California Senators Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein have introduced a bill that would expand land owned by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in Palm Springs by about 2,650 acres.
The bill would undo an action taken by the Bureau of Land Management in 1999 in a land exchange with the tribe.
The tribe, whose ancestral lands are around Palm Springs and Coachella Valley, have a famously checkerboard reservation, with squares of reservation land adjacent to public and private lands.
For many years the tribe has initiated land transfers to consolidate their reservation. The 1999 exchange, however neglected to put thousands of acres into trust for the tribe. In addition, the tribe pays property taxes on the land—which tribes never do on reservation land.
The bill that would change that has already been filed in the House by Rep. Raul Ruiz. It would put the land in question into trust.
In a statement, Tribal Chairman Jeff Grubbe said, “These lands, when brought into trust, will improve land management that directly benefits ongoing management of trails, invasive species and endangered Big Horn Sheep habitat.”
He added, “In addition, this trust taking means the Tribe will now manage conservation lands that have long-standing cultural and natural resource value to our people. It is imperative this land be expeditiously brought into tribal trust status to ensure the tribe once again is the primary steward of land for the benefit of all future generations.”
