Environment | Politics

OPB: Quileute Tribe waits on Obama to sign land transfer bill

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

""Ecstatic," "amazed," and "stunned." Those are some of the words being used Tuesday around the tiny Quileute Indian Reservation on the Washington coast. This, after the U.S. Congress slightly shrank Olympic National Park to allow the tribe to move out of a tsunami zone. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation soon.

The U.S. Senate moved with surprising swiftness to clear the way for the Quileute Indian Tribe to move part of its village uphill. Lawmakers voted to transfer 785 acres of adjacent Olympic National Park to the tribe.

Quileute tribal chairman Tony Foster says a celebratory feast is planned. And then the top priority is to move the low-lying school and elder center out of harm's way."

Get the Story:
Quileute Tribe 'Ecstatic' About Move Out Of Tsunami Zone (Oregon Public Broadcasting 2/14)

Also Today:
Obama might sign Quileute higher-ground bill this week; tribe ready to make moving plans (The Peninsula Daily News 2/15)
Quileutes’ land transfer gets Congress’ OK (The Olympian 2/15)
Quileutes grateful for Congress' action allowing school to move (McClatchy Newspapers 2/15)