49–010 

Calendar No. 419 

109TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 109–252 

TO RESOLVE CERTAIN NATIVE AMERICAN CLAIMS IN 

NEW MEXICO, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 

MAY 3, 2006.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. MCCAIN, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 1773] 

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

(S. 1773) to resolve certain Native American claims in New Mexico, 

and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with amendments and recommends that the bill, as 

amended, do pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 1773, the Pueblo de San Ildefonso Claims Settlement Act of 2005, is to ratify and provide for the implementation 

of two agreements which, together, would effect a settlement of the 

Pueblo de San Ildefonso’s land-related claims against the United 

States. The principal agreement is the Settlement Agreement between the United States and the Pueblo de San Ildefonso (the 

‘‘Pueblo’’), which would resolve various claims of the Pueblo that 

were asserted or could have been asserted against the United 

States in Pueblo of San Ildefonso v. United States, Docket No. 354 

in the United States Court of Federal Claims, as well as releasing 

certain other specified land-related claims against the United 

States, persons, the State of New Mexico and its subdivisions, and 

other Indian tribes. The other is a related agreement between the 

Incorporated County of Los Alamos, the Pueblo, the United States 

Department of Agriculture—Forest Service, and the United States 

Department of the Interior—Bureau of Indian Affairs, providing 

for, inter alia, the sale and conveyance of certain other National 

Forest System lands to the County of Los Alamos. 


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1 Act of August 13, 1946, 60 Stat. 1049 (Pub. L. No. 79–726, codified at 25 U.S.C. § 70 et seq.) 

(omitted from title 25 after termination of the Commission in September of 1978). 2See, Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Settlement, February 2, 1848, 9 Stat. 922. 

3The Pueblo de San Ildefonso was one of several Indian pueblos that received land grants 

from Spain on various dates between 1689 and 1816. Following Mexico’s independence from 

Spain in 1821, the Mexican government subsequently recognized the pueblos’ ownership of these 

lands, as did the United States under the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo of 1848. Upon recommendation of the United States Surveyor General, Congress enacted legislation confirming 

22 Spanish land grants to Indian pueblos, including the grant to the Pueblo de San Ildefonso. 

See ‘‘Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo—Definition and List of Community Land Grants in New Mexico,’’ United States General Accounting Office, September 2001 (GAO–01–951), at page 17, and 

United States v. Pueblo of San Ildefonso, 513 F.2d 1383, 1387 (Ct.Cl. 1975). 4The United States stipulated to the Commission’s findings relating to the boundaries of the 

Pueblo’s aboriginal area and the portions of that area that were taken by United States without 

compensation. However, the U.S. disputed the dates of the takings, in that the dates of the 

takings affected the valuation of the lands and, therefore, the amount of compensation due to 

the Pueblo. See Indian Claims Commission Opinion and Findings, 30 Ind.Cl.Comm. 234, 235 

(May 9, 1973). The Commission found that the Pueblo’s aboriginal lands that lay outside of its 

current reservation and Spanish land grant totaled some 66,227 acres. Id., at 262. 5See, Opinion and Findings, 30 Ind.Cl.Comm. at 236–37. 

Apart from its significance to the Pueblo and the United States 

as the means for resolving a case that has been pending for almost 

55 years, the enactment of S. 1773 would represent something of 

a milestone in the history of Federal Indian Policy: it would settle 

the last remaining case filed under the provisions of the Indian 

Claims Commission Act of 1946.1

BACKGROUND

Since time immemorial, the Pueblo de San Ildefonso has been a 

tribe of Indians located in what is now northern New Mexico, along 

the upper Rio Grande. Although the government of Spain issued a 

land grant to the Pueblo in 1704, the area within the grant was 

considerably smaller than the total area of the Pueblo’s aboriginal 

lands. In 1848, the United States, under the Treaty of GuadalupeHidalgo,2 recognized the Pueblo’s title to the lands included in the 

