[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.
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