OR-Sen: Jeff Merkley (D) & Ron Wyden (D) Push To Return Ancestoral Land To Local Tribes

DailyKos:

Here's some good news for the Native American Kos community: http://theworldlink.com/...

A furor is brewing after two Oregon lawmakers proposed turning over thousands of acres of federal timberlands to a South Coast Indian tribe. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, both D-Ore., have circulated a discussion draft for legislation that would turn over 14,000 acres of federal lands to the custody of the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians. A map prepared for Sen. Wyden by the Bureau of Land Management and published March 5 shows allotments of affected lands in Coos, Douglas and Lane counties. Tribal Chairman Bob Garcia said the proposed legislation is the first step towards righting a historic wrong. The tribes lost approximately 1.6 million acres of ancestral lands under an 1857 treaty with the U.S. government. Not everyone is pleased at the prospect of the new legislation. The lands in question currently fall under the O&C Act of 1937, which set aside millions of acres of timber land for economic activity in 18 Oregon counties. The O&C Act covers land formerly ceded to the Oregon & California Railroad, but later reclaimed by the government when the railroad failed. - The World, 3/2013

Merkley & Wyden introduced the bill late last month:   http://www.polkio.com/...

The bill is essentially the same as the one introduced in 2011 in which hearings were held in 2012, but proceeded no further. The legislation applies only to land under the tribe's ownership that is inside the boundaries of Grand Ronde's historic reservation, established in 1857, spanning portions of Polk and Yamhill counties. Senate Bill 416 and House Resolution 841 amend the 1988 Grand Ronde Reservation Act and shorten the cumbersome process of designating reservation land. Incorporating tribal-owned land into the reservation requires two steps: one to bring the land into trust, requiring approval of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); and second, an act of Congress to make it reservation land. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley introduced the Senate version on Feb. 28 with co-sponsor and fellow Sen. Ron Wyden. It was assigned to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs the same day. U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader introduced the House version on Feb. 26 with co-sponsors Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici and Peter DeFazio. It was referred to the House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs on March 4. So far, no hearings have been scheduled yet. - Polk County Itemizer-Observer, 3/13/13

Here's a little more background on Senate Bill 356, which is the sister bill to House Resolution 726: http://www.grandronde.org/... The proposed amendment would end the current two-step process that requires the Grand Ronde Tribe take each piece of former reservation land into trust with approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and then request that the land be designated reservation land by Congress. The amendment would allow the Tribe to combine the two-step process for real property that is within the boundaries of its original 69,100-acre reservation granted to the Tribe in 1857. The amendment is supported by the U.S. Department of Interior and by the boards of commissioners in Polk and Yamhill counties. Michael Black, director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, testified that the BIA supports the amendment to the Grand Ronde Reservation Act. - granderonde.org, 7/30/12

If you'd like to get more info about Senate Bill 356, you can contact either Merkley or Wyden's offices for more info: Merkley: 202-224-3753 Wyden: 202-224-5244 And if you would like to thank Senator Merkley for taking the lead on this issue, feel free to donate to his 2014 re-election campaign:

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