Spanish grant, but large areas of aboriginal lands lying outside of 

the grant were, over the years, taken or disposed of by the United 

States without compensation to the Pueblo.3

In 1951, the Pueblo filed claims before the Indian Claims Commission seeking damages for these uncompensated losses of land as 

well as for the failure of the United States to deal with the Pueblo 

in conformity with the fair and honorable dealings standard of section 2 of the Indian Claims Commission Act. The Commission 

found that prior to the transfer of sovereignty from Mexico to the 

United States under the 1848 treaty, the Pueblo used and occupied 

a larger area than its current land holdings and that, although the 

governments of Spain and Mexico had already granted some of its 

aboriginal lands to third parties, other portions of those lands were 

later taken from the Pueblo by the United States.4 The Commission found that the Pueblo’s aboriginal lands, aside from its then 

current holdings, were taken or disposed of by the United States 

by three methods: by conveyances on various different dates to various third party grantees pursuant to the public land laws of the 

United States; by the establishment of the Jemez Forest Reserve 

(now part of the Santa Fe National Forest) in 1905; and by inclusion of a portion of those lands in the New Mexico Grazing District 

in 1941 pursuant to the Taylor Grazing Act.5 The Commission’s 

findings were affirmed by the United States Court of Claims in 


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6 A total of 102 unresolved cases were transferred to the United States Court of Claims. See, F. Cohen, Handbook of Federal Indian Law 446 (2005 ed.). 7See, F. Cohen, supra, at 445. 8 In addition to the resolution of support by the County of Los Alamos, the Council of the 

Pueblo of Santa Clara and the Counties of Santa Fe and Rio Arriba have adopted resolutions 

of support for the settlement contemplated by S. 1773. 

United States v. Pueblo of San Ildefonso, 513 F.2d 1383, 1396 

(Ct.C1.1975). 

With the dissolution of the Indian Claims Commission in 1978, 

the Pueblo’s case, along with all other unresolved cases before the 

Commission, was transferred to the United States Court of 

Claims 6 and thereafter continued before the United States Court 

of Federal Claims, where, in light of additional claims asserted by 

the Pueblo, the case was organized under 5 subdockets. Subdocket 

A included claims for trespasses against the Pueblo’s water rights; 

subdocket B, accounting claims alleging improper expenditure of 

the Pueblo’s trust funds; subdocket C, claims for breach of trust for 

failure to make amounts due to the Pueblo productive and to replace lands and water lost to settlers; subdocket D, a claim for failure to obtain a particular parcel of land for the Pueblo’s benefit in 

violation of the Federal government’s duty to deal with it fairly and 

honorably; and subdocket E, the claims for uncompensated taking 

and disposal of aboriginal lands. 

In 1996, the United States Court of Federal Claims ruled that 

the United States was liable to the Pueblo on all claims except the 

trespass claims under subdocket A. See, Pueblo of San Ildefonso v. 

United States, 35 Fed.Cl. 777 (1996). The Settlement Agreement 

that is the subject of S. 1773 would resolve all of the Pueblo’s 

claims that were asserted or could have been asserted in its ICCA 

case as well as other land-related claims of the Pueblo to the extent 

described in the Agreement. 

OVERVIEW OF SETTLEMENT AND S. 1773

Although Congress gave the Indian Claims Commission and the 

United States Court of Federal Claims jurisdiction to determine liability and damages, neither the Commission nor the United States 

Court of Federal Claims could restore land to tribes that brought 

claims under the Indian Claims Commission Act.7 In its settlement 

negotiations with the Government following the 1996 decision in 

Pueblo of San Ildefonso v. United States, the Pueblo nevertheless 

pressed for return of its lands. After several years of negotiations 

between the Pueblo and several Federal agencies, the Pueblo and 

the United States have reached a mutually acceptable settlement 

that, if approved by Congress, would provide a process for selling 

and conveying to the Pueblo approximately 7100 acres of its aboriginal area that is now embraced within National Forest System 

lands lying contiguous to, and northwest of, the San Ildefonso Reservation, and that would also address concerns of the County of 

Los Alamos and the neighboring Pueblo of Santa Clara.8

S. 1773 would ratify the Settlement Agreement between the 

Pueblo and the United States and the related Los Alamos Agreement between the County of Los Alamos, the Pueblo, the U.S.D.A. 

