (4) Thence north 88 degrees 15 minutes east 73.23 chains to 
        angle point 4 established by Harrington (1912) and presently 
        located at the corner common to lots 3, 7, and 8 of section 4, 
        township 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River 
        meridian.
            (5) Thence south 81 degrees 00 minutes east 26.32 chains to 
        angle point 5 established by Harrington (1912) and presently 
        located along the line common to lots 2 and 6 of section 4, 
        township 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River 
        meridian.
            (6) Thence south 63 degrees 30 minutes east 58.83 chains to 
        angle point 6 established by Harrington (1912) and presently 
        located along the line common to lots 2 and 8 of section 3, 
        township 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River 
        meridian.
            (7) Thence north 86 degrees 00 minutes east 24.62 chains to 
        angle point 7 established by Harrington (1912) and presently 
        located along the line common to lots 1 and 6 of section 3, 
        township 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River 
        meridian.
            (8) Thence south 52 degrees 30 minutes east 25.23 chains to 
        angle point 8 established by Harrington (1912) and presently 
        located along the line common to lots 4 and 10 of section 8, 
        township 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River 
        meridian.
            (9) Thence south 22 degrees 00 minutes east 8.80 chains to 
        angle point 9 established by Harrington (1912) and presently 
        located along the line common to lots 5 and 10 of section 3, 
        township 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and Salt River 
        meridian.
            (10) Thence south 13 degrees 30 minutes east 12.25 chains 
        to angle point 10 established by Harrington (1912) and 
        presently located along the line common to lot 5 of section 3 
        and lot 1 of section 10, township 3 north, range 21 west of the 
        Gila and Salt River meridian.
            (11) Thence south 44 degrees 00 minutes east 16.10 chains 
        to angle point 11 established by Harrington (1912) and 
        presently located along the line common to lots 1 and 5 of 
        section 11, township 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and 
        Salt River meridian.
            (12) Thence south 17 degrees 00 minutes east 15.00 chains 
        to angle point 12 established by Harrington (1912) and 
        presently located along the line common to lots 1 and 5 and 
        approximately at the common corner of lots 1, 2, and 5 of 
        section 11, township 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and 
        Salt River meridian.
            (13) Thence south 53 degrees 30 minutes east 27.25 chains 
        to angle point 13 established by Harrington (1912) and 
        presently located along the line common to lots 2 and 7 of 
        section 11, township 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and 
        Salt River meridian.
            (14) Thence south 54 degrees 30 minutes east 14.29 chains 
        to angle point 14 established by Harrington (1912) and 
        presently located along the line common to lots 3 and 7 of 
        section 11, township 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and 
        Salt River meridian.
            (15) Thence south 44 degrees 30 minutes east 19.21 chains 
        to angle point 15 established by Harrington (1912) and 
        presently located along the line common to lots 3 and 8 of 
        section 11, township 3 north, range 21 west of the Gila and 
        Salt River meridian.
            (16) Thence south 53 degrees 30 minutes east 159.60 chains 
        to angle point 16 established by Harrington (1912) and 
        presently located along the line common to lot 5 of section 18 
        and section 19 of township 3 north, range 20 west of the Gila 
        and Salt River meridian.
            (17) Thence south 65 degrees 00 minutes east 6.05 chains to 
        angle point 17 established by Harrington (1912) and as 
        presently located on the line common to lot 5 of section 18 and 
        section 19 of township 3 north, range 20 west at the southeast 
        corner of lot 5, which as reestablished will also serve as the 
        southeast corner of the Colorado River Indian Reservation.
            (18) Thence north 1 degree 33 minutes east 409.64 chains to 
        angle point 18 established by Harrington (1912) and on the 
        boundary line of lot 4, township 4 north, range 20 west of the 
        Gila and Salt River meridian.
            (19) Thence north 6 degrees 36 minutes east 66.17 chains to 
        the corner common to the southwest corner of lot 4, section 18 
        and the northeast corner of lot 1, section 19, township 4 
        north, range 20 west of the Gila and Salt River meridian which 
        is the southernmost point along the east boundary of the 
        reservation as defined in Executive Order Numbered 2273.
            (20) Thence westerly along the south boundary line of the 
        reservation as defined in Executive Order Numbered 2273 to the 
        corner common to sections 18 and 19, townships 4 north, range 
        21 west and section 13 and 24, township 4 north, range 22 west 
        of the Gila and Salt River meridian.
            (21) Thence southerly along the range line which 
        constitutes the southeast boundary line as defined in Executive 
        Order Numbered 2273 for approximately 3 miles to the point of 
        the beginning.
    (d) Exclusion.--Excluded from those lands restored to trust status 
on behalf of the Colorado River Indian Tribes that are described under 
subsection (c) are the lands under title to the Arizona State Lands 
Department. These lands are 320 acres in the East half of Section 36, 
Township 4 North, Range 21 West.

SEC. 3. RESURVEY AND MARKING.

    The Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that the boundary for 
the restored La Paz lands described in section 2 is surveyed and 
clearly marked in conformance with the public system of surveys 
extended over such lands.

SEC. 4. WATER RIGHTS.

    The correction of the Reservation boundary and the restoration of 
the La Paz lands to the Reservation pursuant to this Act shall be 
deemed not to create any new Federal reserved water right on behalf of 
the Colorado River Indian Tribes, nor to expand or diminish any 
existing Federal reserved water right held by the Colorado River Indian 
Tribes.

SEC. 5. PUBLIC ACCESS.

    Continued access to the lands restored to the Reservation pursuant 
to this Act for hunting and other existing recreational purposes shall 
remain available to the public under reasonable rules and regulations 
promulgated by the Colorado River Indian Tribes.

SEC. 6. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY.

    The correction of the Reservation boundary and the restoration of 
the La Paz lands to the Reservation as provided for in this Act shall 
be deemed not to extinguish any existing mining leases or commercial 
leasehold rights through the terms of the existing contractual 
obligation. The Colorado River Indian Tribes shall enjoy the right to 
renew or cancel all and every such lease as the terms of each and every 
lease concludes.
                                 <all>