16 U.S.C. § 539m — Findings and purposes
submitted 23 years ago by Pub. L. 108-7 to r/title-16-CONSERVATION · 204 words · no verdicts yet
This law explains why Congress settled a land dispute between the Pueblo of Sandia and the government. In 1994, the Pueblo sued, saying federal surveys wrongly left Pueblo land out of the Cibola National Forest. Congress created a trust area and a fair settlement in response.
(a) Findings
Congress finds that: (1) in 1748, the Pueblo of Sandia received a land grant from a representative of the King of Spain, which Congress recognized and confirmed in 1858; and (2) in 1994, the Pueblo sued the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture in federal court in Washington, D.C. (Civil No. 1:94CV02624), claiming that federal surveys of the grant's boundaries wrongly left out land that should have been part of the grant — land that ended up inside the Cibola National Forest, including part of the Sandia Mountain Wilderness.
(b) Purposes
The purposes of sections 539m through 539m–12 of this title are: (1) to create the T'uf Shur Bien Preservation Trust Area in the Cibola National Forest; (2) to confirm the status of national forest land and wilderness land in that Area, while resolving the issues raised in the 1994 lawsuit and in two opinions of the Interior Department's Solicitor (dated December 9, 1988, and January 19, 2001); and (3) to give the Pueblo, the parties to the lawsuit, and the public a fair and just settlement of the Pueblo's claim.
Congress finds that—
in 1748, the Pueblo of Sandia received a grant from a representative of the King of Spain, which grant was recognized and confirmed by Congress in 1858 (11 Stat. 374); and
in 1994, the Pueblo filed a civil action against the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Civil No. 1:94CV02624), asserting that Federal surveys of the grant boundaries erroneously excluded certain land within the Cibola National Forest, including a portion of the Sandia Mountain Wilderness.
The purposes of sections 539m to 539m–12 of this title are—
to establish the T’uf Shur Bien Preservation Trust Area in the Cibola National Forest;
to confirm the status of national forest land and wilderness land in the Area while resolving issues associated with the civil action referred to in subsection (a)(2) and the opinions of the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior dated December 9, 1988 (M–36963; 96 I.D. 331) and January 19, 2001 (M–37002); and
to provide the Pueblo, the parties to the civil action, and the public with a fair and just settlement of the Pueblo’s claim.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 108–7, div. F, title IV, § 402, Feb. 20, 2003, 117 Stat. 279.)
- 2003Enacted · Pub. L. 108-7 · 117 Stat. 279
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 108-7 on 2003-02-20.
all 0 arguments · sorted by: best
no arguments yet — make the first case