108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 74

AN ACT

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.

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 74

AN ACT

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,
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1 SECTION 1. WASHOE TRIBE LAND CONVEYANCE.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

3 (1) the ancestral homeland of the Washoe Tribe

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

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

6 5,000 square miles in and around Lake Tahoe, Cali7 fornia and Nevada, and Lake Tahoe was the heart

8 of the territory;

9 (2) in 1997, Federal, State, and local govern10 ments, together with many private landholders, rec11 ognized the Washoe people as indigenous people of

12 Lake Tahoe Basin through a series of meetings con13 vened by those governments at 2 locations in Lake

14 Tahoe;

15 (3) the meetings were held to address protec16 tion of the extraordinary natural, recreational, and

17 ecological resources in the Lake Tahoe region;

18 (4) the resulting multiagency agreement in19 cludes objectives that support the traditional and

20 customary uses of National Forest System land by

21 the Tribe; and

22 (5) those objectives include the provision of ac23 cess by members of the Tribe to the shore of Lake

24 Tahoe in order to reestablish traditional and cus25 tomary cultural practices.

26 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
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1 (1) to implement the joint local, State, tribal,

2 and Federal objective of returning the Tribe to Lake

3 Tahoe; and

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

5 the opportunity to engage in traditional and cus6 tomary cultural practices on the shore of Lake

7 Tahoe to meet the needs of spiritual renewal, land

8 stewardship, Washoe horticulture and ethnobotany,

9 subsistence gathering, traditional learning, and re10 unification of tribal and family bonds.

11 (c) CONVEYANCE ON CONDITION SUBSEQUENT.—

12 Subject to valid existing rights, the easement reserved

13 under subsection (d), and the condition stated in sub14 section (e), the Secretary of Agriculture shall convey to

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

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

17 of land comprising approximately 24.3 acres, located with18 in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit north of

19 Skunk Harbor, Nevada, and more particularly described

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

21 3.

22 (d) EASEMENT.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The conveyance under sub24 section (c) shall be made subject to reservation to

25 the United States of a nonexclusive easement for
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1 public and administrative access over Forest Devel2 opment Road #15N67 to National Forest System

3 land, to be administered by the Secretary of Agri4 culture.

5 (2) ACCESS BY INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABIL6 ITIES.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall provide a

7 reciprocal easement to the Tribe permitting vehic8 ular access to the parcel over Forest Development

9 Road #15N67 to—

10 (A) members of the Tribe for administra11 tive and safety purposes; and

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

13 infirmity, or disability, would have difficulty ac14 cessing the conveyed parcel on foot.

15 (e) CONDITION ON USE OF LAND.—

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

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

18 Tribe—

19 (A) shall limit the use of the parcel to tra20 ditional and customary uses and stewardship

21 conservation for the benefit of the Tribe;

22 (B) shall not permit any permanent resi23 dential or recreational development on, or com24 mercial use of, the parcel (including commercial
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1 development, tourist accommodations, gaming,

2 sale of timber, or mineral extraction); and

3 (C) shall comply with environmental re4 quirements that are no less protective than en5 vironmental requirements that apply under the

6 Regional Plan of the Tahoe Regional Planning

7 Agency.

8 (2) TERMINATION AND REVERSION.—If the

9 Secretary of the Interior, after notice to the Tribe

10 and an opportunity for a hearing, based on moni11 toring of use of the parcel by the Tribe, makes a

12 finding that the Tribe has used or permitted the use

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

14 Tribe fails to take corrective or remedial action di15 rected by the Secretary of the Interior—

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

17 the Interior, in trust for the Tribe, shall termi18 nate; and

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

20 Secretary of Agriculture.

Passed the House of Representatives July 16, 2003.

Attest:

Clerk.