I 112th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 4187 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 8, 2012 Mr. Pearce introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To direct the Secretary of the Interior to place certain lands in trust for the Zuni Tribe and Navajo Nation and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Return of Certain Lands At Fort Wingate to The Original Inhabitants Act.

2.

Findings and purposes

(a)

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)In January 1993, the active mission of the former Fort Wingate Depot Activity (referred to in this Act as the FWDA) in New Mexico ceased and the installation was closed pursuant to the Defense Authorization Amendments and Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1988. (2)The lands occupied by the FWDA were originally the ancestral lands of the Zuni Tribe and Navajo Nation, as indicated by the large number of archeological and cultural sites identified on such lands. (3)Because of the long-term operation of the FWDA for the receipt, storage, and shipment of munitions, and the disposal of obsolete or deteriorated explosives and military munitions, the lands occupied by the FWDA required substantial environmental remediation before they could be transferred from control by the Department of the Army and used for other purposes. (4)The Department of the Interior and the Department of the Army, with the support of the two Indian tribes and other concerned parties, determined that, upon completion of the remediation effort, control over those lands no longer needed by the Department of the Army should be transferred to the Secretary of the Interior and held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation and the Navajo Nation. (5)For purposes of scheduling the remediation and future use of the lands, the Department of the Army divided the FWDA installation into 25 reuse parcels. (6)Reuse parcels 1, 15, and 17, totaling 5,854 acres, have been remediated to the standards established by the New Mexico Environment Department and transferred to the Secretary of the Interior. (b)

Purpose

The purposes of this Act include to implement the objective of returning to the Zuni Tribe and the Navajo Nation certain lands formerly occupied by the FWDA, by declaring the three reuse parcels that have been remediated and transferred to the Secretary of the Interior to be held in trust for the Zuni Tribe and Navajo Nation and returning use of these parcels to those Indian tribes.

3.

Conveyance

(a)

Zuni tribe of the zuni reservation

Subject to existing rights and to easements reserved under section 4, all right, title, and interest in the lands referred to as Reuse Parcel 1 of the FWDA that are owned by the United States are hereby declared to be held by the Secretary of the Interior in trust for the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation and part of the Zuni Reservation. (b)

Navajo nation

Subject to existing rights and to easements reserved under section 4, all right, title, and interest in the lands referred to as Reuse Parcels 15 and 17 of the FWDA that are owned by the United States are hereby declared to be held by the Secretary of the Interior in trust for the Navajo Nation and part of the Navajo Reservation.

4.

Easements

The lands held in trust pursuant to this Act shall be held subject to reservation to the United States of such easements as are required for access to the Fort Wingate Launch Complex and for administrative and environmental remediation purposes.