II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2802 

To settle land claims within the Fort Hall Reservation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2009 

Mr. CRAPO (for himself and Mr. RISCH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To settle land claims within the Fort Hall Reservation. 

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 Settlement Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) it is the policy of the United States to pro9 mote tribal self-determination and economic self-suf10 ficiency and encourage the resolution of disputes 

11 over historical claims through mutually agreed-upon 


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1 settlements between Indian tribes and the United 

2 States; 

3 (2) the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, a federally 

4 recognized Indian tribe with tribal headquarters at 

5 Fort Hall, Idaho— 

6 (A) adopted a tribal constitution and by7 laws on March 31, 1936, that were approved by 

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

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

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

11 ‘‘Indian Reorganization Act’’); 

12 (B) has entered into various treaties with 

13 the United States, including the Second Treaty 

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

15 (C) has maintained a continuous govern16 ment-to-government relationship with the 

17 United States since the earliest years of the 

18 Union; 

19 (3)(A) in 1867, President Andrew Johnson des20 ignated by Executive order the Fort Hall Reserva21 tion for various bands of Shoshone and Bannock In22 dians; 

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

24 Blackfoot and Pocatello in southeastern Idaho; and 


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

2 Bridger secured the Reservation as a ‘‘permanent 

3 home’’ for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes; 

4 (4)(A) according to the Executive order referred 

5 to in paragraph (3)(A), the Blackfoot River, as the 

6 river existed in its natural state— 

7 (i) is the northern boundary of the Res8 ervation; and 

9 (ii) flows in a westerly direction along that 

10 northern boundary; and 

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

12 River watershed is dominated by— 

13 (i) rangeland; 

14 (ii) dry and irrigated farming; and 

15 (iii) residential development; 

16 (5)(A) in 1964, the Corps of Engineers com17 pleted a local flood protection project on the River— 

18 (i) authorized by section 204 of the Flood 

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

20 (ii) sponsored by the Blackfoot River Flood 

21 Control District No. 7; 

22 (B) the project consisted of building levees, re23 placing irrigation diversion structures, replacing 

24 bridges, and channel realignment; and 


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1 (C) the channel realignment portion of the 

2 project severed various parcels of land located con3 tiguous to the River along the boundary of the Res4 ervation, resulting in Indian land being located 

5 north of the Realigned River and non-Indian land 

6 being located south of the Realigned River; 

7 (6) beginning in 1999, the Cadastral Survey 

8 Office of the Bureau of Land Management con9 ducted surveys of— 

10 (A) 25 parcels of Indian land; and 

11 (B) 19 parcels of non-Indian land; 

12 (7) in 1988, many non-Indian landowners and 

13 non-Indians acquiring Indian land filed claims in the 

14 Snake River Basin Adjudication seeking water rights 

15 that included a place of use on Indian land; and 

16 (8) the enactment of this Act and the distribu17 tion of funds in accordance with section 12(b) would 

18 represent an agreement among— 

19 (A) the Tribes; 

20 (B) the allottees; 

21 (C) the non-Indians acquiring Indian land; 

22 and 

23 (D) the non-Indian landowners. 

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


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1 (1) to resolve the disputes resulting from re2 alignment of the River by the Corps of Engineers 

3 during calendar year 1964 pursuant to the project 

4 described in subsection (a)(5)(A); and 

5 (2) to achieve a fair, equitable, and final settle6 ment of all claims and potential claims arising from 

7 those disputes. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

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

11 heir of an original allottee of the Reservation who 

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

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

14 the benefit of the Tribes or allottee; and 

15 (B) located north of the Realigned River 

16 within the exterior boundaries of the Reserva17 tion. 

18 (2) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian land’’ 

19 means any parcel of land that is— 

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

21 the benefit of the Tribes or the allottees; 

22 (B) located north of the Realigned River; 

23 and 

24 (C) identified in exhibit C of the survey of 

25 the Bureau of Land Management entitled ‘‘SurVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:45 Nov 20, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2802.IS S2802

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1 vey of the Blackfoot River of 2002 to 2005’’, 

2 which is located at— 

3 (i) the Fort Hall Indian Agency office 

4 of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and 

5 (ii) the Blackfoot River Flood Control 

6 District No. 7, 75 East Judicial, Black7 foot, Idaho. 

8 (3) NON-INDIAN ACQUIRING INDIAN LAND.— 

9 The term ‘‘non-Indian acquiring Indian land’’ means 

10 any individual or entity that— 

11 (A) has acquired or plans to acquire In12 dian land; and 

13 (B) is included on the listed contained in 

14 exhibit C of the survey referred to in paragraph 

15 (2)(C). 

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

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

18 (A) located south of the Realigned River; 

19 and 

20 (B) identified in exhibit B of the survey re21 ferred to in paragraph (2)(C). 

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

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

24 holds fee title to non-Indian land. 


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

2 River’’ means that portion of the River that was re3 aligned by the Corps of Engineers during calendar 

4 year 1964 pursuant to the project described in sec5 tion 2(a)(5). 

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

7 means the Fort Hall Reservation established by Ex8 ecutive order during calendar year 1867. 

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

10 Blackfoot River located in the State of Idaho. 

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

12 the Secretary of the Interior. 

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

14 Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. 

15 SEC. 4. EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS AND TITLE. 

16 Except as provided in sections 5 and 6, effective be17 ginning on the date on which the amounts appropriated 

18 pursuant to section 12 are distributed in accordance with 

19 that section, all claims and all past, present, and future 

20 right, title, and interest in and to the Indian land and 

21 non-Indian land shall be extinguished. 