Forest Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs and authorize the 

actions and activities contemplated by the terms of those agreements. The Settlement Agreement and the Los Alamos Agreement 


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9 Besides Federal lands administered by the Forest Service, National Park Service and Bureau 

of Land Management, the Pueblo’s aboriginal claim boundary encompasses non-Federal lands 

owned by third party individuals and entities. 10 Referred to in the bill as the ‘‘Settlement Area Land,’’ the specific lands that are to be sold 

to the Pueblo have been selected and are depicted on the map attached as Appendix B to the 

Settlement Agreement. The $3.1 million price is subject to a quarterly increase at the rate of 

3% per annum. Upon receipt of the deed to the lands from the Secretary of Agriculture, the 

Pueblo is authorized to convey its land to the United States in trust for the Pueblo. 11This would not be the first legislative settlement of an Indian Claims Commission Act case 

which provides for the conveyance to a tribe of a portion of its aboriginal lands within the National Forest System. The Santo Domingo Pueblo Claims Settlement Act of 2000, Pub. L. No. 

106–425, approved a settlement of Santo Domingo Pueblo’s claims asserted against the United 

States under the Indian Claims Commission Act as well as claims asserted in other litigation, 

and the settlement there authorized the placement of certain public lands administered by the 

Bureau of Land Management in trust for the Santo Domingo Pueblo and the use of its claims 

settlement funds for the purchase of National Forest System lands identified in a settlement 

agreement. As in S. 1773, the Santo Domingo settlement authorized the Secretary of Agriculture 

to use the proceeds from that sale of land to acquire non-Federal lands within or adjacent to 

National Forests in the State of New Mexico. 

are included in the Appendix to this report. By their own respective 

terms, both agreements are contingent upon approval by the 

United States Congress. 

Under the Settlement Agreement, the Pueblo and the United 

States agree to file a motion for entry of final judgment in the 

amount of $6,900,000 and, after entry of judgment, the funds are 

to be deposited into a special settlement fund established under 

section 6 of the bill. In consideration of the benefits of the Settlement Agreement, the Pueblo agrees that all of its claims against 

the United States—with exceptions relating to its title to specific 

lands and appurtenant water rights identified in the bill and Settlement Agreement—that are based on aboriginal, Indian, or recognized title, that relate to federally-administered land, or that were, 

or could have been, asserted in Docket 354 before the United 

States Court of Federal Claims, are relinquished and extinguished. 

Similarly, subject to the exceptions specified in the Settlement 

Agreement, the Pueblo also agrees to the relinquishment and extinguishment of such land claims with respect to persons, the State 

of New Mexico and its subdivisions, and other Indian tribes.9

The bill would authorize the Pueblo to use $3.1 million of its settlement funds to purchase from the Forest Service approximately 

7100 acres of land within the Santa Fe National Forest,10 as provided and described in the Settlement Agreement. Thereafter, the 

Secretary of Agriculture would be authorized to use the proceeds 

received from the Pueblo to acquire other non-Federal lands in the 

State of New Mexico for National Forest System purposes.11

In addition to the Settlement Area Land, the bill would provide 

the Pueblo of Santa Clara with an exclusive 90-day option to purchase, subject to certain easements for Federal and private purposes, the ‘‘Northern Tier Land,’’ about 740 acres of land located 

to the north of the Settlement Area Lands and adjacent to a segment of the southern boundary of the Santa Clara Reservation, for 

the sum of $310,000. The bill would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to sell the Northern Tier Land to the Pueblo of Santa Clara 

if it exercises its option. In the event that the Pueblo of Santa 

Clara fails to purchase the land as provided in the Act, the Secretary is directed to offer the land to the Pueblo de San Ildefonso 

for the same price. 

The Settlement Area Land and the Northern Tier Land would be 

held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the Indian 


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12The 6 tracts of the Los Alamos Townsite Lands have a combined total of about 422 acres. 

tribe that purchases the land without further administrative action 

by the Secretary of Agriculture or Secretary of the Interior. 

The Settlement Agreement provides that the National Park Service and the Pueblo shall enter into a memorandum of understanding acknowledging the important and continuing role of certain areas within Bandelier National Monument in the on-going 

cultural practices of the Pueblo, and that the Bureau of Land Management and the Pueblo shall enter into another memorandum of 

understanding acknowledging and recognizing the Pueblo’s longstanding and deep ancestral ties to certain land located to the 

south of the Pueblo de San Ildefonso Grant. 

