99–010 

Calendar No. 664 

111TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 111–356 

A BILL TO SETTLE LAND CLAIMS WITHIN THE FORT 

HALL RESERVATION 

DECEMBER 2, 2010.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. DORGAN, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 2802] 

The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the bill 

(S. 2802) to settle land claims within the Fort Hall Reservation, 

having considered the same, reports favorably thereon, and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 2802 is to settle pending land claim disputes 

occurring between the Shoshone-Bannock Indian Tribes of the Fort 

Hall Indian Reservation and certain non-Indian landowners. 

BACKGROUND

The Fort Hall Reservation was established by Executive Order in 

1867 and confirmed in the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868. The Blackfoot River was established as the northern boundary of the Fort 

Hall Reservation. The land disputes in question arose as a consequence of the realignment of the Blackfoot River by the Corps of 

Engineers in 1964 to address flow and periodic flooding issues. Following the realignment, 25 parcels of land (approximately 37.04 

acres of individually and tribally-owned land) ended up on the 

north side of the river, outside of the reservation boundary, and 19 

parcels (approximately 31.01 acres) of non-Indian owned land 

ended up on the south side of the River, within that boundary. 

Over the years, these parcels of land have remained idle due to 

lack of access. 

In the late 1980s, the Snake River Basin Adjudication began decreeing water rights on all streams and rivers within the Snake 


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River Basin in Idaho, which includes the Blackfoot River basin. 

Several non-Indian landowners whose lands were affected by the 

realignment of the Blackfoot River asserted claims that their place 

of use was on the Fort Hall Reservation. The Shoshone-Bannock 

Tribes filed objections to those claims which resulted in litigation 

currently pending as part of the Snake River Basin Adjudication. 

NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

S. 2802 embodies the terms of a negotiated settlement among the 

parties, including the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, the non-Indian 

litigants, and the State of Idaho. Congressional approval of the settlement agreement is required to extinguish claims and title to 

land, to place land into trust and to appropriate funds. Further, 

without legislation the pending legal proceedings will resume, resulting in lengthy and costly litigation for all affected parties. 

S. 2802 would resolve the land ownership disputes and extinguish claims relating to the ownership of lands and water rights. 

These ownership disputes would be resolved by conveying title to 

the lands within the Reservation to the United States to hold in 

trust for the Tribe or Indian allottee, and by conveying title to the 

lands outside the reservation boundaries to the Black River Flood 

Control District No. 7 for re-conveyance to the non-Indian landowners. 

The legislation would authorize $1 million to compensate both 

the Indian and non-Indian landowners for years of trespass and the 

value of their lands. The compensation would be divided as follows: 

(1) twenty-eight percent to be deposited into a tribal trust fund account from which amounts shall be distributed to the Tribes for activities related to construction of natural resources facilities, water 

resources needs, economic development, and land acquisition; (2) 

twenty-five percent to be paid into individual Indian money accounts for the allottees; and (3) forty-seven percent to be provided 

to the Blackfoot River Flood Control District No. 7 for distribution 

to the non-Indian landowners on a pro rata, per acre basis and for 

associated administrative expenses. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

On November 19, 2009, Senator Crapo, for himself and Senator 

Risch, introduced S. 2802, which was referred to the Committee on 

Indian Affairs. On February 4, 2010, a companion bill, H.R. 4613, 

was introduced in the House by Congressman Michael K. Simpson 

for himself and Congressman Walter Minnick. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. 

On April 29, 2010, the Committee on Indian Affairs held a legislative hearing to consider S. 2802 and other measures. On June 10, 

2010, the Committee on Indian Affairs convened a business meeting to consider S. 2802 and other measures, and Senator Crapo offered technical amendments to the original bill. The Committee approved the amendment and the bill, by voice vote, and ordered the 

bill reported to the full Senate with the recommendation that the 

bill, as amended, do pass. 


