[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 10, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H10153-H10154]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HOOPA VALLEY RESERVATION SOUTH BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT ACT
Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 2710) to provide for the conveyance of certain land in the
State of California to the Hoopa Valley Tribe, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 2710
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 ``Hoopa Valley Reservation
South Boundary Adjustment Act''.
SEC. 2. LAND TRANSFER TO RESERVATION.
(a) In General.--All right, title, and interest of the
United States in and to the lands described in subsection (b)
shall hereafter be held in trust by the United States for the
benefit of the Hoopa Valley Tribe and shall be part of the
Hoopa Valley Reservation.
(b) Lands Described.--The lands referred to in subsection
(a) are those portions of Townships 7 North and 8 North,
Range 5 East and 6 East, Humboldt Meridian, California,
within a boundary beginning at a point on the current south
boundary of the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation, marked and
identified as ``Post H.V.R. No. 8'' on the Plat of the Hoopa
Valley Indian Reservation prepared from a field survey
conducted by C.T. Bissel, Augusta T. Smith and C.A. Robinson,
Deputy Surveyors, approved by the Surveyor General, H. Pratt,
March 18, 1892, and extending from said point on a bearing of
north 72 degrees 30 minutes east, until intersecting with a
line beginning at a point marked as ``Post H.V.R. No. 3'' on
said survey and extending on a bearing of south 15 degrees 59
minutes east, comprising 2,641 acres more or less.
(c) Boundary Adjustment.--The boundary of the Six Rivers
National Forest shall be adjusted to exclude the lands to be
held in trust for the benefit of the Hoopa Valley Tribe
pursuant to this section.
SEC. 3. SURVEY.
The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of
Land Management, shall survey and monument that portion of
the boundary of the Hoopa Valley Reservation established by
the addition of lands made by section 2.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California [Mr. Gallegly] and the gentleman from American Samoa [Mr.
Faleomavaega] each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California [Mr. Gallegly].
(Mr. GALLEGLY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2710, the proposed Hoopa Valley
Reservation South Boundary Adjustment Act, introduced by our colleague,
the gentleman from California [Mr. Riggs], would convey approximately
2,641 acres of land to the Hoopa Valley Tribe of California.
The land to be transferred is presently part of the Six Rivers
National Forest and has been fully timbered pursuant to the Forest
Service timber sales.
I note that these lands to be conveyed by H.R. 2710 contain the
graves of the Tish-Tan-a-Tang band of Hoopa Indians and are currently
used by the tribe for hunting, fishing, food gathering, and ceremonial
purposes.
H.R. 2710 would eliminate a longstanding alternation of the
originally intended boundary of the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation.
Mr. Speaker, this is a fair and just bill and I urge my colleagues to
support it.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California [Mr.
Riggs].
Mr. RIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my very good friend and
southern California colleague, Mr. Gallegly, from the community of Simi
Valley in Ventura County.
Mr. Speaker, and colleagues, Mr. Gallegly has kind of given a quick
overview of my legislation. This is simple straightforward legislation,
but it is something that is fundamentally important as a matter of
fairness and equity to the Hoopa Valley Tribe in Humboldt County, the
largest county in my congressional district.
[[Page H10154]]
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The Hoopa Valley Tribe is the largest self-governance tribe in
California. This legislation would restore their reservation to its
original intended 12-mile-by-12-mile square.
Let me provide a little bit more of detail. As Mr. Gallegly
explained, we are proposing to transfer in this legislation 2,641 acres
of land now owned by the United States of America and managed by the
U.S. Forest Service to the Hoopa Valley Tribe to square their
reservation.
For as long as 10,000 years, the Hoopa Valley Tribe has lived in the
Hoopa Valley. It is a beautiful area which is bisected by the Trinity
River, and their reservation actually begins at the mouth of the
Trinity River Canyon.
As early as 1851, a proposed treaty would have established a
reservation encompassing an area larger than the present reservation.
In restoring this land at the southeast corner of what otherwise would
be a 12-mile square, this bill will eliminate a dogleg, the dogleg as
they know it, in the south boundary of the present reservation,
correcting an action that occurred in 1875.
At that time, the original surveyors of the reservation indented the
boundary and created this irregular dogleg. This was apparently done to
accommodate some miners who had staked claims in the area. Although the
claims soon played out and the miners left the area, the boundary was
never changed or corrected.
As I mentioned, as Mr. Gallegly mentioned, this land is administered
by the Forest Service as part of the Six Rivers National Forest. The
original timber on this parcel of land was sold off by the end of the
1970's. The area to be transferred includes Tish-Tang, Tish-Tang
Campground, a Forest Service facility. The tribe has stated that it
will continue to operate Tish-Tang as a public campground with public
ingress and egress. There will be continued access over this land to
the Trinity River.
This could be particularly important if budget reductions necessitate
reductions in Forest Service campground operations and maintenance. I
have received correspondence, Mr. Speaker, from several local
businesses that rely on the Trinity River corridor, asking that access
to the road to Tish-Tang and the gravel bar at Tish-Tang remain in the
public domain; that is to say, they want a guarantee of continued
public access along this road and to the gravel bar at Tish-Tang.
I have raised these concerns with the Hoopa Valley Tribe, their
tribal council and leadership. I have been assured that public access
at Tish-Tang will not be hindered as a result of this land transfer.
Members of the Hoopa Valley have long been outstanding stewards of
California's north coast environment. They have been leaders, for
example, in the efforts to restore the Trinity River. This is the most
critical fishery, the Trinity-Klamath river system in my congressional
district. This transfer would permit the tribes longstanding land
management and economic development policies to be extended to the
restored lands.
I commend the bipartisan leadership of the House Committee on
Resources for moving this legislation and I urge its approval, again,
as a matter of fairness and equity to the Hoopa Valley Tribe so that
the boundary of the tribe's reservation can be adjusted to reflect the
original intent of Congress.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume. I certainly admire the Chair's generosity and sincere efforts
in pronouncing my name. I know that this has always been a difficult
problem with many Members but it is Faleomavaega. It is one of those
Polynesian names.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2710 would transfer almost 2,640 acres of land
currently within the Six Rivers National Forest to the Hoopa Valley
Tribe to be held in trust for the Tribe. This land, which includes an
operating campground, is adjacent to the southern boundary of the Hoopa
Valley Reservation. There is question as to whether or not this land
was intended to be part of the original reservation boundaries and by
looking at a map of the area one could easily conclude that may have
been the case. Regardless, the Forest Service has testified that it
supports this transfer so long as public access to the area remains
available. The Tribe has agreed to this and plans to continue to
operate the campground for the public's use.
I hope addition of this land will benefit the Tribe in the future and
ask my colleagues to join me in supporting passage of this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Miller of Florida). The question is on
the motion offered by the gentleman from California [Mr. Gallegly] that
the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2710, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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