Yurok Lands Act

Yurok Lands Act

This bill gives the Yurok Tribe the option to expand its role in the environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) with respect to major federal actions within: (1) the Revised Yurok Reservation, and (2) specified areas within the Klamath and Redwood Creek Watersheds.

The Department of the Interior must enter into a cooperative agreement with the tribe for protecting the natural resources of Redwood National Park.

The bill confirms the 2006 "Cooperative Agreement between the Department of the Interior and the Yurok Tribe for the Cooperative Management of Tribal and Federal Lands and Resources in the Klamath River Basin of California." Interior may take actions to effectuate the agreement.

The Forest Service must transfer approximately 1,229 acres in the Yurok Experimental Forest to Interior. That land must be held in trust for the benefit of the tribe and be managed by the tribe for conservation and research purposes. The trust land may not be: (1) used for gaming activity, and (2) subject to old growth logging.

Interior must revise the boundary of the reservation as depicted on the map entitled, "Revised Yurok Reservation Boundary" and dated December 7, 2016. National Forest System land and National Park System land within the revised reservation must be administered by the Forest Service and the National Park Service, respectively.

The bill designates the Bald Hills Road, which runs from U.S. Highway 101 to the Klamath River, as the "Yurok Scenic Byway."

The bill ratifies and confirms the tribe's governing documents.