[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 77 (Monday, June 19, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5361-S5363]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. REID:
  S. 2749. A bill to establish the California Trail Interpretive Center 
in Elko, Nevada, to facilitate the interpretation of the history of 
development and use of trails in the setting of the western portion of 
the United States; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.


                   california trail interpretive act

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the California 
Trail Interpretive Act.
  The nineteenth century westward emigration on the California National 
Historic Trail, which occurred from 1840 until the completion of the 
transcontinental railroad in 1869, was an important cultural and 
historical era in the settlement of the West. This influx of settlers 
contributed to the development of lands in the western United States by 
Americans and immigrants and to the prevention of colonization of the 
west coast by Russia and the British Empire. More than 300,000 settlers 
traveled the California Trail and many documented their amazing 
experiences in detailed journals. Under the National Trails System Act, 
the Secretary of Interior may establish interpretation centers to 
document and celebrate pioneer trails such as the California National 
Historic Trail. In Nevada, Elko County alone contains over 435 miles of 
National Historic Trails.
  Mr. President, recognition and interpretation of the pioneer 
experience on the Trail is appropriate in light of Americans' strong 
interest in understanding our history and heritage. Those who pursue 
Western Americana, and thousands do, will find physical evidence of the 
documented hardships facing the original pioneers. One pioneer journal 
bemoaned the death of an elderly lady traveling west with her family. 
Her grave and its marker are in evidence in the Beowawe Cemetery near 
the trail river crossing known as Gravely Ford for those searching for 
historical confirmation. And, if the present-day explorers choose to 
walk part of the California Trail, they may do so at this place. To the 
east of this river crossing is around five miles of undisturbed trail 
that leads down from what is known as ``Emigrant Pass''.
  This Act authorizes the planning, construction and operation of a 
visitor center. The cooperative parties include the State of Nevada, 
the Advisory Board for the National Historic California Emigrant Trails 
Interpretive Center, Elko County, the City of Elko, and Bureau of Land 
Management.
  This interpretive center will be located near the city of Elko, in 
northeastern Nevada. The location is the junction of the California 
Trail and the Hastings Cutoff. The ill-fated Reed-Donner party spent an 
additional 31 days meandering over the so-called Hastings Cutoff route; 
precious time wasted that kept them from crossing the deadly Sierra 
Nevada before winter struck in 1846.
  This act will recognize the California Trail, including the Hastings 
Cutoff, for its national historical and cultural significance through 
the construction of an interpretive facility devoted to the vital role 
of Pioneer trails in the West in the development of the United States.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the full text of the bill 
be printed in the Record.
  Thank you, Mr. President, I yield the floor
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2749

       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 ``California Trail 
     Interpretive Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) the nineteenth century westward movement in the United 
     States over the California National Historic Trail, which 
     occurred from 1840 until the completion of the 
     transcontinental railroad in 1869, was an important cultural 
     and historical event in--
       (A) the development of the western land of the United 
     States; and
       (B) the prevention of colonization of the west coast by 
     Russia and the British Empire;
       (2) the movement over the California Trail was completed by 
     over 300,000 settlers, many of whom left records or stories 
     of their journeys; and
       (3) additional recognition and interpretation of the 
     movement over the California Trail is appropriate in light 
     of--
       (A) the national scope of nineteenth century westward 
     movement in the United States; and
       (B) the strong interest expressed by people of the United 
     States in understanding their history and heritage.
       (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
       (1) to recognize the California Trail, including the 
     Hastings Cutoff and the trail of the ill-fated Donner-Reed 
     Party, for its national, historical, and cultural 
     significance; and
       (2) to provide the public with an interpretive facility 
     devoted to the vital role of trails in the West in the 
     development of the United States.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) California trail.--The term ``California Trail'' means 
     the California National Historic Trail, established under 
     section 5(a)(18) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 
     1244(a)(18)).
       (2) Center.--The term ``Center'' means the California Trail 
     Interpretive Center established under section 4(a).
       (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of 
     Land Management.
       (4) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of Nevada.

     SEC. 4. CALIFORNIA TRAIL INTERPRETIVE CENTER.

