II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2599 

To provide for the transfer of certain Federal land in the State of Minnesota 

for the benefit of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2018 

Ms. SMITH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for the transfer of certain Federal land in the 

State of Minnesota for the benefit of the Leech Lake 

Band of Ojibwe. 

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 ‘‘Leech Lake Band of 

5 Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LEECH LAKE BAND OF OJIBWE RESERVATION RES7 TORATION. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the Federal land described in subsection 

2 (b)(1) was taken from members of the Leech Lake 

3 Band of Ojibwe during a period— 

4 (A) beginning in 1948; 

5 (B) during which the Bureau of Indian Af6 fairs incorrectly interpreted an order of the Sec7 retary of the Interior to mean that the Depart8 ment of the Interior had the authority to sell 

9 tribal allotments without the consent of a ma10 jority of the rightful landowners; and 

11 (C) ending in 1959, when the Secretary of 

12 the Interior was— 

13 (i) advised that sales described in sub14 paragraph (B) were illegal; and 

15 (ii) ordered to cease conducting those 

16 sales; 

17 (2)(A) the applicable statute of limitations pro18 hibits individuals from pursuing through litigation 

19 the return of the land taken as described in para20 graph (1); but 

21 (B) a Federal judge ruled that the land could 

22 be restored to the affected individuals through the 

23 legislative process; 

24 (3) a comprehensive review of the Federal land 

25 demonstrated that— 


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1 (A) a large portion of the Federal land is 

2 overloaded with— 

3 (i) utility easements; 

4 (ii) rights-of-way for roads; and 

5 (iii) flowage and reservoir rights; and 

6 (B) there are no cabins, campgrounds, 

7 lodges, or resorts located on any portion of the 

8 Federal land; and 

9 (4) on reacquisition by the Tribe of the Federal 

10 land, the Tribe— 

11 (A) has pledged to respect the easements, 

12 rights-of-way, and other rights described in 

13 paragraph (3)(A); and 

14 (B)(i) does not intend immediately to mod15 ify the use of the Federal land; but 

16 (ii) will keep the Federal land in tax-ex17 empt fee status as part of the Chippewa Na18 tional Forest until the Tribe develops a plan 

19 that allows for a gradual subdivision of some 

20 tracts for economic and residential development 

21 by the Tribe. 

22 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) FEDERAL LAND.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Federal 

25 land’’ means the approximately 11,760 acres of 


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1 Federal land located in the Chippewa National 

2 Forest in Cass County, Minnesota, the bound3 aries of which shall be depicted on the map, 

4 and described in the legal description, sub5 mitted under subsection (d)(1)(B). 

6 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Federal 

7 land’’ includes— 

8 (i) any improvement located on the 

9 Federal land described in subparagraph 

10 (A); and 

11 (ii) any appurtenance to the Federal 

12 land. 

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

14 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

15 (3) TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the 

16 Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. 

17 (c) TRANSFER TO RESERVATION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing 

19 rights and paragraph (2), the Secretary shall trans20 fer to the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary 

21 of the Interior all right, title, and interest of the 

22 United States in and to the Federal land. 

23 (2) TREATMENT.—Effective immediately on the 

24 transfer under paragraph (1), the Federal land shall 

25 be— 


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1 (A) held in trust by the United States for 

2 the benefit of the Tribe; and 

3 (B) considered to be a part of the reserva4 tion of the Tribe. 

5 (d) SURVEY, MAP, AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

7 (A) not later than 180 days after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act, complete a plan of 

9 survey to establish the boundaries of the Fed10 eral land; and 

11 (B) as soon as practicable after the date of 

12 enactment of this Act, submit a map and legal 

13 description of the Federal land to— 

14 (i) the Committee on Natural Re15 sources of the House of Representatives; 

16 and 

17 (ii) the Committee on Indian Affairs 

18 of the Senate. 

19 (2) FORCE AND EFFECT.—The map and legal 

20 description submitted under paragraph (1)(B) shall 

21 have the same force and effect as if included in this 

22 Act, except that the Secretary may correct any cler23 ical or typographical error in the map or legal de24 scription. 


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1 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The map and legal 

2 description submitted under paragraph (1)(B) shall 

3 be on file and available for public inspection in the 

4 office of the Secretary. 

5 (e) ADMINISTRATION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise ex7 pressly provided in this section, nothing in this sec8 tion affects any right or claim of the Tribe, as in ex9 istence on the date of enactment of this Act, to any 

10 land or interest in land. 

11 (2) PROHIBITIONS.— 

12 (A) EXPORTS OF UNPROCESSED LOGS.— 

13 Federal law (including regulations) relating to 

14 the export of unprocessed logs harvested from 

15 Federal land shall apply to any unprocessed 

16 logs that are harvested from the Federal land. 

17 (B) NON-PERMISSIBLE USE OF LAND.— 

18 The Federal land shall not be eligible or used 

19 for any gaming activity carried out under the 

20 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 

21 2701 et seq.). 

22 (3) FOREST MANAGEMENT.—Any commercial 

23 forestry activity carried out on the Federal land 


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1 shall be managed in accordance with applicable Fed2 eral law. 

Æ 


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