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91–817 PDF 2014

S. HRG. 113–509 

S. 1603, S. 1818, S. 2040, S. 2041, AND S. 

2188 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

MAY 7, 2014 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Indian Affairs 

( 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 

JON TESTER, Montana, Chairman 

JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming, Vice Chairman 

TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

AL FRANKEN, Minnesota 

MARK BEGICH, Alaska 

BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska 

JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota 

MIKE CRAPO, Idaho 

DEB FISCHER, Nebraska 

MARY J. PAVEL, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

RHONDA HARJO, Minority Deputy Chief Counsel 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Hearing held on May 7, 2014 ................................................................................. 1 

Statement of Senator Barrasso ............................................................................... 2 

Statement of Senator Crapo ................................................................................... 5 

Statement of Senator Moran .................................................................................. 3 

Statement of Senator Tester ................................................................................... 1 

WITNESSES

Cladoosby, Hon. Brian, President, National Congress of American Indians ...... 19 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 21 

Lowery, Hon. Elwood, Chairman, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe ........................... 50 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 52 

Small, Hon. Nathan, Chairman, Fort Hall Business Council, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes ........................................................................................................... 23 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 27 

Sprague, Hon. David ‘‘D.K.’’, Chairman, Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band 

of Pottawatomi Indians ....................................................................................... 55 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 56 

Washburn, Hon. Kevin, Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs, U.S. Department 

of the Interior ....................................................................................................... 7 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 8 

APPENDIX

Cate, Matthew, Executive Director, California State Association of Counties, 

prepared statement .............................................................................................. 65 

Feinstein, Hon. Dianne, U.S. Senator from California, prepared statement ...... 63 

Heller, Hon. Dean, U.S. Senator from Nevada, prepared statement .................. 63 

Letters submitted for the record submitted by: 

Cyndi Hillery .................................................................................................... 71 

Dianne Jacob ..................................................................................................... 77 

Cheryl Schmit ................................................................................................... 72 

Reid, Hon. Harry, U.S. Senator from Nevada, prepared statement .................... 65 

Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Lisa Murkowski to Hon. 

Kevin Washburn .................................................................................................. 79 

(1) 

S. 1603, S. 1818, S. 2040, S. 2041, AND S. 2188 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 2014 

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:30 p.m. in room 

628, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Jon Tester, 

Chairman of the Committee, presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JON TESTER, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA 

The CHAIRMAN. Welcome, and the Committee will come to order. 

This afternoon the Committee is holding a legislative hearing on 

five bills affecting lands in Indian Country. 

Before I get started, I want to take a moment to recognize a tribal leader that we lost earlier this week, Billy Frank. Billy fought 

tirelessly on behalf of tribes to help protect and preserve fishing 

rights for tribes in the northwest and throughout Indian Country. 

His efforts led to a greater collaboration between tribes, State and 

the Federal Government. He was a true leader. 

It seems appropriate that while we are discussing land and 

water rights today, we acknowledge the legacy of such a great inspiration to so many folks throughout Indian Country. 

Turning to the business at hand, we are going to first discuss S. 

2188, which would reaffirm the Secretary of Interior’s authority to 

take land into trust for all federally-recognized tribes. This authority was first established in the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 

and was intended to reverse the impacts of the allotment era, 

which led to tribes losing nearly 80 percent of the lands promised 

to them through treaties, executive orders and Congressional acts. 

This authority was recently called into question when the Supreme Court issued its decision in Carcieri v. Salazar in 2009. The 

Carcieri decision went against 75 years of administrative precedent 

and has created two classes of tribes. Since the decision came 

down, tribes, tribal organizations and other stakeholders from 

throughout Indian Country have asked this Committee to bring 

certainty and equality back to the land in trust process. 

The impacts of the Carcieri decision have resulted in lost economic opportunities, stalled tribal infrastructure projects, increased 

litigation and bureaucratic delays at the Department of Interior 

and disparate treatment of tribes. 

For all these reasons, I have introduced S. 2188 to ensure that 

all tribes are able to continue reacquiring their homelands and creVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:56 Dec 17, 2014 Jkt 091817 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\DOCS\91817.TXT JACK
2 

ate economic development opportunities for their communities. 

Senator Moran has joined me and others are co-sponsoring this bill. 

And we will hear from our colleagues as Senator Moran has joined 

us today, and we welcome you, Senator Moran, we look forward to 

your comments in just a minute. 

This issue has remained a priority for Indian Country. And since 

this really is a non-partisan issue, I urge my colleagues on both 

sides of the aisle to finally fix the Supreme Court’s mistake. 

In addition to the Carcieri bill, we are going to discuss S. 1603, 

the Gun Lake Trust Land Reaffirmation Act. The tribal lands involved in this bill are subject to another recent Supreme Court decision which created even greater uncertainty with regard to lands 

placed into trust by tribes. 

In Salazar v. Patchak, the Supreme Court held that land placed 

into trust by the Secretary of Interior can be challenged by an individual for up to six years after the land is placed into trust. This 

ruling would inhibit development of tribal lands for years after 

they are acquired. 

S. 1603 would ratify and confirm the Secretary’s taking of land 

into trust for the Gun Lake Band in Wisconsin. The Gun Lake 

Band was recognized through the Department’s Federal acknowledgment process just 16 years ago. The land in question is the only 

property the Band owns in trust and is used for economic development, which provides funds for the tribal government and social 

services for the community. Gun Lake Chairman D.K. Sprague will 

provide testimony on this bill and discuss its importance to the 

Band. 

We are also going to discuss S. 1818, the Pyramid Lake Paiute 

Tribe-Fish Springs Ranch Settlement Act. This act would ratify a 

settlement agreement between the tribe and Fish Springs regarding tribal water rights. Chairman Lowery of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe will testify today on this bill. 

Finally, we are going to hear about two bills affecting the Shoshone Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho. Senator Crapo has introduce S. 2040 and S. 2041, both of which would 

resolve some of the land issues regarding Fort Hall Reservation. I 

will let Senator Crapo discuss those bills a bit more when he 

shows. And we will hear from Chairman Small of the Fort Hall 

Reservation as well. 

With that, I will turn it over to my ranking member and Vice 

Chair, Senator Barrasso. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN BARRASSO, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM WYOMING 

Senator BARRASSO. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for 

scheduling this legislative hearing today. I want to welcome my 

good friend, Senator Jerry Moran, to the hearing. I look forward to 

hearing from you, Senator Moran. 

We have several witnesses for today’s hearing, so I will be brief. 

The Committee is considering several bills that deserve our careful 

consideration. Mr. Chairman, you introduced S. 2188 to address 

the Secretary of Interior’s authority to take land into trust for 

tribes. It is an issue that is going to require meaningful dialogue 

3 

among many parties, Congress and the Administration. I want to 

thank you for your leadership, Mr. Chairman, on this complex matter. I also want to thank the witnesses for traveling here today and 

look forward to the testimony. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Senator Barrasso. 

We will now hear testimony from Senator Jerry Moran. Senator 

Moran has worked very hard on S. 2188. I very much appreciate 

the partnerships we have had on many issues, and this is right at 

the top of the list. 

I want to thank you for all you do, and thank you for taking time 

out of what I know is a busy schedule to come talk to us about this 

important issue. So with that, you may begin. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JERRY MORAN, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM KANSAS 

Senator MORAN. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. 

Before my colleague Senator Barrasso walked in, I finally, for the 

first time in my life, thought I might have your undivided attention. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator MORAN. I appreciate the chance to be in front of you and 

in front of Dr. Barrasso. I come today in support of S. 2188, that 

legislation you just described, both of you described, to fix the 2009 

court decision, Carcieri v. Salazar. In my time in public service, I started as a state senator. The 

first assignment as a new member of the Kansas legislature, I happened to have a law degree, and I was the most junior member. 

That resulted in me becoming the chairman of the legislative committee on Indian gaming in our State. I spent the next year and 

a half or so in front of a Federal district judge negotiating Indian 

compacts, gaming compacts under IGRA. 

We have four native tribes in our State. While none of them were 

in my Congressional district as a House member, they all are certainly in Kansas. I indicated to myself that when I became a member of the United States Senate, I would take a broader issue and 

get involved in issues that affect tribes in my State, and ultimately 

tribes across our Country. 

So I am pleased to be able to be here and urge you and your colleagues to deal appropriately, quickly, thoughtfully with this issue, 

with the issues that arrive from Carcieri. 

When I meet with tribal leaders, the issue that comes up time 

and time again is this Supreme Court decision. It has become more 

evident to me that it is a greater and greater problem as a result 

of other court decisions subsequent to Carcieri. And it is one that 

I think is important for us to address. 

And I come here certainly as a member of the United States Senate, as a Kansan. But I come with a view that tribes have been 

burdened for a long time with the uncertainty over fee-to-trust 

claims, eroding tribal sovereignty, economic development. For five 

years, there have been two classes, as you described, of Native 

Americans, of tribes, those who were recognized prior to 1934, prior 

to the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, and those who were recognized thereafter. This creates, in my view, an unnecessary and an 

irrational divide between, in a sense, the haves and the have-nots, 

4 

the tribes that may put their land into trust and move forward 

with economic development plans and tribes who are left in limbo, 

wondering if land into trust applications will be successful, many 

times after devoting significant resources and I would significant 

limited resources for costly litigation, trying to accomplish the goal 

of being recognized. 

The narrow definition of a tribe strips a post-1934 tribe of its 

ability to regulate land for economic activity. It put post-1934 

tribes at risk of losing legal protections under the Constitution and 

business practices. And it costs this Country, certainly Native 

Americans, jobs and resources. 

Additionally, the already backlogged fee to trust process becomes 

even more complicated with the ambiguities created by Carcieri. It 

requires the Department of Interior’s finite resources and personnel 

to evaluate fee to trust claims and defend against lawsuits. 

The proposed legislation is simple. It reaffirms the authority of 

the Secretary of Interior to take land into trust and to return us 

to that pre-2009 status quo. In my view, our Nation’s tribes are 

overwhelmingly supportive of a clean, so-called clean Carcieri fix. 

And it doesn’t seem to matter about size or economic wealth of 

those tribes. 

In fact, I received a letter from one of my own tribes in Kansas, 

the Prairie Band of Potawatomi, in support of a clean fix. I was impressed by the fact that their support for this legislation is there 

despite the fact they indicate they will not be directly affected. 

They are directly affected by Carcieri. 

I also believe that this legislation is in line with conservative 

principles. I think Republicans have long held beliefs that the best 

way for individuals to succeed and to prosper, for communities to 

thrive and grow, is with less government intrusion. And Carcieri 

in my view complies with that kind of philosophy, that kind of 

thought. A Carcieri fix will help fulfill our obligations to Native 

Americans. It will encourage tribal sovereignty. It will foster economic opportunity and investment. And it eliminates uncertainty. 

Republicans, me being one of them, are often decrying the fact 

of the uncertainty that government puts in the place of people, 

businesses across the Country. And I think we can take a valuable 

step in reducing the uncertainty that this issue Carcieri and its 

consequences, the uncertainty it places upon tribes, tribal leaders 

and the individual members of those tribes who would benefit from 

economic growth and opportunity. 

It just seems to me that it is a common sense solution to a problem that was manufactured in 2009. In conversations with tribal 

leaders, they make clear to me that Native Americans want to 

achieve what I call the American dream. In my view, that is our 

most primary responsibility as citizens and us certainly as members of the United States Senate, is to make certain that every 

American has the opportunity to pursue the American dream. That 

certainly involves the ability to start a business, to create jobs, to 

provide a better future for our children and grandchildren. I encourage my colleague to support this legislation and help make 

that dream a reality for all Americans. 

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Barrasso, thank you for the 

honor that it is to be able to testify in front of your Committee. 

5 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you for being here. As I said earlier, 

thank you for your comments, we very much appreciate them. 

If this was an easy issue, it would have been fixed a long time 

ago. But I am confident that us working together, we are not going 

to get all the Ds, we are not going to get all the Rs, but us working 

together will get enough to get this thing across the finish line and 

add a little certainty, as you spoke of. 

So thank you, Senator Moran. 

Senator MORAN. Thank you very much. 

Senator Crapo? 

STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE CRAPO, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM IDAHO 

Senator CRAPO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, not only for holding 

this hearing but for including two of my pieces of legislation in it. 

I deeply appreciate that. And I also want to thank and express my 

appreciation to Chairman Small for his willingness to join us at today’s hearing. 

The Chairman and I have been working on this legislation for 

the past three Congresses now. We hope this is the last time that 

this Committee will need to hear from us on this issue. 

S. 2040, the Blackfoot River Lands Settlement Act, embodies the 

terms of a negotiated settlement between the Shoshone-Bannock 

Tribes’ non-Indian litigants and the State of Idaho relating to the 

ownership of land and water rights. In an 1867 executive order, 

President Andrew Johnson established the boundaries of the Fort 

Hall Indian Reservation for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in eastern Idaho, including the reservation’s northern border tracing the 

then-location of the Blackfoot River. 

In 1964, the U.S. Army Corps of engineers, on behalf of the 

Blackfoot River Flood Control District Number 7, completed a flood 

control project that resulted in channel realignment of the Blackfoot River. The resulting property holdings that have come from 

that have tribal-owned lands north of the new river course and 

non-tribal lands south of the new river course, severing several 

contiguous land holdings and creating situations and creating ownership disputes. 

The BLM Cadastral surveys dating to 1999 show 44 tribal and 

non-Indian parcels are affected, covering 13.49 linear miles and approximately 68 acres, 37 acres to non-Indians and 31 acres to tribal 

members. S. 2040 would extinguish all claims and all past, present 

and future, right, title and interest in and to tribal lands and the 

non-Indian land. Enactment of this settlement is in the benefit of 

all of the affected stakeholders as the tribe and the United States 

are expected to pursue trespass actions against non-Indian landowners and condemnation of their lands. 

Mr. Chairman, absent action on the legislation, an outcome no 

one wants, there are going to be contested legal proceedings. In 

order to move S. 2040 though the Committee and the full Senate, 

we removed the authorization for appropriations. All affected parties, including the tribes north bank non-Indian landowners and 

the Blackfoot River Flood Control District, have agreed to forego 

congressionally-directed compensation in lieu of advancing this bill. 

6 

Instead, the bill would take the lands located on the north side 

of the Blackfoot River into trust. The negotiated settlement would 

then transfer the southern tribal land to the flood control district, 

which would in turn compensate the non-Indian landowners 

through the sale of those lands. 

As you can see, the tribes would no longer be compensated monetarily under S. 2040. But I am currently, Mr. Chairman, exploring 

several alternatives separate from this bill, to keep the tribes 

whole. 

Because we have removed the score, I expect Congress to act 

swiftly on the legislation now that is before us. Thank you, Mr. 

Chairman. 

Finally, just briefly, on the second piece of legislation, I am 

pleased that the Committee will also hear testimony regarding S. 

2041, which would repeal an outdated and archaic Congressional 

authorization. On May 31, 1918, Congress authorized the U.S. Department of Interior to reserve a 120-acre tract of land within the 

Fort Hall Reservation for the establishment of a local town site. Although we aren’t entirely sure on the Congressional intent, we 

think this was either to provide unneeded Federal oversight within 

the reservation or to help the tribes market their agriculture in a 

central location. Perhaps both. 

Regardless, this town site never came to fruition. In 1966, 48 

years later, the Interior Department restored four of the acres and 

the tribes are now seeking restitution of the remaining 111 acres. 

Bingham County, which currently owns this land, fully supports 

this bill. Bingham County and the tribes currently operate under 

a memorandum of agreement in which the county does not assess 

property taxes and defers to the tribes on regulatory authority and 

zoning issues occurring on the tract. In turn, the tribes provide all 

essential government services. 

Although this cooperative agreement works well, Bingham County would like to officially absolve itself from liability concerns stemming from its ownership, and the tribes would like to purchase the 

property at fair market value. It is my hope that this important 

legislation will be reported favorably out of Committee also during 

our next business meeting. 

And again, Mr. Chairman, I thank you for your action on these 

two important pieces of legislation to us. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Senator Crapo, and we appreciate 

your leadership on these issues, as I know they are critically important to you and to the Native Americans you represent in the 

United States Senate, and quite frankly, to the non-Natives. So 

thank you. 

Kevin, you will be up to bat shortly. It is good to see you again 

this week. It has become a weekly thing. We appreciate your coming in and enlightening us on issues of importance, in this case the 

five bills that are on the docket today. Kevin Washburn, who literally needs no introduction to this Committee at this point in time 

but maybe to some folks that are in the crowd. Kevin is the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior. 

I would like to remind our witnesses today, and Kevin, you know 

the rules, five minutes. Your entire testimony will be a part of the 

7 

record. But we want to thank you for your time to be here today. 

We appreciate and value your input, and you may begin. 

STATEMENT OF HON. KEVIN WASHBURN, ASSISTANT 

SECRETARY—INDIAN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE 

INTERIOR 

Mr. WASHBURN. Thank you, Chairman, thank you, Vice Chairman and Senator Crapo. Thanks for having me here again. It is always a pleasure to come. 

I will move quickly the five bills we have to testify on. Because 

I have written statements on each of them. 

First, Carcieri. Senator Moran could not have stated it better. 

