108TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 2941
AN ACT
To correct the south boundary of the Colorado
River Indian Reservation in Arizona, and for
other purposes.
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, FINDINGS, PURPOSES.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Colorado River Indian Reservation Boundary Correction
Act’’.
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) The Act of March 3, 1865, created the Col-
orado River Indian Reservation (hereinafter ‘‘Res-
ervation’’) along the Colorado River in Arizona and
California for the ‘‘Indians of said river and its trib-
utaries’’.
(2) In 1873 and 1874, President Grant issued
Executive orders to expand the Reservation south-
ward and to secure its southern boundary at a clear-
ly recognizable geographic location in order to fore-
stall non-Indian encroachment and conflicts with the
Indians of the Reservation.
(3) In 1875, Mr. Chandler Robbins surveyed
the Reservation (hereinafter ‘‘the Robbins Survey’’)
and delineated its new southern boundary, which in-
cluded approximately 16,000 additional acres (here-
inafter ‘‘the La Paz lands’’), as part of the Reserva-
tion.
(4) On May 15, 1876, President Grant issued
an Executive order that established the Reserva-
tion’s boundaries as those delineated by the Robbins
Survey.
(5) In 1907, as a result of increasingly frequent
trespasses by miners and cattle and at the request
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the General Land
Office of the United States provided for a resurvey
of the southern and southeastern areas of the Res-
ervation.
(6) In 1914, the General Land Office accepted
and approved a resurvey of the Reservation con-
ducted by Mr. Guy Harrington in 1912 (hereinafter
the ‘‘Harrington Resurvey’’) which confirmed the
boundaries that were delineated by the Robbins Sur-
vey and established by Executive order in 1876.
(7) On November 19, 1915, the Secretary of
the Interior reversed the decision of the General
Land Office to accept the Harrington Resurvey, and
upon his recommendation on November 22, 1915,
President Wilson issued Executive Order No. 2273
‘‘* * * to correct the error in location said southern
boundary line * * *’’—and thus effectively excluded
the La Paz from the Reservation.
(8) Historical evidence compiled by the Depart-
ment of the Interior supports the conclusion that the
reason given by the Secretary in recommending that
the President issue the 1915 Executive order—‘‘to
correct an error in locating the southern bound-
ary’’—was itself in error and that the La Paz lands
should not have been excluded from the Reservation.
(9) The La Paz lands continue to hold cultural
and historical significance, as well as economic devel-
opment potential, for the Colorado River Indian
tribes, who have consistently sought to have such
lands restored to their Reservation.
(c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are:
(1) To correct the south boundary of the Res-
ervation by reestablishing such boundary as it was
delineated by the Robbins Survey and affirmed by
the Harrington Resurvey.
(2) To restore the La Paz lands to the Reserva-
tion, subject to valid existing rights under Federal
law and to provide for continued reasonable public
access for recreational purposes.
(3) To provide for the Secretary of the Interior
to review and ensure that the corrected Reservation
boundary is resurveyed and marked in conformance
with the public system of surveys extended over such
lands.
SEC. 2. BOUNDARY CORRECTION, RESTORATION, DESCRIP-
TION.
(a) BOUNDARY.—The boundaries of the Colorado
River Indian Reservation are hereby declared to include
those boundaries as were delineated by the Robbins Sur-
vey, affirmed by the Harrington Survey, and described as
follows: The approximately 15,375 acres of Federal land
described as ‘‘Lands Identified for Transfer to Colorado
River Indian Tribes’’ on the map prepared by the Bureau
of Land Management entitled ‘‘H.R. 2981, Colorado River
Indian Reservation Boundary Correction Act, and dated
May 14, 2004’’, (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Map’’)
(b) MAP.—The Map shall be available for review at
the Bureau of Land Management.
(c) RESTORATION.—Subject to valid existing rights
under Federal law, all right, title, and interest of the
United States to those lands within the boundaries de-
clared in subsection (a) that were excluded from the Colo-
rado River Indian Reservation pursuant to Executive
Order No. 2273 (November 22, 1915) are hereby restored
to the Reservation and shall be held in trust by the United
States on behalf of the Colorado River Indian Tribes.
(d) EXCLUSION.—Excluded from the lands restored
to trust status on behalf of the Colorado River Indian
Tribes that are described in subsection (a) are 2 parcels
of Arizona State Lands identified on the Map as ‘‘State
Lands’’ and totaling 320 acres and 520 acres.
SEC. 3. RESURVEY AND MARKING.
The Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that the
boundary for the restored lands described in section 2(a)
is surveyed and clearly marked in conformance with the
public system of surveys extended over such lands.
SEC. 4. WATER RIGHTS.
The restored lands described in section 2(a) and
shown on the Map shall have no Federal reserve water
rights to surface water or ground water from any source.
SEC. 5. PUBLIC ACCESS.
Continued access to the restored lands described in
section (2)(a) for hunting and other existing recreational
purposes shall remain available to the public under reason-
able rules and regulations promulgated by the Colorado
River Indian Tribes.
SEC. 6. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The restored lands described in
section (2)(a) shall be subject to all rights-of-way, ease-
ments, leases, and mining claims existing on the date of
the enactment of this Act. The United States reserves the
right to continue all Reclamation projects, including the
right to access and remove mineral materials for Colorado
River maintenance on the restored lands described in sec-
tion (2)(a).
(b) ADDITIONAL RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, the Secretary, in consultation
with the Tribe, shall grant additional rights-of-way, expan-
sions, or renewals of existing rights-of-way for roads, utili-
ties, and other accommodations to adjoining landowners
or existing right-of-way holders, or their successors and
assigns, if—
(1) the proposed right-of-way is necessary to
the needs of the applicant;
(2) the proposed right-of-way acquisition will
not cause significant and substantial harm to the
Colorado River Indian Tribes; and
(3) the proposed right-of-way complies with the
procedures in part 169 of title 25, Code of Federal
Regulations consistent with this subsection and
other generally applicable Federal laws unrelated to
the acquisition of interests on trust lands, except
that section 169.3 of those regulations shall not be
applicable to expansions or renewals of existing
rights-of-way for roads and utilities.
(c) FEES.—The fees charged for the renewal of any
valid lease, easement, or right-of-way subject to this sec-
tion shall not be greater than the current Federal rate
for such a lease, easement, or right-of-way at the time of
renewal if the holder has been in substantial compliance
with all terms of the lease, easement, or right-of-way.
SEC. 7. GAMING.
Land taken into trust under this Act shall neither
be considered to have been taken into trust for gaming
nor be used for gaming (as that term is used in the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.)).
Passed the House of Representatives September 30,
2004.
Attest:
Clerk.