ICYMI: President Biden Signs Dr. Ruiz's Legislation into Law to Confirm Tribal Trust Land for Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians 

Washington, D.C. – On Friday, President Joe Biden signed into law legislation authored by Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-25) to take more than 2,500 acres of land in the San Jacinto Mountains into trust for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. The legislation, H.R. 897, the Agua Caliente Land Exchange Fee to Trust Confirmation Act, would allow the Tribe to further their conservation efforts and practice consistent forest management. 

“I am thrilled to see President Biden sign my bill, the Agua Caliente Land Exchange Fee to Trust Confirmation Act, into law,” said Dr. Ruiz. “This 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 in managing these lands in accordance with their traditions and with respect for the environment and wildlife.” 

“The federal government has a duty to respect Tribal sovereignty and right the historic wrongs it has inflicted on Tribal governments,” said Senator Padilla. “Too often tribal nations are unable to simply access, cooperatively steward, or consult on the management of public lands that they find sacred. These newly signed laws were tribally-led, and the differences between them highlights that access to federal lands can mean something different to each Tribal government. I’m proud of the progress we are making to ensure Tribes can once again manage their ancestral and sacred lands in the way that they see fit, and I will continue ensuring that Tribes across the country are treated with the respect they deserve.” 

“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.”   

“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.” 

 BACKGROUND 

The Palm Springs area east of Mt. San Jacinto is home to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians (ACBCI) 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. 

H.R. 897 fulfills 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. A land exchange for these parcels between BLM and ACBCI was finalized in March 2019.  

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 land ownership is to provide more logical and consistent land management. 

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