Home ownership, having a home is the American dream. Frankly, 

the Carcieri decision sort of got in the way of that dream for a lot 

of tribes. And we need to solve that. We have numerous challenges 

now to our land into trust applications. We think this is the most 

important thing we can do, is help tribes restore their homelands. 

So we strongly urge you to fix that. 

And I don’t think I need to say a whole lot more about that. We 

have been pretty consistent and our testimony is strong. 

The Gun Lake Bill, S. 1603, we support that bill. The Gun Lake 

Tribe, like other tribes, needs to have a homeland. And this would 

be the tribe’s homeland. They don’t currently have land into trust, 

and they were affected and they are litigating for their lives, their 

homes, in the Patchak case. We have done what we can to try to 

help them with our Patchak patch, and to help all tribes, that we 

created last fall. But there is more to be done. We support S. 1603, 

and we also support the Carcieri fix, because it would help all 

tribes in this situation. 

Moving on to S. 1818, we support Chairman Lowery and his attempt to get this issue resolved. We have no objection to this bill. 

We have not been involved in these negotiations. But this bill 

seems to be cost-free to the United States. And it appears to resolve some important claims. We congratulate the Pyramid Lake 

Tribe for exercising self-determination in this way, by moving forward. We weren’t particularly involved in this, the United States 

was not. But the tribe has exercised self-determination in seeking 

to resolve issues itself. So we congratulate them on that and are 

fully supportive of their efforts. We have no objection to this bill. 

Last, let me take up the two Shoshone-Bannock bills. I know 

Chairman Nathan Small will testify, so I won’t need to take a 

whole lot of time on this. We support the aims of S. 2041. We have 

a little interest in more clarity, because we would have to implement this bill. So we would like to have a little more clarity, as we 

have explained further in our written testimony. But we certainly 

support its aims and we are grateful to Senator Crapo for this bill. 

We also would state support for the Blackfoot River Land Exchange Act. This is a bill we have looked at before in a different 

form. We congratulate the tribe and Senator Crapo for improving 

the bill since we saw it last and given the changes that have been 

made, we have no further objection. Indeed, we now support this 

bill. So thanks for changing it in a way that we can support it. We 

are very grateful for that. 

8 

1 132 S. Ct. 2199 (2012). 

2See, e.g., Metro. Water Dist. of S. Cal. v. United States, 830 F.2d 139 (9th Cir. 1987) (Indian 

lands exception to Quiet Title Act’s waiver of sovereign immunity operated to bar municipality’s 

claim challenging increase of tribal reservation and related water rights); Neighbors for Rational 

Dev., Inc. v. Norton, 379 F.3d 956 (10th Cir. 2004) (challenge to Secretary’s land into trust decision barred by Indian lands exception to Quiet Title Act’s waiver of sovereign immunity); Florida Dep’t of Bus. Regulation v. Dep’t of Interior, 768 F.2d 1248 (11th Cir. 1985) (same). 3 555 U.S. 379 (2009). 

I don’t need to take much more time, Chairman. I would say that 

we are a button-wearing culture in my tribe, and I have my Fix 

Carcieri Now button on. It is a little bit of a stunt, but I figure if 

President Cladoosby can wear that basket on his head, I can wear 

a button on my jacket. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. WASHBURN. Thank you, Chairman. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Washburn follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. KEVIN WASHBURN, ASSISTANT SECRETARY—INDIAN

AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

S. 1603 

Introduction 

Chairman Tester, Vice-Chairman Barrasso, and Members of the Committee, my 

name is Kevin Washburn and I am the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the 

Department of the Interior (Department). Thank you for the opportunity to testify 

on S. 1603, the Gun Lake Trust Land Reaffirmation Act, a bill to reaffirm that certain land has been taken into trust for the benefit of the Match-E-Be-Nash-SheWish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (Tribe). The Department supports S. 1603, 

which applies to the only parcel of land held in trust for the Tribe. The Department 

supports legislative solutions that would provide such certainty to all federally recognized tribes and future acquisitions by the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of 

Pottawatomi Indians in light of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of 

Pottawatomi Indians v. Patchak decision. 

As this Committee, and Congress, is aware, in June of 2011 the Supreme Court 

issued its decision in Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians v. 

Patchak. 1 The Supreme Court held in that case that the decisions of the Secretary 

of the Interior to acquire land in trust under the Indian Reorganization Act could 

be challenged on the ground that the United States lacked authority to take land 

into trust even if the land at issue was already held in trust by the United States. 

This decision was inconsistent with the widely-held understanding that once land 

was held in trust by the United States for the benefit of a tribe, the Quiet Title 

Act (QTA) prevented a litigant from seeking to divest the United States of such 

trust title. 2 The Court held that the Secretary’s decisions were subject to review 

under the Administrative Procedure Act even if the land was held in trust and expanded the scope of prudential standing under the Indian Reorganization Act to include private citizens who oppose the trust acquisition. 

Background 

On April 18, 2005, the Department issued its decision to acquire approximately 

147 acres of land in trust for the Tribe for gaming purposes. The Citizens’ group 

Michigan Gambling Opposition (‘‘MichGo’’) immediately challenged the decision in 

the United States District Court for the District of Columbia under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and National Environmental Policy Act (‘‘NEPA’’), as well as on 

the basis that the Indian Reorganization Act was unconstitutional. The district 

court rejected MichGo’s claims, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals 

affirmed, and, in January 2009, the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari 

review. The Secretary then acquired the land into trust on January 30, 2009. Shortly thereafter in February 2009, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Carcieri 

v. Salazar. 3

While the MichGo lawsuit was on appeal, David Patchak filed suit in district 

court to also challenge the Secretary’s decision, on the ground that the Secretary 

is without authority to acquire land in trust for the Band because the Band was 

not a federally recognized tribe when the IRA was enacted in 1934. The district 

court did not reach the merits of Patchak’s claim, instead holding that Patchak 

9 

4 132 S. Ct. 2199 (2012). 

5 28 U.S.C. § 2401(a) provides that ‘‘every civil action commenced against the United States 

shall be barred unless the complaint is filed within six years after the right of action first accrues.’’ 

lacked prudential standing to challenge the Department’s authority under the Indian Reorganization Act. The D.C. Circuit reversed. Ultimately, on June 18, 2012, 

in Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians v. Patchak, 4 the Supreme Court held that Patchak had prudential standing to challenge the acquisition, and that the Quiet Title Act is not a bar to Administrative Procedure Act challenges to the Secretary’s decision to acquire land in trust after the United States 

acquires title to the property unless the aggrieved party asserts an ownership interest in the land as the basis for the challenge. 

Until Patchak was decided, prevailing Federal court decisions held that the QTA 

precluded judicial review of trust acquisitions after the United States acquired title 

to the subject property. The effect of the Patchak decision is that plaintiffs may seek 

to reverse trust acquisitions many years after the fact and divest the United States 

of its title to the property. 

Consequence of the Patchak Decision 

The Patchak decision undermines the primary goal of Congress in enacting the 

Indian Reorganization Act: the acquisition of land in trust for tribes to secure a land 

base on which to live and engage in economic development. The Patchak decision 

imposes additional burdens and uncertainty on the Department’s long-standing approach to trust acquisitions and the Court’s decision may ultimately destabilize tribal economies and their surrounding communities. The Patchak decision casts a cloud 

of uncertainty on lands acquired in trust under the Indian Reorganization Act, and 

ultimately inhibits and discourages the productive use of tribal trust land itself. 

Economic development, and the resulting job opportunities, that a tribe could pursue may well be lost or indefinitely stalled out of concern that an individual will 

challenge the trust acquisition up to six years after that decision is made. 5 The Department has worked to provide more clarity to everyone by amending its land acquisition rules to provide for greater notice of land-into-trust decisions and clarify 

the mechanisms for judicial review, depending on whether the land is taken into 

trust by the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, or by an official of the Bureau 

of Indian Affairs. Without legislation to address Patchak, the Supreme Court’s new 

reading of the Quiet Title Act and the Administrative Procedure Act will frustrate 

the lives of homeowners and small business owners on Indian reservations throughout the United States, and undermine the efforts of the United States government 

in promoting growing communities and economies in Indian country. 

The Patchak Decision Encourages Litigation to Undermine Settled 

Expectations 

In the Patchak decision, the Supreme Court held that a litigant may file suit challenging the Secretary’s authority to acquire land in trust for a tribe under the Administrative Procedure Act, even after the land is held in trust. The Court reached 

this decision, notwithstanding the widely-held view that Congress had prohibited 

these types of lawsuits through the Quiet Title Act, which states: 

(a) The United States may be named as a party defendant in a civil action 

under this section to adjudicate a disputed title to real property in which the 

United States claims an interest, other than a security interest or water rights. 

This section does not apply to trust or restricted Indian lands. . . 

28 U.S.C. § 2409a (emphasis added). 

As a result of the Court’s reading of this provision, lawsuits could potentially reverse trust acquisitions many years after the fact, and divest the United States of 

its title to the property. 

The majority in Patchak failed to consider—or even recognize—the extreme result 

that its opinion made possible. Divesting the United States of trust title not only 

frustrates tribal economic development efforts on the land at issue; more critically, 

it creates the specter of uncertainty as to the applicable criminal and civil jurisdiction on the land and the operation of tribal and federal programs there. 

Before the Patchak decision, the Secretary’s decision to place a parcel of land into 

trust could be challenged only prior to the finalization of the trust acquisition. The 

Department had adopted provisions in its regulations governing the trust acquisition process which ensured that interested parties had an opportunity to seek judicial review. It was the Department’s general practice to wait to complete a trust acquisition until the resolution of all legal challenges brought in compliance with the 

10 

process contemplated by the Department’s regulations. This allowed all interested 

parties, including those who wished to challenge a particular acquisition, to move 

forward with a sense of certainty and finality once a trust acquisition was completed. 

Certainty of title is important. It provides tribes, the United States and state and 

local governments with the clarity needed to carry out each sovereign’s respective 

obligations, such as law enforcement. Moreover, such certainty is pivotal to a tribe’s 

ability to provide essential government services to its citizens, such as housing, education, health care, to foster business relationships, to attract investors, and to promote tribal economies. 

Once a trust acquisition is finalized and title transferred in the name of the 

United States, tribes and the United States should be able to depend on the status 

of the land and the scope of the authority over the land. Tribes must have confidence that their land cannot be forcibly taken out of trust once the government 

has made a final decision. 

Conclusion 

The Secretary’s authority to acquire lands in trust for all Indian tribes, and certainty concerning the status of and jurisdiction over Indian lands after such acquisitions into trust, touch the core of the federal trust responsibility. The power to acquire lands in trust, and certainty that such land remain in trust, is an essential 

tool for the United States to effectuate its longstanding policy of fostering tribal selfdetermination. A system in which some federally recognized tribes cannot enjoy the 

same rights and privileges available to other federally recognized tribes is unacceptable. The Department supports S. 1603. In addition, this Administration supports 

legislative solutions that make clear the Secretary’s authority to fulfill her obligations under the Indian Reorganization Act for all federally recognized tribes. 

S. 1818 

Chairman Tester, Vice Chair Barrasso, and Members of the Committee, my name 

is Kevin Washburn and I am the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior (Department). Thank you for the opportunity to present 

testimony for the Department on S. 1818, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe—Fish 

Springs Ranch Settlement Act, which would authorize and ratify a settlement agreement negotiated by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe (Tribe) and Fish Springs Ranch 

LLC (Fish Springs), resolve litigation brought by the Tribe against the Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM), and relieve the United States of any potential liability 

related to the settlement. The Department does not object to S. 1818. 

Background 

In 2006, the Tribe filed a lawsuit in the federal District Court challenging a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) decision to grant to Fish Springs a right-of-way 

across federal land for the construction of a groundwater transmission pipeline. In 

March 2007, the District Court granted the Tribe’s motion for a preliminary injunction and enjoined construction related to the pipeline. At this time, the Tribe and 

Fish Springs began settlement discussions. 

In May 2007, the Tribe and Fish Springs entered into a settlement agreement 

(Original Agreement). Under the Original Agreement, in consideration of $3.6 million, the transfer of over 6,200 acres of land, and other benefits provided by Fish 

Springs, the Tribe petitioned the District Court to dissolve the preliminary injunction and stay proceedings in the case against BLM. This allowed Fish Springs to 

construct the pipeline and begin pumping groundwater according to terms agreed 

upon by the Tribe and Fish Springs. 

In 2013, the Tribe and Fish Springs entered into a Supplement to the Original 

Agreement (Supplemental Agreement) whereby Fish Springs and the Tribe agreed 

to seek legislation to settle all claims, if any, of the Tribe and the United States 

on behalf of the Tribe and its members for impacts or injuries to existing and 

claimed tribal water rights and injuries to tribal trust resources related to groundwater pumping by Fish Springs. This includes final resolution of the Tribe’s lawsuit 

against BLM. Upon enactment of this legislation, Fish Springs will provide an additional $3.6 million, plus accrued interest, to the Tribe. 

S. 1818 

Section 3 of S. 1818 would authorize and ratify the Supplemental Agreement entered into by the Tribe and Fish Springs. 

Section 4 of S. 1818 includes waivers and releases of claims by the Tribe against 

both Fish Springs and the United States. S. 1818 would authorize the Tribe to 

11 

waive claims against Fish Springs and to subordinate its existing and claimed water 

rights to the Fish Springs project. The Tribe would also waive claims against the 

United States, including claims related to: BLM’s approval of the Fish Springs 

project; injuries to the Tribe’s trust and reserved resources related to the project; 

and the negotiation of the Original Agreement, the Supplemental Agreement, and 

the implementing legislation. Rather than requiring the Department to sign waivers 

of claims, S. 1818 would extinguish any claims that the United States could bring 

on behalf of the Tribe and its members to the same extent that those claims are 

waived by the Tribe. 

S. 1818 would ratify an agreement negotiated by the Tribe and Fish Springs. In 

addition, it would resolve litigation against the BLM and relieve United States of 

any potential liability related to the Fish Springs project, the Original Agreement, 

the Supplemental Agreement, and the implementing legislation. S. 1818 would provide these benefits without any appropriation. 

The Original Agreement and the Supplemental Agreement reflect a creative and 

cooperative approach by the Tribe and Fish Springs to resolve a dispute regarding 

Fish Springs’ use of groundwater and the potential effect to the Tribe’s interests. 

These agreements were negotiated without the involvement of the Department. 

Therefore, the Department does not object to S. 1818. 

S. 2040 

Chairman Tester, Vice-Chairman Barrasso, and Members of the Committee, my 

name is Kevin Washburn and I am the Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs at the 

Department of the Interior (Department). Thank you for the opportunity to testify 

on S. 2040, the Blackfoot River Land Exchange Act of 2014, a bill to exchange trust 

and fee land to resolve land disputes created by the realignment of the Blackfoot 

River along the boundary of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. 

The Department supports S. 2040. 

Background 

In 1867, the Fort Hall Indian Reservation was created by Executive Order for various Bands of the Shoshone and Bannock Indians. Pursuant to the Executive Order, 

the Blackfoot River, as it existed in its natural state, formed the northern boundary 

of the Reservation. In the 1960’s, the United States Anny Corps of Engineers (Army 

Corps) completed a flood control project along the Blackfoot River. The project consisted of constructing levees, replacing irrigation diversion structures, replacing 

bridges and channel realignment. 

While the flood control project did not change the original boundaries of the Reservation, it realigned portions of the Blackfoot River. Thus, after the Anny Corps 

completed the project, individually-Indian owned and Indian lands (approximately 

37.04 acres) ended up on the north side of the realigned River, and non-Indian 

owned lands (approximately 31.01 acres) ended up on the south side of the realigned 

River. Over the years, these parcels of land have remained idle because the landowners could not gain access to the parcels of land without trespassing or seeking 

rights-of-way across the lands of other owners. 

In the late 1980’s, the Snake River Basin Adjudication (SRBA) began to decree 

water rights on all streams and rivers within the Snake River basin in Idaho, which 

includes the Blackfoot River basin. During SRBA, several non-Indian landowners, 

whose lands were affected by the realignment of Blackfoot River, claimed as their 

water rights’ place of use lands on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. 

The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes (Tribes) filed objections to these water right claims. 

The United States did not file objections on behalf of the Tribes, but has been closely working with the Tribes and monitoring these and related water right claims in 

the SRBA. Thus, resolution of the land ownership issues along the realigned portions of the Blackfoot River could resolve related water rights claim in the SRBA. 

S. 2040 

The primary features of S. 2040 are to: 

• authorize the United States to take certain non-Indian lands into trust on behalf of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in Idaho; 

• authorize the United States to convey certain Indian lands into fee lands; 

• extinguish certain claims that potentially could be asserted by the ShoshoneBannock Tribes against the United States; 

The Department supports the exchange of these lands because this exchange will 

enable the general stream adjudication of the Snake River to be concluded without 

interfering with the water rights claims of either party. The Department reviewed 

12 

similar legislation in 2010 and that legislation had several provisions that the Administration could not support. The Department congratulates the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and the parties on improving this legislation, and thanks Senator Crapo 

and Senator Risch for working with to remove those provisions that the Administration could not support. 

Thank you for the opportunity to present the Department’s views on S. 2040. 