22 SEC. 5. LAND TO BE PLACED INTO TRUST FOR TRIBES. 

23 Effective beginning on the date on which the amounts 

24 appropriated pursuant to section 12 are distributed in ac25 cordance with that section to the Blackfoot River Flood 


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1 Control District No. 7, the non-Indian land shall be con2 sidered to be held in trust by the United States for the 

3 benefit of the Tribes. 

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

5 Effective beginning on the date on which the amounts 

6 appropriated pursuant to section 12 are distributed in ac7 cordance with that section to the tribal trust fund account 

8 and the allottee trust account, the Indian land shall be 

9 transferred to the Blackfoot River Flood Control District 

10 No. 7 for conveyance to the non-Indians acquiring Indian 

11 land. 

12 SEC. 7. TRIBAL TRUST FUND ACCOUNT AND ALLOTTEE 

13 TRUST ACCOUNT. 

14 (a) TRIBAL TRUST FUND ACCOUNT.— 

15 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

16 the Treasury of the United States an account, to be 

17 known as the ‘‘tribal trust fund account’’, consisting 

18 of such amounts as are deposited in the account 

19 under section 12(b)(1). 

20 (2) INVESTMENT.—The Secretary of the Treas21 ury shall invest amounts in the tribal trust fund ac22 count for the benefit of the Tribes, in accordance 

23 with applicable laws and regulations. 

24 (3) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary of the 

25 Treasury shall distribute amounts in the tribal trust 


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1 fund account to the Tribes pursuant to a budget 

2 adopted by the Tribes that describes— 

3 (A) the amounts required by the Tribes; 

4 and 

5 (B) the intended uses of the amounts, in 

6 accordance with paragraph (4). 

7 (4) USE OF FUNDS.—The Tribes may use 

8 amounts in the tribal trust fund account (including 

9 interest earned on those amounts), without fiscal 

10 year limitation, for activities relating to— 

11 (A) construction of a natural resources fa12 cility; 

13 (B) water resources needs; 

14 (C) economic development; 

15 (D) land acquisition; and 

16 (E) such other purposes as the Tribes de17 termine to be appropriate. 

18 (b) ALLOTTEE TRUST ACCOUNT.— 

19 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

20 the Treasury of the United States an account, to be 

21 known as the ‘‘allottee trust account’’, consisting of 

22 such amounts as are deposited in the account under 

23 section 12(b)(2). 

24 (2) DEPOSIT INTO IIMS.—Not later than 60 

25 days after the date on which amounts are deposited 


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1 in the allottee trust account under section 12(b)(2), 

2 the Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit the 

3 amounts into individual Indian money accounts for 

4 the allottees. 

5 (3) INVESTMENT.—The Secretary of the Treas6 ury shall invest amounts in the individual Indian 

7 money accounts under paragraph (2) in accordance 

8 with applicable laws and regulations. 

9 SEC. 8. ATTORNEYS FEES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), of the 

11 amounts appropriated pursuant to section 12(a), the Sec12 retary shall pay to the attorneys of the Tribes and the 

13 non-Indian landowners such attorneys fees as are ap14 proved by the Tribes and the non-Indian landowners. 

15 (b) LIMITATION.—The total amount of attorneys fees 

16 paid by the Secretary under subsection (a) shall not exceed 

17 2 percent of the amounts distributed to the Tribes, 

18 allottees, and the non-Indian landowners under section 

19 12(b). 

20 SEC. 9. EFFECT ON ORIGINAL RESERVATION BOUNDARY. 

21 Nothing in this Act affects the original boundary of 

22 the Reservation, as established by Executive order during 

23 calendar year 1867 and confirmed by treaty during cal24 endar year 1868. 


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1 SEC. 10. EFFECT ON TRIBAL WATER RIGHTS. 

2 Nothing in this Act extinguishes or conveys any water 

3 right of the Tribes, as established in the agreement enti4 tled ‘‘1990 Fort Hall Indian Water Rights Agreement’’ 

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

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

7 3060). 

8 SEC. 11. DISCLAIMERS REGARDING CLAIMS. 

9 Nothing in this Act— 

10 (1) affects in any manner the sovereign claim 

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

12 banks of the River under the equal footing doctrine 

13 of the Constitution of the United States; 

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

15 establish that title under section 2409a of title 28, 

16 United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Quiet 

17 Title Act’’); 

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

19 United States to claim ownership of the beds and 

20 banks of the River; or 

21 (4) extinguishes or conveys any water rights of 

22 non-Indian landowners or the claims of the land23 owners to water rights in the Snake River Basin Ad24 judication. 


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1 SEC. 12. FUNDING. 

2 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

3 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 

4 $1,000,000. 

5 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—After the date on which all at6 torneys fees are paid under section 8, the amount appro7 priated pursuant to subsection (a) shall be distributed 

8 among the Tribes, the allottees, and the Blackfoot River 

9 Flood Control District No. 7 as follows: 

10 (1) Twenty-eight percent shall be deposited into 

11 the tribal trust fund account established by section 

12 7(a)(1). 

13 (2) Twenty-five percent shall be deposited into 

14 the allottee trust account established by section 

15 7(b)(1). 

16 (3) Forty-seven percent shall be provided to the 

17 Blackfoot River Flood Control District No. 7 for— 

18 (A) distribution to the non-Indian land19 owners on a pro rata, per-acre basis; and 

20 (B) associated administrative expenses. 

21 (c) PER CAPITA PAYMENTS PROHIBITED.—No 

22 amount received by the Tribes under this Act shall be dis23 tributed to a member of the Tribes on a per capita basis. 


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1 SEC. 13. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This Act takes effect on the date on which the 

3 amount described in section 12(a) is appropriated. 

Æ 


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