CAMP 4 INCLUDED IN NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT PASSED BY SENATE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Veronica Sandoval
vsandoval@sychumashfoundation.org
Santa Ynez, CA. — December 17, 2019 — In a historic vote today on Capitol Hill, the U.S. Senate voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes language directing the Department of Interior to take 1,427 acres, otherwise known as Camp 4, into federal trust for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.
The bill now awaits President Donald Trump’s signature for it to become law.
“We’ve pursued placing Camp 4 into federal trust through two avenues – the administrative process and the legislative process,” said Kenneth Kahn, Tribal Chairman of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. “This vote today by the U.S. Senate to approve the NDAA puts our tribe one step closer to realizing our dream of having adequate tribal housing on our ancestral land.”
The tribe’s land affirmation bill, H.R. 317, was introduced into Congress on January 8, 2019, by Congressmen Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) and Salud Carbajal (D-CA). LaMalfa is the former Chair of the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs while Carbajal represents Santa Barbara County in Congress. The language included in the NDAA largely mirrors that which was included in H.R. 317.
The bill protects the tribe’s 1,427 acres of land in Santa Ynez and passed both the House of Representatives and then the Senate of Committee on Indian Affairs unanimously. As a result, it was accepted by leadership of both parties to be added to the NDAA.
In an announcement distributed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office last week, the senator stated that several key California priorities have been included in the NDAA.
“In addition to addressing the nation’s national defense needs, I’m pleased to announce the defense authorization bill includes several provisions that are important to California,” Feinstein said.
Among the provisions included in the NDAA is the 1,427 acres of land for the Chumash tribe.
In the same statement, Feinstein lauded the tribe’s years of hard work to reach an agreement with Santa Barbara County, acknowledging the tribe’s Memorandum of Understanding and the perpetual exclusion of gaming on Camp 4.
Camp 4 will be used for housing for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians’ membership as it plans to build 143 housing units and a small Tribal Administrative building, while protecting the vast majority of the property as agricultural land or environmental open space.
“After nearly a decade of pursuing tribal housing for our members and enduring fee-to-trust challenges along the way, our tribe is closer than ever to saying that Camp 4 is part of the Santa Ynez Chumash Reservation,” Kahn said. “Having this land put into trust for our tribe will allow us to satisfy our housing needs and ensure our families can live together and flourish on our ancestral land for generations to come. In particular, I want to thank Congressman LaMalfa, Congressman Carbajal, Senator Feinstein and Senator Harris for all of their work and dedication to our efforts to preserve our ancestral homelands.”
The Santa Ynez Reservation is located in Santa Barbara County and was established and officially recognized by the federal government on December 27, 1901. Today, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians remains the only federally recognized Chumash tribe in the nation.