S. 1773 would also approve the Los Alamos Agreement, which 

contemplates two separate land transfers to the County of Los Alamos that are key components to the overall settlement with the 

Pueblo. In accordance with the Los Alamos Agreement and the Settlement Agreement, the bill would authorize the Pueblo to use a 

portion of its settlement funds to purchase from the Forest Service, 

at fair market value, the so-called ‘‘Water System Land’’—approximately 555 acres of land within the Santa Fe National Forest adjacent to the Settlement Area Lands that are an important part of 

the County’s water supply system. The Water System Land would 

then be conveyed to the County in fee, subject to a contingent remainder in the United States in trust for the Pueblo, in the event 

that the County ceases to use the entirety of those lands as part 

of its water supply system. 

The Los Alamos Agreement also provides that the U.S.D.A. Forest Service will sell to the County, at fair market value, the ‘‘Los 

Alamos Townsite Lands,’’ 6 non-contiguous tracts of National Forest System land just outside of the City of Los Alamos which, according to the agreement, contain existing infrastructure improvements belonging to or used by the County.12 Additionally, this 

agreement provides for the maintenance and availability of certain 

public access roads that are part of the Forest Road Development 

System; amendments relating to the term of certain easements for 

State Highway 4; pavement widening of a portion of that highway; 

access to the COPAR Mine; an emergency evacuation route for the 

Los Alamos community through Pueblo lands; and other matters. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 1773 was introduced on September 26, 2005, by Senator Pete 

Domenici for himself and Senator Bingaman and referred to the 

Committee on Indian Affairs. On March 29, 2006, the Committee 

ordered S. 1773 reported favorably with two amendments offered 

by Senator Domenici: one in section 7(c)(1), by adding ‘‘and for associated administrative costs’’ to clarify that the Secretary of Agriculture would be authorized to use receipts from the sale of National Forest System lands under the Act for administrative costs 

associated with the purchase of lands authorized by the Act, and 

the other in section 17, by adding ‘‘(except the conveyances and adjustments relating to the Los Alamos Townsite Land)’’ which would 

except the conveyances and adjustments authorized in connection 

with the Los Alamos Townsite Land from the 180-day time line in 


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section 17 for completion of conveyances and adjustments contemplated by the Act. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION AND TABULATION OF VOTE

In an open business session on March 29, 2006, the Committee, 

by voice vote, ordered the bill reported favorably to the Senate with 

the two amendments described above. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 cites the short title of S. 1773 as the ‘‘Pueblo de San 

Ildefonso Claims Settlement Act of 2005.’’

Section 2(a) sets forth the definitions of 12 terms: ‘‘Administrative Access,’’ ‘‘County,’’ ‘‘Los Alamos Agreement,’’ Los Alamos Townsite Land,’’ Northern Tier Land,’’ ‘‘Pending Litigation,’’ ‘‘Pueblo,’’

‘‘Settlement Agreement,’’ ‘‘Settlement Area Land,’’ ‘‘Settlement 

Fund,’’ ‘‘Sisk Act,’’ and ‘‘Water System Land.’’

Section 2(b) sets forth the purposes of the bill: to finally dispose, 

as set forth in sections 4 and 5, of the Pueblo’s rights, claims, or 

demands that were asserted or could have been asserted in the 

‘‘Pending Litigation’’ (i.e., Docket 354 in the United States Court of 

Federal Claims); extinguish claims based on aboriginal, Indian, or 

recognized title, or any other title claims under section 5 of the bill; 

authorize the Pueblo to acquire the Settlement Area Land and the 

Secretary of Agriculture to convey the Water System Land, the 

Northern Tier Land, and the Los Alamos Townsite Land for market value consideration and for such consideration to be used to acquire replacement National Forest land in New Mexico; provide for 

the trust status of the Settlement Area Land acquired by the Pueblo; to facilitate the government-to-government relations between 

the United States and the Pueblo regarding the management of 

certain lands administered by the National Park Service and the 

Bureau of Land Management as described in the Settlement Agreement; and to ratify the Settlement Agreement and the Los Alamos 

Agreement. 

Section 3 ratifies the Settlement Agreement and Los Alamos 

Agreement and authorizes the parties to the agreements to carry 

out their provisions and, by mutual agreement, to correct errors in 

legal descriptions and make minor modifications. 

