I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION H. R. 10533 
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to administratively transfer covered 
parcels of National Forest System land to the Secretary of the Interior 
to be held in trust for the benefit of Indian Tribes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 19, 2024 
Mr. KILMER (for himself, Ms. SALINAS, and Mr. GUEST) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, 
and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be sub-
sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 
such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to administratively 
transfer covered parcels of National Forest System land 
to the Secretary of the Interior to be held in trust 
for the benefit of Indian Tribes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Tribal Forest 
Restoration Act of 2024’’. 
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SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATIVE TRANSFER OF COVERED PAR-
CELS TO BE HELD IN TRUST. 
(a) TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is au-
thorized to administratively transfer a covered parcel de-
scribed in subsection (b) to the Secretary of the Interior 
to be held in trust for the benefit of an Indian Tribe in 
accordance with this section. 
(b) COVERED PARCELS.—A covered parcel that may 
transferred under subsection (a) is a parcel of National 
Forest System land— 
(1) for which an Indian Tribe submits to the 
Secretary a request for an administrative transfer to 
the Secretary of the Interior; 
(2) that is less than or equal to 640 acres; and 
(3) that the Secretary determines— 
(A) the transfer of which under subsection 
(a) would be in the public interest; and 
(B) to— 
(i) be physically isolated from other 
Federal land; 
(ii) be inaccessible; 
(iii) have lost natural character; or 
(iv) be in need of restoration. 
(c) PLACEMENT OF LAND.— 
(1) LAND HELD IN TRUST.—Subject to all valid 
existing rights of the United States, a covered parcel 
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transferred to the Secretary of the Interior under 
subsection (a) shall— 
(A) be accepted by the Secretary of the In-
terior; and 
(B) be held in trust for the benefit of the 
requesting Indian Tribe and administered by 
the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with 
the laws and regulations generally applicable to 
land held in trust by the United States for an 
Indian Tribe. 
(2) INCLUSION IN RESERVATION.—If the Indian 
Tribe submitting a request under subsection (b)(1) 
exercises jurisdiction over a reservation, the covered 
parcel placed in trust under paragraph (1)(B) may 
be declared part of the reservation at the request of 
the Indian Tribe. 
(d) NOTIFICATION OF USE OF AUTHORITY.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this section, the 
Secretary shall establish a process to make adminis-
trative transfers under subsection (a). 
(2) ELEMENTS.—The process required under 
paragraph (1) shall include— 
(A) a 30-day public notice period that a re-
quest for a transfer submitted to the Secretary 
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by an Indian Tribe pursuant to subsection 
(b)(1) has been received; 
(B) notification of such a request to rel-
evant State and local governments; and 
(C) notification of such a request to each 
Indian Tribe— 
(i) with land in trust that is located 
within 100 miles of the covered parcel for 
which such request was submitted; 
(ii) that has treaty rights or interests 
with respect to such covered parcel; 
(iii) for which such covered parcel 
may have important cultural or historical 
significance; or 
(iv) that is served by a care service 
area of the Indian Health Service in which 
all or part of the covered parcel is located. 
(e) FACTORS IN DETERMINATION TO TRANSFER.— 
When determining whether to transfer a covered parcel 
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consider the fol-
lowing: 
(1) Whether the covered parcel involves a factor 
of direct relevance unique to the requesting Indian 
Tribe, including— 
(A) treaty rights or interests; 
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(B) the exercise of hunting, fishing, or 
gathering privileges; 
(C) biological, archaeological, historical, or 
cultural circumstances; or 
(D) public safety and emergency manage-
ment responsibilities. 
(2) With respect to the Indian Tribe that sub-
mits a request pursuant to subsection (b)(1) with re-
spect to such parcel— 
(A) whether the covered parcel is contig-
uous to, or within 100 miles of, the reservation 
or trust lands of such Indian Tribe; and 
(B) if the parcel is non-contiguous with the 
reservation or trust lands of such Indian Tribe, 
the anticipated benefits for the Indian Tribe 
from the transfer of the covered parcel. 
(f) MULTIPLE CLAIMS.— 
(1) DISPUTE RESOLUTION.—If two or more In-
dian Tribes request the same covered parcel during 
the 90-day period beginning on the date public no-
tice is first made available pursuant to subsection 
(d)(2)(A) with respect to such covered parcel, the 
Secretary may use mediation, conciliation, arbitra-
tion, and other dispute resolutions methods to estab-
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lish an agreement with respect to the transfer of 
such parcel. 
(2) TRANSFER CONTINGENT ON AGREEMENT.— 
The Secretary may not transfer under subsection (a) 
a covered parcel described in paragraph (1) unless 
all Indian Tribes described in such paragraph agree 
to the transfer. 
(g) TREATY RIGHTS OF FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED 
TRIBES.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to af-
fect any treaty right of an Indian Tribe. 
(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 
means an Indian Tribe recognized by the Secretary 
of the Interior on the most recent list, as of the date 
of an applicable request submitted under subsection 
(b)(1), published in the Federal Register pursuant 
to section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian 
Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Agriculture. 
Æ 
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