I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 74

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land in the Lake 

Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Nevada, to the Secretary of the Interior, 

in trust for the Washoe Indian Tribe of Nevada and California. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 7, 2003

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

Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain 

land in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Nevada, to the Secretary of the Interior, in trust for the 

Washoe Indian Tribe of Nevada and California.

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

3 SECTION 1. WASHOE TRIBE LAND CONVEYANCE. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

5 (1) the ancestral homeland of the Washoe Tribe 

6 of Nevada and California (referred to in this Act as 

7 the ‘‘Tribe’’) included an area of approximately 

8 5,000 square miles in and around Lake Tahoe, Cali-
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1 fornia and Nevada, and Lake Tahoe was the heart 

2 of the territory; 

3 (2) in 1997, Federal, State, and local govern4 ments, together with many private landholders, rec5 ognized the Washoe people as indigenous people of 

6 Lake Tahoe Basin through a series of meetings con7 vened by those governments at 2 locations in Lake 

8 Tahoe; 

9 (3) the meetings were held to address protec10 tion of the extraordinary natural, recreational, and 

11 ecological resources in the Lake Tahoe region; 

12 (4) the resulting multiagency agreement in13 cludes objectives that support the traditional and 

14 customary uses of National Forest System land by 

15 the Tribe; and 

16 (5) those objectives include the provision of ac17 cess by members of the Tribe to the shore of Lake 

18 Tahoe in order to reestablish traditional and cus19 tomary cultural practices. 

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

21 (1) to implement the joint local, State, tribal, 

22 and Federal objective of returning the Tribe to Lake 

23 Tahoe; and 

24 (2) to ensure that members of the Tribe have 

25 the opportunity to engage in traditional and cus-
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1 tomary cultural practices on the shore of Lake 

2 Tahoe to meet the needs of spiritual renewal, land 

3 stewardship, Washoe horticulture and ethnobotany, 

4 subsistence gathering, traditional learning, and re5 unification of tribal and family bonds. 

6 (c) CONVEYANCE ON CONDITION SUBSEQUENT.—

7 Subject to valid existing rights, the easement reserved 

8 under subsection (d), and the condition stated in sub9 section (e), the Secretary of Agriculture shall convey to 

10 the Secretary of the Interior, in trust for the Tribe, for 

11 no consideration, all right, title, and interest in the parcel 

12 of land comprising approximately 24.3 acres, located with13 in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit north of 

14 Skunk Harbor, Nevada, and more particularly described 

15 as Mount Diablo Meridian, T15N, R18E, section 27, lot 

16 3. 

17 (d) EASEMENT.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The conveyance under sub19 section (c) shall be made subject to reservation to 

20 the United States of a nonexclusive easement for 

21 public and administrative access over Forest Devel22 opment Road #15N67 to National Forest System 

23 land, to be administered by the Secretary of Agri24 culture. 
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1 (2) ACCESS BY INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABIL2 ITIES.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall provide a 

3 reciprocal easement to the Tribe permitting vehic4 ular access to the parcel over Forest Development 

5 Road #15N67 to—

6 (A) members of the Tribe for administra7 tive and safety purposes; and 

8 (B) members of the Tribe who, due to age, 

9 infirmity, or disability, would have difficulty ac10 cessing the conveyed parcel on foot. 

11 (e) CONDITION ON USE OF LAND.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—In using the parcel conveyed 

13 under subsection (c), the Tribe and members of the 

14 Tribe—

15 (A) shall limit the use of the parcel to tra16 ditional and customary uses and stewardship 

17 conservation for the benefit of the Tribe; 

18 (B) shall not permit any permanent resi19 dential or recreational development on, or com20 mercial use of, the parcel (including commercial 

21 development, tourist accommodations, gaming, 

22 sale of timber, or mineral extraction); and 

23 (C) shall comply with environmental re24 quirements that are no less protective than en25 vironmental requirements that apply under the 
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1 Regional Plan of the Tahoe Regional Planning 

2 Agency. 

3 (2) TERMINATION AND REVERSION.—If the 

4 Secretary of the Interior, after notice to the Tribe 

5 and an opportunity for a hearing, based on moni6 toring of use of the parcel by the Tribe, makes a 

7 finding that the Tribe has used or permitted the use 

8 of the parcel in violation of paragraph (1) and the 

9 Tribe fails to take corrective or remedial action di10 rected by the Secretary of the Interior—

11 (A) title to the parcel in the Secretary of 

12 the Interior, in trust for the Tribe, shall termi13 nate; and 

14 (B) title to the parcel shall revert to the 

15 Secretary of Agriculture.

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