Section 4 requires the United States and the Pueblo to file a motion for entry of final judgment in the Pending Litigation in accordance with section 5 of the Settlement Agreement and provides that 

upon entry of such judgment, as compensation to the Pueblo the 

sum of $6,900,000 shall be paid into the Settlement Fund established under the Act. 

Section 5(a) provides for the extinguishment, subject to exceptions described in subsection (b), of certain specified claims of the 

Pueblo against the United States, including claims based on aboriginal, Indian, or recognized title; claims for damages or other judicial relief or administrative remedies that were brought or were 

knowable and could have been brought before the date of the Settlement Agreement; claims relating to federally-administered land 

or land owned by, or held for the benefit of, any other Indian tribe; 

and any other claim that was or could have been asserted in the 

pending litigation in the United States Court of Federal Claims. 


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13The amendment approved by the Committee clarifies that these funds may also be used for 

administrative costs associated with the authorized land purchases. 

Section 5(b) sets forth the exceptions to the relinquishments and 

extinguishments of claims of subsection (a), including the Pueblo’s 

title of record to certain lands identified in Appendix D to the Settlement Agreement, the Pueblo’s title to the Pueblo de San 

Ildefonso Grant, the water rights of the Pueblo appurtenant to such 

identified lands and the Grant, and the rights of the Pueblo and 

its members under Federal law relating to religious or cultural access to and use of Federal land. 

Section 5(c) provides that the Act does not affect any prior 

extinguishments of rights or claims of the Pueblo which may have 

occurred by operation of law. 

Section 5(d) provides that nothing in the Act affects the boundaries of the Pueblo de San Ildefonso Grant and that nothing in the 

Act affects, ratifies, or confirms the Pueblo’s right, title, or interest 

in land held by or for the benefit of the Pueblo, including the land 

described in Appendix D of the Settlement Agreement. 

Section 6 establishes the ‘‘Pueblo de San Ildefonso Land Claims 

Settlement Fund’’ and sets forth 6 conditions applicable to monies 

deposited into the Fund relating to maintenance and investment of 

the fund by the Secretary of Interior; the purposes for which such 

monies may be used; the effect on the liability and oversight of the 

Secretaries of the Interior and Treasury with respect to monies 

withdrawn by the Pueblo from the Fund; a prohibition against per 

capita payments to members of the Pueblo; a requirement that the 

acquisition of land with funds from the Fund shall be on a willingseller, willing-buyer basis, with no eminent domain authority; and 

the non-applicability of Pub. L. No. 93–134 and section 203 of the 

American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 (25 

U.S.C. 4023) to the Settlement Fund. 

Section 7(a) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to sell the 

Settlement Area Land, Water System Land, and Los Alamos Townsite Land on such terms and conditions as are agreed upon and described in the Settlement Agreement and the Los Alamos Agreement, including reservations for administrative and other access, 

and provides that consideration for any such land shall not be offset or reduced by any claim or cause of action by any party to 

whom the land is conveyed. 

Section 7(b) provides that the consideration for the Settlement 

Area Land and Water System Land shall be as agreed upon in the 

Settlement Agreement and that for the Los Alamos Townsite Land 

shall be current market value based on an appraisal approved by 

the Forest Service. 

Section 7(c) provides that the funds received by the Secretary of 

Agriculture from the sale of National Forest System land under the 

Act shall be deposited in a fund established pursuant to the Sisk 

Act and shall be available without further appropriation, authorization or administrative apportionment for purchase of land for 

National Forest System purposes,13 and restricts the transfer, reprogramming and use of the funds for certain other purposes. This 

subsection also states the Pueblo must use only the funds in the 

Settlement Fund for acquiring lands from the Forest Service under 

the Act. 


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Section 7(d) provides that the Settlement Area Land acquired by 

the Pueblo and the Water System Land and Los Alamos Townsite 

Land acquired by the County of Los Alamos shall be subject to 

valid existing rights, and describes the reservations of rights, including administrative and private rights of access, applicable to 

the Settlement Area Land, the Water System Land and Los Alamos Townsite Land. This section states that no water rights shall 

be conveyed by the United States, and provides that the Act does 

not affect the validity of any special use authorizations issued by 

the Forest Service within the Settlement Area Land except that the 

authorizations shall not be renewed upon expiration, and it requires the Secretary of the Interior to execute easements for private landowners upon the Pueblo’s acquisition of the Settlement 

Area Land. 