       (a) Establishment.--
       (1) In general.--In furtherance of the purposes of section 
     7(c) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1246(c)), 
     the Secretary may establish an interpretation center to be 
     known as the ``California Trail Interpretive Center'', near 
     the city of Elko, Nevada.
       (2) Purpose.--The Center shall established be for the 
     purpose of interpreting the history of development and use of 
     the California Trail in the settling of the West.
       (b) Master Plan Study.--To carry out subsection (a), the 
     Secretary shall--
       (1) consider the findings of the master plan study for the 
     California Trail Interpretive Center in Elko, Nevada, as 
     authorized by page 15 of Senate Report 106-99; and
       (2) initiate a plan for the development of the Center that 
     includes--
       (A) a detailed description of the design of the Center;
       (B) a description of the site on which the Center is to be 
     located;
       (C) a description of the method and estimated cost of 
     acquisition of the site on which the Center is to be located;
       (D) the estimated cost of construction of the Center;
       (E) the cost of operation and maintenance of the Center; 
     and
       (F) a description of the manner and extent to which non-
     Federal entities shall participate in the acquisition and 
     construction of the Center.
       (c) Implementation.--To carry out subsection (a), the 
     Secretary may--
       (1) acquire land and interests in land for the construction 
     of the Center by--
       (A) donation;
       (B) purchase with donated or appropriated funds; or
       (C) exchange;
       (2) provide for local review of and input concerning the 
     development and operation of the Center by the Advisory Board 
     for the National Historic California Emigrant Trails 
     Interpretive Center of the city of Elko, Nevada;
       (3) periodically prepare a budget and funding request that 
     allows a Federal agency to carry out the maintenance and 
     operation of the Center;
       (4) enter into a cooperative agreement with--
       (A) the State, to provide assistance in--
       (i) removal of snow from roads;
       (ii) rescue, firefighting, and law enforcement services; 
     and
       (iii) coordination of activities of nearby law enforcement 
     and firefighting departments or agencies; and
       (B) a Federal, State, or local agency to develop or operate 
     facilities and services to carry out this Act; and
       (5) notwithstanding any other provision of law, accept 
     donations of funds, property, or services from an individual, 
     foundation, corporation, or public entity to provide a 
     service or facility that is consistent with this Act, as 
     determined by the Secretary, including 1-time contributions 
     for the Center (to be payable during construction funding 
     periods for the Center after the date of enactment of this 
     Act) from--
       (A) the State, in the amount of $3,000,000;
       (B) Elko County, Nevada, in the amount of $1,000,000; and
       (C) the city of Elko, Nevada, in the amount of $2,000,000.

     SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
     Act $12,000,000.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. REID:
  S. 2750. A bill to direct the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection

[[Page S5362]]

Agency, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of Agriculture, and 
the Secretary of the Interior to participate constructively in the 
implementation of the Las Vegas Wash Wetland Restoration and Lake Mead 
Water Quality Improvement Project, Nevada; to the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works.


    las vegas wash wetland restoration and lake mead water quality 
                        improvement act of 2000

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce today the Las 
Vegas Wash Wetland Restoration and Lake Mead Water Quality Improvement 
Act of 2000. This bill is important for Nevada's families and for the 
environment, because water is our most precious natural resource.
  My bill is the product of a visionary, locally-led initiative 
designed to develop and implement a plan that would enhance and protect 
water quality in the Las Vegas basin.
  Importantly, my bill would safeguard southern Nevada's water supply 
and improve the unique desert wetlands environment of the Las Vegas 
Wash.
  I would like to review some of the history that contributed to the 
development of this bill.
  In 1998, in response to a recommendation by a citizens' water quality 
advisory committee, the Las Vegas Wash Coordination Committee was 
formed to develop a comprehensive Adaptive Management Plan (AMP) for 
the Las Vegas Wash ecosystem.
  The AMP, which was developed by the Las Vegas Wash Coordinating 
Committee over the past two years and approved early this year by the 
Southern Nevada Water Authority, represents a vision for how local, 
State, and Federal stakeholders can work together to achieve shared 
water quality and ecosystem restoration goals in the Las Vegas basin.
  First and foremost, the AMP is a locally-driven strategy. The 
stakeholder working group, coordinated by the Southern Nevada Water 
Authority and comprised of 28 groups, contributed their varied 
perspectives and good ideas to the development of this plan.
  A draft of the AMP was published for public comment in October 1999. 
In January 2000, the Southern Nevada Water Authority finalized and 
approved the AMP.
  Chief among the recommendations in the AMP was the call for 
development of a partnership consisting of local, State, Federal 
agencies with interests in the Las Vegas Wash ecosystem.
  I view this plan as a Nevada solution to a tremendous local challenge 
of accelerated erosion and deteriorating water quality.
  I commend the local, State, and Federal stakeholders that helped 
create the AMP for their hard work, cooperation, and dedication to 
improving Southern Nevada's environment for Nevada's families today and 
for future generations.
  The Federal government, by virtue of its land ownership in Nevada and 
responsibilities at Lake Mead, has an obligation to help make the plan 
work.
  In addition, the Federal government is uniquely responsible for the 
perchlorate contamination which contributes to the groundwater 
contamination that pollutes Las Vegas Wash run-off.
  My bill directs the relevant Federal agencies to participate in 
efforts to restore Las Vegas Wash and protect Lake Mead's water 
quality. These agencies include: the Environmental Protection Agency, 
the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the National 
Park Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Fish and 
Wildlife Service, and the Army Corps of Engineers.
  I hope that the Senate will move quickly to consider and pass this 
bill so that Federal agencies can become full partners in the effort to 
rehabilitate and conserve the Las Vegas Wash desert ecosystem and to 
improve water quality in southern Nevada's most heavily used watershed.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. REID:
  S. 2751. 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; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources.


