[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 3, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H3235-H3238]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HOOPA VALLEY RESERVATION SOUTH BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT ACT

  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 79) to provide for the conveyance of certain land in the Six 
Rivers National Forest in the State of California for the benefit of 
the Hoopa Valley Tribe, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 79

       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. TRANSFER OF LANDS WITHIN SIX RIVERS NATIONAL FOREST 
                   FOR HOOPA VALLEY TRIBE.

       (a) Transfer.--All right, title, and interest in and to the 
     lands described in subsection (b) shall hereafter be 
     administered by the Secretary of the Interior and be held in 
     trust by the United States for the Hoopa Valley Tribe. The 
     lands are hereby declared part of the Hoopa Valley 
     Reservation. Upon the inclusion of such lands in the Hoopa 
     Valley Reservation, Forest Service system roads numbered 8N03 
     and 7N51 and the Trinity River access road which is a spur 
     off road numbered 7N51, shall be Indian reservation roads, as 
     defined in section 101(a) of title 23 of the United States 
     Code.
       (b) Lands Described.--The lands referred to in subsection 
     (a) are those portions of Townships 7 North and 8 North, 
     Ranges 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, Augustus 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 such 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 in the State of California is hereby adjusted 
     to exclude the lands to be held in trust for the benefit of 
     the Hoopa Valley Tribe pursuant to this section.
       (d) 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 the lands described in 
     subsection (b).
       (e) Settlement of Claims.--The transfer of lands to trust 
     status under this section extinguishes the following claims 
     by the Hoopa Valley Tribe:
       (1) All claims on land now administered as part of the Six 
     Rivers National Forest based on the allegation of error in 
     establishing the boundaries of the Hoopa Valley Reservation, 
     as those boundaries were configured before the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.
       (2) All claims of failure to pay just compensation for a 
     taking under the fifth amendment to the United States 
     Constitution, if such claims are based on activities, 
     occurring before the date of the enactment of this Act, 
     related to the lands transferred to trust status under this 
     section.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth] and the gentleman from American Samoa [Mr. 
Faleomavaega] each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth].
  (Mrs. CHENOWETH asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
her remarks.)
  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 79, introduced by the gentleman 
from California [Mr. Riggs] would transfer 2,641 acres of land to the 
Hoopa Valley Tribe of California. This land is currently part of the 
Six Rivers National Forest.
  The south boundary of the Hoopa Valley Reservation contains a dogleg 
and as a result of the 1875 survey that left 2,541 acres out of the 6-
mile square, H.R. 79 would straighten the boundary to reflect what many 
believe was the originally intended boundary of the reservation. 
Similar legislation was introduced in the 104th Congress, reported by 
the Committee on Resources and passed on the House floor, but the 
adjournment prevented final action on the bill in the Senate.
  On May 8, 1997, the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health 
approved this amendment in the nature of a substitute to incorporate 
several technical changes recommended by the administration, and on May 
21 the Committee on Resources reported the bill with an amendment to 
ensure that several Forest Service roads on the lands being transferred 
will remain open to the public after the transfer. The roads provide 
access to the public campground, the Trinity River and the national 
forest land.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank all involved on both sides of the aisle for 
working with me, the gentleman from California [Mr. Riggs], and the 
Hoopa Valley Tribe to develop language that everyone can agree on on 
H.R. 79. Additionally I would like to thank my colleagues, especially 
the gentleman from New York [Mr. Hinchey], the subcommittee ranking 
member, the gentleman from California [Mr. Doolittle], and the 
gentleman from Colorado [Mr. McInnis] for their assistance with passage 
of these four bills.
  So I urge this bill's passage, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, as mentioned earlier by the chairman 
of the subcommittee, the gentlewoman from Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth], this 
legislation was introduced by the gentleman from California [Mr. Riggs] 
and a similar piece of legislation was also introduced by Senator Boxer 
of California.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 79 would transfer almost 2,640 acres of land 
currently within the Six Rivers National Forest in California to the 
Hoopa Valley Tribe to be held in trust for the tribe. This language 
includes an operating campground that is adjacent to the southern 
boundary of the reservation. There is question as to whether or not 
this land was intended to be part of the original reservation 
boundaries, but by looking at a map of the area one can conclude that 
may have been the case.

