The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is one step closer to realizing its goal for Camp 4: putting the land into trust with the federal government so the tribe can move forward with housing development plans. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) announced on Oct. 22 that it had issued a finding of no significant impact on the tribe’s Camp 4 environmental assessment.
What exactly does that mean?
It’s not a green light for development, and it doesn’t place the land into trust with the federal government on behalf of the tribe yet. It does mean that the BIA decided there wouldn’t be a significant impact to the environment—either natural or human—if Camp 4, consisting of 1,400 acres in the Santa Ynez Valley already owned by the tribe, became fee-to-trust land, which is essentially a reservation.
“It comes as no surprise that the BIA reached this conclusion,” Vincent Armenta, Chumash tribal chairman, said in a press release. “Their decision was based on a very thorough examination of the [environmental assessment] and the comment letters received on the [assessment]. The tribe is confident that a notice of decision will be in favor of bringing the tribe’s land into trust.”
The BIA’s decision comes after a review of the hundreds of comments submitted on the project assessment.
Doreen Farr, Santa Barbara County 3rd District supervisor, said she was disappointed with the decision, but not surprised.
“I have directed county counsel to do what is necessary to protect the county’s interests,” she told the Sun.
She also asked for a closed session item to be placed on the agenda for Nov. 4.
County supervisors have been discussing the Camp 4 parcel and the tribe’s housing development plans for the past year and a half. If the parcel were placed into trust, the change would mean the county would have no jurisdictional rights over the property.
Earlier this year, a 6.9-acre parcel of tribally owned land in Santa Ynez was placed into trust 14 years after the tribe filed the application. That was the first fee-to-trust application the tribe ever filed.
This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2014.