Washington : Government Printing Office
|
|
|
|---|---|
| Chap. 931 | Indians. Lands conveyed to U.S. |
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Shoshone Indian Tribe and the Arapahoe Indian Tribe of the Wind River Reservation are authorized to convey to the United States the tribes' interests in the 388.23 acres of land that are described in section 2 of the Act, subject to a reservation to the tribes of all minerals, including oil and gas, and mineral rights, which may be exercised only in a manner that does not interfere with the construction and operation of the dam site and reservoir of Anchor Dam, a part of the Owl Creek unit, Missouri River Basin project in Hot Springs County, near Thermopolis, Wyoming. The conveyance shall be for a price that is mutually agreeable to the tribes and to the Secretary of the Interior as representing fair and just compensation for the land taken. If the tribes and the Secretary fail to agree on a price to be paid for said land, the Secretary shall report that fact to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives on the first day of the Eighty-fifth Congress, and the Secretary is authorized, effective thirty days after said report is filed, to proceed to acquire such land by eminent domain. The consideration payable to the tribes
pursuant to this Act shall be paid out of funds appropriated for the Missouri River Basin project and shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit and for the use of the respective tribes in accordance with the provisions of the Act of May 19, 1947 (61 Stat. 102), as amended by the Act of August 30, 1951 (65 Stat. 208).
The lands that are referred to in section 1 of this Act are: Lots 1 and 2, section 13, northwest quarter, north half southwest quarter, west half, northeast quarter, and northwest quarter southeast quarter, section 24, township 8 north, range 1 west, Wind River meridian, Wyoming, containing 388.23 acres.
In the event of the failure or abandonment of the Anchor Dam feature of the Owl Creek unit the interest in the land acquired pursuant to this Act shall be reconveyed by the Secretary of the Interior to the tribes and the title shall be held in the same manner it was held before such acquisition: Provided, That the purchase price paid by the United States shall be returned by the tribes.
The portion of the construction costs of the Owl Creek unit that is allocable to the irrigable lands of the Shoshone and Arapahoe Tribes of the Wind River Reservation shall be a lien against such lands, but the assessment and collection of such costs shall be deferred in accordance with the provisions of the Act of July 1, 1932 (47 Stat. 564). The irrigable lands of the tribes shall be entitled to their pro rata share of the water storage and regulation benefits accruing from the construction and operation of the Owl Creek unit upon payment by the tribes, under appropriate contract, of their pro rata share of the annual operation and maintenance costs of the Owl Creek unit.
The members of the Shoshone and Arapahoe Tribes shall have the right to fish on the lake created by Anchor Dam, without a State license, but the Indians shall be subject to all other provisions of applicable conservation laws and regulations.
Approved, August 3, 1956.
