I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 507

To declare that the United States holds certain public domain lands in 

trust for the Pueblos of San Ildefonso and Santa Clara. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2003

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To declare that the United States holds certain public domain lands in trust for the Pueblos of San Ildefonso 

and Santa Clara.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. TRANSFER OF LANDS INTO TRUST FOR PUEB4 LOS OF SAN ILDEFONSO AND SANTA CLARA, 

5 NEW MEXICO. 

6 (a) LANDS HELD IN TRUST FOR PUEBLO OF SANTA

7 CLARA.—All right, title, and interest of the United States 

8 in the lands described in subsection (b), including all im9 provements thereon and appurtenances thereto and rights 

10 to all minerals, including oil and gas, are hereby declared 
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1 to be held by the United States in trust for the Pueblo 

2 of Santa Clara. 

3 (b) LAND DESCRIPTION.—The lands referred to in 

4 subsection (a) consist of approximately 2,484 acres of land 

5 presently under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land 

6 Management of the Department of the Interior situated 

7 within Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, and are more par8 ticularly described as follows: 

9 That portion of Section 22, Township 20 

10 North, Range 7 East, New Mexico Principal Merid11 ian, that is north of the line established in accord12 ance with the provisions of Section 2(a) of this Act. 

13 South half of Section 23, Township 20 North, 

14 Range 7 East, New Mexico Principal Meridian. 

15 South half of Section 24, Township 20 North, 

16 Range 7 East, New Mexico Principal Meridian. 

17 All of Section 25, Township 20 North, Range 

18 7 East, New Mexico Principal Meridian, except for 

19 the 5 acre tract in the Southeast quarter owned by 

20 San Ildefonso Pueblo. 

21 That portion of Section 26, Township 20 

22 North, Range 7 East, New Mexico Principal Merid23 ian, that is north and east of the line established in 

24 accordance with the provisions of Section 2(a) of 

25 this Act. 
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1 That portion of Section 27, Township 20 

2 North, Range 7 East, New Mexico Principal Merid3 ian, that is north of the line established in accord4 ance with the provisions of Section 2(a) of this Act. 

5 That portion of Section 19, Township 20 

6 North, Range 8 East, New Mexico Principal Merid7 ian, that is not included within the Santa Clara 

8 Pueblo Grant or the Santa Clara Indian Reserva9 tion. 

10 That portion of Section 30, Township 20 

11 North, Range 8 East, New Mexico Principal Merid12 ian, that is not included within the Santa Clara 

13 Pueblo Grant or the San Ildefonso Grant. 

14 (c) LANDS HELD IN TRUST FOR PUEBLO OF SAN

15 ILDEFONSO.—All right, title, and interest of the United 

16 States in the lands described in subsection (d), including 

17 all improvements thereon and appurtenances thereto and 

18 rights to all minerals, including oil and gas, are hereby 

19 declared to be held by the United States in trust for the 

20 Pueblo of San Ildefonso. 

21 (d) LAND DESCRIPTION.—The lands referred to in 

22 subsection (c) consist of approximately 2,000 acres of land 

23 presently under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land 

24 Management of the Department of the Interior situated 
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1 within Rio Arriba and Santa Fe Counties, New Mexico, 

2 and are more particularly described as follows: 

3 That portion of Section 22, Township 20 

4 North, Range 7 East, New Mexico Principal Merid5 ian, that is south of the line established in accord6 ance with the provisions of Section 2 (a) of this Act. 

7 That portion of Section 26, Township 20 

8 North, Range 7 East, New Mexico Principal Merid9 ian, that is south and west of the line established in 

10 accordance with the provisions of Section 2(a) of 

11 this Act. 

12 That portion of Section 27, Township 20 

13 North, Range 7 East, New Mexico Principal Merid14 ian, that is south of the line established in accord15 ance with the provisions of Section 2(a) of this Act. 

16 All of Section 34, Township 20 North, Range 

17 7 East, New Mexico Principal Meridian. 

