108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2941

AN ACT

To correct the south boundary of the Colorado

other purposes.River Indian Reservation in Arizona, and for

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2941

AN ACT

To correct the south boundary of the Colorado River Indian

Reservation in Arizona, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, FINDINGS, PURPOSES.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

3 ‘‘Colorado River Indian Reservation Boundary Correction

4 Act’’.

5 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

6 (1) The Act of March 3, 1865, created the Col7 orado River Indian Reservation (hereinafter ‘‘Res8 ervation’’) along the Colorado River in Arizona and

9 California for the ‘‘Indians of said river and its trib10 utaries’’.

11 (2) In 1873 and 1874, President Grant issued

12 Executive orders to expand the Reservation south13 ward and to secure its southern boundary at a clear14 ly recognizable geographic location in order to fore15 stall non-Indian encroachment and conflicts with the

16 Indians of the Reservation.

17 (3) In 1875, Mr. Chandler Robbins surveyed

18 the Reservation (hereinafter ‘‘the Robbins Survey’’)

19 and delineated its new southern boundary, which in20 cluded approximately 16,000 additional acres (here21 inafter ‘‘the La Paz lands’’), as part of the Reserva22 tion.

23 (4) On May 15, 1876, President Grant issued

24 an Executive order that established the Reserva25 tion’s boundaries as those delineated by the Robbins

26 Survey.
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1 (5) In 1907, as a result of increasingly frequent

2 trespasses by miners and cattle and at the request

3 of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the General Land

4 Office of the United States provided for a resurvey

5 of the southern and southeastern areas of the Res6 ervation.

7 (6) In 1914, the General Land Office accepted

8 and approved a resurvey of the Reservation con9 ducted by Mr. Guy Harrington in 1912 (hereinafter

10 the ‘‘Harrington Resurvey’’) which confirmed the

11 boundaries that were delineated by the Robbins Sur12 vey and established by Executive order in 1876.

13 (7) On November 19, 1915, the Secretary of

14 the Interior reversed the decision of the General

15 Land Office to accept the Harrington Resurvey, and

16 upon his recommendation on November 22, 1915,

17 President Wilson issued Executive Order No. 2273

18 ‘‘* * * to correct the error in location said southern

19 boundary line * * *’’—and thus effectively excluded

20 the La Paz from the Reservation.

21 (8) Historical evidence compiled by the Depart22 ment of the Interior supports the conclusion that the

23 reason given by the Secretary in recommending that

24 the President issue the 1915 Executive order—‘‘to

25 correct an error in locating the southern bound-
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1 ary’’—was itself in error and that the La Paz lands

2 should not have been excluded from the Reservation.

3 (9) The La Paz lands continue to hold cultural

4 and historical significance, as well as economic devel5 opment potential, for the Colorado River Indian

6 tribes, who have consistently sought to have such

7 lands restored to their Reservation.

8 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are:

9 (1) To correct the south boundary of the Res10 ervation by reestablishing such boundary as it was

11 delineated by the Robbins Survey and affirmed by

12 the Harrington Resurvey.

13 (2) To restore the La Paz lands to the Reserva14 tion, subject to valid existing rights under Federal

15 law and to provide for continued reasonable public

16 access for recreational purposes.

17 (3) To provide for the Secretary of the Interior

18 to review and ensure that the corrected Reservation

19 boundary is resurveyed and marked in conformance

20 with the public system of surveys extended over such

21 lands.

22 SEC. 2. BOUNDARY CORRECTION, RESTORATION, DESCRIP23 TION.

24 (a) BOUNDARY.—The boundaries of the Colorado

25 River Indian Reservation are hereby declared to include
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1 those boundaries as were delineated by the Robbins Sur2 vey, affirmed by the Harrington Survey, and described as

3 follows: The approximately 15,375 acres of Federal land

4 described as ‘‘Lands Identified for Transfer to Colorado

5 River Indian Tribes’’ on the map prepared by the Bureau

6 of Land Management entitled ‘‘H.R. 2981, Colorado River

7 Indian Reservation Boundary Correction Act, and dated

8 May 14, 2004’’, (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Map’’)

9 (b) MAP.—The Map shall be available for review at

10 the Bureau of Land Management.

11 (c) RESTORATION.—Subject to valid existing rights

12 under Federal law, all right, title, and interest of the

13 United States to those lands within the boundaries de14 clared in subsection (a) that were excluded from the Colo15 rado River Indian Reservation pursuant to Executive

16 Order No. 2273 (November 22, 1915) are hereby restored

17 to the Reservation and shall be held in trust by the United

18 States on behalf of the Colorado River Indian Tribes.

19 (d) EXCLUSION.—Excluded from the lands restored

20 to trust status on behalf of the Colorado River Indian

21 Tribes that are described in subsection (a) are 2 parcels

22 of Arizona State Lands identified on the Map as ‘‘State

23 Lands’’ and totaling 320 acres and 520 acres.
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1 SEC. 3. RESURVEY AND MARKING.

2 The Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that the

3 boundary for the restored lands described in section 2(a)

4 is surveyed and clearly marked in conformance with the

5 public system of surveys extended over such lands.

6 SEC. 4. WATER RIGHTS.

7 The restored lands described in section 2(a) and

8 shown on the Map shall have no Federal reserve water

9 rights to surface water or ground water from any source.

10 SEC. 5. PUBLIC ACCESS.

11 Continued access to the restored lands described in

12 section (2)(a) for hunting and other existing recreational

13 purposes shall remain available to the public under reason14 able rules and regulations promulgated by the Colorado

15 River Indian Tribes.

16 SEC. 6. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The restored lands described in

18 section (2)(a) shall be subject to all rights-of-way, ease19 ments, leases, and mining claims existing on the date of

20 the enactment of this Act. The United States reserves the

21 right to continue all Reclamation projects, including the

22 right to access and remove mineral materials for Colorado

23 River maintenance on the restored lands described in sec24 tion (2)(a).

25 (b) ADDITIONAL RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—Notwithstanding

26 any other provision of law, the Secretary, in consultation
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1 with the Tribe, shall grant additional rights-of-way, expan2 sions, or renewals of existing rights-of-way for roads, utili3 ties, and other accommodations to adjoining landowners

4 or existing right-of-way holders, or their successors and

5 assigns, if—

6 (1) the proposed right-of-way is necessary to

7 the needs of the applicant;

8 (2) the proposed right-of-way acquisition will

9 not cause significant and substantial harm to the

10 Colorado River Indian Tribes; and

11 (3) the proposed right-of-way complies with the

12 procedures in part 169 of title 25, Code of Federal

13 Regulations consistent with this subsection and

14 other generally applicable Federal laws unrelated to

15 the acquisition of interests on trust lands, except

16 that section 169.3 of those regulations shall not be

17 applicable to expansions or renewals of existing

18 rights-of-way for roads and utilities.

19 (c) FEES.—The fees charged for the renewal of any

20 valid lease, easement, or right-of-way subject to this sec21 tion shall not be greater than the current Federal rate

22 for such a lease, easement, or right-of-way at the time of

23 renewal if the holder has been in substantial compliance

24 with all terms of the lease, easement, or right-of-way.
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1 SEC. 7. GAMING.

2 Land taken into trust under this Act shall neither

3 be considered to have been taken into trust for gaming

4 nor be used for gaming (as that term is used in the Indian

5 Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.)).

Passed the House of Representatives September 30,

2004.

Attest:

Clerk.