I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5468
To provide for a Federal land exchange for the environmental, educational,
and cultural benefit of the American public and the Eastern Band
of Cherokee Indians, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 25, 2002
Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. JONES of North Carolina,
Mr. KILDEE, and Mr. CARSON of Oklahoma) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Resources
A BILL
To provide for a Federal land exchange for the environ-
mental, educational, and cultural benefit of the American
public and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and
for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Eastern Band of Cher-
okee Indians Land Exchange Act of 2002’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) Since time immemorial, the ancestors of the
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians have lived in the
Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. The
Eastern Band’s ancestral homeland includes much
of seven eastern States and the land that now con-
stitutes the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
(2) The Eastern Band has proposed a land ex-
change with the National Park Service and has
spent over $1,500,000 for studies to thoroughly in-
ventory the environmental and cultural resources of
the proposed land exchange parcels.
(3) Such land exchange would benefit the
American public by enabling the National Park
Service to acquire the Yellow Face tract, comprising
218 acres of land adjacent to the Blue Ridge Park-
way.
(4) Acquisition of the Yellow Face tract for pro-
tection by the National Park Service would serve the
public interest by preserving important views for
Blue Ridge Parkway visitors, preserving habitat for
endangered species and threatened species including
the northern flying squirrel and the rock gnome li-
chen, preserving valuable high altitude wetland
seeps, and preserving the property from rapidly ad-
vancing residential development.
(5) The proposed land exchange would also ben-
efit the Eastern Band by allowing it to reclaim the
Ravensford tract, comprising 144 acres adjacent to
the Tribe’s trust territory in Cherokee, North Caro-
lina, and currently within the Great Smoky Moun-
tains National Park. The Ravensford tract is part of
the Tribe’s ancestral homeland as evidenced by ar-
chaeological finds dating back no less than 6,000
years.
(6) The Eastern Band has a critical need to re-
place the current Cherokee Elementary School,
which was built by the Department of the Interior
over 40 years ago with a capacity of 480 students.
The school now hosts 794 students in dilapidated
buildings and mobile classrooms at a dangerous
highway intersection in downtown Cherokee, North
Carolina.
(7) The Eastern Band ultimately intends to
build a new three-school campus to serve as an envi-
ronmental, cultural, and educational ‘‘village,’’ where
Cherokee language and culture can be taught along-
side the standard curriculum.
(8) The land exchange and construction of this
educational village will benefit the American public
by preserving Cherokee traditions and fostering a vi-
brant, modern, and well-educated Indian nation.
(9) The land exchange will also reunify tribal
lands now separated between the Big Cove Commu-
nity and the balance of the Qualla Boundary, rees-
tablishing the territorial integrity of the Eastern
Band.
(10) The Ravensford tract contains no threat-
ened species or endangered species listed pursuant
to the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The 218-
acre Yellow Face tract has a number of listed
threatened species and endangered species and a
higher appraised value than the 144-acre Ravensford
tract.
(11) The Congress and the Department of the
Interior have approved land exchanges in the past
when the benefits to the public and requesting party
are clear, as they are in this case.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are the fol-
lowing:
(1) To acquire the Yellow Face tract for protec-
tion by the National Park Service, in order to pre-
serve the Waterrock Knob area’s spectacular views,
pristine wetlands, and endangered species and
threatened species from encroachment by housing
development, for the benefit and enjoyment of the
American public.
(2) To transfer the Ravensford tract, to be held
in trust by the Department of the Interior for the
benefit of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, in
order to provide for an education facility that pro-
motes the cultural integrity of the Eastern Band
and to reunify two Cherokee communities that were
historically contiguous.
(3) To promote cooperative activities and part-
nerships between the Eastern Band and the Na-
tional Park Service within the Eastern Band’s an-
cestral homelands.
SEC. 3. LAND EXCHANGE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Within 90 days after the effective
date of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall ex-
change the Ravensford tract, currently in the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park, for the Yellow Face
tract adjacent to the Waterrock Knob Visitor Center on
the Blue Ridge Parkway.
(b) TREATMENT OF EXCHANGED LANDS.—Effective
upon receipt by the Secretary of a deed for the lands com-
prising the Yellow Face tract (as described in subsection
(c)) to the United States, all right, title, and interest of
the United States in and to the Ravensford tract, (as de-
scribed in subsection (d)), including all improvements and
appurtenances, are declared to be held in trust by the
United States for the benefit of the Eastern Band of Cher-
okee Indians as part of the Cherokee Indian Reservation.
(c) YELLOW FACE TRACT.—To effectuate this land
exchange, the Eastern Band shall cause the following
lands to be deeded to the United States. Parcels 88 and
89 of the Hornbuckle Tract, Yellow Face Section, Qualla
Township, Jackson County, North Carolina, consisting re-
spectively of 110.4 and 108.2 acres more or less, together
with all improvements and appurtenances thereto. The
lands shall thereafter be included within the boundary of
and managed as part of the Blue Ridge Parkway by the
National Park Service.
(d) RAVENSFORD TRACT.—The lands declared by
subsection (b) to be held in trust for the Eastern Band
of Cherokee Indians are as follows: The tract currently
located within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
and 
identified 
on 
Map 
No. 
133/80020, 
entitled
‘‘Ravensford Land Exchange Tract’’, as on file and avail-
able for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the
National Park Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
consisting of 144 acres more or less.
(e) LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—Not later than 1 year
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
the Interior shall file a legal description of the areas de-
scribed in subsections (c) and (d) with the Committee on
Resources of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Indian Affairs and the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources of the Senate. Such legal descrip-
tions shall have the same force and effect as if the infor-
mation contained in the description were included in those
subsections except that the Secretary may correct clerical
and typographical errors in such legal descriptions. The
legal descriptions shall be on file and available for public
inspection in the offices of the National Park Service and
the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS.
(a) 
GOVERNMENT-TO-GOVERNMENT
AGREE-
MENTS.—In order to fulfill the purposes of this Act and
to establish cooperative partnerships for purposes of this
Act the Director of the National Park Service and the
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians shall enter into govern-
ment-to-government consultations and shall develop proto-
cols to review planned construction on the Ravensford
tract. The Director of the National Park Service is author-
ized to enter into cooperative agreements with the Eastern
Band for the purpose of providing training, management,
protection, and preservation of the natural and cultural
resources on the Ravensford tract.
(b) CONSTRUCTION
STANDARDS.—The National
Park Service and the Eastern Band shall develop mutually
agreed upon standards for size, impact, and design of con-
struction consistent with the purposes of this Act on the
Ravensford tract. The standards shall be consistent with
the Eastern Band’s need to develop educational facilities
and support infrastructure adequate for current and fu-
ture generations and shall otherwise minimize or mitigate
any adverse impacts on natural or cultural resources. The
standards shall be based on recognized best practices for
environmental sustainability and shall be reviewed periodi-
cally and revised as necessary. All development on the
Ravensford tract shall be conducted in a manner con-
sistent with such standards.
(c) TRIBAL EMPLOYMENT.—In employing individuals
to perform any construction, maintenance, interpretation,
or other service in the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park, the Secretary of the Interior shall, insofar as prac-
ticable, give first preference to qualified members of the
Eastern Band.
SEC. 5. GAMING PROHIBITION.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to satisfy the
terms for an exception under section 20(b)(1) of the In-
dian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2719(b)(1)) to
the prohibition on gaming on lands acquired by the Sec-
retary of the Interior in trust for the benefit of an Indian
tribe after October 17, 1988, under section 20(a) of such
Act (25 U.S.C. 2719(a)).
Æ