A view of the Chumash Tribe's land-into-trust site in Santa Barbara County, California. Photo from Chumash EA
The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians paid $15 million for a 350-acre parcel adjacent to its reservation, Noozhawk reports. The parcel also sits next to the tribe's controversial 1,400-acre land-into-trust site. The Bureau of Indian Affairs approved the land-into-trust application but Santa Barbara County has filed an administrative appeal. H.R.1157, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians Land Transfer Act of 2015, helps the tribe and the BIA avoid the mess by placing the land in trust. A portion of the site will be used for housing to enable more tribal members to return home. The tribe currently resides on a 138-acre reservation. But most that land isn't suitable for development so only about 17 percent of tribal members and descendants live there, Chairman Vincent Armenta told the House Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs at a hearing on H.R.1157 in June. Get the Story:
Chumash Tribe Purchases 350 Acres Near Reservation (Noozhawk 8/4)
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