Tom Coulter, Palm Springs Desert Sun
Mon, November 22, 2021, 1:57 PM·3 min read
The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians soon could be expanding the land that it manages in Southern California. A pair of bills in Congress aim to wrap up a land exchange between the tribe and the federal government that has been more than two decades in the making.
California’s U.S senators plan to introduce a bill that would place roughly 2,560 acres of tribal land in the San Jacinto Mountains into trust for the Agua Caliente, a step the tribe’s chairman says will boost conservation and land management efforts in the area.
U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein, both Democrats, said Monday they will introduce the bill in the Senate, with U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Palm Desert, who introduced a nearly identical bill in February, leading the effort in the House.
By placing the hundreds of acres of land into a trust, lawmakers say the bill would fulfill a 1999 tribal agreement with the Bureau of Land Management to exchange lands within the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, which comprises a total of about 280,000 acres of public land.
A land exchange for these particular parcels, which cover a remote area of the mountain region, was finalized in March 2019, and the transferred areas "will be managed as conservation land similar to how it was managed by the BLM," according to Padilla's office.
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Tribal Chairman Jeff L. Grubbe socializes during Agua Caliente's annual Singing of the Birds event held at Palm Springs High School in Palm Springs, Calif., on Saturday, February 1, 2020.
The bill had the support of Jeff Grubbe, Agua Caliente's tribal chairman for the past nine years, who said it “represents the final step in bringing approximately 2,560 acres of land owned by the Tribe into trust for the Tribe and making those lands part of the Reservation.”
“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,” Grubbe said in a statement. “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.”
Grubbe added 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.”
Others involved with the bill also pushed for it to be passed quickly by federal lawmakers. Padilla said in a statement he looks forward “to advocating for its swift enactment” by Congress.
“For generations, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians have lived in what is now known as Coachella Valley and the San Jacinto mountains,” Padilla said. “Enactment of this legislation would culminate a decades-long endeavor between the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and the federal government to finally allow the Tribe to manage lands of cultural and historical importance to the Cahuilla people.”
Feinstein, who encouraged the bill’s “swift passage,” noted the legislation prohibits any gaming on the parcels.
“The parcel of land in the San Jacinto Mountains was consolidated in a 1999 land exchange agreement with the Bureau of Land Management but was not placed in trust — this bill rectifies that oversight,” Feinstein said.
The Agua Caliente reservation dates back to 1876, when President Ulysses S. Grant signed an executive order setting aside land for the tribe. The reservation lies in a checkerboard pattern over parts of Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage and into the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa mountains.
It is unclear whether the bill from Padilla and Feinstein could be considered before Congress adjourns for a holiday break in a few weeks. Ruiz’s bill introduced in February had yet to receive a floor vote in the House as of Monday.
Tom Coulter covers politics. He can be reached at thomas.coulter@desertsun.com or on Twitter @tomcoulter_.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Bill would conclude San Jacinto land exchange for Agua Caliente tribe
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