18 That portion of Section 35, Township 20 

19 North, Range 7 East, New Mexico Principal Merid20 ian, that is not included within the San Ildefonso 

21 Pueblo Grant. 

22 SEC. 2. SURVEY OF BOUNDARY LINE; PUBLICATION OF DE23 SCRIPTION IN FEDERAL REGISTER. 

24 (a) SURVEY OF BOUNDARY LINE.—In order to accu25 rately establish on the ground the boundary of the lands 
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1 declared to be held in trust for the Pueblo of Santa Clara 

2 and the boundary of the lands declared to be held in trust 

3 for the Pueblo of San Ildefonso as described in section 

4 1 of this Act, the Secretary of Interior shall, by the date 

5 that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

6 cause a survey to be conducted by the Office of Cadastral 

7 Survey of the Bureau of Land Management of the bound8 ary lines established under the provisions of the Agree9 ment to Affirm Boundary Between Pueblo of Santa Clara 

10 and Pueblo of San Ildefonso Aboriginal Lands Within 

11 Garcia Canyon Tract, that was executed on December 20, 

12 2000, by the respective Governors of the two Pueblos, 

13 which survey shall be undertaken in accordance with the 

14 provisions of such Agreement. 

15 (b) PUBLICATION OF LAND DESCRIPTIONS IN FED16 ERAL REGISTER.—Upon completion of the survey de17 scribed in subsection (a), and its acceptance by the respec18 tive Governors of the 2 Pueblos, the Secretary shall cause 

19 the full metes and bounds description of the lines thus

20 established, together with a full and accurate description 

21 of the lands declared to be held in trust for each Pueblo 

22 by Section 1 of this Act, respectively, to be published in 

23 the Federal Register, and such descriptions shall, upon 

24 their publication, constitute the official descriptions of the 

25 lands transferred into trust hereunder. In preparing such 
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1 publication, the Secretary is authorized to correct any 

2 technical errors in the legal descriptions contained in this 

3 Act, so as to make the descriptions of the lands declared 

4 to be held in trust for the two Pueblos consistent with 

5 the terms of the Agreement described in subsection (a). 

6 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION OF LANDS DECLARED TO BE 

7 HELD IN TRUST. 

8 Upon the enactment of this Act, and subject to the 

9 other provisions of this Act, the lands described in section 

10 1(b) are hereby declared to be part of the Pueblo of Santa 

11 Clara’s reservation and the lands described in section 1(d) 

12 are hereby declared to be part of the Pueblo of San 

13 Ildefonso’s reservation. All lands described in Section 1 

14 shall be administered in accordance with the laws and 

15 rules of law generally applicable to property held in trust 

16 by the United States for Indian tribes. 

17 SEC. 4. VALID EXISTING RIGHTS PRESERVED. 

18 Nothing in this Act shall deprive any person (other 

19 than the United States) of any legal existing right-of-way, 

20 lease, permit, mining claim, grazing permit, water right, 

21 or any other right or interest which such person may have 

22 in any of the trust lands within the purview of this Act 

23 on the date preceding the date of enactment of this Act. 

24 No existing right or claim of either Pueblo to any lands 

25 or interest in lands based upon Aboriginal or Indian title 
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1 shall be enlarged, impaired or otherwise affected by this 

2 Act. 

3 SEC. 5. LANDS SUBJECT TO SECTION 17 OF PUEBLO LANDS 

4 ACT. 

5 The lands described in section 1, and all lands owned 

6 or acquired by the Pueblo of Santa Clara within the Santa 

7 Clara Pueblo Grant, and all lands owned or acquired by 

8 the Pueblo of San Ildefonso within the San Ildefonso 

9 Pueblo Grant, shall be fully subject to the provisions of 

10 Section 17 of the Act of June 7, 1924 (43 Stat. 641; com11 monly referred to as the ‘‘Pueblo Lands Act’’). 

12 SEC. 6. USE OF LANDS. 

13 Land conveyed under this Act may only be used for 

14 traditional and customary uses or stewardship conserva15 tion for the benefit of the Pueblo of San Ildefonso or the 

16 Pueblo of Sanat Clara for whom the land is held in trust. 

17 The Secretary of the Interior shall work with the Pueblos 

18 to develop appropriate criteria for use of the land to en19 sure that the land is preserved for traditional and cus20 tomary uses or stewardship conservation. 

21 SEC. 7. WATER. 

22 Nothing in this Act shall constitute or be construed 

23 to constitute—
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1 (1) an express or implied reservation of water 

2 or water rights with respect to the land conveyed 

3 under this Act; or 

4 (2) a creation, recognition, disclaimer, relin5 quishment, or reduction of any water rights of Pueb6 lo of San Ildefonso or the Pueblo Santa Clara exist7 ing prior to the date of the enactment of this Act.

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