S. 2041 

Chairman Tester, Vice-Chairman Barrasso, and Members of the Committee, my 

name is Kevin Washburn and I am the Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs at the 

Department of the Interior (Department). Thank you for the opportunity to testify 

on S. 2041, the May 31, 1918 Act Repeal Act, a bill to repeal the Act of May 31, 

1918. The Department does not have a position on S. 2041. 

Background 

In 1867, the Fort Hall Indian Reservation was created by Executive Order for various Bands of the Shoshone and Bannock Indians (Tribe). On May 31, 1918, Congress passed a bill to authorize the establishment of a town site on the Fort Hall 

Indian Reservation in Idaho. The Act of 1918 authorized the Secretary of the Interior to set aside and reserve for town-site purposes a tract of land within the Fort 

Hall Indian Reservation. The Act of 1918 also authorized the Secretary of the Interior to set apart and reserve for school, park, and other public purposes not more 

than ten acres in such town site on the condition that Indian children shall be permitted to attend the public schools of such town under the same conditions as white 

children. 

The Act of 1918 further authorized the Secretary of the Interior to appraise and 

dispose of the lots within such town site and provided that any expenses in connection with the survey, appraisement, and should be reimbursed from the sales of 

town lots, and the net proceeds should be placed in the Treasury of the United 

States to the credit of the Tribe and would be subject to appropriation by Congress 

for the Tribe’s benefit. Finally, the Act of 1918 provided that any lands disposed of 

under the Act of 1918 would be subject to all the laws of the United States and prohibited the introduction of intoxicants into the Indian country until otherwise provided by Congress. 

The Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Northwest Regional office is working with the Tribe 

to get an accurate determination of the number of acres that are included in the 

townsite area and to determine the actual ownership of the lots in the townsite. 

Currently the BIA’s Northwest Regional office is in receipt of fee-to-trust applications from the Tribe and one fee-to-trust application from a member of the Tribe 

for lands located within the township. 

The Department is aware that the Tribe acquired ownership of the Fort Hall 

Water and Sewer District in 2000 and the Tribe has extended and improved this 

system several times over the past 14 years. The Fort Hall Water and Sewer District was operated by a group of citizens that resided within the townsite, but were 

unable to continue to operate this system financially. The waterlines, pump stations, 

and lifts, along with their main water structure are part of the structures that are 

owned by the Tribe. There are a few lots that were originally part of the school reserve and remain reserved for that purpose. 

S. 2041 

The primary features of S. 2041 are to: 

• repeal the Act of May 31, 1918 (which authorized the Secretary of the Interior 

to set aside and reserve a tract of land within the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, 

Idaho, for town-site purposes), 

• gives the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation the exclusive right of first refusal to purchase at fair market value any land set aside 

or apart under the Act of 1918 and such lands are offered for sale, 

• directs the Secretary of the Interior to place lands in trust for the Tribe or a 

member of the Tribe where the lands subject to the Act of 1918, were (1) acquired before enactment of S. 2041, and (2) are acquired on or after the enactment of S. 2041 that is set aside or apart under the Act of 1918. 

The Department supports the aims of S. 2041. The Department would like to 

work with the Tribe and the sponsors of the legislation to gain more background 

information on the status of the lands covered by the Act of May 31, 1918, and obtain current ownership information of the subject lands by the Tribe and members 

of the Tribe. For clarity, the Department prefers such legislation include the legal 

13 

descriptions of the affected land. This insures that the Department understands the 

will of Congress and can execute the law effectively. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on S. 2041. 

S. 2188 

‘‘But there’s more we can do to return more control to your communities. . . . It’s why we’ll keep pushing Congress to pass the Carcieri fix, 

so that more tribal nations can put their land into federal trust.’’ 

—President Barack Obama, Nov. 2013. 

I. Introduction 

Chairman Tester, Vice Chairman Barrasso, and Members of the Committee, my 

name is Kevin Washburn and I am the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the 

Department of the Interior. Thank you for the opportunity to present the views of 

the Department of the Interior on S. 2188, a bill ‘‘to amend the Act of June 18, 1934, 

to reaffirm the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for 

Indian tribes.’’ 

Since 2009, the Obama Administration has consistently expressed strong support 

for a legislative solution to the Carcieri decision. Since FY 2012, the President has 

repeatedly included language to address the Carcieri decision in the Budget, reflecting this Administration’s position for a legislative solution to resolve this issue. Secretary Sally Jewell has reaffirmed the need for a legislative solution, stating ‘‘[t]he 

Carcieri decision represents a step back toward misguided policies of a century ago 

and is wholly inconsistent with the United States’ long-standing policy of self-governance and self-determination.’’ S. 2188 is consistent with the President’s Budget 

and I am here today to express the Administration’s strong support for S. 2188. 

In a time of limited resources, the Carcieri decision exacerbates the challenges we 

are tackling in Indian country. Tribal dollars that had been used to protect children 

and elders, provide housing and water, or protect tribal cultural sites are instead 

expended to jump through hoops created by Carcieri. These judicially created hoops 

pull the Department’s resources away from some of the fundamental priorities of 

this Administration and this Committee—education, social services, energy and economic development. S. 2188 alleviates these costs without any increase in the federal budget and restores the regular order of decision making that existed for decades before the Carcieri decision. 

As I testified last year, we characterize homeownership as the American dream 

and the fee-to-trust process is about ensuring that tribes have homelands. S. 2188 

ensures that no tribe is denied that dream because of Carcieri. This Administration 

has worked hard to ensure that tribes have homelands for their people. Since 2009, 

the Department has acted on over 1,500 applications and accepted approximately 

248,000 acres in trust for tribes. The vast majority of these acquisitions were for 

agricultural, governmental, housing and economic development purposes—only 

7were for gaming. S. 2188 will clarify the Department’s authority to ensure that all 

tribes have homelands for their people, thereby eliminating the costs imposed by 

Carcieri for both tribes and the public. 

Since the Carcieri decision, the Department’s leadership has worked with this 

Committee, other Senators and Representatives, their respective staffs, and tribal 

leaders from across the United States to address the Carcieri decision. In 2009 and 

2011, the Department testified in support of legislation similar to S. 2188. The Department incorporates that previous testimony here. S. 2188 will prevent costly litigation and lengthy delays for both the Department and the tribes to which the 

United States owes a trust responsibility. 

II. Background Regarding the Cause and Outcome of Carcieri 

No tribe has felt the impact of the Carcieri decision more directly than the one 

at the center of the case, the Narragansett Tribe. Before discussing the consequences of the Carcieri decision on Indian country as a whole, it is important to 

remember lands at issue in that case and the impact of the decision on the Narragansett Tribe. 

In 1991, the Tribe’s housing authority purchased, in fee simple, approximately 31 

acres of land across the street from 1800 acres of lands held in trust for the Tribe. 

In 1992, the Tribe’s housing authority transferred the 31 acres to the Tribe with 

a deed restriction requiring the land be used for tribal housing. That same year, 

the Tribe’s housing authority began construction of an elderly housing project on the 

parcel. The Tribe did not acquire a building permit from the town or obtain the 

State’s approval for individual sewage disposal systems before beginning construction because the Tribe believed those permits were not necessary on tribally owned 

14 

land. A dispute erupted with respect to permits the State and town argued that the 

Tribe was required to obtain. The Tribe sought to remedy the dispute over those 

civil regulatory matters, by filing an application with the Department to have the 

31 acres taken into trust. After several federal lawsuits over disagreements regarding the applicability of certain local laws, the Tribe amended its 1996 fee-to-trust 

application and the BIA’s Eastern Regional Director agreed to acquire the land in 

trust for the Tribe in 1997. The State appealed the BIA’s decision to the Interior 

Board of Indian Appeals, beginning the litigation that would go all the way to the 

Supreme Court where it resulted in the 2009 Carcieri decision. 

I recently visited the Narragansett Tribe’s reservation in Rhode Island, where 

Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas and Medicine Man John Brown gave me a tour of 

the Tribe’s longhouse, their church and other important lands held by the Tribe. 

Among other places, Chief Sachem Thomas brought me to the tract of land at issue 

in the Carcieri litigation. There I saw boarded-up vacant homes that the Tribe intended to house their elders. Although construction was complete on the homes in 

the early 1990’s, the homes lacked sewer and other infrastructure. 

Without the necessary infrastructure, the Chief Sachem told me that these homes 

have been vacant since construction was completed approximately twenty years ago. 

He also stated that all but two of the elders who were to live in these particular 

homes have passed away. The Department of Interior’s 1998 fee-to-trust acquisition 

decision of this land, for these homes, was the basis for more than a decade of litigation which led to the Carcieri decision and its drastic ramifications. 

The Narragansett Tribe’s experience makes clear the importance of S. 2188. It illustrates the importance of tribes being able to literally provide homes to their citizens. It illustrates how Carcieri can stifle self-determination and self-governance— 

keystone federal policies embedded in the Indian Reorganization Act. The Tribe’s experience illustrates the real life social and economic impacts of the uncertainty 

caused by the protracted litigation. Finally, it shows the administrative burdens 

placed on the Department and the resources expended to defend trust acquisitions, 

in this case for over a decade. S. 2188 fully addresses these impacts. 

III. Consequences of the Carcieri Decision 

A. The Carcieri Decision is Contrary to Longstanding Congressional Policy 

As noted above, in Carcieri, the Supreme Court was faced with the question of 

whether the Department could acquire land in trust on behalf of the Narragansett 

Tribe of Rhode Island for a housing project under section 5 of the Indian Reorganization Act. The Court’s majority noted that section 5 permits the Secretary to acquire land in trust for federally recognized tribes that were ‘‘under federal jurisdiction’’ in 1934. It then determined that the Secretary was precluded from taking land 

into trust for the Narragansett Tribe, who had stipulated that it was not ‘‘under federal jurisdiction’’ in 1934. 

The decision upset the settled expectations of both the Department and Indian 

country, and led to confusion about the scope of the Secretary’s authority to acquire 

land in trust for all federally recognized tribes—including those tribes that were federally recognized or restored after the enactment of the Indian Reorganization Act. 

As many tribal leaders have noted, the Carcieri decision is contrary to existing congressional policy, and has the potential to subject federally recognized tribes to unequal treatment under federal law. 

In 1994 Congress was concerned about disparate treatment of Indian tribes and 

passed an amendment of the Indian Reorganization Act to emphasize its existing 

policy, and to ensure a principle of administrative equality and non-discrimination. 

The amendment provided: 

(f) Privileges and immunities of Indian tribes; prohibition on new regulations 

Departments or agencies of the United States shall not promulgate any regulation or make any decision or determination pursuant to the Act of June 18, 

1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq., 48 Stat. 984) as amended, or any other Act of Congress, with respect to a federally recognized Indian tribe that classifies, enhances, or diminishes the privileges and immunities available to the Indian 

tribe relative to other federally recognized tribes by virtue of their status as Indian tribes. 

(g) Privileges and immunities of Indian tribes; existing regulations 

Any regulation or administrative decision or determination of a department or 

agency of the United States that is in existence or effect on May 31, 1994, and 

that classifies, enhances, or diminishes the privileges and immunities available 

to a federally recognized Indian tribe relative to the privileges and immunities 

available to other federally recognized tribes by virtue of their status as Indian 

tribes shall have no force or effect. 

15 

25 U.S.C. § 476(f), (g). S. 2188 would effectively reaffirm Congress’s longstanding 

principle of treating all federally recognized tribes equally without regard to whether they were ‘‘under Federal jurisdiction’’ on June 18, 1934. 

B. The Carcieri Decision has led to a More Burdensome and Uncertain Fee-to-Trust 

Process 

Since the Carcieri decision, the Department must examine whether each tribe 

seeking to have land acquired in trust under the Indian Reorganization Act was 

‘‘under federal jurisdiction’’ in 1934. This analysis is done on a tribe-by-tribe basis, 

even for those tribes whose jurisdictional status is unquestioned. This analysis may 

be time-consuming and costly for tribes and for the Department. It may require extensive legal and historical research and analysis and has engendered new litigation 

about tribal status and Secretarial authority. Overall, it has made the Department’s 

consideration of fee-to-trust applications more complex. 

To help address this issue, the Department’s Solicitor recently issued an M-Opinion interpreting the meaning of ‘‘under federal jurisdiction.’’ The Solicitor concluded 

that the Department may take land into trust under the first definition of ‘‘Indian’’ 

in the IRA for a federally recognized Indian tribe that can demonstrate: (1) in or 

before 1934, the tribe had some course of dealings with the federal government reflecting that there were federal obligations to or authority over the tribe; and (2) 

that the tribe remained under the authority or responsibility of the federal government in 1934. The M-Opinion formally institutionalizes and is consistent with the 

analysis the Solicitor’s Office has been using since Carcieri was decided. 

Yet the issuance of the M-Opinion does not obviate the need for S. 2188. Instead, 

it further demonstrates the importance of S. 2188, as tribes and the Department 

must expend considerable time and resources collecting and analyzing historical evidence to support an ‘‘under federal jurisdiction’’ analysis. And even once that work 

is completed, the Department faces extensive litigation challenging its ‘‘under federal jurisdiction’’ analyses and fee-to-trust acquisitions. Such extensive litigation 

causes lengthy periods of uncertainty for the tribes and poses barriers to tribal development or use of lands that are the subject of a lawsuit. Without enactment of 

S. 2188, both the Department and Indian tribes will continue to face this burdensome process. 

IV. S. 2188 

S. 2188 would help achieve the goals of the Indian Reorganization Act and tribal 

self-determination by clarifying that the Department’s authority under the Act applies to all tribes, whether recognized in 1934 or after, unless there is tribe-specific 

legislation that precludes such a result. The bills would reestablish regular order 

in the United States’ ability to secure a land base for all federally recognized tribes. 

The language in S. 2188 is identical to language in the President’s FY 2015 budget 

proposal for a Carcieri fix. 

S. 2188 includes language that expressly ratifies actions taken by the Secretary 

of the Interior under the authority of the Indian Reorganization Act to the extent 

that such actions are based on whether the Indian tribe was under federal jurisdiction on June 18, 1934. In addition, S. 2188 provides that any references to the Act 

of June 18, 1934 contained in any other Federal law is to be considered to be a reference to the Indian Reorganization Act as amended by the legislation. The Department believes both the ratification and reference provisions would be helpful in 

avoiding further litigation. 

The Department has been consistent in expressing its support for clean and simple legislation like S. 2188 to reaffirm the Secretary’s trust acquisition authority 

under the Indian Reorganization Act, in accord with the common understanding of 

this authority that existed in the decades preceding the Carcieri decision. We have 

also been consistent in our support of the policy established by Congress in 1994 

amendments to the Indian Reorganization Act, which ensures that we do not create 

separate classes of federally recognized tribes. 

V. Conclusion 

The Carcieri decision, and the Secretary’s authority to acquire lands in trust for 

all Indian tribes, touches the heart of the federal trust responsibility. Without a 

clear reaffirmation of the Secretary’s trust acquisition authority, a number of tribes 

will be delayed in their efforts to restore their homelands: Lands that will be used 

for cultural purposes, housing, education, health care and economic development. 

As sponsor of the Indian Reorganization Act, then Congressman Howard, stated: 

‘‘[w]hether or not the original area of the Indian lands was excessive, the land was 

theirs, under titles guaranteed by treaties and law; and when the Government of 

the United States set up a land policy which, in effect, became a forum of legalized 

16 

misappropriations of the Indian estate, the Government became morally responsible 

for the damage that has resulted to the Indians from its faithless guardianship.’’ 

The power to acquire lands in trust is an important tool for the United States 

to effectuate its longstanding policy of fostering tribal self-determination. Congress 

has worked to foster self-determination for all tribes, and did not intend to limit this 

essential tool to only one class of tribes. S. 2188 would clarify Congress’s policy and 

the Administration’s intended goal of tribal self-determination and allow all tribes 

to avail themselves of the Secretary’s trust acquisition authority. S. 2188 will help 

the United States meet is obligation as described by United States Supreme Court 

Justice Black’s dissent Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation. ‘‘Great nations, like great men, should keep their word.’’ 

This concludes my statement. I would be happy to answer questions the Committee may have. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Kevin. I would just state before I get 

into my questions that I would hope that on 2041 you could work 

with Senator Crapo and his staff and the Indian Affairs staff to get 

clarified what needs to be clarified on this bill, so that we can hopefully move it along with some of the other bills we have been hearing since I took over as chairman. 

Your testimony states that the Administration supports the 

Patchak fix for all tribes. The provisions found in S. 1603 and S. 

2188, the Carcieri bill, would ratify and confirm only past Secretarial trust acquisitions. Does the Department believe this language is sufficient or do we need additional language to fix the 

Patchak decision? If so, if we need additional legislation, does the 

Department have any specific proposals? 

Mr. WASHBURN. Thank you, Chairman. I would encourage you, 

I do think we need a Patchak fix. Once the Department has gone 

through its extensive administrative process to take land into trust, 

we believe that we should be immune from further litigation and 

tribes should be immune from further litigation involving those 

land into trust applications. 

I would not ask you to clutter up the Carcieri fix with an additional Patchak fix. I think that is just a little too complicated. So 

I would encourage you to consider a Patchak fix, restore our sovereign immunity for actions of land into trust. But I would not ask 

you to put another difficult issue in the Carcieri bill. 

The CHAIRMAN. I appreciate that. The Committee has heard several times now that the increase in litigation regarding the secretarial trust acquisition following Carcieri and the Patchak decisions. Last November you mentioned there were about 15 trust 

land acquisitions being challenged either in Federal court or the Interior Board of Indian Appeals. Is there an update on those numbers? Is there any idea how much those challenges are costing the 

Department and the tribes? 

