Bureau of Land Management and Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Agree to Land Swap

The Bureau of Land Management and Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians have agreed to swap thousand of acres of land within the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains National Monument. The agreement sends 2,560 acres of federal land to the tribe for 1,471 acres of tribal land, plus $50,000. Officials say the move will increase public access to trails that previously were within tribal lands, while transferring lands to the tribe that are "surrounded by private or tribal land, and do not have legal public access." Impacts to just over 12 miles of existing trails would be not be changed as a result of the exchange, and threatened native species like the Peninsular Bighorn Sheep, Desert Tortoise and Southwestern Willow Flycatcher would not be adversely affected, according to a recently released environmental document. The exchange would also make management of land and trails more efficient, according to the BLM, with the two entities currently owning alternating swaths of land in the Palm Springs area in a "checkerboard" formation. The land swap should provide both the BLM and the tribe with "more logical and consistent land management responsibility," federal officials said. Field Manager Doug Herrema of the BLM Palm Springs Field Office said "The land exchange provides a public benefit by consolidating lands within the monument, while enhancing opportunities for public recreation and facilitating more efficient land management." Tribal Chairman Jeff L. Grubbe said "It's an integral part of the long-standing cooperative agreement between the United States and the tribe that helped create the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains National Monument. The United States recognizes the tribe's successful history in managing land and resources."...more

At Bears Ears a tribal coalition opposes the downsizing of the monument. But here, where a tribe actually owns lands within a national monument, they want the hell out. One is a lobbying group funded by Leonardo DiCaprio and others, while the other has on the ground experience in a national monument.