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SUMMARY OF THE AMENDMENT

The amendment, offered by Senator Crapo, made technical 

changes to the bill to ensure that exhibits and other references 

were correctly stated and referenced, to make grammatical corrections, and to accurately reflect the confirmation year of the Second 

Treaty of Fort Bridger. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION OF S. 2802 AS AMENDED

Section 1. Short title 

The short title of the Act is the ‘‘Blackfoot River Land Settlement 

Act of 2009.’’ 

Section 2. Findings; Purposes 

This section sets out the findings that led to the introduction of 

this Act. The findings include references to the 1964 Corp of Engineers flood protection project on the Blackfoot River, which realigned the River so that certain parcels of non-Indian land ended 

up being located within the reservation boundaries and certain Indian lands ended up located outside of the reservation boundaries. 

The findings also note that the affected parties have filed claims 

in the Snake River Basin Adjudication seeking water rights based 

on the realignment of the Blackfoot River. 

Section 2 also states that the purpose of the Act is to resolve the 

disputes resulting from the realignment of the Blackfoot River by 

the Corps of Engineers in 1964, and to achieve a fair, equitable, 

and final settlement of all claims arising from those disputes. 

Section 3. Definitions 

This section defines the key terms in this Act. The defined terms 

are ‘‘Indian land,’’ ‘‘non-Indian land,’’ ‘‘Realigned River,’’ ‘‘River,’’ 

‘‘Reservation,’’ ‘‘Non-Indian Landowner,’’ and ‘‘allottee.’’ 

Section 4. Extinguishment of Claims and Title 

Section 4 provides that all claims, past, present, and future will 

be extinguished on the date on which appropriations are distributed in accordance with this Act, unless specifically exempted by 

another section of this Act. 

Section 5. Land to be Placed Into Trust for Tribes 

Section 5 states that upon distribution of the funds appropriated 

in this Act, that the non-Indian lands shall be held in trust by the 

United States for the benefit of the Tribes. 

Section 6. Trust Land to be Converted to Fee Land 

This section provides that upon distribution of the funds appropriated in the Act, that the Indian lands, as defined by the Act, will 

be transferred to the Blackfoot River Flood Control District No. 7 

for conveyance to the non-Indians acquiring Indian lands. 

Section 7. Tribal trust fund account and allottee trust account 

This section provides for the establishment of a ‘‘tribal trust fund 

account’’ in the Treasury of the United States which shall be invested for the benefit of the Tribes. The funds in the account are 

to be distributed based upon a budget adopted by the Tribes which 


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describes the amounts required and intended uses of the funds. 

The funds may be used for construction of a natural resources facility; water resources needs; economic development; land acquisition; 

and other such purposes that the Tribes determine to be appropriate. A separate account, the ‘‘allottee trust account,’’ is to be set 

up in the Treasury of the United States, which must be invested 

by the Secretary of the Treasury and deposited into the individual 

Indian money accounts for the affected allottees no later than 60 

days after which funds are deposited into the allottee trust account. 

Section 8. Attorneys fees 

This section states that the Secretary of the Interior shall pay 

the attorneys fees of the Tribes and the non-Indian landowners, 

and the total amount of attorneys fees paid shall not exceed two 

percent of the total amounts distributed to the Tribes, allottees, 

and non-Indian landowners. 

Section 9. Effect on original reservation boundary 

This section confirms that nothing in the Act affects the original 

boundaries of the Reservation as established by Executive Order in 

1867 and confirmed by Treaty in 1868. 

Section 10. Effect on Tribal Water Rights 

This section confirms that nothing in the Act extinguishes or conveys any water rights of the Tribes as established in the ‘‘1990 Fort 

Hall Indian Water Rights Agreement,’’ ratified by section 4 of the 

Fort Hall Indian Water Rights Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101–602). 

Section 11. Disclaimers regarding claims. 

