[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 490 Reported in Senate (RS)]






                                                       Calendar No. 199
108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 490

                          [Report No. 108-91]

 To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land in the 
   Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Nevada, to the Secretary of the 
     Interior, in trust for the Washoe Indian Tribe of Nevada and 
                              California.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 27, 2003

 Mr. Reid (for himself and Mr. Ensign) introduced the following bill; 
   which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

                             July 11, 2003

               Reported by Mr. Domenici, with amendments
  [Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land in the 
   Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Nevada, to the Secretary of the 
     Interior, in trust for the Washoe Indian Tribe of Nevada and 
                              California.

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

SECTION 1. WASHOE TRIBE LAND CONVEYANCE.

<DELETED>    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) the ancestral homeland of the Washoe Tribe of 
        Nevada and California (referred to in this Act as the 
        ``Tribe'') included an area of approximately 5,000 square miles 
        in and around Lake Tahoe, California and Nevada, and Lake Tahoe 
        was the heart of the territory;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) in 1997, Federal, State, and local 
        governments, together with many private landholders, recognized 
        the Washoe people as indigenous people of Lake Tahoe Basin 
        through a series of meetings convened by those governments at 2 
        locations in Lake Tahoe;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) the meetings were held to address protection 
        of the extraordinary natural, recreational, and ecological 
        resources in the Lake Tahoe region;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) the resulting multiagency agreement includes 
        objectives that support the traditional and customary uses of 
        National Forest System land by the Tribe; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) those objectives include the provision of 
        access by members of the Tribe to the shore of Lake Tahoe in 
        order to reestablish traditional and customary cultural 
        practices.</DELETED>
    (b) </DELETED>(a) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to implement the joint local, State, tribal, and 
        Federal objective of returning the Tribe to Lake Tahoe; and
            (2) to ensure that members of the Tribe have the 
        opportunity to engage in traditional and customary cultural 
        practices on the shore of Lake Tahoe to meet the needs of 
        spiritual renewal, land stewardship, Washoe horticulture and 
        ethnobotany, subsistence gathering, traditional learning, and 
        reunification of tribal and family bonds.
    <DELETED>(c) </DELETED>(b) Conveyance on Condition Subsequent.--
Subject to valid existing rights, the easement reserved under 
subsection (d), and the condition stated in subsection (e), the 
Secretary of Agriculture shall convey to the Secretary of the Interior, 
in trust for the Tribe, for no consideration, all right, title, and 
interest in the parcel of land comprising approximately 24.3 acres, 
located within the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit north of Skunk 
Harbor, Nevada, and more particularly described as Mount Diablo 
Meridian, T15N, R18E, section 27, 
lot 3.
    <DELETED>(d) </DELETED>(c) Easement.--
            (1) In general.--The conveyance under subsection (c) shall 
        be made subject to reservation to the United States of a 
        nonexclusive easement for public and administrative access over 
        Forest Development Road #15N67 to National Forest System land, 
        to be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture.
            (2) Access by individuals with disabilities.--The Secretary 
        of Agriculture shall provide a reciprocal easement to the Tribe 
        permitting vehicular access to the parcel over Forest 
        Development Road #15N67 to--
                    (A) members of the Tribe for administrative and 
                safety purposes; and
                    (B) members of the Tribe who, due to age, 
                infirmity, or disability, would have difficulty 
                accessing the conveyed parcel on foot.
    <DELETED>(e) </DELETED>(d) Condition on Use of Land.--
            (1) In general.--In using the parcel conveyed under 
        subsection (c), the Tribe and members of the Tribe--
                    (A) shall limit the use of the parcel to 
                traditional and customary uses and stewardship 
                conservation for the benefit of the Tribe;
                    (B) shall not permit any permanent residential or 
                recreational development on, or commercial use of, the 
                parcel (including commercial development, tourist 
                accommodations, gaming, sale of timber, or mineral 
                extraction); and
                    (C) shall comply with environmental requirements 
                that are no less protective than environmental 
                requirements that apply under the Regional Plan of the 
                Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
            (2) Termination and reversion.--If the Secretary of the 
        Interior, after notice to the Tribe and an opportunity for a 
        hearing, based on monitoring of use of the parcel by the Tribe, 
        makes a finding that the Tribe has used or permitted the use of 
        the parcel in violation of paragraph (1) and the Tribe fails to 
        take corrective or remedial action directed by the Secretary of 
        the Interior--
                    (A) title to the parcel in the Secretary of the 
                Interior, in trust for the Tribe, shall terminate; and
                    (B) title to the parcel shall revert to the 
                Secretary of Agriculture.




                                                       Calendar No. 199

108th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                 S. 490

                          [Report No. 108-91]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land in the 
   Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Nevada, to the Secretary of the 
     Interior, in trust for the Washoe Indian Tribe of Nevada and 
                              California.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             July 11, 2003

                        Reported with amendments