Mr. WASHBURN. As of this time, the numbers are roughly about 

the same, as of April. I checked again a couple of weeks ago and 

I believe we provided your staff with some information about that. 

But the work goes on. Because every time we take land into 

trust, at least every time we do it for a different tribe, we have to 

go through the whole analysis again to determine whether they 

meet a Carcieri standard, in essence. And that has been a heck of 

a lot of work. And we have lots of Carcieri analyses pending. It is 

holding up land into trust for some tribes. 

Once we have done it once for a tribe, then we are usually able 

to proceed taking additional land into trust for that tribe. However, 

17 

because of Patchak, they can be sued. So it is not done when we 

do an opinion. We may have to face that again in court. So it creates a real question of uncertainty for the tribes. 

The CHAIRMAN. Have you been able to put any real numbers to 

what this is costing the Department or the tribes or both? 

Mr. WASHBURN. We have. It is, well, we have testified on other 

occasions, and I don’t have those at the top of my head, but a significant amount of staff time is used. And so some of that stuff is 

sort of hidden, because you don’t think about the cost to staff. But 

it has taken an enormous amount of staff time and it is economic 

development in Indian Country that is not happening. So there are 

some Federal costs, but there is also some lost opportunity cost at 

the tribal level. And those roll up to be quite significant in total. 

The CHAIRMAN. Okay, thank you. One of the proposals we have 

heard regarding the land into trust process is to streamline the 

process for on-reservation applications. Can you say how many onreservation applications are pending with the BIA and how long 

those applications usually take? 

Mr. WASHBURN. They vary dramatically depending upon their 

complexity. Since the Obama Administration has been in office, 

there have been about 1,650 applications that have been accepted 

for land into trust. It is quite an extensive process. The first thing 

we do on taking land into trust is notify the State and local governments to see what they think about it. That is the first and foremost thing that we do to get their input. And once we have done 

that, then we put the tribe through a litany of factors which might 

also occasionally include NEPA, the environmental impact analysis, if they are planning to do development on that land. 

So it is often a long and arduous process. In fact, it is always a 

long and arduous process. But whether it takes just several months 

or several years depends on the complexity of the application. And 

again, Carcieri just increases that problem. 

The CHAIRMAN. So is there any way to expedite that process, or 

are we just where we are and that is the way it is? 

Mr. WASHBURN. Well, let me just say this. I think that it is probably fair to say that the vast majority of our land into trust applications are on reservation. The thing that people get wound up 

about is the gaming decisions. And there is a tiny handful of those. 

We are holding all land into trust hostage because some people are 

upset for just a handful of these small gaming applications. 

So we can certain, it is frustrating that the gaming issues have 

come to dominate this discussion to such a great degree. 

The CHAIRMAN. So can you give us any insight as to who is holding them hostage? You said they are being held hostage. 

Mr. WASHBURN. Well, Congress. I would say Congress. Until this 

body fixes Carcieri, we will continue to deal with this issue to some 

degree. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right. Senator Barrasso? 

Senator BARRASSO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Kevin, following up along those lines, the Administration has 

supported restoring the Secretary’s authority to take land into 

trust for tribes. So we received testimony at our November 20, 

2013 hearing that processes for trust acquisition and for off-reservation gaming, because you raised the issue of gaming, also need 

18 

to be addressed as part of this decision. Do you think that no legislative fix for Secretarial authority is a better alternative than a fix 

that includes these other processes? 

Mr. WASHBURN. Well, let me say this. Those processes have just 

changed a little bit. Our Patchak patch regulation gave greater 

process to counties and local governments that are interested in 

these issues and ensured better notice to them to ensure that if 

they have a problem, they can raise that issue. 

So we have just, my sense is we have just made some improvements that address those kinds of things. People haven’t gotten to 

see the benefit of that because the regulation was just enacted, just 

recently. So I would say that we have addressed a lot of the things 

that were raised by Senator Feinstein and Commissioner Dillon in 

that previous testimony. 

Senator BARRASSO. Coming up next we have some testimony 

from Brian Cladoosby. When we review the written testimony, he 

mentions how some tribal trust acquisitions may actually infringe 

on the reservations of other tribes. So I don’t know how much these 

newer regulations may impact that. These interests have caused 

some division among tribes in finding a Carcieri fix. Do you have 

some recommendations to reconcile these multiple tribal interests 

that are maybe overlapping here? 

Mr. WASHBURN. Vice Chairman, these are the hardest things we 

do. These are among our very hardest decisions we make. And that 

is why my job, it is one of the reasons my job is difficult, because 

we have to weigh these competing interests and then try to come 

up with a decision. And it is why we don’t do, again, especially it 

is the gaming ones that seem to bother people. Those are the ones 

that bother people most. 

And so we don’t do it very often when it overlaps on another 

tribe’s reservation. It is very rare, and darned near never. I think 

of the 1,650 land into trust applications that we have had since the 

beginning of the Obama Administration, of the ones that have been 

approved, well, there are only seven of those, seven out of 1,650 

that were taken into trust successfully for gaming. There are a few 

others that are not in trust yet because they have been challenged. 

But it is just exceedingly rare. It is a vast exception and again, 

it feels like, because people are upset about some very specific 

cases that all the rest of this is being held up. 

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Crapo? 

Senator CRAPO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Washburn, first, I appreciate the Department’s support of 

Senate Bill 2040. I would just remind and highlight to you that as 

we move forward, in order to deal with our scoring issues here in 

Congress, the tribes have agreed to relinquish the compensation 

that was due them. As I indicated to the Chairman, I am going go 

be looking in some other venue for an opportunity to correct that 

aspect of it, and may look to you for some guidance and assistance 

as we move in that direction. 

With regard to Senate Bill 2041, you indicated support for the 

aims of it but concern that there may be some detail work that still 

needs to be done. Could you clarify a little bit for me exactly what 

we need to try to clarify there? 

19 

Mr. WASHBURN. Sure, Senator. One of the things is, we need to 

take some action with regard to land if this bill passes. And we 

don’t have legal descriptions in the bill for the land and that sort 

of thing. Just really technical things that make it easier to do our 

job. We don’t want something that is going to create litigation 

down the road. We would rather have clarity when you act, so that 

we know exactly what is expected of us, and so that we can do that 

forthwith, rather than having to wrangle through those issues later 

in ways that might make people upset. 

Senator CRAPO. Thank you. I am sure that we will be eagerly in 

touch with you to find out exactly what clarity we need to include 

and to make those necessary corrections. I appreciate your working 

with us on that. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Senator Crapo. Once again, Kevin, 

thank you very much for taking time out and being with us today. 

We appreciate your straightforward testimony. Thank you. 

Mr. WASHBURN. Thank you, Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. We will now ask the second panel to come to the 

table. First, we are going to hear from the Honorable Brian 

Cladoosby, President of the National Congress of American Indians. We are then going to hear from Chairman Nathan Small, from 

the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, Chairman Elwood Lowery of the 

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, and Chairman D.K. Sprague of the 

Gun Lake Band. Each one of these folks is going to discuss the 

bill’s impact in their tribes. I want to say thank you to all you folks 

for traveling to Washington to visit with the Committee and give 

your perspective and give us the ability to put some meat on the 

bones when it comes to these bills. 

We thank you all for being here. The same goes for this panel 

as the previous one, you will have five minutes to make your remarks. Your entire written statement will be a part of the record. 

If you can stick to the five minute mark, it gives us a little additional time for questions. 

So with that, Brian, you may begin. 

STATEMENT OF HON. BRIAN CLADOOSBY, PRESIDENT, 

NATIONAL CONGRESS OF AMERICAN INDIANS 

Mr. CLADOOSBY. Chairman Tester, Vice Chairman Barrasso, 

members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify 

today. We very much appreciate the introduction of this legislation. 

The restoration of tribal homelands is critical to the futures of 

all Indian Tribes, and they have worked very hard to promote this 

legislation for the last five years. 

Also I want to thank you, Chairman Tester, for your candor at 

NCAI’s Executive Council meeting in March. You questioned us 

whether we were closer to a solution. We firmly believe that a 

clean fix is by far the best and fairest solution for Indian Country 

at this time. Given the challenges to get this fix passed is going to 

be the issue. 

You asked that tribal leaders come together and engage in meaningful dialogue about options. I am here to thank you for that leadership, and although we are disappointed that after five years we 

were told we may not be able to advance the clean fix that we have 

20 

requested, I pledge that I will do everything in my power as President of NCAI to facilitate dialogue amongst tribes. 

The Supreme Court’s decision in Carcieri v. Salazar in 2009 

overturned a Department of Interior longstanding interpretation 

regarding the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The Supreme 

Court in Carcieri held the the ‘‘now’‘ in the phrase ‘‘now under Federal jurisdiction’‘ and the definition of Indian limits, the Secretary’s 

authority to acquire lands under the IRA for only those Indian 

tribes under Federal jurisdiction on June 18th, 1934, the date the 

IRA was enacted. 

The Supreme Court left open the question of what it means for 

an Indian tribe to be under Federal jurisdiction. As a result, there 

has been significant and harmful related litigation. For example, in 

Patchak v. Salazar in 2012, the Supreme Court found that prior acquisitions of trust land are not protected by the Quiet Title Act. 

Most recently in California v. Big Lagoon, the Ninth Circuit found 

that Big Lagoon Rancheria was not under Federal jurisdiction in 

1934, because no tribal members were living on trust land in 1934. 

These legal precedents following the Carcieri decision are deeply 

troubling to Indian Country. They underscore why the Congress 

must act to fix this decision. It has now been over five years since 

the Supreme Court decided the Carcieri case and what began as an 

effort by tribes to simply follow the intent of the Indian Reorganization Act and allow tribes to restore their homelands now has 

become a different effort. 

So if we were to simply address the Supreme Court case, then 

we would amend one sentence in the Indian Reorganization Act to 

make sure all tribes could take land into trust, nothing more, and 

nothing less. This is exactly what S. 2188 does. 

However, as this Committee is well aware, it is not often that 

standalone bills that address Indian issues move through Congress. 

Therefore, when tribal legislation becomes priority, it is often seen 

as a vehicle to address a myriad of other issues related to tribes. 

That is what happened here. Carcieri legislation has become 

weighted down by issues such as gaming, State, county and tribal 

jurisdictional issues, and Federal recognition. 

So while the right result would be to have enough support in this 

Congress to simply pass a clean fix, we have not been able to accomplish this today. And Senator Tester, based on your statements 

to tribal leaders at NCAI’s Executive Session meeting, it is time to 

have a different conversation so we can reach different results. 

Tribes are at a crossroads. There is no status quo. Litigation continues and the courts are shaping policy for tribes instead of Congress, and changed decisions that have been made for over 100 

years. You have asked Indian Country to dialogue and move this 

issue forward. As President of NCAI, I am willing to lead this effort. But it will be difficult, and I will likely get criticized for even 

suggesting we have these conversations. 

But having these difficult and serious conversations about legislation is not new to Indian Country. We have had to have difficult 

discussions around the Tribal Law and Order Act, the Indian 

Health Care Improvement Act and the Cobell settlement. We didn’t 

get anything we wanted in these bills, but tribal governments and 

Indian people are better off today because those pieces of legislaVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:56 Dec 17, 2014 Jkt 091817 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\91817.TXT JACK
21 

tion were drafted, based on significant tribal input, championed by 

this Committee and signed into law. 

So as you asked, Mr. Chairman, NCAI will have these discussions with Indian Country. We are willing to do that. But we need 

the full support of every member of this Committee, which is our 

trustee in the true sense of the word, which has been asked to uphold the constitution which says that treaties are the supreme law 

of the land. 

So I ask that every Committee member work on behalf of Indian 

Country to support a fix and bring resolution to this issue. 

We look forward to working with you and the Committee. And 

I have five seconds I will yield here to my friend to my left. 

[Laughter.] 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Cladoosby follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. BRIAN CLADOOSBY, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL CONGRESS

OF AMERICAN INDIANS

Chairman Tester, Vice Chairman Barrasso and Members of the Committee, thank 

you for the opportunity to testify today. We very much appreciate the introduction 

of this legislation. The restoration of tribal homelands is critical to the futures of 

all Indian tribes and we have worked very hard to promote this legislation for the 

last five years, ever since the Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar which 

developed a new interpretation of the phrase ‘‘recognized Indian tribe now under 

federal jurisdiction.’’ 

I also want to thank you Chairman Tester for your candor at NCAI’s Executive 

Council meeting in emphasizing that while we have worked diligently for five years, 

it is questionable whether we are any closer to a solution. We firmly believe that 

a ‘‘clean fix’’ is by far the best and fairest solution for Indian Country. You asked 

that tribal leaders come together and engage in meaningful dialogue about options. 

I am here to thank you for that leadership. I pledge that I will do everything in 

my power as President of NCAI to facilitate dialogue among tribes. 

Brief Background, Analysis, and Discussion of Options 

The Supreme Court’s decision in Carcieri v. Salazar in 2009 overturned a Department of Interior longstanding interpretation regarding the Indian Reorganization 

Act of 1934 (IRA). The Supreme Court held the term ‘‘now’’ in the phrase ‘‘now 

under Federal jurisdiction’’ in the definition of ‘‘Indian’’ limits the Secretary’s authority to acquire lands under the IRA for only those Indian tribes ‘‘under federal 

jurisdiction’’ on June 18, 1934, the date the IRA was enacted. 

The Supreme Court left open the question of what it means for an Indian tribe 

to be ‘‘under federal jurisdiction,’’ and as a result there has been significant and 

harmful related litigation. In Patchak v. Salazar in 2012, the Supreme Court found 

that prior acquisitions of trust land are not protected by the Quiet Title Act. Most 

recently in California v. Big Lagoon, the 9th Circuit found that the Big Lagoon 

Rancheria was not under federal jurisdiction in 1934 because no tribal members 

were living on trust land in 1934. NCAI has supported rehearing, but we are starting to see the trend of bad legal precedents coming out of the Carcieri related litigation. 

In 1934, Congress rejected allotment and assimilation and passed the IRA. The 

clear purpose of Congress was to re-establish the tribal land base and restore tribal 

governments that had withered under prior federal policies. The legislative history 

and the Act itself are filled with references to restoration of federal support for 

tribes that had been cut off, and ‘‘to provide land for landless Indians.’’ 

A problem with our legal system is that lawyers sometimes lose sight of the fundamental history and purpose of a law, debate the meaning of a few words, and suddenly the law is turned on its head. Today, because of the Carcieri decision, we have 

opponents arguing that tribes are not eligible for the benefits of the IRA if they 

were not under active federal supervision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1934, 

or if they did not have lands in trust 1934. Both of these arguments are contrary 

to the history and purpose of the law to re-establish federal support for tribes that 

had been abandoned or ignored by the BIA, and to restore land to tribes that had 

little or no land. 

22 

The purposes of the IRA were frustrated, first by WWII and then by the Termination Era. The work did not begin again until the 1970’s with the Self-Determination Policy, and since then Indian tribes are building economies from the ground up, 

and must earn every penny to buy back their own land. Still today, many tribes 

have no land base and many tribes have insufficient lands to support housing and 

self-government and culture. We will need the IRA for many more years until the 

tribal needs for self-support and self-determination are met. 

Opposition Based on Expansion of Indian Gaming 

While land restoration under the IRA has nothing to do with gaming, opposing 

parties are using the decision to oppose land to trust for gaming. Much of the resulting litigation is centered on land acquisition for the purposes of gaming. In Congress, opposition to the legislation has also focused on gaming. Even among tribes 

there is some litigation and concern based in opposition to gaming facilities. Although we have worked for five years to frame the issue as a question of fundamental fairness and land restoration for all tribes—because that is what the IRA 

and our efforts to get it fixed are about—perhaps we cannot avoid the fact that the 

opposition’s concerns are about gaming. 

It has now been over five years since the Supreme Court decided the Carcieri case and what began as an effort by tribes to simply follow the intent of the Indian Reorganization Act and allow tribes to restore their homelands has now become a different effort. So if we were to simply address the Supreme Court case, then we 

would amend one sentence in the Indian Reorganization Act to make sure all tribes 

can take land into trust—nothing more and nothing less. This is exactly what S. 

2188 does. 

However, as this Committee is well aware, it is not often that stand-alone bills 

that address Indian issues move through Congress. Therefore, when tribal legislation becomes a priority, it is often seen as a vehicle to address a myriad of other 

issues related to tribes. That is what happened here—the legislation has become 

weighed down by issues such as gaming. 

So while the right result would be to have enough support in this Congress to 

simply pass a clean fix—we have not been able to accomplish this to date. And, Senator Tester, based on your statements to tribal leaders at NCAI’s Executive Session 

meeting, it is time to have a different conversation so we can reach a good result. 

Tribes are at a crossroads—status quo means that litigation will continue and the 

courts will shape policy for tribes instead of Congress. You have asked Indian Country to dialogue and move this issue forward. As President of NCAI, I am willing 

to lead this effort but it will be difficult and I will likely get criticized for even suggesting we have these conversations. 

But, having these difficult and serious conversations about legislation is not new 

to Indian Country. We had to have difficult discussions around the Tribal Law and 

Order Act, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, and the Cobell settlement. We 

didn’t get everything we wanted in these bills, but tribal governments and Indian 

people are better off today because those pieces of legislation were drafted with significant tribal input, championed by this Committee and signed into law. 

