[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]]

                              {time}  1630

  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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