H.R. 1409 — Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Land Exchange Act of 2003

[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1409 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1409

     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

                             March 20, 2003

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 environmental, 
   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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Eastern Band of Cherokee 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 substantial parts of seven eastern States and 
        the land that now constitutes the Great Smoky Mountains 
        National Park.
            (2) The Eastern Band has proposed a land exchange with the 
        National Park Service and has spent over $1,500,000 for studies 
        to thoroughly inventory 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 areas of land adjacent to the Blue Ridge 
        Parkway.
            (4) Acquisition of the Yellow Face tract for protection 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 lichen, preserving valuable high altitude wetland seeps, 
        and preserving the property from rapidly advancing residential 
        development.
            (5) The proposed land exchange would also benefit the 
        Eastern Band by allowing it to acquire the Ravensford tract, 
        comprising 143 acres adjacent to the Tribe's trust territory in 
        Cherokee, North Carolina, and currently within the Great Smoky 
        Mountains National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway. The Ravensford 
        tract is part of the Tribe's ancestral homeland as evidenced by 
        archaeological finds dating back no less than 6,000 years.
            (6) The Eastern Band has a critical need to replace 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 environmental, cultural, and 
        educational ``village,'' where Cherokee language and culture 
        can be taught alongside 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 vibrant, modern, and well-educated 
        Indian nation.
            (9) The land exchange will also reunify tribal reservation 
        lands now separated between the Big Cove Community and the 
        balance of the Qualla Boundary, reestablishing the territorial 
        integrity of the Eastern Band.
            (10) The Ravensford tract contains no threatened 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 143-acre Ravensford tract.
            (11) The American public will benefit from the Eastern 
        Band's commitment to mitigate any impacts on natural and 
        cultural resources on the Ravensford tract, by among other 
        things reducing the requested acreage from 168 to 143 acres.
            (12) 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 following:
            (1) To acquire the Yellow Face tract for protection by the 
        National Park Service, in order to preserve the Waterrock Knob 
        area's spectacular views, endangered species and high altitude 
        wetland seeps 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 United States for the benefit of the Eastern Band of 
        Cherokee Indians, in order to provide for an education facility 
        that promotes the cultural integrity of the Eastern Band and to 
        reunify two Cherokee communities that were historically 
        contiguous, while mitigating any impacts on natural and 
        cultural resources on the tract.
            (3) To promote cooperative activities and partnerships 
        between the Eastern band and the National Park Service within 
        the Eastern Band's ancestral homelands.

SEC. 3. LAND EXCHANGE.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior (``Secretary'') 
shall exchange the Ravensford tract, currently in the Great Smoky 
Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway, 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 or deeds satisfactory to the Secretary for the 
lands comprising 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 described 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 Cherokee Indians as part of the Cherokee Indian Reservation.
    (c) Yellow Face Tract.--The Yellow Face tract shall contain Parcels 
88 and 89 of the Hornbuckle Tract, Yellow Face Section, Qualla 
Township, Jackson County, North Carolina, which consist altogether of 
approximately 218 acres and are depicted as the ``Yellow Face Tract'' 
on the map entitled ``Land Exchange Between the National Park Service 
and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians,'' numbered 133/80020A, and 
dated November 2002. The map shall be on file and available for public 
inspection in the appropriate offices of the National Park Service and 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Upon completion of the land exchange, the 
Secretary shall adjust the boundary of the Blue Ridge Parkway to 
include such lands and shall manage the lands as part of the parkway.
    (d) Ravensford Tract.--The lands declared by subsection (b) to be 
held in trust for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians shall consist of 
approximately 143 acres depicted as the ``Ravensford Tract'' on the map 
identified in subsection (c). Upon completion of the land exchange, the 
Secretary shall adjust the boundaries of Great Smoky Mountains National 
Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway to exclude such lands.
    (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 described in subsections (c) and (d) with the 
Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Indian Affairs and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources of the Senate. Such legal descriptions shall have the same 
force and effect as if the information 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 Agreements.--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 government-to-
government consultations and shall develop protocols to review planned 
construction on the Ravensford tract. The Director of the National Park 
Service is authorized to enter into cooperative agreements with the 
Eastern Band for the purpose of providing training, management, 
protection, preservation, and interpretation of the natural and 
cultural resources on the Ravensford tract.
    (b) Construction Standards.--Recognizing the mutual interests and 
responsibilities of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the 
National Park Service for the conservation and protection of the 
resources on the Ravensford tract, the National Park Service and the 
Eastern Band shall develop mutually agreed upon standards for size, 
impact, and design of construction 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 future 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 
periodically and revised as necessary. Development of the tract shall 
be limited to a road and utility corridor, an educational campus, and 
the infrastructure necessary to support such development. No new 
structures shall be constructed on the part of the Ravensford tract 
depicted as the ``No New Construction'' area on the map referred to in 
Section 3(c), which is generally the area north of the point where Big 
Cove Road crosses the Raven Fork River. All development on the 
Ravensford tract shall be conducted in a manner consistent with this 
section and such development standards.

SEC. 5. GAMING PROHIBITION.

    Gaming as defined and regulated by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act 
(25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) shall be prohibited on the Ravensford tract.
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Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Land Exchange Act of 2003

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