So, if you are asking NCAI to have those discussions with Indian Country, we are 

willing to do that, but we will need the full support of every member of this Committee to work on behalf of Indian Country to support a fix and bring resolution 

to this issue. 

On-reservation acquisitions. The other reality that we face is that many tribes are 

not directly affected by the Carcieri problem. In order to generate broader tribal 

support for the legislation, we could consider including language in the ‘‘fix’’ that 

would address some of the more general tribal concerns about the land to trust process. For example, there is generally wide support for on-reservation land to trust 

acquisitions where tribes are simply restoring lands within their existing reservations. However tribes run into an incredible amount of red tape and delays—sometimes for decades. Tribal leaders could consider an option for simplifying and expediting the process for these non-controversial acquisitions. Including some provisions 

along these lines might draw more interest and support from a broad spectrum of 

tribes, which would help achieve legislative success. 

Quiet Title Act. Another aspect of the Carcieri-related litigation is of significant 

concern to all tribes. The Patchak decision set a precedent for disturbing the title 

status of federal Indian lands, and now in Big Lagoon the federal courts seem to 

be willing to go back in time for many decades. This was clearly not the intention 

of the Indian lands exception to the Quiet Title Act. In Patchak the Supreme Court 

found the tribal arguments ‘‘not without force,’’ but indicated tribes should to take 

their arguments to Congress. Tribes could consider amendments to the Quiet Title 

Act that would protect the status of existing and longstanding federal trust lands. 

23 

Conclusion 

Chairman Tester, thank you for inviting a dialogue among tribes about new options. This testimony is intended to initiate that dialogue among tribes, and with 

you Mr. Chairman, Vice Chairman Barrasso, and the other Members of the Committee. There may be many options we should consider, and I would encourage both 

this Committee and the Department of Interior to engage in consultation with all 

tribes. As the President of NCAI, I will take these issues to the tribal leadership 

and seek their views, and I hope I will have the opportunity to coming back to you 

for more discussion in the near future. 

In addressing this difficult challenge, Indian Country is asking for the bipartisan 

support of this Committee. The Committee on Indian Affairs has been a great friend 

and benefactor to Indian Country and Indian people so many times and in so many 

ways over the decades. Now we are calling on your assistance again. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Brian, thank you for your testimony. I will say 

that this won’t happen because of your effort or my effort. It will 

happen because of all of our efforts. I think that is the key. 

So if we work together, we can be successful. If this Committee 

fractures, or there is a Native American fracture, then it is going 

to be very, very difficult. 

We have a good relationship. We will put the shoulder to the 

wheel and we will make it happen. 

Nathan Small, you are up. 

STATEMENT OF HON. NATHAN SMALL, CHAIRMAN, FORT HALL 

BUSINESS COUNCIL, SHOSHONE-BANNOCK TRIBES 

Mr. SMALL. Good afternoon. My name is Nathan Small. I am 

Chairman of the Fort Hall Business Council of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in southeastern Idaho. 

I am honored to testify here first on S. 2040. And it is good to 

see Senator Crapo here, I come visit him every time I am in town, 

and he has been gracious enough to come visit us whenever he is 

back home. Good to see you and thank you for the words that you 

brought out here. We really appreciate his and Senator Risch’s efforts on this bill in the past five years. 

Again, just to echo what Senator Crapo indicated, this bill would 

resolve land ownership disputes resulting from channel realignment of the Blackfoot River in 1964 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. All impacted parties, including the non-Indian landowners 

on the north bank of the river, support this bill. 

The realignment severed various parcels of land along the river, 

resulting in Indian land being located north of the realigned river 

and non-Indian land being located south of the realigned river. The 

best way to understand the problem created by the re-channelization is by showing you this map. And that is this map over here. 

As you can see, the original boundary and the river are shown in 

blue. It is a little hard to see the blue, but you can see how the 

river basically meandered through or snaked through the area 

there. 

Also, what you will see is, basically these loops that were created 

when they rechanneled created a lot of land that was landlocked 

or had no access. And there is about 44 of those loops altogether, 

you can see the blue loops, going around and around there. So this 

one here is probably the most exaggerated loop of them all, you can 

see that right here, along with the others over here. 

But when you don’t have access to your land, you can’t do anything with it. As a result, you miss out on whatever productivity 

24 

you might have had for that land. I think some of these lands were 

already being farmed and had some income coming off of them for 

the people that were involved in these, both Indian and non-Indian. 

S. 2040 would resolve the clouded titles by placing about 31 acres 

of non-Indian lands located south of the river into trust for the 

tribes and by converting about 37 acres of Indian trust land located 

north of the river into fee lands and transferring those lands to the 

Blackfoot River Flood Control District No. 7. Clearing title would 

enable us to farm or use the land. The parties have lost valuable 

income due to the inability to farm these lands. 

In the past, objections were raised by the authorization for appropriation provisions contained in previous versions of this bill. In 

order to move that forward, the parties removed this provision in 

the bill and made other changes. We are encouraged that Interior 

now supports this bill and we urge Congress to enact this bill and 

thank you, and again thank you to Senator Crapo and Senator 

Risch for allowing us to present this and get something straightened out that has been there since the 1960s. 

The second bill on here to discuss is S. 2041, the 1918 Appeal 

Act. We thank again Senators Crapo and Risch for introducing S. 

2041 that repeals the authority of Interior to transfer our reservation lands into a municipality for use as a town site or other public 

purposes. Even though a municipality was never formally established, approximately 120 acres of the tribe’s lands were taken out 

of trust under the Act. 

As you can see, our reservation currently has about 544,000 

acres of land. The red shows that. Originally, when the land was 

supposed to have been surveyed, that line was supposed to come 

clear down to here. Of course, that didn’t happen. The green part 

here is Bingham County. They have basically agreed that the town 

site should probably come back under the tribe, it is not something 

that they have had a lot to do with. The black dot is the location 

of this little town site here. As you can see in the bigger picture, 

this is how it looks today. 

In 1966, Interior issued a public land order restoring approximately four acres of our lands and approximately 111 acres still remain that are currently not in trust. Tribal members and non-Indians own pieces of the land, simple parcels in that area. If you look 

at this map here, and I believe there are some on that side there, 

there is about four acres that was put back into trust in 1960, 

there. As you can see, this whole town site in this area is very close 

to a lot of our tribal governmental activities. There is our REAMS 

complex, here is the justice center that we just recently built, and 

our tribal business center is right here. We have our rodeo grounds 

and our festival grounds right here, our Indian Health center. 

So most of our activity is all centered around here, our tribal government. But across the road here, we have this town site, that is 

currently out of trust. 

The tribes do own some parcels in here. There is a school right 

here, I believe, an elementary school that is under school district 

number 55 in Blackfoot, Idaho. Right across the street there is 

what used to be an old LDS church that is now currently being utilized by our fisheries department. So a part of our tribal government is also using some of the land within this area. Again, there 

25 

are several places in this area that are owned by tribal members, 

owned by other Indians, and owned by non-Indians. 

So when Mr. Washburn was talking about some clarity to the 

place, we also want some clarity to the place. But a lot of that information that he is currently looking for we have been diligently 

working to gather that information. He should have it by tomorrow 

or the next few days, and we will also make sure that the Committee gets that, so there is no more misunderstanding of the clarity of that place. 

The tribes in Bingham County have been working cooperatively 

for several years on a lot of matters. This is one mater that we 

have been working cooperatively with them. Just to let you know, 

our tribal government provides all the services to the town site 

there already. We provide water, waste disposal and fire and EMS, 

and even some police protection out there. So based on that, the 

county does support us, and we jointly seek the repeal of the 1918 

Act to resolve issues relating to the clouded titles and the insurance risks. 

On September 16, 2013, the county sent a letter requesting legislation to repeal the Act that would provide the tribes the opportunity to purchase non-trust lands at fair market value that are offered for sale. S. 2041 would direct Interior to place only non-trust 

1918 Act lands acquired under this bill into trust. A technical 

amendment is needed to clarify that a section of the bill applies 

only to the 1918 Act lands. Their current uses and land ownership 

would not be impacted by repeal of the law. So everything basically 

would still be the same as far as the ownership of those lands, except for those that are either owned by the tribe or other Indians 

would go into trust. 

S. 2041 is consistent with Federal law and policies to restore 

tribal homelands. Let’s get it done, so we can get it done. 

One of the other things I would like to talk about is to discuss 

S. 2188, and again, I would like to echo just about everybody else’s 

comments concerning that. It has been five years since this decision has deterred investments and job creation on Indian lands and 

has opened up criminal convictions to challenge. More importantly, 

Carcieri has produced a series of Federal cases that are cutting 

away at tribal sovereignty. 

The most recent attack was the Ninth Circuit Big Lagoon 

Rancheria decision from January of this year. This case took 

Carcieri to a dangerous new level. It goes beyond placing Indian 

lands into trust. Big Lagoon threatens existing tribal homelands 

regardless of how long the lands have been in trust. 

The Shoshone-Bannock tribes have a treaty-protected reservation. We are organized under the IRA in 1934. So for most purposes, we are not in the direct line of fire. However, after the Big 

Lagoon decision and the growing list of cases yet to be cited, all 

tribes are at risk. 

I can’t put it any simpler than to say this is a full-scale attack 

on tribal sovereignty. When one tribe loses that battle to protect 

sovereignty, we all lose. If nothing is done, the Federal courts will 

continue to erode our trust lands and our power to govern. The 

Shoshone-Bannock tribes are members of the Montana-Wyoming 

Tribal Leaders Council, the Coalition of Large Tribes and the AffiliVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:56 Dec 17, 2014 Jkt 091817 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\91817.TXT JACK
26 

ated Tribes of Northwest Indians. All of these organizations have 

joined a total of 29 national and regional tribal organizations representing more than 400 tribes in strong support of a Carcieri fix. 

A letter from these organizations is attached to my written statement. 

And in closing, S. 2188 will protect existing Indian lands, revive 

investment in Indian Country and comes at no cost to the Federal 

Government. Most importantly, this bill will stop the line of attacks on tribal sovereignty in Federal courts. This is a top priority 

for all of Indian Country and I respectfully urge all members of the 

Committee to co-sponsor S. 2188, and I ask that the Committee 

work with the Senate leadership to pass this bill. 

I want to again thank the Committee for the opportunity to testify on these bills here today. If I am able, I would like to answer 

questions you may have. I am really enthused by what Senator 

Crapo has been doing for us, in taking care of a lot of these issues 

here. It has been a long time, like you said, this is our third Congressional year trying to get something done here. I think we have 

it ready for the other two bills along with the Carcieri. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Small follows:] 

27 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. NATHAN SMALL, CHAIRMAN, FORT HALL BUSINESS

COUNCIL, SHOSHONE-BANNOCK TRIBES


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The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Nathan. We appreciate your testimony, appreciate your perspective. 

Elwood Lowery, you are up to bat. 

STATEMENT OF HON. ELWOOD LOWERY, CHAIRMAN, PYRAMID 

LAKE PAIUTE TRIBE 

Mr. LOWERY. My name is Elwood Lowery, Chairman of the Pyramid Lake Tribe. I am here representing the tribe at the request 

of the Vidler Water Company in support of S. 1818, the Pyramid 


507c11.eps
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Lake Paiute Tribe-Fish Springs Ranch Settlement Act. Vidler 

Water Company is the managing partner for Fish Springs Ranch. 

Steve Hartman, the Vice President, is here today and available to 

answer any questions. 

First, I would like to request that our joint statement and the 

full settlement package be placed in the record and I be allowed 

to summarize the statement. 

The CHAIRMAN. It is in, without objection. 

Mr. LOWERY. Also, I would like to express appreciation to Chairman Tester and Vice Chairman Barrasso and Senator Crapo, for 

holding this hearing. I recognize the time of the hearing is limited. 

I hope that the hearing is a good sign for S. 1818 to be enacted. 

S. 1818 proposes new authorization and ratification to confirm that 

basically it is a private settlement between the tribe and Fish 

Springs. 

The basic issue was a dispute over a proposed project by Fish 

Springs Ranch to pump groundwater north of Reno. We were concerned that the pumping could adversely affect groundwater on or 

near the Pyramid Lake Reservation. Because the proposed project 

required a BLM right of way, we sued the Department of Interior 

and BLM for breach of trust and violation of NEPA when BLM approved the right of way over our objections. Fish Springs joined the 

suit on the side of Interior. 

However, we got together and decided to settle this issue rather 

than continue to litigate. The settlement involves a trust resource, 

because the Fish Springs project could affect water on the reservation. Therefore the settlement requires Federal authorization to 

take effect. That is why we are here. 

From Fish Springs’ standpoint, the settlement protects their private groundwater project, which is in Honey Lake Valley. Fish 

Springs will pump groundwater in Honey Lake Valley and transport it to the northern suburbs of Reno, Nevada. From the tribe’s 

standpoint, the settlement was closely examined by the tribal hydrologist, our attorneys and our council. We believe it reasonably 

compensates the tribe for the potential damage to reservation 

groundwater. 

We recognize that every settlement is unique. In this case, the 

tribe and Vidler came together and reached a settlement without 

the involvement of the Department of Interior. We also have 

worked very hard to make this settlement and the proposed legislation easy for Congress and the Administration to approve. 

Simply stated, the settlement will terminate our lawsuit against 

the Department of the Interior. The settlement requires no action 

from the Department of the Interior. Unlike most water rights, settlements, there is no cost to the United States Government from 

the settlement or the proposed legislation. The legislation assures 

that the Federal Government will bear no liability from the settlement. 

Both the tribe and Fish Springs urge Congress to enact S. 1818 

at its earliest opportunity this year, to be passed earlier this year 

if it can. I would like to thank you for allowing me to make this 

appearance, and would be pleased to answer any questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Lowery follows:] 

52 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. ELWOOD LOWERY, CHAIRMAN, PYRAMID LAKE PAIUTE

TRIBE

I am Elwood Lowery, Chairman of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, and am here 

today representing the Tribe and also at the request of Vidler Water Company regarding S. 1818, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe—Fish Springs Ranch Settlement 

Act. Vidler Water Company is the managing partner for Fish Springs Ranch, LLC. 

We greatly appreciate the fact that the Senate Indian Affairs Committee has scheduled this hearing and we urge you to expeditiously report out S. 1818 to the full 

Senate for consideration and approval. 

At the outset, I would like to say that we have worked hard to make this settlement and the requisite legislation easy for Congress to approve. It ratifies an agreement between two independent parties—the Tribe and Fish Springs Ranch—at no 

cost to the United States Government, asks for and requires no action by the Department of the Interior and likely reduces its workload, terminates a lawsuit 

against the Department of the Interior, and assures that the Government will bear 

no liability from the settlement. It also protects a private water project that is already constructed and reasonably compensates the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe from 

private funds for any actual or potential resource loss. Because it involves a trust 

resource, however, it requires Federal authorization to take effect. That is why we 

are here. 

The proposed legislation (S. 1818) authorizes, ratifies and confirms a settlement 

between the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe (Tribe) and Fish Springs Ranch, LLC (Fish 

Springs). The proposed legislation is necessary to complete the settlement which resolves the parties’ dispute over water rights and alleged injuries to tribal water 

rights in connection with the pumping and transport by Fish Springs of groundwater from the Honey Lake Valley Basin to the suburban Stead/Lemmon Valley 

area north of Reno, Nevada. The transport of the groundwater to the Reno suburbs 

is across public lands, which required a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rightof-way permit. The groundwater pumping takes place west of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation. The Tribe’s concern with the project was that Fish Springs’ pumping could reduce the flow of groundwater to the Pyramid Lake Valley and Smoke 

Creek Desert portions of the Tribe’s Reservation, reducing the Tribe’s precious 

groundwater resource and potentially adversely affecting Pyramid Lake, which is a 

desert terminus lake located entirely within the boundaries of the Pyramid Lake 

Paiute Reservation and home to the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout and the 

endangered cui-ui. The fish of Pyramid Lake were the primary food resource of the 

Tribe for millennia and the Tribe has close cultural ties to them. The Native name 

for the Pyramid Lake Paiute, Cui Ui Ticutta, means cui-ui eaters. 

Fish Springs Ranch and the Tribe have resolved their dispute through settlement, 

which needs federal approval. The terms of the settlement are reflected in an agreement entered into by the parties on May 30, 2007 (Original Agreement), and a supplement to that agreement entered into by the parties on November 20, 2013 (Supplemental Agreement), discussed below. The settlement involved two parts, the first 

of which has been completed and required no federal legislation. The second part 

involves the Tribe’s waiver of full legal protection of its potentially affected water 

rights in the project area in favor of Fish Springs Ranch’s pumping for its water 

export project and requires federal authorization for the Tribe to grant such waivers. Without this legislation, the Tribe will lose its ability to receive the benefits of 

the second part of the settlement, including the right to $3.6 million and accumulated interest. 

Background 

In 2005 and 2006, the Bureau of Land Management issued a Final Environmental 

Impact Statement on rights-of-way across public lands for groundwater projects in 

the Honey Lake Valley of Nevada north of Reno, a Record of Decision for the Fish 

Springs groundwater project, and a water pipeline right-of-way across public lands 

for transport of groundwater from Honey Lake Valley to suburbs north of Reno. One 

of the project proposals considered in the EIS was Fish Springs’ water pumping and 

export project. The total amount of groundwater rights covered by the Fish Springs 

project is 14,108 acre feet per year (afy), of which 13,000 afy is authorized to be 

pumped by Nevada State Engineer rulings. Of the 13,000 afy, 8,000 afy was covered 

in the EIS and another 5,000 afy could be pumped and sold in the future. A visual 

portrayal of the geography of the project area in relation to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation and Reno, Nevada, is attached to the end of this statement. 

