Santa Barbara County residents testified on April 25 at a U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs public hearing on H.R. 1491, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Land Affirmation Act of 2017.
H.R. 1491, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2017, would reaffirm the secretary of the interior’s decision to place a 1,400-acre parcel of land, known to many as Camp 4, into fee-to-trust with the federal government, essentially adding it to the Chumash reservation.
To be enacted, Chumash Tribal Chairman Kenneth Kahn said the bill must be approved by the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and then by the U.S. Senate. The committee has yet to vote on H.R. 1491, and Kahn said its decision to hold a public hearing is considered a positive sign to many supporters of the bill.
“We were elated when we found out we were getting a hearing,” Kahn told the Sun, adding that it was the 23rd public meeting Chumash members have attended regarding Camp 4.
At the hearing, Kahn highlighted the tribe’s need for housing, its plans to build 143 homes and an administrative center on Camp 4 land, and the land-use agreement that was approved by the tribe and the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors in October 2017.
“Our agreement demonstrated to many in the community that good faith negotiations between the county and the tribe are possible and that they can be fruitful,” Kahn said in his testimony. “I also believe that our decision to work with the county even after our land was placed in trust is a big reason why we have such strong support for the bill.”
But many Santa Ynez Valley community members are vehemently opposed to the county agreement and H.R. 1491. Before and after the agreement was approved, it was repeatedly criticized as being too lenient and hastily made. Community members have cried, yelled, and booed at public meetings regarding Camp 4, and others threatened supervisors with recall election petitions and lawsuits.
Bill Krauch, chair of the Santa Ynez Valley Coalition, spoke out against H.R. 1491 at the public hearing in Washington, D.C., and said if approved, the bill could adversely affect community members of the Santa Ynez Valley.
“It is a product of a badly flawed negotiating process between the tribe and Santa Barbara County,” Krauch said in his testimony, “where the Board of Supervisors was effectively bullied into signing a weak, fiscally irresponsible memorandum of agreement whose limited restrictions sunset in just over two decades.”
Krauch could not be reached for further comment.
This article appears in May 3-10, 2018.