WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA), praised the Senate’s passage of S. 1436, the Nevada Native Nations Land Act. This bill declares that the United States holds in trust the following lands for the benefit of:
· the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, approximately 19,094 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land;
· the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, approximately 82 acres of Forest Service land;
· the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe, approximately 941 acres of BLM land;
· the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, approximately 13,434 acres of BLM land;
· the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, approximately 6,357 acres of BLM land; and
· the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe approximately 31,269 acres of BLM land.
S. 1436 was sponsored by Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Dean Heller (R-NV). It passed out of the SCIA on Oct. 21, 2015. The bill will now go to the House of Representatives for consideration.
“The Nevada Native Nations Land Act is an example of the Senate listening to Indian Country and responding,” said Chairman Barrasso. “Holding these lands in trust for the tribes will better empower them to use their lands as they see fit. I urge the House of Representatives to take up this legislation soon.”