{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cantwell/randall-bill-to-restore-lower-elwha-klallam-tribal-lands-unanimously-passes-senate-heads-to-president-for-signature", "Cantwell/Randall Bill to Restore Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Lands Unanimously Passes Senate, Heads to President for Signature", "2026-09-28", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Maria Cantwell", "C000127", "www.cantwell.senate.gov", "cantwell", "https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Cantwell/Randall Bill to Restore Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Lands Unanimously Passes Senate, Heads to President for Signature\n\nThe Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Project Lands Restoration Act is one of the last steps of the Elwha and Glines Canyon Dam removal project & will help restore fisheries; Bill now heads to President\u2019s desk to become law\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 This week, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill sponsored by U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), former chair and longest-serving member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and Representative Emily Randall (D, WA-06), who serves on the House Natural Resources Committee and Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs, to transfer federal land back to the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe after decades of work to restore the Elwha River. The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Project Lands Restoration Act, having previously passed the House, now goes to the President\u2019s desk for his signature.\n\n\u201cToday, Congress took a historic step to strengthen salmon and habitat recovery and help fulfill a decades-old vision to restore the Elwha River and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe\u2019s connection to lands that have sustained them since time immemorial. I\u2019m thrilled we got this bill across the finish line and look forward to the President signing it into law,\u201d Sen. Cantwell said.\n\n\"Today, we took an important step in upholding our treaty obligations by passing legislation to transfer land into trust for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. As a freshman member of Congress who represents \u2014 alongside their elected Tribal leaders \u2014 over 15,000 Tribal members, this significance is not lost on me,\u201d said Rep. Randall. \u201cNow signed into law, this bill will help ensure we meet our trust responsibilities to restore Tribal lands.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a great honor to be trusted to steward these lands again, it continues to be a great part of our healing from the dam removal projects. We continue to see slow but persistent growth in our river and the return of the salmon. This has been a long process, and we appreciate the Federal partners for all the hard work in making this a priority. A special thanks to Councilwoman Frances Charles (Former Chairwoman of 22 years) for her years of persistence to see this land come back to the tribe!\u201d said Melissa A. Gilman, Tribal Chairwoman of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.\n\n\u201cThe Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Project Lands Restoration Act is very significant to the Elwha Klallam people. The return of these lands is an important final action to the dam removal project that rewilded the Elwha River and made possible the recovery of the salmon populations,\u201d said Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Council Member and former Chair Frances Charles. \u201cThe return of these sacred and culturally significant lands to the Tribe\u2019s stewardship protects the federal investment in the restoration of the river and upholds the federal government\u2019s treaty and trust obligations to the Tribe. The Tribe is grateful to Senator Cantwell and Representative Randall for their efforts to keep this legislation moving toward the return of the lands to the Tribe.\u201d\n\nThe Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Project Lands Restoration Act represents another important step in the decades-long effort to restore the Elwha River and address the impacts of the dams on the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. Congress authorized the historic removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams in 1992 to restore the river and its once-abundant salmon runs. While both dams were successfully removed by 2014, restoration of the Elwha watershed has continued.\n\nThe legislation builds on that work by returning more than 1,082 acres of federal project lands to the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. Placing these lands into trust will allow the Tribe to continue its stewardship of the Elwha River, protect cultural and natural resources, and support the long-term recovery of salmon and other native fish.\n\nSpecifically, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Project Lands Restoration Act would:\n\nTransfer three parcels of land totaling 1,082 acres to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to be held in trust for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.\n\nThe land is just outside the boundaries of the Olympic National Park and includes 1,061 acres originally acquired by the National Park Service to demolish two dams along the Elwha River.\n\nThe two remaining parcels were acquired by the U.S. Department of the Interior to construct a pipeline to transfer surface water to the Tribe\u2019s new fish hatchery \u2013 the House of Salmon.\n\nBoost habitat restoration efforts led by the Lower Elwha Tribe and federal agencies, aiding in the recovery of all five species of Pacific salmon and other native fish, including Chinook, coho, chum, pink, and sockeye salmon, along with steelhead and bull trout.", 1, "2026-09-29T11:07:12Z", "2026-09-29T11:08:49Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cantwell/randall-bill-to-restore-lower-elwha-klallam-tribal-lands-unanimously-passes-senate-heads-to-president-for-signature"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.454091165214777, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}