Randall, Cantwell, Murray Bills to Place Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and Quinault Indian Nation Lands into Trust Passes House

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed two major bills for Washington state Tribes, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Project Lands Restoration Act, and the Quinault Indian Nation Land Transfer Act. Both bills initiate the first step to return land back to the Tribes by transferring ownership from the federal government to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be held in trust for the benefit of the Tribes.

U.S. Representative Emily Randall (D, WA-06), and U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced the legislationin April 2025. The bills now go to the Senate for consideration.

"Today, we took an important step in upholding our treaty obligations by passing legislation to transfer land into trust for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the Quinault Indian Nation. As a freshman member of Congress who represents - alongside their elected Tribal leaders - over 15,000 Tribal members, this significance is not lost on me," said Rep. Randall. "I urge my colleagues in the Senate to quickly pass these two bills to ensure we meet our trust responsibilities to restore Tribal lands."

"The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe led a historic regional effort to restore salmon runs by removing obsolete dams along Elwha River. Now, it's time to return over 1,000 acres of land that was taken to build the dams and allow the Lower Elwha Klallam people to reclaim ancestral lands," said Sen. Cantwell.

"These bills take critical first steps to transfer land that the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the Quinault Indian Nation have stewarded for centuries, back to Tribal ownership," said Senator Murray. "This is about righting historic wrongs and fulfilling a commitment to our Tribes-and it's also an investment in salmon recovery, habitat restoration, and the preservation of key ecosystems for future generations. I am thrilled to see these bills pass the House and will continue fighting to pass them through the Senate, so we can see through this important effort to restore Tribal ownership of culturally significant lands in Washington state."

Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Project Lands Restoration Act:

• This bill would transfer three parcels of land totaling 1,082 acres to the BIA to be held in trust for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.
• The land is just outside the boundaries of the Olympic National Park and includes 1,061 acres originally acquired by the National Park Service to demolish two dams along the Elwha River.
• The two remaining parcels were acquired by the U.S. Department of the Interior to construct a pipeline to transfer surface water to the Tribe's new fish hatchery - the House of Salmon.
• The land transfer would boost habitat restoration efforts led by the Lower Elwha Tribe and federal agencies, aiding in the recovery of all five species of Pacific salmon and other native fish, including Chinook, coho, chum, pink and sockeye salmon, along with steelhead and bull trout.
• This bill is an important action in the decades' long effort to restore the Elwha River.

"The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Project Lands Restoration Act is very significant to the Elwha Klallam people. The return of these lands is an important final action to the dam removal project that rewilded the Elwha River and made possible the recovery of the salmon populations," said Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Chairwoman Frances Charles. "The return of these sacred and culturally significant lands to the Tribe's stewardship protects the federal investment in the restoration of the river and upholds the federal government's treaty and trust obligations to the Tribe. The Tribe is grateful to Representative Randall for her efforts to keep this legislation moving toward the return of the lands to the Tribe."

The proposal for the land to be taken into trust is supported by WSDOT, the Makah Tribe, and the City of Port Angeles.

Quinault Indian Nation Land Transfer Act:

• This bill would transfer 72 acres from the Forest Service to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be held in trust for the Quinault Indian Nation.
• The 72 acres, known as Allotment 1157, was originally part of the Quinault reservation that was established by the Treaty of Olympia of 1856.
• After the passage of the Dawes Act of 1887, the Quinault Indian Reservation was separated into individual allotments and in 1928, Allotment 1157 was given to away through a Trust Deed signed by President Calvin Coolidge.
• The Allotment was eventually sold to a timber company and was purchased by the U.S. Forest Service in 1996 for conservation.
• Allotment 1157 is one of the last remnants of old growth forest, particularly old growth cedar, that were a significant part of the Quinault's reservation.
• The Quinault Nation plans to utilize this land as a living museum for educational purposes, where students and college interns will learn how to preserve other historical places. Trees and downed wood on this land will be utilized for cultural purposes, as has been done in the past.

"With the passage of the Quinault Indian Nation Land Transfer Act today, the United States House of Representatives has taken a historic step to uphold the U.S. government's promise that the Quinault Indian Reservation will always belong to the Quinault Nation." said Quinault Indian Nation President Guy Capoeman. "The forced breakup of our reservation due to the Dawes Act erased one of the foundations of our way of life: our view that the land and waters of our homeland were for communal use by all. We thank Congresswoman Randall for introducing, supporting, and ensuring this important piece of legislation passed in the House. We now ask the Senate to quickly take up and pass this bill before the end of the year."

"Returning 72 acres of the Quinault Indian Nation's original reservation will restore the Tribe's ancestral lands and help preserve one of the area's last remnants of old growth forest as a living museum for future generations," said Sen. Cantwell.

The proposal for the land to be taken into trust is supported by Jefferson and Grays Harbor County, the Hoh Tribe, and the Quileute Tribe. A document containing written letters of support is available HERE.

With the passage of the Dawes Act in 1867, the Quinault Reservation was broken up into 80-acre allotments, with many given to individual Tribal Members. As private interests quickly moved in to buy up the allotments, including allotment 1157, the Quinault Nation lost multiple pieces of its Reservation.