[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 16, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H6874]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       LAKE TAHOE BASIN MANAGEMENT UNIT, NEVADA, LAND CONVEYANCE

  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 74) 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.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 74

       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.
       (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.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Nevada (Mr. Gibbons) and the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons).
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 74 directs the Secretary of 
Agriculture to convey a 24-acre parcel of land in the national forest 
system at Lake Tahoe to the Secretary of Interior who will then hold it 
in trust for the benefit of the Washoe Tribe of the California and 
Nevada Paiute Indians. The tribe will use the property for customary 
and traditional cultural purposes just as they did when their ancestral 
homelands encompassed a 5,000-square-mile area around the Lake Tahoe 
Basin.
  H.R. 74 was developed after a 1997 meeting among Federal, State and 
local officials who recognized the tribe's historic connection to the 
area before it was included in the national forest system. Under the 
bill, permanent residential development or commercial use is 
prohibited. It also contains provisions designed to ensure the 
continuation of public and administrative access to adjacent national 
forest lands. The tribe will also receive an easement to permit 
vehicular access on a forest development road for access to the 
property for safety and administrative purposes and for the convenience 
of tribal members who have difficulty walking.
  This legislation has been passed by the House or the Senate in 
different forms in the last two Congresses. It is time now for this 
bill to be passed into law. I am hopeful that it will arrive on the 
President's desk this year so the people of the Washoe Tribe will 
finally be able to enjoy a piece of their rich cultural heritage.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  H.R. 74 directs the Secretary to convey without consideration 
approximately 24 acres of lakefront property in the Lake Tahoe Basin 
Management Unit to the Washoe Tribe of Nevada. The land to be conveyed 
was part of the Washoe Tribe's 5,000-square-mile ancestral home in the 
vicinity of Lake Tahoe. The tribe has historically gathered along the 
shore of Lake Tahoe for traditional and cultural purposes. H.R. 74 
requires the tribe to limit its use of the land to traditional and 
customary uses and to prohibit development and commercial use of the 
site. The tribe must also comply with environmental regulations that 
are no less protective than those of the Tahoe Regional Plan.
  Finally, the bill provides for an easement to the United States and a 
reciprocal easement to the tribe over a forest road and has a 
reversionary clause.
  In past Congresses, the same bill has passed both Houses but failed 
to become law. I urge my colleagues to vote for this legislation. I 
congratulate the gentleman from Nevada for his hard work and leadership 
on this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a brief moment to 
thank my friend and colleague from New Mexico for his support and 
leadership on this important bill as well.
  I urge a positive vote on this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 74.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________