U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) reintroduced legislation on Feb. 27 that would authorize the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to take Camp 4 into trust with the federal government.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs recently announced its decision to grant fee-to-trust status for the nearly 1,400-acre parcel of land in Santa Ynez, but that decision isn’t final and was appealed by Santa Barbara County and several local community groups.
The tribe is utilizing both the administrative and legislative routes to get the land placed into trust with the federal government. A press release from the tribe said the bill, HR 1157, received support from eight cosponsors. Tribal Chairman Vincent Armenta said in the release that the tribe is looking forward to working with Congress to get the legislation passed.
“We thank Congressman LaMalfa and the cosponsors for their leadership in helping bring attention to the importance of tribal sovereignty and self-determination, not only for our tribe but for all Native Americans who are working toward restoring their ancestral lands,” Armenta said in the press release.
This article appears in Mar 5-12, 2015.