                              {time}  1530

  Regardless, the Forest Service has testified that it supports this 
transfer and believes that the tribe has the resources and expertise to 
effectively manage the area.
  In fact, the Hoopa Valley Tribe is well-known as environmentally 
sensitive toward the stewards of their land. The tribe operates under a 
forest management plan which was adopted for the years 1994 through the 
year 2003. This management plan was developed with the collaboration of 
the World Wildlife Fund. In March of this year, the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service issued a biological opinion finding that the Hoopa 
forest management plan would not jeopardize the northern spotted owl or 
any of the other listed endangered species.
  Attached to my statement, Mr. Speaker, I include two letters from the 
tribe's representative. The first is to the office of the Secretary of 
the Interior, and the second is to Mr. James Lyons, the Under Secretary 
for Natural Resources and Environment at the Department of Agriculture. 
These letters explain the tribe's forest management plan and how we can 
expect the transfer of lands to be managed.
  H.R. 79 makes clear that the roads within this area will be made part 
of the Indian reservation roads system within the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs assuring public access through the area and to the Trinity 
River.
  I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth] and 
her staff for working with Democrats on this side of the aisle and for 
bringing to the floor this legislation for consideration. I hope that 
this will benefit the Hoopa Valley Tribe in the future, and I ask my 
colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I include the following letters for the Record:

[[Page H3236]]

         Hall, Estill, Hardwick, Gable, Golden & Nelson, P.C., 
           Attorneys at Law,
                                   Washington, DC, April 15, 1997.
     Re H.R. 79 Hoopa Reservation boundary adjustment.

     Heather Sibbison, Esq.,
     Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Heather: Attached is a letter to Agriculture 
     Department Under Secretary James Lyons regarding the Hoopa 
     Valley Reservation boundary adjustment legislation. It is in 
     response to a draft proposal (also attached) from the Forest 
     Service to amend H.R. 79. As the letter explains, the Hoopa 
     Valley Tribe strongly disagrees with the proposed amendments. 
     Also attached is Resource Committee Chairman Don Young's 
     March 11 letter to T.J. Glauthier at OMB offering to move 
     expeditiously on the bill. This followed Chairman Young's 
     February 10 letter to Secretary Babbitt with the Committee's 
     routine request for a bill report. In addition to those 
     letters is T.J. Glauthier's October 2, 1996, letter to the 
     Senate Committee on Indian Affairs clearing the bill for 
     passage in the 104th Congress.
       Please consider the following as you evaluate H.R. 79: The 
     bill would transfer 2641 acres from the Forest Service in 
     trust to the Tribe; Prior Forest Service sales harvested 915 
     acres of that total; and Under the Tribe's Forest Management 
     Plan (FMP) (which has received a non-jeopardy biological 
     opinion from the Fish and Wildlife Service as to any listed 
     species, including the northern spotted owl).
       Approximately 620 acres will be protected by the FMP's 
     stream side protection zones (Class 1: 400 feet; Class 2: 200 
     feet; Class 3, 100); 330 acres will be subject to the FMP's 
     wild and scenic river designation; 310 acres will be in the 
     Trinity view shed; and 102 acres will be in northern spotted 
     owl activity zones.
       The portion of the 2641 acres designated as Late 
     Successional reserve in the President's Forest Plan totals 
     1264 acres. By restoring the land to the Hoopa Valley 
     Reservation and placing it under the Hoopa FMP, 1362 acres 
     will be protected; that is, more than would be protected by 
     the Late Successional Reserve designation in the President's 
     Forest Plan. If you have any questions about this, please 
     give me a call.
           Sincerely,
     Joseph R. Membrino.
                                                                    ____

         Hall, Estill, Hardwick, Gable, Golden & Nelson, P.C., 
           Attorneys at Law,
                                    Washington, DC, April 4, 1997.
     Re H.R. 79--Hoopa Valley Reservation south boundary 
         adjustment.