Section 7(e) provides that, subject to certain conditions and limitations, the United States shall reserve and have unrestricted 

rights to use, operate, maintain, and reconstruct those sections of 

certain Forest Development Roads referenced in the Settlement 

Agreement for public and administrative access and other Federal 

governmental purposes. This section also allows the United States 

to improve Forest Development Road 416v beyond its existing condition and to have unrestricted administrative access and non-motorized trail access to a portion of Forest Road 442. 

Section 7(f) provides for the continued operation of the COPAR 

Pumice Mine under the Contract for Sale of Mineral Materials 

dated May 4, 1994, and for COPAR to continue using portions of 

certain roads for the period of the contract and thereafter for a period necessary to reclaim the site. This section also states that the 

Secretary of the Interior shall administer the continuing jurisdiction of the United States over the contract and, upon expiration of 

the contract, assume jurisdiction over reclamation, and that nothing in the Act limits or enhances the rights of COPAR under the 

contract. 

Section 8(a) requires the Secretary of Agriculture, upon receipt of 

the consideration from the Pueblo for the Settlement Area Land 

and the Water System Land, to execute and deliver a quitclaim 

deed to the Pueblo for the Settlement Area Land, and to execute 

and deliver another such deed to the County of Los Alamos, subject 

to the contingent remainder in trust for the Pueblo and a right of 

access for the Pueblo for ceremonial and other cultural purposes, 

for the Water System Land. This section also requires the Secretary of Agriculture, upon receipt of the consideration from the 

County for all or a portion of the Los Alamos Townsite Land, to 

execute and deliver a quitclaim deed to all or a portion of such 

land, as appropriate. 

Section 8(b) allows the Pueblo to quitclaim the Settlement Area 

Land back to the United States in trust for the Pueblo. 

Section 8(c) states that no instrument other than a quitclaim 

deed shall be required to convey the Settlement Area Land, the 

Water System Land, the Northern Tier Land, or the Los Alamos 

Townsite Land under the Act. 

Section 8(d) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to perform 

and approve any required cadastral survey. 

Section 8(e) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture, notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302 or any other provision of law, to accept 


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and use contributions of cash or services from the Pueblo, other 

governmental entities or other persons to perform and complete required cadastral surveys of the lands as described in the Settlement Agreement or the Los Alamos Agreement and to carry out 

any other project or activity under the Act, the Settlement Agreement or the Los Alamos Agreement. 

Section 9(a) states that without any additional administrative action by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior, 

on recording the quitclaim deed or deeds from the Pueblo under 

section 8(b) in the regional Land Titles and Records Office of the 

Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Settlement Area Land shall be held 

in trust by the United States for the benefit of the Pueblo and the 

Forest boundaries shall be deemed to be modified to exclude the 

Settlement Area Land from the National Forest System. This section also states that upon filing in the county land records of the 

quitclaim deed or deeds to the Water System Land, the Forest 

boundaries shall be deemed to be modified to exclude the Water 

System Land from the National Forest System. 

Section 9(b) states that if fee title to the Water System Land 

vests in the Pueblo by conveyance or operation of law, the Water 

System Land shall be deemed to be held in trust by the United 

States for the benefit of the Pueblo without further administrative 

procedures or environmental or other analysis. 

Section 9(c) states that any land conveyed to the Secretary of the 

Interior in trust for the Pueblo under the Act shall be subject to 

25 U.S.C. 177 and treated as reservation land. 

Section 10 sets forth requirements and limitations for the interim management of the Settlement Area Land, the Water System 

Land, the Northern Tier Land, and the Los Alamos Townsite Land 

prior to the conveyance of those lands under section 9 of the Act. 

Section 11 withdraws the lands available for sale to the Pueblo 

and the Northern Tier Land, as identified in certain specified notices of withdrawal published in the Federal Register, from all location, entry, and patent under the public land, mining and mineral 

leasing (including geothermal leasing) laws of the United States. 