The Tribe’s concern with the groundwater pumping was the potential effects of 

pumping groundwater in Honey Lake Valley on the Tribe’s Reservation and water 

resources. The U.S. Geological Survey groundwater model used in BLM’s EIS preVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:56 Dec 17, 2014 Jkt 091817 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\91817.TXT JACK
53 

dicted the maximum groundwater outflow from Honey Lake Valley to Pyramid Lake 

Valley, which is the location of much of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, via 

Astor Pass could be reduced by about 140 afy after 100 years, and eventually 150 

afy at steady-state, or 10 percent of baseline conditions. The maximum groundwater 

outflow to Smoke Creek Desert, much of which is also part of the Tribe’s Reservation, via Sand Pass could be reduced by about 450 afy after 100 years, and eventually 570 afy at steady-state, or 11 percent of baseline conditions. A substantial quantity of Smoke Creek Desert groundwater flows toward Pyramid Lake Valley and the 

model projected a potential reduction in flow of this groundwater that could eventually reduce groundwater outflow to Pyramid Lake Valley by about 500 afy, for a 

total effect on Pyramid Lake Valley of about 650 afy. These reductions were predicted for the entire hydrologic basins rather than groundwater specifically underlying the portions of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation within those basins, but 

the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation occupies a major part of both areas. 

The Tribe objected to the EIS, the Record of Decision, and the project, and asserted that the project would harm the resources of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, cause injuries to tribal water rights, and impair the Tribe’s existing and 

claimed tribal water rights. The Tribe filed suit in Federal District Court for the 

District of Nevada on grounds of a violation of the National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA) and breach of trust, securing a preliminary ruling that the EIS most 

likely violated NEPA and an injunction. Appeals were filed with the Ninth Circuit 

Court of Appeals and an appeal was also filed before the Interior Board of Land 

Appeals. 

The parties intended to settle these issues through the Original Agreement entered into on May 30, 2007. 

The Original Agreement Had Two Parts 

Part 1: The first part permitted Fish Springs project construction to proceed and 

the project to operate in return for $3,600,000, the transfer of over 6,200 acres 

of land to the Tribe, and certain other consideration including the right to payments to the Tribe for future transfers of water in excess of 8,000 afy already 

authorized up to an additional 5,000 afy. It was intended to settle all administrative appeals and end all litigation involving the Tribe’s objections to the 

project and Fish Springs water rights, the EIS, and BLM’s Record of Decision 

and impacts to the Tribe and its resources. 

Part 2: The second part, in return for a second payment of $3,600,000 plus accumulated interest to the Tribe, intended to completely and fully settle all claims 

of the Tribe and, if any, of the United States on behalf of the Tribe for impacts 

or injuries to existing and claimed tribal water rights, injuries to tribal water 

rights in four hydrographic basins, and potential injuries resulting from the 

project to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation. Part 2 of the Original Agreement was contingent on legislation to authorize the completion of its terms. 

The Settlement Today 

Part 1: Part 1 of the Original Agreement was not contingent on legislation and 

the parties have performed and are continuing to perform their obligations, including but not limited to the following: 

1. Fish Springs paid the Tribe $3,600,000; 

2. Fish Springs transferred and conveyed approximately 6,214.32 acres of land 

to the Tribe; 

3. Fish Springs has implemented the water resources, monitoring, and management plan as approved by the Nevada State Engineer; 

4. Fish Springs has delivered and continues to deliver certain resource reports 

to the Tribe and the United States showing the total amount of water 

pumped and transferred from Fish Springs Ranch to the North Valleys Planning Area through the project; 

5. To the extent opportunities have arisen to date, the Tribe has cooperated in 

the future permitting for the project; 

6. The Tribe has participated in dissolving a preliminary injunction in the Federal District Court Action, dismissing the IBLA Appeal, and dismissing the 

Ninth Circuit Appeals, which paved the way for Fish Springs’ pipeline to be 

constructed; and 

7. Fish Springs has been able to exercise its right under the Original Agreement 

to pump and transfer water through the project to end users. 

54 

Part 2: Completing Part 2 of the Original Agreement languished as the legislation 

required by the settlement and proposed toward the end of the session in 2008 was 

not enacted. The Tribe and Fish Springs still desired to complete the terms of Part 

2 of the Original Agreement, however, and entered into the Supplemental Agreement this past November to accomplish this objective. The Supplemental Agreement 

simplifies the remaining actions required to accomplish Part 2 of the Original 

Agreement while remaining true to its original intent. Under Part 2 of the settlement, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe agrees to not challenge Fish Springs existing 

state permitted water rights, to waive claims for damages or taking of Tribal water 

rights from use of Fish Springs’ state-permitted water rights, and to not impair, prevent, or interfere with implementation of the Fish Springs’ project. In return, Fish 

Springs agrees to compensate the Tribe for allowing the project to proceed through 

a monetary settlement. The Tribe considers the value of the settlement to be fair 

and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council has approved the settlement after examining it closely. 

The Supplemental Agreement modifies the manner in which the settlement is approved by the United States. The Original Agreement was negotiated by the Tribe 

and Fish Springs, but assumed that the United States, through the Executive 

Branch, as the Tribe’s trustee, would sign waivers of potential claims against Fish 

Springs along with the Tribe even though Departments of Justice and Interior representatives were not involved in the negotiations. This approach has been modified 

to have the same effect, but for Congress to (1) extinguish claims the United States 

could bring on behalf of the Tribe against Fish Springs to the extent that claims 

are waived by the Tribe, (2) eliminate the responsibility of the United States to assert such claims on behalf of the Tribe, and (3) terminate any potential liability of 

the United States resulting from the settlement terms. In these ways, the settlement is simpler and the proposed legislation does not require participation in the 

settlement by the Executive Branch. 

The Supplemental Agreement also modifies the approach in the Tribe’s waivers 

to that generally recommended by the Department of the Interior, which is patterned on recent Indian water rights settlements such as those for Aamodt, White 

Mountain Apache, and the Crow Tribe. In doing so, it adds specific waivers of claims 

against the United States by the Tribe, which complement the waivers of claims 

against Fish Springs, and assures the United States that it will incur no liabilities 

as a result of the settlement. 

The Supplemental Agreement also provides that if Legislation is not enacted by 

December 31, 2015, Part 2 of the Settlement will be terminated. In this case, the 

Tribe would no longer be entitled to payment from Fish Springs for Part 2 of the 

settlement. 

The Proposed Legislation, S. 1818 

The proposed legislation authorizes and ratifies the Supplemental Agreement and 

thereby permits the settlement between the Tribe and Fish Springs to be completed. 

Through the proposed legislation, the United States would extinguish any claims on 

behalf of the Tribe that are waived by the Tribe against Fish Springs and the 

United States would have no right or obligation on behalf of the Tribe to assert 

claims waived by the Tribe. The Tribe would also waive any claims it might have 

against the United States under the agreement and act including waiving any 

United States liability to the Tribe for the claims waived, subject to certain reservations. The proposed legislation would authorize the Tribe to grant the waivers 

against both Fish Springs and the United States, which it cannot do without authorization from Congress. These provisions would take effect after the Tribe signed its 

waivers and Fish Springs paid the Tribe $3,600,000 plus interest from January 8, 

2009, until the date the payment is made. The Tribe will also dismiss pending litigation against the Bureau of Land Management for violations of NEPA and United 

States trust responsibilities related to the Fish Springs project and Fish Springs’ 

use of its groundwater rights. 

Benefits of the Settlement to the United States 

The settlement resolves a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management, eliminates the potential need for the Bureau of Land Management to prepare a new or 

supplemental EIS, fulfills a trust responsibility of the United States to the Tribe, 

eliminates a potential liability of the United States for breach of trust against the 

Tribe, resolves water rights between the Tribe and Fish Springs Ranch, and, potentially, between the United States, acting on behalf of the Tribe, and Fish Springs 

Ranch, at no cost to the United States. 

No federal appropriation of funds is sought or needed under the settlement or the 

proposed legislation. 

55 

Both Fish Springs Ranch and the Tribe urge that Congress enact S. 1818 at its 

earliest opportunity this year so that we can complete the settlement and not be 

pushed up against the termination deadline next year. We thank you for this hearing and for your consideration of this settlement legislation. 

The CHAIRMAN. There will be questions here shortly. We are 

going to get Chairman Sprague to have his testimony, then we will 

get to questions. 

You may proceed. 

STATEMENT OF HON. DAVID ‘‘D.K.’’ SPRAGUE, CHAIRMAN, 

MATCH–E–BE–NASH–SHE–WISH BAND OF POTTAWATOMI 

INDIANS 

Mr. SPRAGUE. Good morning. My name is D.K. Sprague, I am the 

Chairman of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi 

Indians of Michigan. We are also known as the Gun Lake Tribe. 

I want to thank the Committee for holding this hearing on S. 

1603, a bill that will simply reaffirm the trust status of our lands. 

I also want to thank Senators Stabenow and Levin who introduced 

this bill and our own Congressman, Fred Upton, whose district encompasses our reservation and who was a strong supporter of this 

bill. 

Mr. Chairman, this legislation is very straightforward. It simply 

reaffirms the trust status of the one parcel of land the Federal Government currently holds in trust for our tribe. Our tribe’s sovereign 

status was reaffirmed by the United States on August 23, 1999. In 

2001, additionally, the Secretary of Interior did take 147 acres into 

trust on behalf of our tribe. 

After several years of a long and costly administrative process, 

and many more years of legislation these lands were finally placed 

in trust on January 30, 2009, nearly eight years after we first petitioned to have these lands taken into trust. That fact still astounds 

me today. 

We have since opened a gaming and entertainment facility on 

our reservation lands. They are the same lands where we house 

our tribal police department. Again, this is the only parcel of land 

that is held in trust on behalf of our tribe. 

Since February of 2011, we have hired over 1,000 people in our 

community. We have also worked closely with our local governmental partners on a revenue sharing plan that has greatly benefited our tribe, local schools, law enforcement agencies and local 

communities. All this is now threatened by a U.S. Supreme Court 

opinion that has allowed one individual to challenge the authority 

of the Secretary of Interior to take land into trust for our tribe. 

This case threatens our economic well-being and has made it virtually impossible for my tribe to obtain financing for any future 

economic development projects. After 13 years of administrative 

and legal battles, we find ourselves still fighting the same issues 

in the courts. Our tribe has suffered a great loss of resources from 

these lawsuits. And while we have won every single challenge on 

the merits, it is now time for this dispute to come to an end for 

the sake of our tribe, our employees and our local communities. 

Mr. Chairman, let me be very clear. This legislation will simply 

reaffirm the status of our existing trust lands. And it will only impact the Gun Lake tribe. It does not affect any other lands, and it 

56 

does not give my tribe or the BIA any new authority. It is my understanding that we are the only tribe in the Country that currently faces this dilemma. 

We have a letter from the BIA which underscores the uniqueness 

of our situation. That is why this legislation is strongly supported 

on a bipartisan basis by the Michigan Congressional delegation. We 

also have 35 letters of support from local elected officials, law enforcement and business leaders and civil groups who live in our 

community. It is important to note that not one unit of government, local, county or State, has ever opposed our efforts to reestablish our reservation or to operate a gaming facility on our homelands. 

Again, thank you for allowing me to testify today. I urge the 

Committee to pass this bill as soon as possible and I am open to 

answer any questions you may have. Megwich. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Sprague follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. DAVID ‘‘D.K.’’ SPRAGUE, CHAIRMAN, MATCH-E-BE- NASH-SHE-WISH BAND OF POTTAWATOMI INDIANS

Chairman Tester, Vice- Chairman Barrasso and Members of the Committee, my 

name is DK Sprague and I am the Chairman of the Match-E-Be-NashShe-Wish 

Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan. We are also known as the Gun Lake 

Tribe. 

I want to thank the Committee for holding a hearing on Senate Bill 1603, a bill 

that will simply re-affirm the trust status of our lands. I also want to thank Senators Stabenow and Levin, who introduced this bill—and our own Congressman 

Fred Upton, whose district encompasses our reservation and who is a strong supporter of this bill. 

Mr. Chairman, this legislation is very straight-forward. It simply re-affirms the 

trust status of the one parcel of land the Federal Government currently holds in 

trust for our Tribe. 

Our Tribe’s sovereign status was reaffirmed by the United States on August 23, 

1999. In 2001, we petitioned the Secretary of Interior to take 147 acres of land into 

trust on behalf of our Tribe. 

After several years of a long and costly administrative process—and many more 

years of litigation, these lands were finally placed into trust on January 30, 2009— 

nearly eight years after we first petitioned to have these lands taken into trust. 

That fact still astounds me today. 

We have since opened a gaming and entertainment facility on our reservation 

lands. They are the same lands where we house our Tribal police department. 

Again, this is the only parcel of land that is held in trust on behalf of our Tribe. 

Since February of 2011, we have hired over 1,000 people in our community. We 

have also worked closely with our local governmental partners on a revenue sharing 

plan that has greatly benefitted our Tribe, local schools, law enforcement agencies 

and local communities. 

All of this is now threatened by a U.S. Supreme Court opinion that has allowed 

one individual to challenge the authority of the Secretary of Interior to take land 

into trust for our Tribe. This case threatens our economic well-being and has made 

it virtually impossible for my Tribe to obtain financing for any future economic development projects. After thirteen years of administrative and legal battles, we find 

ourselves still fighting the same issues in the courts. Our Tribe has suffered a great 

loss of resources from these lawsuits. And while we have won every single challenge 

on the merits—it is now time for this dispute to come to an end—for the sake of 

our Tribe, our employees and our local communities. 

Mr. Chairman, let me be very clear—this legislation will simply reaffirm the status of our existing trust lands—and it will only impact the Gun Lake Tribe. It does 

not affect any other lands, and it does not give my Tribe or the BIA any new authority. 

It is my understanding that we are the only Tribe in the country that currently 

faces this dilemma. We have a letter from the BIA which underscores the uniqueness of our situation. 

That is why this legislation is strongly supported on a bi-partisan basis by the 

Michigan Congressional delegation. We also have 35 letters of support from local 

57 

elected officials, law enforcement, business leaders and civic groups who live in our 

community. It is important to note that not one unit of government—local, county 

or state—has ever opposed our efforts to re-establish our reservation or to operate 

a gaming facility on our homelands. 

Again, thank you for allowing me to testify today. I urge the Committee to pass 

this bill as soon as possible and I am open to answer any question you may have. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Chairman Sprague. 

Senator Crapo? 

Senator CRAPO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for letting me go 

first. I do have a meeting I have to get to before that vote starts, 

so I appreciate this. 

I actually don’t have any questions, but I did want to take this 

opportunity to welcome Chairman Small of the Shoshone-Bannock 

Tribes here, and to thank him for not only our friendship, but for 

his good, strong leadership in helping us to get to this point. We 

have worked for many years, it has been a long road, and I am 

hopeful that we are close to the end of that road and that we can 

continue to work on this as well as a number of the other issues 

that are working on together. 

Again, Mr. Chairman, I wanted to thank Chairman Small publicly for his being here with us today and for the tremendous service he gives out in Idaho. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Senator Crapo, and we appreciate 

your leadership also. 

I think we are going to start with Brian. Brian, as far as the 

Carcieri decision goes, I think it is important, as far as Carcieri 

goes, I think it is important that any hearing on this issue continues to document the impact of that decision on tribes and why 

it is important for Congress to do what the Supreme Court asked 

them to do, clarify the law. 

The Assistant Secretary spoke about empty houses that are now 

boarded up and will never be used because of the Carcieri decision. 

I would ask you to discuss any similar impacts of the Carcieri decision on other reservations throughout the Country. 

Mr. CLADOOSBY. Yes. In Oregon, there is a tribe right now that 

is affected by this. It is a non-gaming economic development project 

that they had to put on hold now because of the impacts of this 

case. That is very serious, when the investors are questioning the 

tribe’s ability to be able to move forward on a project like this. It 

is really detrimental to those tribes that are trying to do projects 

that are non-gaming in stature, and the majority of these are. 

So we are seeing impacts around the Country because of this 

case. 

The CHAIRMAN. Is it true that this only impacts the tribes recognized after 1934? 

Mr. CLADOOSBY. That is a good question. I believe we have to 

look at it very closely, those tribes that were recognized before 

1934, and the potential impacts that they could have going forward 

because of this case. 

The CHAIRMAN. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank NCAI for all 

their work on this issue. I know you are in a tough position, as 

your opening remarks talked about. But the fact is, we are going 

to find a different solution to the Carcieri problem with S. 2188. 

It may not be the ideal solution, it may be the ideal solution, too, 

58 

which is what we hope. But we all know that it may not get the 

support it needs to pass without potential changes. 

How can this Committee continue to help promote further discussions and dialogues on this issue among tribes and other stakeholders? 

