HR 2302: Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians Land Transfer Act of 2025

HR 2302 in plain English: This bill transfers approximately 204.14 acres of land in El Dorado County, California, into federal trust for the benefit of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, making it part of the tribe's reservation. It combines about 85.3 acres of federal land and about 118.84 acres of land already held by the tribe, while explicitly prohibiting gaming on the transferred land.

Stated purpose

To take approximately 204 acres of federal and tribal-held land in El Dorado County, California, into trust for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, making it part of the tribe's reservation. The bill also revokes a 1964 public land order that had designated part of this land for Forest Service use as an experiment station.

Key points

• Takes approximately 204.14 acres in El Dorado County, California, into trust for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians
• Transfers roughly 85.3 acres of federal land, including land moved from the Forest Service to the Bureau of Land Management
• Adds approximately 118.84 acres of land already owned by the tribe to the trust
• The combined land becomes part of the tribe's reservation
• Prohibits gaming on any of the land taken into trust

Arguments supporters make

• Placing this land into trust honors the federal government's longstanding commitment to tribal sovereignty and helps restore a land base to a recognized tribe, supporting the tribe's ability to govern itself and serve its members.
• The explicit gaming prohibition addresses a common community concern, making this a straightforward land transfer focused on reservation use rather than commercial development.
• The land includes acreage the tribe already holds as fee land, so taking it into trust simply changes the legal status of land the tribe already owns and uses, with minimal disruption to others.

Arguments opponents make

• Transferring federal public land — including land previously managed by the Forest Service and BLM — removes it from the broader public domain and from uses that could benefit all Americans, not just one group.
• Once land is taken into trust for a tribe, state and local governments generally lose jurisdiction and tax authority over it, which can reduce local government resources and complicate land-use coordination in El Dorado County.
• Revoking a decades-old public land order by a single act of Congress sets a precedent for bypassing the normal administrative review process that exists to evaluate competing uses and public input before changing federal land designations.

Tradeoffs

The bill expands the tribe's reservation land base and legal protections, but does so by removing federal and publicly held land from general public management and from state and local government jurisdiction, creating a tension between tribal self-determination and the interests of surrounding communities and the broader public.

Current status in Congress: Passed House.

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