Section 12(a) requires the Secretary of Agriculture to sell the 

Northern Tier Land, subject to valid existing rights and reservations of the United States, on such terms as the Secretary may prescribe as being in the public interest and in accordance with the 

provisions of this section. The section also provides that the purpose for the authorization to convey these lands is consolidation of 

Federal and non-Federal lands to increase management efficiency 

and not in settlement or compromise of any claim of title by any 

Pueblo, Indian tribe, or other entity. 

Section 12(b)(1) provides the Pueblo of Santa Clara with an exclusive option to purchase the Northern Tier Land beginning on 

the enactment date and ending 90 days thereafter, sets forth the 

requirements for exercising the option, and states that if the Santa 

Clara Pueblo fails to exercise the option or close on the purchase 

of the land within 1 year after exercising its option, the Secretary 

of Agriculture must offer the Northern Tier Land for sale to the 

Pueblo. 

Section 12(b)(2) provides the Pueblo with a 90-day option to purchase the Norther Tier Land in the event that the Pueblo of Santa 

Clara fails to exercise its option to purchase or close on the purVerDate Aug 31 2005 08:49 May 04, 2006 Jkt 049010 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR252.XXX SR252

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14The price identified in that Tribal Council resolution is $310,000. 

chase as provided in paragraph (1), and sets forth the requirements 

for the Pueblo to exercise its option. In the event that the Pueblo 

fails to exercise its option or close within 1 year after exercising its 

option, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to sell the Northern Tier lands to any third party on such terms and conditions as 

the Secretary determines to be in the public interest. 

Section 12(b)(3) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to extend 

the 1-year period for closing the sale of the lands under certain circumstances. 

Section 12(c) sets forth the terms and conditions for the sale of 

the Northern Tier Land. Section 12(c)(1) sets the purchase price at 

the amount agreed to by the Pueblo of Santa Clara in its Tribal 

Council Resolution No. 05–01.14 Section 12(c)(2) reserves the right 

of the United States to operate, maintain, reconstruct, replace, use 

and have access to a certain stream gauge. Section 12(c)(3) provides that the Northern Tier Land shall be conveyed by quitclaim 

deed executed by the Director of Lands and Minerals, Forest Service, Southwest Region, Department of Agriculture. 

Section 12(d) states that if the Northern Tier Land is purchased 

by an Indian tribe, the land may be reconveyed by quitclaim deed 

back to the United States to be held in trust by the Secretary of 

the Interior for the benefit of the tribe, and requires the Secretary 

of the Interior to accept the conveyance without additional administrative action by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of 

the Interior. This section also states that the land shall be deemed 

to be held in trust for the benefit of the tribe on recording of the 

deed in the regional Land Titles and Records Office of the Bureau 

of Indian Affairs, and that effective on the date of a deed described 

in paragraph (1), the Forest boundaries shall be deemed to be 

modified to exclude the land conveyed by the deed from the National Forest System. 

Section 12(e)(1) provides for inholder and public access, by deed 

reservations or grants of land, across the Northern Tier Land in 

order to provide reasonable ingress and egress to private and Federal land as shown in Appendix B of the Settlement Agreement, in 

the event the Pueblo of Santa Clara does not exercise its option to 

purchase the land. 

Section 12(e)(2) is applicable if the Pueblo of Santa Clara does 

exercise its option to purchase the Northern Tier Land, and requires the Pueblo of Santa Clara to grant easements to (1) the 

United States over certain existing roads for specified administrative access purposes, with a condition that the United States must 

contribute to the maintenance of the roadway commensurate with 

actual use; and (2) private landowners within the Northern Tier 

Land for private access over certain specified roads. 

Section 12(e)(3) requires the Secretary of the Interior to approve 

the easements described in paragraph (2) upon approval of the 

terms of the easement by the Secretary of Agriculture, and section 

12(e)(4) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to vacate inholder 

access over a certain Forest Development Road if the administrative and inholder access under paragraph (2) is adequate. 

Section 13 authorizes the Pueblo of Santa Clara and the Pueblo 

de San Ildefonso to demarcate, by agreement, a boundary between 


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15The amendment approved by the Committee excepts from this requirement the conveyances 

and adjustments relating to the Los Alamos Townsite Land. 

their respective tribal land within a certain township specified by 

the section, and to exchange or otherwise convey land between 

them in that township. Section 13 also requires the Secretary of 

the Interior to recognize and provide a survey for any such agreedto boundary, approve any such agreed-upon exchanges and conveyances, and accept conveyances of exchanged lands into trust for the 

benefit of the grantee tribe. 