     Hon. James R. Lyons,
     Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, 
         Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC.
       Dear Under Secretary Lyons: Following my conversation with 
     you and Director of Lands Eleanor Towns on March 11, Director 
     Towns forwarded to me a draft regarding five points she asked 
     be considered in the review of H.R. 79. After consultation 
     with the Hoopa Valley Tribal Council, I have been authorized 
     to report the Tribe's response.


                         1. reservation status

       The Tribe agrees with you and Director Towns that the land 
     subject to H.R. 79 is to be made part of the Hoopa Valley 
     Reservation and held in trust by the United States. It has 
     always been the Tribe's position that the land be part of the 
     reservation.
       Director Towns stated that the reason for the proposed 
     change in the text of the bill--by which she would add the 
     phrase ``acting through the Secretary of the Interior''--is 
     to ensure that the Forest Service would have no trust 
     responsibility for the land following its transfer to the 
     reservation. That intent is contrary to federal law and 
     administration policy.
       The United States, not individual federal agencies, is the 
     trustee of Indian reservation land. Thus, while direct 
     administration of the federal trust responsibility for the 
     Hoopa Valley Reservation may reside with the Secretary of the 
     Interior, the Forest Service nevertheless is subject to the 
     federal trust responsibility and is obligated to conduct its 
     affairs accordingly. As you know, President Clinton 
     emphasized his Administration's commitment to the federal 
     trust relationship in his Memorandum on Government-to-
     Government Relations With Native American Tribal Governments 
     (April 29, 1994, 59 Fed. Reg. 22951). Among other things the 
     President directed that ``Each executive department and 
     agency shall assess the impact of Federal government plans, 
     projects, programs, and activities on tribal trust resources 
     and assure that tribal government rights and concerns are 
     considered during the development of such plans, projects, 
     programs, and activities.'' We do not believe that the 
     proposed departure from H.R. 79's use of the standard 
     legislative phrase for holding land in trust can be 
     reconciled with the President's directive and request that it 
     be withdrawn.


                         2. boundary adjustment

       On page 4 of Director Towns statement on H.R. 2710, the 
     bill introduced in the 104th Congress on this matter, she 
     states that ``the National Forest boundary would need to be 
     statutorily adjusted to exclude the lands transferred . . . 
     .'' Statement of Eleanor Towns before the Committee on 
     Resources Subcommittee on Native American and Insular Affairs 
     (July 17, 1997). The Committee responded by amending the bill 
     to include the statement: ``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.'' House Report No. 762, 104th 
     Cong., 2d Sess. 2 (September 4, 1996). The draft comments 
     from the Forest Service forwarded to us now refer to 
     alleviating the need ``for an administrative boundary 
     adjustment'' by further amending H.R. 79 to read that the 
     boundary ``is hereby adjusted'' instead of ``shall be 
     adjusted.'' This proposal additional amendment appears to us 
     unnecessary; a distinction without a difference. In any 
     event, the Forest Service gives no indication that an 
     administrative adjustment based on the mandate in H.R. 79 
     would be burdensome, complex or anything other than a 
     routine, ministerial action. It makes no sense to burden the 
     legislative process with a cosmetic amendment.


                      3. reservation of easements

       The proposal to reserve easements in the land for Forest 
     Service roads 8N03 and 7N51 is not acceptable. First, the 
     land on which the roads are located was always understood to 
     be the Tribe's. Director Towns and you both stated that your 
     objective is to have this land have the same status as the 
     rest of the Hoopa Valley Reservation. The purpose of H.R. 79 
     is to eliminate a physical dogleg in the reservation 
     boundary. It does not advance the ball to substitute a 
     jurisdictional dogleg for a physical one. Second, Director 
     Towns states that the Tribe's history of providing access 
     across its roads to the non-Indian community whose land would 
     otherwise be inaccessible for timber harvest, recreation, 
     cattle grazing and other uses cannot be considered precedent 
     for how the Tribe will manage the land to be transferred by 
     H.R. 79. That charge is unsupported and unsupportable. The 
     Tribe is baffled, to say the least, by the idea that it would 
     spite landowners in the Six Rivers community by shutting down 
     access to adjacent lands once it obtains jurisdiction over 
     the two roads. We do not know the source of this speculation 
     and have had a very different impression from the local 
     Forest Service personnel. On April 3, the Hoopa Valley Tribe 
     hosted a meeting of the interagency advisory committee for 
     the President's Northwest Forest Plan. At that meeting, 
     Six Rivers Forest Supervisor Martha Kettelle said that she 
     supports the transfer proposed in H.R. 79 and will work 
     with the Tribe upon enactment to build the Service's 
     government-to-government relationship with the Tribe on 
     cooperative access to the roads affected by the transfer. 
     At the end of the day, the proposal to reserve easements, 
     and the speculation underlying it, cannot be reconciled 
     with President Clinton's memorandum on government-to-
     government relationships referred to above in which he 
     instructed government agencies undertaking activities 
     affecting tribal rights or trust resources to implement 
     them in a ``knowledgeable, sensitive manner respectful of 
     tribal sovereignty.''


