IB 

Union Calendar No. 479 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5049 

[Report No. 113–639] 

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, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2014 

Mr. SIMPSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

DECEMBER 1, 2014 

Additional sponsor: Ms. MCCOLLUM

DECEMBER 1, 2014 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


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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, and 

for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Blackfoot River Land 

5 Exchange Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, a federally 

9 recognized Indian tribe with tribal headquarters at 

10 Fort Hall, Idaho— 

11 (A) adopted a tribal constitution and by12 laws on March 31, 1936, that were approved by 

13 the Secretary of the Interior on April 30, 1936, 

14 pursuant to the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 

15 U.S.C. 461 et seq.) (commonly known as the 

16 ‘‘Indian Reorganization Act’’); 

17 (B) has entered into various treaties with 

18 the United States, including the Second Treaty 

19 of Fort Bridger, executed on July 3, 1868; and 

20 (C) has maintained a continuous govern21 ment-to-government relationship with the 

22 United States since the earliest years of the 

23 Union; 

24 (2)(A) in 1867, President Andrew Johnson des25 ignated by Executive order the Fort Hall ReservaVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Dec 02, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5049.RH H5049

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1 tion for various bands of Shoshone and Bannock In2 dians; 

3 (B) the Reservation is located near the cities of 

4 Blackfoot and Pocatello in southeastern Idaho; and 

5 (C) article 4 of the Second Treaty of Fort 

6 Bridger secured the Reservation as a ‘‘permanent 

7 home’’ for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes; 

8 (3)(A) according to the Executive order referred 

9 to in paragraph (2)(A), the Blackfoot River, as the 

10 river existed in its natural state— 

11 (i) is the northern boundary of the Res12 ervation; and 

13 (ii) flows in a westerly direction along that 

14 northern boundary; and 

15 (B) within the Reservation, land use in the 

16 River watershed is dominated by— 

17 (i) rangeland; 

18 (ii) dry and irrigated farming; and 

19 (iii) residential development; 

20 (4)(A) in 1964, the Corps of Engineers com21 pleted a local flood protection project on the River— 

22 (i) authorized by section 204 of the Flood 

23 Control Act of 1950 (64 Stat. 170); and 

24 (ii) sponsored by the Blackfoot River Flood 

25 Control District No. 7; 


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1 (B) the project consisted of building levees, re2 placing irrigation diversion structures, replacing 

3 bridges, and channel realignment; and 

4 (C) the channel realignment portion of the 

5 project severed various parcels of land located con6 tiguous to the River along the boundary of the Res7 ervation, resulting in Indian land being located 

8 north of the Realigned River and non-Indian land 

9 being located south of the Realigned River; 

10 (5) beginning in 1999, the Cadastral Survey 

11 Office of the Bureau of Land Management con12 ducted surveys of— 

13 (A) 25 parcels of Indian land; and 

14 (B) 19 parcels of non-Indian land; and 

15 (6) the enactment of this Act and separate 

16 agreements of the parties would represent a resolu17 tion of the disputes described in subsection (b)(1) 

18 among— 

19 (A) the Tribes; 

20 (B) the allottees; and 

21 (C) the non-Indian landowners. 

22 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

23 (1) to resolve the land ownership and land use 

24 disputes resulting from realignment of the River by 

25 the Corps of Engineers during calendar year 1964 


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1 pursuant to the project described in subsection 

2 (a)(4)(A); and 

3 (2) to achieve a final and fair solution to re4 solve those disputes. 

5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) ALLOTTEE.—The term ‘‘allottee’’ means an 

8 heir of an original allottee of the Reservation who 

9 owns an interest in a parcel of land that is— 

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

11 the benefit of the allottee; and 

12 (B) located north of the Realigned River 

13 within the exterior boundaries of the Reserva14 tion. 

15 (2) BLACKFOOT RIVER FLOOD CONTROL DIS16 TRICT NO. 7.—The term ‘‘Blackfoot River Flood 

17 Control District No. 7’’ means the governmental 

18 subdivision in the State of Idaho, located at 75 East 

19 Judicial, Blackfoot, Idaho, that— 

20 (A) is responsible for maintenance and re21 pair of the Realigned River; and 

22 (B) represents the non-Indian landowners 

23 relating to the resolution of the disputes de24 scribed in section 2(b)(1) in accordance with 

25 this Act. 


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1 (3) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian land’’ 

2 means any parcel of land that is— 

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

4 the benefit of the Tribes or the allottees; 

5 (B) located north of the Realigned River; 

6 and 

7 (C) identified in exhibit A of the survey of 

8 the Bureau of Land Management entitled ‘‘Sur9 vey of the Blackfoot River of 2002 to 2005’’, 

10 which is located at— 

11 (i) the Fort Hall Indian Agency office 

12 of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and 

13 (ii) the Blackfoot River Flood Control 

14 District No. 7. 

15 (4) NON-INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘non-Indian 

16 land’’ means any parcel of fee land that is— 

17 (A) located south of the Realigned River; 

18 and 

19 (B) identified in exhibit B, which is located 

20 at the areas described in clauses (i) and (ii) of 

21 paragraph (3)(C). 

22 (5) NON-INDIAN LANDOWNER.—The term 

23 ‘‘non-Indian landowner’’ means any individual who 

24 holds fee title to non-Indian land and is represented 


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1 by the Blackfoot River Flood Control District No. 7 

2 for purposes of this Act. 