This section confirms that nothing in this Act affects the sovereign claim of the State of Idaho to title in and to the beds and 

banks of the Blackfoot River under the equal footing doctrine; affects any action by the State of Idaho under the Quiet Title Act; 

affects the ability of the Tribes or the United States to claim ownership of the beds and banks of the River; or extinguishes or conveys any water rights of non-Indian landowners or the claims of 

such landowners to water rights in the Snake River Water Basin. 

Section 12. Funding 

This section authorizes appropriations in the amount of $1 million to be distributed among the Tribes, the allottees, and the 

Blackfoot River Flood Control District No. 7 in the following manner: (1) twenty-eight percent to be distributed to the tribal trust 

fund account; (2) twenty-five percent to be distributed to the allottee trust fund account; and (3) forty-seven percent to be distributed 

to the Blackfoot River Flood Control District No. 7 for distribution 

to the non-Indian landowners and associated administrative expenses. This section also states that funds distributed under this 

Act shall not be used for per capita payments to tribal members. 

Section 13. Effective date 

This section makes the Act effective on the date on which the appropriations described in Section 12 are appropriated. 


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COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

On June 10, 2010, the Committee on Indian Affairs convened a 

business meeting to consider S. 2802 and other measures. Senator 

Crapo offered technical amendments to the original bill. The 

amendment was approved by the Committee by voice vote. The 

Committee ordered the bill reported to the full Senate with the recommendation that the bill, as amended, do pass. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following cost estimate was prepared for S. 2802, as provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office on September 21, 2010: 

S. 2802—Blackfoot River Land Settlement Act of 2009 

S. 2802 would authorize the appropriation of $1 million to settle 

a land dispute between the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and certain 

non-Indian landowners in southeastern Idaho. Based on information from the Department of the Interior (DOI) and assuming the 

availability of appropriated funds, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would cost $1 million over the 2011–2015 

period. Enacting the legislation would not affect direct spending or 

revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

Under the bill, DOI would exchange 37 acres of Indian trust land 

for 31 acres of private land that would be held in trust for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. The bill also would authorize the appropriation of $1 million to settle certain claims made against the federal 

government. Of those amounts, about $710,000 would be paid to individual Indian and private landowners as compensation for damages resulting from certain federal activities. An additional 

$270,000 would be held in trust for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes 

by the U.S. Treasury. The tribes would have the authority to spend 

those amounts at their own discretion. Finally, up to $20,000 of the 

authorized amounts would be available to pay attorneys’ fees for 

the tribes and the non-Indian landowners. 

By requiring the exchange of lands through federal statute, S. 

2802 would impose both intergovernmental and private-sector mandates, as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA), 

on tribal and nontribal land owners. The bill would terminate 

rights to certain parcels of land surrounding the Blackfoot River 

and extinguish any past, present, or future claims on that land. 

The cost of the mandates would be the forgone damages that could 

have been collected through legal actions related to the property 

and the net value of the land being exchanged by the federal government. In a market study used by DOI, the value of the land is 

estimated to be less than $500,000. Therefore, CBO estimates that 

the aggregate cost of the mandates would fall well below the annual thresholds established in UMRA for both intergovernmental 

and private-sector mandates ($70 million and $141 million, respectively, in 2010, adjusted annually for inflation). 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Jeff LaFave (for federal costs), Melissa Merrell (for the intergovernmental impact), and 

Marin Randall (for the private-sector impact). The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget 

Analysis. 


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EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The Committee received a letter on August 2, 2010, from the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, Larry Echo 

Hawk, with the Department of the Interior expressing the Department’s views on S. 2802. The Committee also received a letter on 

September 2, 2010, from the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in response 

to the Department’s views, which will be kept on file with the Committee. The Department of the Interior’s letter is below: 


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REGULATORY AND PAPERWORK IMPACT STATEMENT

Paragraph 11(b) of rule XDXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate requires each report accompanying a bill to evaluate the regulatory and paperwork impact that would be incurred in carrying 

out the bill. The Committee believes that S. 2802 will have a minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork requirements. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee finds that the enactment of S. 

2802 will not make any changes in existing law. 

Æ 


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