  4. management consistent with the president's northwest forest plan

       The Hoopa Valley Tribe has adopted a Forest Management Plan 
     for the period 1994-2003 (Tribal Resolution 94-19, April 20, 
     1994) (Hoopa FMP). The Hoopa FMP's development was in part 
     guided by the principles that emerged from the Tribe's 
     collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund in development of 
     an integrated resources management approach to reservation 
     resources. The Hoopa FMP accounts for endangered and 
     threatened species listed pursuant to the Endangered Species 
     Act. The Tribe identified 5 plant and animal species listed 
     under the act that are present, or suspected to occur, on the 
     Hoopa Valley Reservation including the Northern Spotted Owl. 
     The Hoopa FMP's minimum management requirement for listed 
     species includes abiding by 50 C.F.R. Part 17 which sets 
     forth the requirements established by the United States Fish 
     and Wildlife Service for ``surveying, submission of 
     biological assessments on all proposed actions, receiving 
     biological opinions on all proposed actions, and abiding by 
     recovery plans if in effect.'' Hoopa FMP at 26. With specific 
     regard to the spotted owl, the Hoopa FMP provides:
       Meet surveying requirements of the USFWS accepted protocol 
     (March 7, 1991 revised March 17, 1992 and any subsequent 
     revisions). Complete biological assessments including 
     mitigations which address the USFWS past conservation 
     recommendations and any seasonal restrictions necessary then 
     submit to USFWS. If conservation recommendations are not 
     included in a project's planning documents then justify their 
     exclusion in the biological assessment. General timber sale 
     planning will include no harvest of 70 acre owl activity 
     centers unless a Habitat Conservation Plan or other mechanism 
     has been completed and accepted by the USFWS which allows 
     such harvest. Allow no disruptive harvest related activities, 
     such as but not limited to, any harvest activity, road 
     building, tractor piling, burning, thin and release, etc. 
     within 0.25 mile of known activity centers during the 
     breeding season (Feb. 1 to Aug. 1 each year) or until the 
     pair has been determined to be not nesting, or the nesting 
     attempt has failed. Receive biological opinion from USFWS and 
     assure that all guidelines, mitigations and conservation 
     recommendations from the biological assessment (BA) and 
     biological opinion (BO) are adhered to during the 
     implementation of the project--Hoopa FMP at 26-27.

[[Page H3237]]

