Statement Of
JANICE MCDOUGLE, ASSOCIATE DEPUTY CHIEF
NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEMS, FOREST SERVICE
Before the Committee on Indian Affairs
United States Senate
Concerning
H.R. 79, CONVEYANCE OF CERTAIN LAND IN THE SIX RIVERS NATIONAL
FOREST
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE HOOPA VALLEY TRIBE
October 20, 1997
MR. CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE:
l am pleased to appear before the Committee today to discuss H.R. 79, a bill to provide for the
conveyance of certain land in the Six Rivers National Forest in the State of California for the
benefit of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. H.R. 79 would transfer approximately 2,640 acres of land in
the Six Rivers National Forest in the Hoopa Valley Tribe to be held in trust by the United States
and made part of the Hoopa Valley Reservation. It would further require that the Secretary of the
Interior, acting through the Bureau of Land Management, survey and identify the new boundary
created by the transfer. Three Forest Service roads within the area would become Indian
Reservation roads. The bill, passed by the House, includes amendments worked out with the
Administration and the Hoopa Valley Tribe. Therefore, the Administration supports the passage
of H.R. 79 by the Senate.
The land to be transferred consists of a part of the Six Rivers National Forest adjacent to the
southern boundary of the Hoopa Valley Reservation. The land currently is included within the
Northwest Forest Plan. The three roads on the land to be transferred would be made part of the
Indian Reservation System as defined in 23 U.S.C. 101(a); this would ensure the roads would
continue to be managed as public roads and provide access east to the Trinity Alps Wilderness
and west to the Trinity River and the Tish-Tang campground. The Tribe would also assume
management of the campground.
The Forest Service and the Hoopa Valley Tribe have a history of cooperating on use of National
Forest land on a government-to-government basis. The Tribe has the natural resource expertise to
manage the land consistent with the President's Plan for the Pacific Northwest.
Mr. Chairman, we appreciate the opportunity to work with the Tribal Chair, Mr. Duane Sherman and the other officials of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. We appreciate the work of past Tribal Chair, Mr. Dale Risling. We look forward to continuing to work together on a government-to-government basis. On Forest Service lands, the Forest Service wants to manage in a manner consistent with the government-to-government relationship and our Trust responsibilities with Native American Tribal Governments. This concludes my statement and I would be happy to answer questions.