3 (6) REALIGNED RIVER.—The term ‘‘Realigned 

4 River’’ means that portion of the River that was re5 aligned by the Corps of Engineers during calendar 

6 year 1964 pursuant to the project described in sec7 tion 2(a)(4)(A). 

8 (7) RESERVATION.—The term ‘‘Reservation’’ 

9 means the Fort Hall Reservation established by Ex10 ecutive order during calendar year 1867 and con11 firmed by treaty during calendar year 1868. 

12 (8) RIVER.—The term ‘‘River’’ means the 

13 Blackfoot River located in the State of Idaho. 

14 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of the Interior. 

16 (10) TRIBES.—The term ‘‘Tribes’’ means the 

17 Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. 

18 SEC. 4. RELEASE OF CLAIMS TO CERTAIN INDIAN AND NON19 INDIAN OWNED LANDS. 

20 (a) RELEASE OF CLAIMS.—Effective on the date of 

21 enactment of this Act— 

22 (1) all existing and future claims with respect 

23 to the Indian land and the non-Indian land and all 

24 right, title, and interest that the Tribes, allottees, 

25 non-Indian landowners, and the Blackfoot River 


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1 Flood Control District No. 7 may have had to that 

2 land shall be extinguished; 

3 (2) any interest of the Tribes, the allottees, or 

4 the United States, acting as trustee for the Tribes 

5 or allottees, in the Indian land shall be extinguished 

6 under section 2116 of the Revised Statutes (com7 monly known as the ‘‘Indian Trade and Intercourse 

8 Act’’) (25 U.S.C. 177); and 

9 (3) to the extent any interest in non-Indian 

10 land transferred into trust pursuant to section 5 vio11 lates section 2116 of the Revised Statutes (com12 monly known as the ‘‘Indian Trade and Intercourse 

13 Act’’) (25 U.S.C. 177), that transfer shall be valid, 

14 subject to the condition that the transfer is con15 sistent with all other applicable Federal laws (includ16 ing regulations). 

17 (b) DOCUMENTATION.—The Secretary may execute 

18 and file any appropriate documents (including a plat or 

19 map of the transferred Indian land) that are suitable for 

20 filing with the Bingham County clerk or other appropriate 

21 county official, as the Secretary determines necessary to 

22 carry out this Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. NON-INDIAN LAND TO BE PLACED INTO TRUST FOR 

2 TRIBES. 

3 Effective on the date of enactment of this Act, the 

4 non-Indian land shall be considered to be held in trust 

5 by the United States for the benefit of the Tribes. 

6 SEC. 6. TRUST LAND TO BE CONVERTED TO FEE LAND. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transfer 

9 the Indian land to the Blackfoot River Flood Control Dis10 trict No. 7 for use or sale in accordance with subsection 

11 (b). 

12 (b) USE OF LAND.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Blackfoot River Flood 

14 Control District No. 7 shall use any proceeds from 

15 the sale of land described in subsection (a) according 

16 to the following priorities: 

17 (A) To compensate, at fair market value, 

18 each non-Indian landowner for the net loss of 

19 land to that non-Indian landowner resulting 

20 from the implementation of this Act. 

21 (B) To compensate the Blackfoot River 

22 Flood Control District No. 7 for any adminis23 trative or other expenses relating to carrying 

24 out this Act. 

25 (2) REMAINING LAND.—If any land remains to 

26 be conveyed or proceeds remain after the sale of the 


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1 land, the Blackfoot River Flood Control District No. 

2 7 may dispose of that remaining land or proceeds as 

3 the Blackfoot River Flood Control District No. 7 de4 termines to be appropriate. 

5 SEC. 7. EFFECT ON ORIGINAL RESERVATION BOUNDARY. 

6 Nothing in this Act affects the original boundary of 

7 the Reservation, as established by Executive order during 

8 calendar year 1867 and confirmed by treaty during cal9 endar year 1868. 

10 SEC. 8. EFFECT ON TRIBAL WATER RIGHTS. 

11 Nothing in this Act extinguishes or conveys any water 

12 right of the Tribes, as established in the agreement enti13 tled ‘‘1990 Fort Hall Indian Water Rights Agreement’’ 

14 and ratified by section 4 of the Fort Hall Indian Water 

15 Rights Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–602; 104 Stat. 

16 3060). 

17 SEC. 9. DISCLAIMERS REGARDING CLAIMS. 

18 Nothing in this Act— 

19 (1) affects in any manner the sovereign claim 

20 of the State of Idaho to title in and to the beds and 

21 banks of the River under the equal footing doctrine 

22 of the Constitution of the United States; 

23 (2) affects any action by the State of Idaho to 

24 establish the title described in paragraph (1) under 


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1 section 2409a of title 28, United States Code (com2 monly known as the ‘‘Quiet Title Act’’); 

3 (3) affects the ability of the Tribes or the 

4 United States to claim ownership of the beds and 

5 banks of the River; or 

6 (4) extinguishes or conveys any water rights of 

7 non-Indian landowners or the claims of those land8 owners to water rights in the Snake River Basin Ad9 judication. 


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Union Calendar No. 479 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5049 

[Report No. 113–639] 

A BILL 

To exchange trust and fee land to resolve land disReservation, and for other purposes. River along the boundary of the Fort Hall Indian putes created by the realignment of the Blackfoot 

DECEMBER 1, 2014 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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