       On January 10, 1997, the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the Bureau 
     of Indian Affairs requested the Fish and Wildlife Service 
     pursuant to section 7 of the Endangered Species Act to engage 
     in a formal consultation to develop a biological opinion on 
     the Hoopa FMP and its effects on the five species referred to 
     above, including the Northern Spotted Owl. By letter of March 
     12, 1997, the Service transmitted its biological opinion that 
     the implementation of the Hoopa FMP will not jeopardize the 
     Northern Spotted Owl or any of the other listed species 
     (Biological Opinion No. 1-14-97-F-3). This opinion is 
     consistent with the Tribe's policy of using extraordinary 
     care in the Hoopa FMP to protect the reservation plant and 
     wildlife resources. Of course, the land to be transferred by 
     H.R. 79 will be integrated into the Hoopa FMP.
       President Clinton's memorandum on government-to-government 
     relations states that he is ``strongly committed to building 
     a more effective day-to-day working relationship reflecting 
     respect for the rights of self-government due the sovereign 
     tribal governments.'' In this case the Hoopa Valley Tribe has 
     embraced that relationship and worked carefully, 
     professionally, and in the spirit of the federal wildlife 
     conservation effort for the Northern Spotted Owl and all 
     species on the Hoopa Valley Reservation. In view of the Fish 
     and Wildlife Service's conclusion and the President's 
     memorandum on government-to-government relations, the 
     proposal to amend the bill is both unnecessary and 
     inappropriate.
       Finally on this point, we note a practical political 
     consideration. H.R. 79 has been assigned to the Subcommittee 
     on Forests and Forest Health which is chaired by Rep. Helen 
     Chenoweth. Her antipathy toward the President's Northwest 
     Forest Plan is well-known. We are afraid that the proposal to 
     amend H.R. 79 to require the Tribe to manage the land 
     pursuant to the President's plan will be seen by opponents of 
     the Administration as an attempt to use legislation for the 
     benefit of the Tribe as a subterfuge to have Congress affirm 
     the President's plan. If the subcommittee makes the 
     President's plan an issue in H.R. 79, we believe that 
     politics could overwhelm the merits of H.R. 79 and defeat the 
     bill.


                        5. settlement of claims

       This provision for claims waiver is unnecessary and, in any 
     event, over broad. H.R. 79 is not the settlement of a legal 
     claim. This is a policy matter regarding fair and honorable 
     dealings between the United States and the Hoopa Valley 
     Tribe. In addition, the disclaimer refers to events occurring 
     prior to enactment of H.R. 79 unrelated to the south 
     boundary. The Tribe wonders why this clause is in the bill; 
     it would appear to be an attempt to eliminate responsibility 
     for any latent damage to the land such as might have occurred 
     from deposition of toxic chemicals or other activities under 
     the direction of the Forest Service. We know of no such event 
     having occurred and would like to assume that the Forest 
     Service has none in mind either. Also, the final proviso 
     regarding a bar to any compensation for restrictions is 
     unacceptable. It would strip the Tribe of Fifth Amendment 
     protection against loss of property rights caused by 
     Congress' future imposition of land use restrictions that 
     otherwise would be compensable. Seeking this kind of a 
     provision in the bill runs counter to the spirit and 
     substance of the President's memorandum on government-to-
     government relations with the Tribe and would put the Tribe 
     at a disadvantage with respect to all other property owners.


                               conclusion

       I hope you will be persuaded that the Forest Service's 
     recommendations to amend H.R. 79 are not appropriate. I would 
     also encourage you to coordinate with the Department of the 
     Interior on those issues related to the Indian affairs and 
     fish and wildlife programs raised in the draft. The draft 
     proposals are not mere details but go to the heart of the 
     relationship between the Tribe and the United States and the 
     purpose of H.R. 79. Resources Committee Chairman Don Young 
     wrote to Associate OMB Director T.J. Glauthier on March 11 in 
     an extraordinary gesture to move forward expeditiously on 
     H.R. 79. With this favorable reception in the Congress, there 
     is every reason to advance the bill without further delay. 
     Your attention to this is appreciated.
           Sincerely,
                                               Joseph R. Membrino.

