Office of the Secretary

For Immediate Release: April 20, 1999

Contact: John Wright 202/208-6416

DOI Announces Notice of Scoping for a Proposal to Establish Timbisha
Shoshone Tribal Land Base in Death Valley National Park

The Department of the Interior's (DOI) National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Indian Affairs today announced notice of plans to hold Scoping meetings on a draft report to Congress which recommends that Congress establish a permanent land base in and around Death Valley National Park for the Timbisha Shoshone Indian Tribe.

The notice published in the Federal Register, is part of a draft Secretarial Report to Congress and government-to-government negotiations by the Interior Department with the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe. The draft report identifies parcels of land suitable for the Timbisha Shoshone Indian Tribe to establish their permanent homeland. The scoping effort will help to identify public issues and concerns, and to assess the nature and extent of potential environmental impacts that should be addressed.

The recommendations in the draft report call for the federal government and the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe to serve as partners in the area. Along with the acquisition of 300 acres to be taken into trust at Furnace Creek inside the park, the tribe will have traditional use of an adjacent 1,000 acres of mesquite groves which will also continue to be used by the public. The report also recommends the designation of a large area in the western part of the park as the Timbisha Shoshone Natural and Cultural Preservation Area, in recognition of the contributions that the tribe has made to the history, culture, and ecology of the region.

The area will be managed according to a jointly developed management plan that anticipates the opportunity for the tribe to conduct environmentally sustainable traditional uses and activities within this area subject to existing law, such as the Wilderness Act. The report recommends transfer of 7,200 acres of land currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management to the tribe, including approximately 1,640 acres in California and 5,680 acres in Nevada.

A series of public meetings will be held during the month of May, 1999. Meetings will be held in the following California and Nevada cities:

May 24 Pasadena, California
May 25 Ridegecrest, California
May 26 Lone Pine, California
May 27 Goldfield, Nevada
May 28 Pahrump, Nevada

All meetings will be scheduled for 7-9:00 p.m. For confirmed details about meeting locations please contact: Superintendent, Death Valley National Park, P.O. Box 579, Death Valley, California 92328, or call (760) 786-3243.

Interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are encouraged to provide comments and suggestions. Written comments regarding the proposal must be postmarked no later than June 15, 1999, and should be addressed to the Superintendent, Death Valley National Park, at the address above. To obtain a copy of the study document or request other background information please contact the Superintendent, Death Valley National Park. The study document and current information are also available via the park web site (www.nps.gov/deva).

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