I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10533 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to administratively transfer covered 

parcels of National Forest System land to the Secretary of the Interior 

to be held in trust for the benefit of Indian Tribes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2024 

Mr. KILMER (for himself, Ms. SALINAS, and Mr. GUEST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, 

and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 

such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to administratively 

transfer covered parcels of National Forest System land 

to the Secretary of the Interior to be held in trust 

for the benefit of Indian Tribes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Tribal Forest 

5 Restoration Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATIVE TRANSFER OF COVERED PAR2 CELS TO BE HELD IN TRUST. 

3 (a) TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is au4 thorized to administratively transfer a covered parcel de5 scribed in subsection (b) to the Secretary of the Interior 

6 to be held in trust for the benefit of an Indian Tribe in 

7 accordance with this section. 

8 (b) COVERED PARCELS.—A covered parcel that may 

9 transferred under subsection (a) is a parcel of National 

10 Forest System land— 

11 (1) for which an Indian Tribe submits to the 

12 Secretary a request for an administrative transfer to 

13 the Secretary of the Interior; 

14 (2) that is less than or equal to 640 acres; and 

15 (3) that the Secretary determines— 

16 (A) the transfer of which under subsection 

17 (a) would be in the public interest; and 

18 (B) to— 

19 (i) be physically isolated from other 

20 Federal land; 

21 (ii) be inaccessible; 

22 (iii) have lost natural character; or 

23 (iv) be in need of restoration. 

24 (c) PLACEMENT OF LAND.— 

25 (1) LAND HELD IN TRUST.—Subject to all valid 

26 existing rights of the United States, a covered parcel 


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1 transferred to the Secretary of the Interior under 

2 subsection (a) shall— 

3 (A) be accepted by the Secretary of the In4 terior; and 

5 (B) be held in trust for the benefit of the 

6 requesting Indian Tribe and administered by 

7 the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with 

8 the laws and regulations generally applicable to 

9 land held in trust by the United States for an 

10 Indian Tribe. 

11 (2) INCLUSION IN RESERVATION.—If the Indian 

12 Tribe submitting a request under subsection (b)(1) 

13 exercises jurisdiction over a reservation, the covered 

14 parcel placed in trust under paragraph (1)(B) may 

15 be declared part of the reservation at the request of 

16 the Indian Tribe. 

17 (d) NOTIFICATION OF USE OF AUTHORITY.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

19 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

20 Secretary shall establish a process to make adminis21 trative transfers under subsection (a). 

22 (2) ELEMENTS.—The process required under 

23 paragraph (1) shall include— 

24 (A) a 30-day public notice period that a re25 quest for a transfer submitted to the Secretary 


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1 by an Indian Tribe pursuant to subsection 

2 (b)(1) has been received; 

3 (B) notification of such a request to rel4 evant State and local governments; and 

5 (C) notification of such a request to each 

6 Indian Tribe— 

7 (i) with land in trust that is located 

8 within 100 miles of the covered parcel for 

9 which such request was submitted; 

10 (ii) that has treaty rights or interests 

11 with respect to such covered parcel; 

12 (iii) for which such covered parcel 

13 may have important cultural or historical 

14 significance; or 

15 (iv) that is served by a care service 

16 area of the Indian Health Service in which 

17 all or part of the covered parcel is located. 

18 (e) FACTORS IN DETERMINATION TO TRANSFER.— 

19 When determining whether to transfer a covered parcel 

20 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consider the fol21 lowing: 

22 (1) Whether the covered parcel involves a factor 

23 of direct relevance unique to the requesting Indian 

24 Tribe, including— 

25 (A) treaty rights or interests; 


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1 (B) the exercise of hunting, fishing, or 

2 gathering privileges; 

3 (C) biological, archaeological, historical, or 

4 cultural circumstances; or 

5 (D) public safety and emergency manage6 ment responsibilities. 

7 (2) With respect to the Indian Tribe that sub8 mits a request pursuant to subsection (b)(1) with re9 spect to such parcel— 

10 (A) whether the covered parcel is contig11 uous to, or within 100 miles of, the reservation 

12 or trust lands of such Indian Tribe; and 

13 (B) if the parcel is non-contiguous with the 

14 reservation or trust lands of such Indian Tribe, 

15 the anticipated benefits for the Indian Tribe 

16 from the transfer of the covered parcel. 

17 (f) MULTIPLE CLAIMS.— 

18 (1) DISPUTE RESOLUTION.—If two or more In19 dian Tribes request the same covered parcel during 

20 the 90-day period beginning on the date public no21 tice is first made available pursuant to subsection 

22 (d)(2)(A) with respect to such covered parcel, the 

23 Secretary may use mediation, conciliation, arbitra24 tion, and other dispute resolutions methods to estabVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Jan 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10533.IH H10533

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1 lish an agreement with respect to the transfer of 

2 such parcel. 

3 (2) TRANSFER CONTINGENT ON AGREEMENT.— 

4 The Secretary may not transfer under subsection (a) 

5 a covered parcel described in paragraph (1) unless 

6 all Indian Tribes described in such paragraph agree 

7 to the transfer. 

8 (g) TREATY RIGHTS OF FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED

9 TRIBES.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to af10 fect any treaty right of an Indian Tribe. 

11 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

13 means an Indian Tribe recognized by the Secretary 

14 of the Interior on the most recent list, as of the date 

15 of an applicable request submitted under subsection 

16 (b)(1), published in the Federal Register pursuant 

17 to section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian 

18 Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 

19 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

Æ 


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