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Riggs].
  Mr. RIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Idaho [Mrs. 
Chenoweth], my very good friend and the distinguished chair of the 
Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, for yielding me this time. I 
also want to thank the gentleman from Alaska [Mr. Young], chairman of 
the full Committee on Resources, and of course our Democratic 
colleagues who both last year and this year worked on a cooperative, 
bipartisan basis to help advance this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker and colleagues, the bill before us now on the floor under 
suspension of the rules, I introduced on January 7 of this year, the 
first day of the 105th Congress. It is for me a very high personal 
legislative priority, because it would convey to the Hoopa Valley tribe 
in Humboldt County, CA, land to restore the tribe's reservation to its 
original intended, agreed-upon boundary. This boundary is intended to 
be a perfect square.
  This legislation is virtually identical to House Resolution 2710, 
which I sponsored in the last Congress. That bill passed the House by a 
voice vote on September 11, 1996. It was then cleared on a bipartisan 
basis for unanimous-consent approval by the Senate, and a 
representative of the Clinton administration wrote that the President 
would sign the bill. However, to my great regret, the Senate adjourned 
for the year and for the Congress before the legislation could be acted 
upon. Again, that is why I have made this legislation a high priority 
for action this year and why I greatly appreciate the help and support 
of my colleagues in moving this legislation.
  As my colleagues have heard, the bill would transfer to become a 
permanent part of the Hoopa Valley Reservation, part of the tribe's 
tribal lands, approximately 2,641 acres of land that is now held by the 
U.S. Forest Service. For as long as 10,000 years, the Hoopa Valley 
Tribe has lived in the Hoopa Valley, beginning their settlement at the 
mouth of the Trinity River Canyon. As early as 1851, a proposed treaty 
would have established a reservation actually encompassing an area 
larger than the present reservation.
  Although Congress conveyed 93,000 acres of land to the tribe in the 
1800's, the boundary survey excluded over 2,600 acres that belonged to 
the tribe at that time. In restoring that land, the 2,600 acres at the 
southeast corner of what otherwise would be a 12-mile square, the bill 
would eliminate a dogleg in the south boundary in the present 
reservation correcting this action.
  This irregular dogleg in the boundary was apparently done to 
accommodate some non-Indian miners in the area who were pursuing State 
claims, and although those claims soon played out and the miners left 
the area, this boundary was never changed and this inequity was never 
corrected.
  The land is administered, as I mentioned, by the Forest Service. It 
is part of the Six Rivers National Forest. The original timber on the 
parcel was sold off by the end of the 1970's to the benefit of the 
Federal Treasury and Federal taxpayers. The area to be transferred 
includes Tish-Tang Camp Ground, a Forest Service facility. The Hoopa 
Valley Tribe has stated publicly, and I believe that this is a very 
firm commitment, that it will continue to operate Tish-Tang as a public 
campground. This will be particularly important if budget reductions 
necessitate reductions in the Forest Service campground operations and 
maintenance.
  Furthermore, the tribe has assured that public access to the gravel 
bar at Tish-Tang in the Trinity River will continue. This is very 
important to local citizens, my constituents in the community of Willow 
Creek, which neighbors or borders the reservation. It is also important 
to the people who regularly use the river for recreational and business 
purposes.
  Some minor amendments, Mr. Speaker, have been made to the bill in 
committee, and the administration has indicated it can approve the 
measure in this form, as the distinguished ranking member indicated.
  Mr. Speaker, members of the tribe have long been outstanding stewards 
of California's north coast environment, and they have been recognized 
for their efforts to help restore fish and wildlife habitat in the 
Trinity River Basin. This transfer proposed by this bill would permit 
the tribe's long-standing land management and economic development 
policies to be extended to the restored lands, the lands to now be 
assumed by the tribe.
  The boundary should be adjusted to reflect the original intent of 
Congress. This is a matter of basic fairness and return to the members 
of the tribe what is truly theirs, and I urge my colleagues' approval 
of the bill.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  At this time I would be remiss if I do not express my sense of 
commendation to the ranking member of the subcommittee, the gentleman 
from New York [Mr. Hinchey] certainly for his

[[Page H3238]]

contributions and his attentiveness to these measures, three measures 
previously that we passed and H.R. 79 that is now up for consideration. 
I certainly thank the ranking Democrat on this side of the aisle, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Miller].
  It is my understanding, Mr. Speaker, that this is the first 
opportunity that the gentlewoman from Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth], the 
chairman of the subcommittee, has had to manage these four pieces of 
legislation, and I want to add my commendation to the gentlewoman for 
her leadership and certainly for successfully bringing these four 
pieces of legislation to fruition. Certainly I have a very strong 
feeling that it will have the support of our colleagues here on the 
floor of the House.
  Again, I commend the gentlewoman for her fine leadership in bringing 
these pieces of legislation for consideration.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I want to thank the gentleman from American Samoa [Mr. Faleomavaega] 
for his fine comments and also thank him for his time and his efforts 
in helping our committee be successful in ushering these bills through. 
Without his good work, it could not have happened.
  I also want to thank the gentleman from New York [Mr. Hinchey], our 
ranking minority member, for his good work.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Idaho [Mrs. Chenoweth] that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 79, 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.

                          ____________________