Western Oregon Tribal Fairness Act

The Western Oregon Tribal Fairness Act (H.R. 2791) proposes to transfer approximately 32,000 acres of federal land in Western Oregon to be held in trust for three specific Native American tribes: the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, the Coquille Tribe, and the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians. By placing this land into trust, the bill officially incorporates these parcels into the tribes' respective reservations for the purposes of resource management and tribal sovereignty.

For local citizens and the surrounding community, the bill includes specific restrictions that prohibit the development of new gambling facilities on the transferred lands and requires that timber harvesting continue to follow federal forest management and export laws. Additionally, the Department of the Interior is required to reclassify other public lands to ensure there is no net loss of specific "Oregon and California Railroad" grant lands, which are often used to provide revenue for local county governments. The bill also streamlines how the Coquille Tribe manages its forest by aligning its regulatory requirements with those of other federally recognized tribes.