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PHOENIX – The Bureau of Land Management has issued a patent completing the sale of two public land parcels totaling just over 3,380 acres to the Gila River Indian Community (Community), which encompasses the Pima and Maricopa Tribes. The parcels include cultural resources and archaeological sites that are of considerable significance to members of both tribes.

“This action is the culmination of years of negotiation, compromise and hard work among the Gila River Indian Community, the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management. We’re proud to ensure that these lands, which mean so much to the Gila River Indian Community, will be protected and managed in perpetuity for the benefit of current and future generations of Community members,” said BLM State Director Raymond Suazo.

The action supports the Gila River Indian Community Federal Rights-of-Way, Easements and Boundary Clarification Act and public law. The Act recognizes the historical ties of the Community to these lands, and allows the Department of the Interior to sell these lands, known as the Lower Sonoran Lands, to benefit the Gila River Indian Community and have them taken into trust by the Department on behalf of the Community.

“The Community is excited that this sale is finally taking place after so many years. These lands are part of our traditional homeland and are culturally significant to the Community. The Community is particularly grateful to Congressman O’Halleran for helping get our settlement legislation through Congress to get these lands back, and to the BLM staff who have helped us navigate this long process,” said Community Governor Stephen Roe Lewis.

Passage of the Act clarified and settled longstanding disputes over existing Federal rights-of-way on the Community’s lands that prevented housing development and full implementation of the Community’s water rights. In addition, this legislation settled a dispute involving the northwest boundary of the Reservation, approving the transfer of BLM-managed lands to the Community as replacement for lands lost when the Community entered into a settlement with the Department of the Interior in 2016.

One 3,180.35-acre parcel adjoins the Community’s reservation on its northwestern border. Another parcel, 200.34 acres in size, is on the southern border of the reservation in Pinal County. Both tracts include a number of highly significant cultural resources and cultural sites. The BLM’s Lower Sonoran Record of Decision and approved Resource Management Plan explicitly allowed for the sale of these parcels, following a request from the Community during the plan development process. 

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 directs the BLM to identify lands for potential sale, transfer or exchange, using a public process and with state and county involvement. BLM has carried out those provisions since 1976, using these tools to consolidate inholdings, expand access to public lands, and acquire other land with important natural, cultural and recreational value. The agency has also worked to protect and transfer lands of significant cultural importance to multiple tribes across the West, when authorized by Congress.

The BLM published a decision record on Nov. 20, 2019 approving the land sale. The signed decision record and related documents are available on BLM's ePlanning website at: https://go.usa.gov/xVFdc.