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Legislation Aims To Help Tribe Finally Resolve Surveying Issue

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
/
Flickr.com

New legislation aims to let the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde file claims and potentially be compensated for any federal surveying errors on their land.

Senate Bill 2716 was sponsored by Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, with the support of the tribe. 

To correct a survey error made by the federal government in 1871, legislation was passed in 1994. But this legislation also complicated things by stating the Grand Ronde would give up claims to address other errors discovered in the future.

“What happened in ’94 with that legislation, we would not be able to correct that," says Rob Greene, tribal attorney for the Grand Ronde.  "What we’re saying is, that’s not right. We should be able to correct other problems that we identify in the future.”

The bill has been introduced in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. A companion bill has also been introduced in the House of Representatives.

Copyright 2020, KLCC.

Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.
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