Section 14 requires the Secretary of the Interior, not later than 

2 years after the enactment date, to act in accordance with the Indian Tribal Judgment Funds Use or Distribution Act (25 U.S.C. 

1401 et seq.) with respect to the award entered in the compromise 

and settlement of claims under the case styled Pueblo of San 

Ildefonso v. United States, No. 660–87L, United States Court of 

Federal Claims. 

Section 15 provides that, notwithstanding any provision of State 

law, the Settlement Agreement and the Los Alamos Agreement (including real property conveyances under the agreements) shall be 

interpreted and implemented as matters of Federal law. 

Section 16 states that the Act shall take effect on the date of its 

enactment. 

Section 17 states the Congressional intent that the land conveyances and adjustments contemplated by the Act shall be completed 

not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Act.15

Section 18 authorizes to be appropriated such funds as are necessary to carry out the Act. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following cost estimate dated April 19, 2006, was prepared 

for S. 1773: 

S. 1773—Pueblo de San Ildefonso Claims Settlement Act of 2005 

S. 1773 would ratify a settlement agreement entered into by the 

Departments of Justice, the Interior, and Agriculture with the 

Pueblo de San Ildefonso. Under the agreement, the tribe would receive about $7 million from the federal government in exchange for 

extinguishing certain claims against the government. Funds from 

the settlement would be used by the tribe to acquire land, including about 7,600 acres of national forest land. The legislation also 

would allow the sales of about 425 acres of federal land to the 

county of Los Alamos, New Mexico, with an estimated value of 

about $500,000 and about 740 acres to the Pueblo of Santa Clara 

for about $350,000. All proceeds from the land sales would be available to the U.S. Forest Service to spend, without further appropriation, to purchase nonfederal lands within or adjacent to national 

forests in New Mexico. 

CBO estimates that implementing S. 1773 would increase direct 

spending from the Judgment Fund of the U.S. Treasury by about 

$7 million in fiscal year 2006. That payment could be offset by a 

reduction in possible future payments from the Judgment Fund to 

settle the tribe’s claims, but CBO cannot estimate the likelihood, 

magnitude, or timing of such an offset. According to the Forest 

Service, the lands to be sold currently generate no significant reVerDate Aug 31 2005 08:49 May 04, 2006 Jkt 049010 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR252.XXX SR252

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ceipts and are not expected to do so during the next 10 years. 

Hence, CBO estimates that selling the land would not significantly 

affect offsetting receipts (a credit against direct spending). As noted 

above, the Forest Service would spend roughly $850,000 of such 

proceeds, so there would be no net budget impact from those sales. 

The legislation also would allow the Forest Service to accept gifts 

of cash or services for surveys related to the land sales. CBO estimates that the total value of the gifts would not be significant. In 

addition, based on information from the Forest Service, we estimate that the administrative costs of implementing this legislation, 

including the required surveys, would be negligible. 

S. 1773 contains an intergovernmental mandate as defined in the 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) because it would preempt 

state law and require that the settlement agreement be interpreted 

under federal law. CBO estimates, however, that this mandate 

would impose no costs on any state, local, or tribal government, 

and so would not exceed the threshold established in UMRA ($64 

million in 2006, adjusted annually for inflation). Enacting this bill 

would benefit the Pueblo de San Ildefonso because it is a necessary 

step towards implementing the settlement agreement between the 

Pueblo and the United States resolving the Pueblo’s land claims. 

Any costs or duties that the bill might impose on the Pueblo would 

be those it has assumed voluntarily as a party to the agreement. 

The bill would impose no other significant costs on any state, local, 

or tribal government. 

The legislation contains no new private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA. 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Matthew Pickford 

(for federal costs), and Marjorie Miller (for the impact on state, 

local, and tribal governments). The estimate was approved by Peter 

H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT STATEMENT

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

The Committee believes that S. 1773 will have minimal regulatory 

or paperwork impact. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The Committee has received no official executive communications 

on S. 1773. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee states that the enactment of 

H.R. 797 will result in no changes in existing law. 


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