[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 48 (Wednesday, April 4, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3442-S3443]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REID (for himself and Mr. Ensign):
  S. 691. 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.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Washoe Tribe 
Lake Tahoe Access Act.
  I introduced this bill in the 106th Congress, and it passed in the 
Senate with unanimous consent. The bill subsequently passed the House 
with unrelated amendments. Unfortunately, due to a shortage of time, 
the two versions of the bill were never reconciled and neither version 
became law. Although the bill was introduced just last year, it has a 
much longer history to it. In 1997, I help convene a Presidential Forum 
to discuss the future of the Lake Tahoe basin. A diverse group of 
Federal, State, and local government leaders addressed the challenges 
facing 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 ``Presidential Forum 
Deliverables''. These Deliverables include a commitment to support 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.
  The ancestral homeland of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California 
included an area of over 5,000 square miles in and around the Lake 
Tahoe basin. 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 horticultural and ethno-
botany, subsistence gathering, traditional learning, and reunification 
of tribal and family bonds forever. The parties that participated in 
the Lake Tahoe Presidential Forum endorsed this important bill, and 
nearly four years later, the concept embodied by this bill continues to 
enjoy broad support. For example, the Lake Tahoe Gaming Alliance had 
indicated its support for this bill. The lands conveyed by this bill to 
the Washoe Tribe would be managed in accordance with the Lake Tahoe 
Regional Plan, and would not preclude or hinder public access around 
the lake.
  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 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. The provision of this bill prohibiting development 
of this land was specifically requested by leaders of the Washoe Tribe. 
The bill provides that if the Tribe attempts to exploit the land for 
any commercial development purpose, title to the land will revert to 
the Secretary of Agriculture. Again this is a safeguard, not just 
agreed to by the Washoe Tribe, but suggested by them. Finally, I would 
like to highlight the fact that Senator Ensign of Nevada joins me today 
to introduce this important bill. I know that Senator Ensign values the 
wonders of Lake Tahoe, and his support for this bill will help ensure 
that the Washoe Tribe will one day call the shores of Lake Tahoe home 
once again.
  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. 691

       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 Act 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 National 
     Forest System 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 
     ethnobotany, subsistence gathering, traditional learning, and 
     reunification of tribal and family bonds.

[[Page S3443]]

       (c) Conveyance on Condition Subsequent.--Subject to valid 
     existing rights, the easement reserved under subsection (d), 
     and the condition stated in subsection (e), 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.--
       (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, to be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture.
       (2) Access by individuals with disabilities.--The Secretary 
     of Agriculture 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) Condition on 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 for the benefit 
     of the Tribe;
       (B) shall not permit any permanent residential or 
     recreational development on, or commercial use of, the parcel 
     (including commercial development, tourist accommodations, 
     gaming, sale of timber, or mineral extraction); and
       (C) 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) Termination and 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--
       (A) title to the parcel in the Secretary of the Interior, 
     in trust for the Tribe, shall terminate; and
       (B) title to the parcel shall revert to the Secretary of 
     Agriculture.
                                 ______