Mr. CLADOOSBY. I think what is very important for people to understand is that we just need a one-sentence fix in this. The other 

issues, the gaming issues, the State, county and tribal jurisdictional issues, the Federal recognition issues, those are definitely 

issues that need to be dealt with. But we can deal with those separately. All we need to do here is just amend one sentence in the 

Indian Reorganization Act to fix Carcieri, but continue to work on 

these other issues that people want to put into this bill to weigh 

this down to basically doom its passage. 

So that is what I would hope that the Congress would do, seriously look at these other issues but look at it separately and independent from a clean Carcieri fix. 

The CHAIRMAN. Last fall, we heard from the counties on this 

issue. They wanted to be more involved in the land into trust process. What is your view of the counties’ role in the land into trust 

process? 

Mr. CLADOOSBY. If you look at the current fee to trust process, 

and if you ever had to, Senator Tester, jump through the hoops and 

try to get a piece of land from fee into trust, you would be banging 

your head against the wall like tribes are sometimes. Counties do 

get an opportunity right now to voice their opinions on fee to trust, 

according to the regulations. 

A lot of counties are great partners to tribes around the Nation. 

A lot of great relationships have been forged. The counties are recognizing 21st century tribes for their economic input into their 

counties. As you know, tribes do not have the infrastructure, you 

have been to many reservations, and you know the difference between a Montana city and a Montana reservation. There is not the 

infrastructure in the reservation like there is in a city. Tribes are 

not there yet. But some of them are contributing millions of dollars 

to their local economies and the counties are recognizing this. 

So I think it is important that the counties have a voice but not 

have a veto power. That is one thing that everyone recognizes that 

the county should not be able to have a veto power over this. This 

should be a decision that is made by the Federal Government 

based on all the information that is gathered. They should have 

every opportunity to weigh in on these issues. 

But the fee to trust issue is one that is very cumbersome. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thanks again for your testimony, thanks for your 

straight-up answers. I appreciate your being here. 

And thank you for being here too, Nathan Small. I have a few 

questions for you. Your testimony states that the township created 

by the 1918 Act included 120 acres, of which 111 acres are still 

held out of trust. Who currently owns the land within the town 

site? How much of the land does the tribe expect to acquire or place 

into trust in the near future, if in fact this bill is enacted? 

Mr. SMALL. I think that is some of the clarity that needs to be 

addressed. As I indicated, we are in the process of getting all that 

59 

stuff together here, hopefully in the next few weeks or next few 

days we will have that information available on the clarity. 

There is a section right along where the 1966 work, where they 

did put it back into trust. But there is a little section right in between that and what is called the railroad tracks that is still out 

of trust. As I indicated, we are using some of that land already. We 

have been able to put our enterprises, offices are currently in that 

area right now. And as I indicated, there are other parcels, plots 

that are utilized by our tribal membership and our tribal government. 

Right now again, I just finally got the legal description of the 

land here, I finally got that and I was going to hand it off to Mr. 

Washburn. There is several sections in there where non-Indians 

have purchased land in there. Right now it is because of an agreement between the county and the tribes, we have both been taking 

care of the needs of the people in that area. And as I indicated, we 

provide most of the services to them already. 

The CHAIRMAN. How much of that 120 do you think you could get 

in? Let’s say we got this bill signed by the 1st of July. How much 

of that 120, or actually 111 acres, do you have any projections for 

how much of that you could get in how quickly? 

Mr. SMALL. I think the information, once it is gathered up, we 

would be able to identify what is what out there. Right now it is 

kind of in a checkerboard situation. We have had, of course the 

BIA or Department or Interior wouldn’t have any information on 

this, because it is not held in trust. So they are at a loss basically 

as to what this is all about. But the tribes and the county have 

been, for the past few years, really working diligently with each 

other, as indicated by Mr. Cladoosby here, that some counties do 

work with you. This Bingham County has really been a good county to work with, as opposed to some of the other counties within 

our reservation. 

The CHAIRMAN. That is good. 

One of the recommendations we have heard regarding a Carcieri 

fix is that we have to have requirements for certain off-reservation 

acquisitions. We should make the process for on-reservation acquisitions simpler. What has the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes’ experience 

with the on-reservation trust acquisitions been? 

Mr. SMALL. When they first started this process of getting land 

into trust within the boundaries of the reservation, we had to go 

to the regional office and ask them what was the holdup. They told 

us there that, your superintendent can do that on his own. So we 

went back to our superintendent and asked him, why aren’t you 

taking some of this land into trust. Finally, basically kicked him 

in the butt to say, you had better start moving on these lands within the boundaries of the reservation. 

After about 20 years, I think we got 20 acres back into trust. 

That is not a lot, but there is still a lot more land out there that 

needs to come back into trust within the boundaries of the reservation. Our tribe has been working with the Bonneville Power Administration in purchasing land together outside the boundaries of 

the reservation. We have putting those lands basically that are set 

aside to let those lands remain natural, so there is always that 

60 

type of land we have been able to purchase outside the boundaries 

of the reservation. 

Then there are some lands that we are looking at to purchase 

within our original territories that are within the hunting districts 

of our reservation. We want to put our people out there soon. We 

have been working diligently on some of these things. When you 

have something that may prevent you from doing those kinds of 

things, I don’t think it is right. It is our original homelands. If we 

have the ability to purchase those, why not. 

And it is not always for economic development. It is not always 

about gaming. There are some places that we purchase that we basically turn into wilderness areas, so that doesn’t become a public 

place. You just want places to become natural or get back to its 

natural state. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Chairman Lowery, your testimony describes the importance of 

enacting the bill as soon as possible, as the lack of legislation 

would impact the settlement between the tribe and Fish Springs 

Ranch. Tell me what happens if the bill is not enacted. 

Mr. LOWERY. If the bill is not enacted, the remaining amount of 

money of $3.6 million would not be given to the tribe. Fish Springs 

Ranch would not be protected. The tribe would pursue litigation if 

it was possible. If the lake was damaged in any way, the lake 

water surface would go below 3,712 feet, somewhere in that area, 

it would probably impact the tribes. Those are the pending issues 

that are facing us right now. 

The CHAIRMAN. Chairman Lowery, this bill would ratify a settlement that address just a small portion of the tribe’s overall water 

rights. Are there lessons that your tribe has learned that you can 

share with other tribes currently involved in water right disputes? 

Mr. LOWERY. Yes. The Department of Justice and Interior representatives, when they are involved in the negotiation, you could 

solve those kinds of issues at certain times. The United States 

didn’t bear any results from it, and we did not participate in the 

settlement negotiations. 

So there are good ways of solving things. Right now we are working on huge negotiations between California and Nevada and the 

five signators on the Truckee River agreements. So there are lessons to be learned if you can work through those and there are 

benefits. In Nevada, right now, locally, the Nevada people support 

the issue, because water is like gold out there. You need drinking 

water, you need operating water, you need ranch water. It is all 

there. So you have to work through all those issues as you face the 

whole issue of settlement. 

The CHAIRMAN. Water is getting to be like gold everywhere. And 

rightfully so. 

It is always good when the two primary stakeholders offer joint 

statements in support of the bill, as is the case here. Can you give 

us an idea how the settlement is viewed by other tribes or parties 

within Nevada? 

Mr. LOWERY. In Nevada, the State of Nevada folks, they are in 

agreement with it. Locally the tribe itself is in agreement, supporting the issue of settlement. So it is all there in one package. 

The CHAIRMAN. Is anybody actively beating you up on it? 

61 

Mr. LOWERY. No. A couple of tribal people. 

[Laughter.] 

The CHAIRMAN. Chairman Sprague, can you give us an update on 

where your land acquisition case stands right now? 

Mr. SPRAGUE. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. The Supreme Court has 

remanded our suit back to the U.S. District Court here in D.C. The 

case is still pending before the court and we don’t have a timetable 

when that will be decided. As long as this lawsuit is still pending, 

it will continue to hang over our tribe with the uncertainty and 

local communities. 

The CHAIRMAN. So there is no time frame for the decision? 

Mr. SPRAGUE. No, sir. 

The CHAIRMAN. Okay. The Gun Lake Band gained Federal recognition 16 years ago. Can you describe how the Carcieri decision 

has impacted your tribe? 

Mr. SPRAGUE. The uncertainty of the land that current is in trust 

is what is most troubling to me and my tribe. It is in trust and we 

are doing what we are doing on it. But still, that cloud hangs over 

our head because of the legislation and this one individual. This is 

not a Carcieri fix for our tribe. This bill just reaffirms a strong decision made by the Federal Government in 2009. If this bill is 

passed, the Gun Lake Tribe will still be in the same position under 

Carcieri as every other tribe in the Country. We still have to show 

that we were under Federal jurisdiction in 1934 to get land put in 

trust, just like every other tribe. We are confident that we can 

meet these standards. 

The CHAIRMAN. Does the Band have any other pending land applications or plans to acquire more land? 

Mr. SPRAGUE. Yes, sir, we do. We have several fee lands that are 

currently working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to get in trust. 

The CHAIRMAN. Okay. I think that is about it, we are approaching vote time. I want to thank you all for your statement today. 

The record is going to remain open for two weeks. I encourage all 

stakeholders to submit written statements for the record. These are 

important issues, Carcieri is a huge issue. There is plenty of time 

to get your statements in, so I would appreciate it if you would do 

that. I think it could help us as we move this down the field. 

I appreciate you folks coming in, you all traveled a long way to 

get here. So we thank you for that. And with that, this hearing is 

adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 3:46 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 

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A P P E N D I X 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. DEAN HELLER, U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA

Chairman Tester and Vice-Chairman Barrasso, thank you for holding today’s 

hearing. I am pleased to give my support for this bipartisan legislation to settle this 

water rights dispute and ratify this agreement between the Pyramid Lake Paiute 

Tribe and Fish Springs Ranch. It is an important component of future resource use 

plans in the Truckee Meadows and will provide long-term certainty for the region. 

I would also like to thank Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Chairman Elwood Lowery 

for being here today to testify in support of our bill. Chairman Lowery is a tireless 

advocate for the tribe, and it is a pleasure to have him here in Washington. I look 

forward to working closely with the tribe, Vidler Water Company, and my colleagues 

here in the Senate as we navigate this settlement into law. 

The legislation we are reviewing today authorizes, ratifies, and confirms a settlement which was agreed to in 2007 between the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and Fish 

Springs Ranch. This legislation and agreement represents many years of hard work 

to resolve these parties’ dispute over water rights in connection with the pumping 

and transport of groundwater from the Honey Lake Valley Basin to the suburban 

Stead/Lemmon Valley area north of Reno, NV. 

In Nevada, water is a precious resource, and as you may be aware, the West is 

currently experiencing a severe drought. Given these circumstances, this ongoing 

water-rights dispute between these parties has been a source of contention. That 

said, I am pleased that both the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and the Vidler Water 

Company, managing partner for Fish Springs Ranch, have come together to settle 

this dispute in a mutually beneficial manner. 

The agreement this legislation would authorize and ratify provides that the Tribe 

would not challenge Fish Springs’ water rights and would waive potential claims of 

damages, and in return, the Tribe would receive $3.6 million plus interest from January 8, 2007 from Fish Springs Ranch. It is important to note that this settlement 

has no direct cost to the Federal Government and ends a pending lawsuit against 

the Department of the Interior. 

Given that this agreement terminates at the end of next year, I urge my colleagues to support our Congressional Delegation’s efforts to move this legislation 

this year. It truly is a win-win for all parties involved. Thank you again Chairman 

Tester and Vice-Chairman Barrasso for the opportunity to testify, and I look forward to working with you to advance this important Northern Nevada legislation. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. DIANNE FEINSTEIN, U.S. SENATOR FROM CALIFORNIA

Chairman Tester and Vice-Chairman Barrasso, I am submitting this statement to 

the Committee to express my support for a Carcieri fix, but also to reiterate my 

view that any such fix must include reasonable restrictions on off-reservation gaming and requirements for tribes and local communities to work together to mitigate 

its effects. 

As I have stated before, I do not question the need for a Carcieri fix, but S. 2188, 

as written, leaves important gaming-related issues unaddressed—issues that affect 

California significantly. 

The scale of the tribal gaming industry in California is staggering: 

• The American Gaming Association reported last year that there are 466 tribal 

casinos across 28 states—California alone has 70 (15 percent), second only to 

Oklahoma. 

• California has the highest number of tribal casino gaming machines in the nation—more than 68,300. After Oklahoma, the next state on the list only has 

about 28,000. 

• According to Meister’s 2014 Indian Gaming Industry Report, California’s tribal 

casinos generated nearly $7 billion in total revenues in 2012. 

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This is not what California envisioned when its voters passed a state ballot measure in 2000—Proposition 1A—whereby voters agreed that tribal gaming should be 

restricted to ‘‘Indian lands.’’ 

Voters that supported Proposition 1A could not have contemplated ‘‘Indian lands’’ 

to mean any land that tribes are able to purchase and put into trust regardless of 

connection to and distance from the tribes’ original reservation lands. 

However, it is clear that tribes are no longer content with casinos on reservation 

lands. It is my view that these tribes are directly contradicting Proposition 1A when 

they purchase non-contiguous lands, often many miles away from their reservations, 

for the express purpose of building more casinos. For example: 

• A landless tribe from Santa Cruz tried to open a casino near Oakland. 

• Another landless tribe from Mendocino tried to do the same, just miles down 

the road from Oakland in Richmond, California. 

• A tribe that has a reservation in Butte County convinced the Secretary of the 

Interior to approve a casino nearly 50 miles away in Yuba County, near Sacramento. 

• And a tribe with land in the Sierra foothills convinced the secretary to approve 

a casino outside Fresno, more than 40 miles away. 

In my previous testimony to the Committee, I have also pointed out that the issue 

is not confined to California. Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan, Oregon, and Washington have all experienced such instances of ‘‘reservation shopping.’’ 

Reservation shopping invariably causes conflicts with local communities in the vicinity of the acquired lands. 

Large casinos often draw on local resources, including increased costs for police, 

fire, water, sewer, and transportation. 

However, when a tribe builds a casino on trust lands, it has no legal obligation 

to mitigate effects on local communities, and the Department of the Interior also 

has no obligation to address local concerns. 

The most troubling aspect is that these casinos are moving closer and closer to 

urban centers to increase profits. 

Previous research has shown that new casinos are associated with a 10 percent 

increase in violent crime and bankruptcy rates in the area. Additionally, new casinos dramatically increase the rate of problem-gambling and gambling addictions in 

local communities. 

Furthermore, according to a 2013 report produced by the Institute for American 

Values, new casinos are primarily filled with modern slot machines that give players a sense of winning; however, they are deliberately designed to take in more than 

they pay out. 

People who play such slots as their primary form of gambling are more likely to 

become problem gamblers. This is of special concern for senior citizens and people 

on fixed incomes that use their limited means to support gambling. 

I understand the intent of a Carcieri fix—tribes recognized before the 1934 Indian 

Reorganization Act should not have more rights than their counterparts that were 

recognized after 1934. 

However, any Carcieri fix must address concerns about tribal gaming, and must 

provide local governments a meaningful way to influence the terms and conditions 

of new casino developments in their backyards. 

I strongly urge the Committee to incorporate reforms to the process of taking 

lands into trust for gaming purposes. These reforms include: 

• More stringent criteria to restrict which lands Indian tribes can apply to take 

into trust for gaming purposes. 

• Permanent prohibition of gaming facilities on lands taken into trust for nongaming purposes. 

• Requirement for tribes to mitigate jurisdictional conflicts and effects as a condition for trust acquisitions for gaming. 

• Longer notice and comment periods for local governments to provide their perspectives, and requirement that the Department of the Interior consider their 

input before finalizing a decision. 

When combined with the requirement that tribes demonstrate modern and aboriginal ties to the land, I believe these reforms would represent a real improvement 

in the fee to trust process. 

It is my firm belief that casinos should not be built at the expense of our local 

communities’ resources, safety, and quality of life. 

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I urge you to support and develop a more comprehensive Carcieri fix that would 

allow for these concerns to be addressed. 

Thank you for your leadership, and I look forward to working with you to solve 

these issues and to pass a Carcieri fix soon. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. HARRY REID, U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA

Thank you Chairman Tester and Senator Barrasso for the opportunity to submit 

testimony on this bipartisan bill that will allow an important tribal water settlement in Nevada to move forward. 

Last December, I sponsored the Pyramid Lake-Fish Springs Ranch Settlement Act 

with my colleague Senator Heller and Representatives Amodei and Horsford have 

sponsored the identical House version of the legislation. I would like to take this 

opportunity to thank my colleagues for their willingness to work together on this 

commonsense legislation. 

The legislation is simple. It authorizes and ratifies a settlement bringing an end 

to a water rights dispute between two independent parties—the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and Fish Springs Ranch, LLC. The legislation would allow the Tribe to 

collect over $4 million from Fish Springs Ranch without costing the taxpayers anything or requiring any action of the Department of the Interior. This bill recognizes 

the time and effort that both the Tribe and Fish Springs Ranch have dedicated to 

finding a solution to this dispute and allows their negotiated solution to be enacted. 

Back in 2005, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finalized an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on several groundwater projects, including Fish 

Springs Ranch, LLC’s groundwater project in the Honey Lake Valley for growth in 

an area just north of Reno, Nevada. The BLM signed a Record of Decision (ROD) 

that allowed the project to move forward, but there was evidence of a significant 

impact on the water level of Pyramid Lake. The lake is the home of the Pyramid 

Lake Paiute Tribe, one of only three desert terminus lakes in North America, vital 

habitat for the endangered cui-ui and threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout, and a 

major part of the Tribe’s economy. 

