Senate passes Rep Ruiz’s legislation securing 2,500 acres of land for Agua Caliente tribal land trust
The Senate passed legislation authored by Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz that will take more than 2,500 acres of land in the San Jacinto Mountains and put it into a trust for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians (ACBCI).
H.R. 897, the Agua Caliente Land Exchange Fee to Trust Confirmation Act, will head the President’s desk to become law. Once signed into law, the bill would allow the Tribe to further its conservation efforts and practice consistent forest management.
“I am thrilled to see my bill, the Agua Caliente Land Exchange Fee to Trust Confirmation Act, pass the Senate and head to President Biden’s desk,” said Dr. Ruiz. “This soon-to-be law fulfills an agreement between the federal government and the Tribe and will bolster conservation of local lands, help protect our environment, and honor the federal government’s trust responsibility to Tribal nations. I look forward to supporting Chairman Milanovich and the Tribe manage these lands in accordance with their traditions and with respect for the environment and wildlife.”
The Palm Springs area east of Mt. San Jacinto is home to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and has been officially set aside by the United States government since 1876. All the land traditionally held by the Cahuilla people has been divided into even and odd parcels – known as a “checkerboard” – between the tribe, government, and private landowners.
Over the past few decades, ACBCI has been involved in a series of land transfers with the United States government to consolidate their land and reclaim historically and culturally valuable areas.
According to Ruiz's office, the legislation would fulfill a 1999 agreement between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians to acquire and exchange lands within the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument and allow these lands to be managed in a cooperative and coordinated manner.
“The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument was established in 2000,” said Tribal Chairman Reid D. Milanovich, of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. “The legislation establishing the Monument rightfully acknowledges the special cultural value of the mountains to the Tribe, including significant cultural sites, village sites, and petroglyphs located there. The Tribe has worked hard to preserve the resources and values of our mountains, and has made significant contributions to the cooperative management of these lands.”
A land exchange for these parcels between BLM and ACBCI was finalized in March 2019.
“The Tribe has a long recognized history of maintaining public access to trails within the Monument boundary and is committed to keeping access the same as it was when it was managed by BLM,” Milanovich said. “The Bureau of Land Management and my tribe worked for 17 years, from 2002 to 2019, to finalize a land exchange agreement enabling a consolidation of “checkerboard” land ownership in and around the Tribe’s Reservation , and to provide more logical and consistent management for these 2,560 acres that are the subject of H.R. 897. These lands have longstanding cultural and natural resource value to the Cahuilla people.”
The land that was acquired by ACBCI from the BLM through the land exchange is in a remote wilderness area within the Monument and will be managed as conservation land similar to how the land was managed by the BLM.
Taking this land into trust will complete the BLM-ACBCI agreement and allow ACBCI and BLM to consolidate the “checkerboard” land ownership in and around the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation. The goal of consolidating the land ownership is to provide more logical and consistent land management.
“I am honored to have partnered with the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians to help reclaim sacred lands with long-standing cultural and natural resource values to the Cahuilla people,” said Senator Padilla. “Enactment of our legislation will finalize a decades-long endeavor between the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and the federal government to allow for better land management and finally allow the Tribe to be the primary steward of these lands for the benefit of future generations. I thank my partners Congressman Ruiz and Senator Feinstein their work on this legislation, and I look forward to the President signing our bill into law.”
