Trust land bait-and-switch

In the 2002 Fee-to-Trust application filed by the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, the proposed projects for these fee-to-trust land parcels were to be a health clinic and six residential homes for Tribe members. Per the application:

“The Tribe chose the health clinic and housing sites…because the Tribe’s plans for the property are compatible with existing County land use values.”

Those parcels approved to be taken into trust in 2006 are now proposed by the Tribe to be a 29-lane outdoor gun range and a convenience store/gas station.

While this bait-and-switch is legal per the current trust land legislation, it is not aligned with the original intent of the legislation. If the Tribe had proposed a 29-lane outdoor gun range located less than 200 yards from existing neighbors in their original trust land application, the application would not and should not have been approved. The fact that the stated use of trust land can be altered by the Tribe without limit provides no protection to the U.S. citizens located just on the other side of the sovereign nation boundary. For the safety of the U.S. citizens located just outside the sovereign nation there has to be some reasonable limit to the projects that the Tribe can develop to ensure the safety of their neighbors and peace of their surrounding community. Currently, there is no such limit in existing trust land law.

The situation is even more troublesome given the fact that the Tribe has two pending applications on file with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to put several more parcels of land into trust. We have seen the Tribe’s willingness to abuse the land trust process and not follow through with the intended use of the land. Effective immediately, there should be no further approval of fee-to-trust land applications for the Shingle Springs Tribe given this pattern of abuse.