The Tribe filed suit against the BLM and the Federal District Court granted the 

Tribe an injunction. At that time, the Tribe and Fish Springs Ranch entered into 

negotiations securing an agreement in 2007 and have since been working on a supplement that was finalized in September of last year. The agreement is that the construction of the Fish Springs Ranch project would be allowed to move forward in 

return for two payments $3.6 million (plus interest since 2007) and the transfer of 

several thousand acres of land to the Tribe. The Tribe would then waive the claims 

against Fish Springs Ranch for impacts or injuries to existing and claimed Tribal 

water rights for this project. The Tribe would also drop the claims against the BLM. 

Several parts of this settlement have already been implemented, including the 

transfer of land and the first $3.6 million payment to the Tribe. 

For the settlement to be implemented in full, however, the United States must 

authorize the Tribe to waive their claims and ensure that the U.S. does not take 

action against Fish Springs on behalf of the Tribe after enacting the full settlement. 

The legislation would allow the Tribe to waive their claims, prohibit the U.S. from 

taking action on behalf of the Tribe after the agreement is enacted and release the 

U.S. from liability for the Tribe’s waived claims. 

This legislation is supported by both the Tribe and Fish Springs Ranch and I urge 

the committee to act swiftly to endorse the agreement made by the parties. 

I look forward to working with the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to move this 

bill forward. I request that my statement be included in the record. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MATTHEW CATE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CALIFORNIA STATE

ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES

Dear Chairman Tester and Vice Chairman Barrasso: 

On behalf of the California State Association of Counties (CSAC), I am pleased 

to submit this statement for the record in connection with the Committee’s May 7, 

2014 legislative hearing on several bills, including S. 2188, which would provide the 

Secretary of the Interior with authority to take land into trust for all Indian tribes. 

As you are aware, Napa County Supervisor Diane Dillon appeared before your 

Committee on November 20, 2013 to provide CSAC’s perspective on the significance 

of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Carcieri v. Salazar. This statement is intended to supplement that particular testimony. Additionally, our statement addresses comments made by Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn at 

the May 7, 2014 hearing. 

66 

As CSAC has consistently stated in previous testimony and in correspondence to 

the Committee, our association supports the rights of Indian tribes to self-governance and recognizes the need for tribes to preserve their heritage and to pursue economic selfreliance. At the same time, however, we do not believe that the Secretary 

should have unbridled authority to take land into trust for tribes under a broken 

fee-to-trust system. 

Unfortunately, the ‘‘clean fix’’ approach—as embodied in S 2188 and in other current and previous legislative proposals—fails to consider the major deficiencies in 

the fee-to-trust process and would only perpetuate the problems that have resulted 

in years of expensive and unproductive conflict between tribes and local governments. CSAC therefore would like to continue to work with the Committee, members of our congressional delegation, and tribes to find a lasting solution that fixes 

the inequities caused by the Supreme Court’s Carcieri decision, as well as the current systemic flaws in the fee-to-trust process. 

As you know, we believe such a solution lies in a package of broader trust reforms, consistent with the original intent of the IRA and which would provide clear 

and enforceable trust acquisition standards. In addition to standards, we believe legislation must address the fact that the current process lacks sufficient notification 

requirements. In many instances, local governments are afforded limited, and often 

late, notice of pending trust land applications. Accordingly, legislative changes need 

to be made to ensure that affected governments receive timely notice of fee-to-trust 

applications for tribal development projects and have adequate opportunity to provide meaningful input. 

CSAC also believes it is essential that legislation provide incentives for intergovernmental agreements between tribes and local governments to provide mitigation 

for adverse impacts of development projects, including environmental and economic 

impacts from the transfer of the land into trust. When land is placed into trust, the 

property no longer falls under the auspices of local land use jurisdiction, and the 

land is no longer subject to local taxing authority; however, local governments are 

still required to provide essential services, such as road construction, law enforcement, and welfare services. In these difficult economic times, local governments are 

struggling financially to continue to provide these critical services. Intergovernmental agreements to mitigate these costs would be beneficial for both tribal and 

local governments. 

In our view, a balanced trust reform proposal would extend trust land acquisition 

authority to the Secretary for federally recognized tribes and would include clear direction to: (1) provide adequate notice to local governments, (2) ensure that local 

governments are consulted and have adequate opportunity to comment, (3) provide 

incentives for tribes and local governments to work together, and (4) provide for cooperating agreements that are enforceable. Attached to this statement is specific 

legislative language developed by CSAC and which has been previously provided to 

the Committee. 

Finally, we would like to comment on a statement made by Assistant Secretary 

Washburn during the May 7 hearing. In response to a question from Vice Chairman 

Barrasso about the process for trust acquisitions, Mr. Washburn indicated that the 

Department’s recent Patchak regulations ‘‘gave greater process to counties and local 

governments that are interested in these issues and ensured better notice to them.’’ 

While the rule provides for public notice to jurisdictional local governments and 

other interested parties relative to an official decision to acquire land into trust, we 

believe that the Department’s Patchak rule expedites trust land approvals to the 

detriment of all interested parties and to the administrative process itself. In fact, 

the rule puts local governments in a worse position by dramatically altering the balance of equities and eliminating their ability to obtain emergency relief after a decision to accept the land in trust, but before the land achieves trust status. For a 

more complete look at CSAC’s views on Patchak, please see the attached comment 

letter. 

We also would note that the Department’s Patchak rule addresses the process for 

appeals of final or near-final land acquisition decisions and does not provide the 

type of critically important front-end fee-to-trust process reforms that CSAC believes 

are necessary. Again, these reforms should be addressed in legislation and should 

be a requisite component of any potential Carcieri ‘‘fix’’ bill. 

Thank you for considering our views regarding this very important matter. CSAC 

remains committed to continuing to work with Congress to develop a fee-to-trust 

process that balances the needs of both tribal and local governments. 

Attachments 

67 

COMPREHENSIVE FEE-TO-TRUST REFORM PROPOSAL

Section 5 of the Indian Reorganization Act, 25 U.S.C. § 465 

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in his discretion, to acquire, through 

purchase, relinquishment, gift, exchange, or assignment, any interest in lands, 

water rights, or surface rights to lands, within or without existing reservations, including trust or otherwise restricted allotments, whether the allottee be living or deceased, for the purpose of providing land for Indians. 

For the acquisition of such lands, interests in lands, water rights, and surface 

rights, and for expenses incident to such acquisition, there is authorized to be appropriated, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, a sum not to 

exceed $2,000,000 in any one fiscal year: Provided, that no part of such funds shall 

be used to acquire additional land outside of the exterior boundaries of Navajo Indian Reservation for the Navajo Indians in Arizona, nor in New Mexico, in the event 

that legislation to define the exterior boundaries of the Navajo Indian Reservation 

in New Mexico, and for other purposes, or similar legislation, becomes law. 

The unexpended balances of any appropriations made pursuant to this section 

shall remain available until expended. 

Title to any lands or rights acquired pursuant to this Act or the Act of July 28, 

1955 (69 Stat. 392), as amended (25 U.S.C. 608 et seq.) shall be taken in the name 

of the United States in trust for the Indian tribe or individual Indian for which the 

land is acquired, and such lands or rights shall be exempt from State and local taxation. 

The Secretary may acquire land in trust pursuant to this section where the applicant has identified a specific use of the land and: 

(a) the Indian tribe or individual Indian applicant has executed enforceable agreements with each jurisdictional local government addressing the impacts of the proposed trust acquisition; or 

(b) in the absence of the agreements identified in subsection (a): 

(1) the Indian tribe or individual Indian demonstrates, and the Secretary determines, that: 

(A) the land will be used for non-economic purposes, including for religious, 

cultural, tribal housing, or governmental facilities, and the applicant lacks sufficient trust land for that purpose; or 

(B) the land will be used for economic or gaming purposes and the applicant 

has not achieved economic self-sufficiency and lacks sufficient trust land for 

that purpose; and 

(2) the Secretary determines, after consulting with appropriate state and local 

officials, that the acquisition would not be detrimental to the surrounding community and that all significant jurisdictional conflicts and impacts, including increased costs of services, lost revenues, and environmental impacts, have been 

mitigated to the extent practicable. 

(c) notice and a copy of any application, partial or complete, to have land acquired 

in trust shall be provided by the Secretary to the State and affected local government units within twenty (20) days of receipt of the application, or of any supplement to it. The Secretary shall provide affected local governmental units at least 

ninety (90) days to submit comments from receipt of notice and a copy of the complete application to have land acquired in trust. 

(d) a material change in use of existing tribal trust land that significantly increases impacts, including gaming or gaming-related uses, shall require approval of 

the Secretary under this section, and satisfy the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq., and, if applicable, the Indian Gaming 

Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq.; 

(1) the Secretary shall notify the State and affected local government units 

within twenty (20) days of any change in use in trust land initiated by an applicant under this subsection. 

(2) as soon as practicable following any change in use in trust land initiated 

prior to review and approval under this section, the Secretary shall take steps 

to stop the new use, including suit in federal court, upon application by an affected local government; 

(3) any person may file an action under 5 U.S.C. § 701 et seq. to compel the 

Secretary to enjoin any change in use in trust land initiated prior to review and 

approval under this section. 

(e) notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the Secretary is authorized to include restrictions on use in the deed transferred to the United States to hold land 

68 

1 (Kelsey J. Waples, Extreme Rubber Stamping: The Fee-to-Trust Process of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, 40 Pepperdine Law Review 250 (2013). 2 Id., pp. 278. 

3 Id., pp. 286, 293, 302. 

4 Id., pp. 292, 295, 297. 

5See ‘‘Washburn Announces Plan of Attack for Patchak Plan,’’ http:// 

indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/05/24/washburn-announces-plan-attackpatchakpatch-149514. 

in trust for the benefit of the Indian tribe or individual Indian and shall consider 

restricting use in cases involving significant jurisdictional and land use conflicts 

upon application of governments having jurisdiction over the land; 

(f) any agreement executed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be 

deemed approved by the Secretary and enforceable according to the terms of the 

agreement upon acquisition in trust of land by the Secretary; 

(g) the Secretary shall promulgate regulations implementing these amendments 

within 365 days of enactment. 

CALIFORNIA STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES

July 24, 2013 

Ms. Elizabeth Appel, 

Office of Regulatory Affairs & Collaborative Action, 

United States Department of the Interior, 

1849 C Street, NW, 

Washington, DC. 

RE: FEDERAL FEE-TO-TRUST PROCESS AND BIA PROPOSED RULE, ‘‘LAND

ACQUISITIONS AND APPEALS OF LAND ACQUISITION DECISIONS,’’ 25 CFR PART

151, BIA–2013–0005, RIN 1076–AF15 

Dear Ms. Appel: 

On behalf of the California State Association of Counties (CSAC), I am writing 

to express our strong concerns regarding the proposed rule identified above, and the 

continued need for comprehensive reform of the fee-to-trust process. Established in 

1895, CSAC is the unified voice on behalf of all 58 counties in California. Governed 

by elected county supervisors, CSAC is a non-profit corporation dedicated to representing California county governments before the federal government, administrative agencies, and the California Legislature. We appreciate this opportunity to comment on the Proposed Rule and the fee-to-trust process. 

Since 1994, CSAC has sought to correct long-standing deficiencies in the fee-totrust process that have resulted in expensive, unproductive, and unnecessary conflict between tribes and local governments. Jurisdiction over land is just as critical 

for counties as it is for tribes, and the loss of sovereignty results in irreparable 

harms to counties, including the loss of land use and regulatory authority, tax revenue, and investment in nearby development and infrastructure. The crucial role of 

counties demands a process that provides sufficient notice to stakeholders, clear and 

enforceable standards for fee-to-trust decisions, and a requirement that tribes negotiate intergovernmental agreements that mitigate adverse impacts and build relationships with affected communities. 

The need for a comprehensive solution was reaffirmed recently in a quantitative 

analysis of all 111 fee-to-trust decisions by the Pacific Region BIA Office between 

2001 and 2011. 1 The analysis found that BIA granted 100 percent of the proposed 

acquisition requests and in no case did any Section 151 factor weigh against approval of an application. 2 The analysis further found that because of the lack of 

clear guidance and objective criteria, Pacific Region BIA decisions avoid substantive 

analysis in favor of filler considerations and boilerplate language. 3 The result is a 

broken process in which community concerns are ignored or downplayed, applications are rubber-stamped at a 100 percent acceptance rate, and tribes and local governments are forced into unnecessary and unproductive conflict. 4 The problem appears likely to worsen in the future, given recent statements by the Department 

trumpeting its desire to ‘‘keep that freight train moving’’ and ‘‘keep restoring lands 

for tribes.’’ 5

The Proposed Rule appears intended to expedite trust approvals to the detriment 

of all interested parties, and to the administrative process itself. The Proposed Rule 

incorrectly asserts that because of the decision in Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band 

of Pottawatomi Indians v. Patchak (2012) 132 S.Ct. 2199 (Patchak), eliminating the 

current 30-day wait period (see Section 151.12(b)) would not effect a change in the 

law or affect any parties’ rights under current law. In fact, as set forth below, the 

Proposed Rule would put local governments in a far worse position by dramatically 

69 

6See Letter from Senator Dianne Feinstein to Secretary Ken Salazar, January 31, 2013, p. 

2. 

altering the balance of equities and eliminating their ability to obtain emergency relief after a decision to accept the land in trust, but before the land achieves trust 

status. 

The Proposed Rule fails to recognize that the facts on the ground and balance of 

equities changes when land achieves trust status and development commences. The 

Proposed Rule directs the Secretary or other BIA official to ‘‘[p]romptly acquire the 

land in trust’’ after a decision becomes final, and the BIA is encouraging tribes to 

begin development immediately upon acceptance of land into trust. Both of these 

steps appear intended to foreclose concerned parties from obtaining emergency relief, even with regard to trust decisions that are clearly inappropriate and arbitrary. 

Courts are less likely to order emergency relief if a tribe and its development partners have invested resources and substantially implemented a gaming or other development project. Indeed, courts may be unable to grant relief at all if tribes decline to participate in the action and claim sovereign immunity. 

The Proposed Rule also contravenes protections in the Administrative Procedures 

Act (APA) for parties seeking emergency relief from administrative decisions. In 

particular, Section 705 of the APA authorizes federal courts to postpone the effective 

date of an agency action and to preserve status or rights pending conclusion of the 

review proceedings. The Proposed Rule circumvents Section 705 by pushing land 

transfers before an affected party can seek judicial review and allow the courts to 

exercise their authority to review trust transfers. Communities and local governments will be harmed because, even if successful in the litigation, their success likely will not bring back the tax revenue and other fees lost when the land went into 

trust, nor remove the incompatible developments that are not permitted under comprehensive local land use plans, now possible without the Proposed Rule. 

The BIA’s new push for immediate project implementation also appears intended 

to impede a court’s ability to award complete relief. Litigation can take years to 

reach a final decision, and Senator Dianne Feinstein and others have correctly 

raised strong concerns about the Department’s practical ability to unwind a trust 

decision and remove land from trust. 6 The Proposed Rule ignores these concerns, 

and includes no procedure for undoing a trust decision in a transparent and orderly 

manner. The Department should not pretend that these harms are balanced by the proposed requirements regarding the notification of decisions and administrative appeal rights. These proposed changes are equally flawed; the Proposed Rule would 

require communities and local governments to make themselves known to BIA officials at every decisionmaking level to receive written notice of a trust land acquisition. It will be extremely difficult for anyone to sort through local and national BIA 

organizational charts to try to determine how, when, and by whom a particular application will be processed. BIA decisionmaking is far from transparent today, and 

the Proposed Rule would make the process even more opaque and participation 

more difficult in the future. 

CSAC supports a new paradigm in which counties are considered meaningful and 

constructive stakeholders by the BIA in Indian land-related determinations. CSAC 

and its member counties would strongly support a revision to the Proposed Rule to 

provide immediate notice and full information upon filing of trust applications, establish clear and specific trust acquisition standards, create a mechanism for the 

BIA to consult with counties and respond to comments on trust applications, and 

ensure that adverse impacts are addressed through intergovernmental agreements. 

CSAC believes these measures represent a real and lasting solution that would reduce conflict and controversy, to the benefit of tribes and all other parties. 

If the Department instead intends to proceed with the Proposed Rule’s ‘‘quick fix,’’ 

CSAC recommends the following changes: 

• An additional regulation in Part 151 providing that, when a party has appealed 

a trust decision to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals, or has appeared before 

the Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs, the party shall be entitled upon timely 

request to an automatic 30 day stay of a decision approving a trust application. 

This would enable the party to preserve its rights by seeking a judicial order 

staying the effectiveness of any approval decision pending the court’s review of 

the validity of that decision. 

• Additional provisions requiring BIA to publish trust applications on its website, 

provide regular updates as to the status of its review, identify the decision-makers responsible for an application, and provide contact information to allow parties to identify themselves as interested parties. Parties should be exempt from 

70 

exhaustion requirements in the absence of substantial compliance with these 

provisions. 

Thank you for considering these comments. 

Sincerely, 

71 

MATTHEW CATE, 

Executive Director. 


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RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. LISA MURKOWSKI TO

HON. KEVIN WASHBURN


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