                washoe tribe land conveyance legislation

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Washoe Tribe 
Lake Tahoe Access Act.
  In 1997, I helped convene a Presidential Forum at Lake Tahoe to 
discuss the future of the Lake Tahoe Basin. Together with President 
Clinton, Federal, State, and local government leaders, we addressed the 
protection of the extraordinary natural, recreational, and ecological 
resources of the Lake Tahoe region. Goals and an action plan developed 
during the Lake Tahoe Forum were codified as the ``Presidential Forum 
Deliverables.'' These Deliverables included supporting the traditional 
and customary use of the Lake Tahoe Basin by the Washoe Tribe. Perhaps, 
most importantly, the Deliverables include a provision designed to 
provide the Washoe Tribe access to the shore of Lake Tahoe for cultural 
purposes.
  Mr. President, the ancestral homeland of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada 
and California included an area of over 10,000 square miles in and 
around Lake Tahoe. The purpose of this Act is to ensure that the 
members of the Washoe Tribe have the opportunity to engage in 
traditional and customary cultural practices on the shore of Lake Tahoe 
including spiritual renewal, land stewardship, Washoe horticulture and 
ethnobotany, subsistence gathering, traditional learning, and 
reunification of tribal and family bonds as was envisioned by the 
parties involved in the Lake Tahoe Presidential Forum.
  Mr. President, this Act will convey 24.3 acres from the Secretary of 
Agriculture to the Secretary of the Interior to be held in trust for 
the Washoe Tribe. This is land located within the Lake Tahoe Basin 
Management Unit north of Skunk Harbor, Nevada. The land in question 
would be conveyed with the expectation that it would be used for 
traditional and customary uses and stewardship conservation of the 
Washoe Tribe and will not permit any commercial use. In the unlikely 
event this land were used for any commercial development purpose, title 
to the land will revert to the Secretary of Agriculture. It is my 
sincere hope that Congress will pass this bill thereby making the 
Presidential Deliverables of the Lake Tahoe forum a reality by ensuring 
that the Washoe Tribe once again enjoy access to Lake Tahoe.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2751

       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.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) the ancestral homeland of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada 
     and California (referred to in this section 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;
       (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;
       (3) the meetings were held to address protection of the 
     extraordinary natural, recreational, and ecological resources 
     in the Lake Tahoe region;
       (4) the resulting multiagency agreement includes objectives 
     that support the traditional and customary uses of Forest 
     Service land by the Tribe; and
       (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.
       (b) 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 
     ethnobotony, subsistence gathering, traditional learning, and 
     reunification of tribal and family bonds.
       (c) Conveyance.--Subject to valid existing rights and 
     subject to the easement reserved under subsection (d), 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.
       (d) Easement.--

[[Page S5363]]

       (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.
       (2) Access by individuals with disabilities.--The Secretary 
     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.
       (e) 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 of the Tribe and 
     not permit any commercial use (including commercial 
     development, residential development, gaming, sale of timber, 
     or mineral extraction); and
       (B) 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) 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, title to the parcel shall revert to the 
     Secretary of Agriculture.

                          ____________________