Obama signs Pascua Yaqui and Hoonah Indian Association bills


These photos show Glaucous-winged gulls and a nest in Glacier Bay National Park. Photos from National Park Service

President Barack Obama on Friday signed into law two bills to benefit tribes in Arizona and Alaska.

H.R.507, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe Trust Land Act, places 20 acres in trust for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona. The House passed the bill in May 2013 and the Senate passed it on July 9.

The tribe plans to use the land for a golf course. The bill bars gaming on the newly acquired property.

Obama also signed H.R.3110, the Huna Tlingit Traditional Gull Egg Use Act. The bill allows members of the Hoonah Indian Association in Alaska to harvest gull eggs within Glacier Bay National Park.

The House passed the bill on April 28. It passed the Senate on July 9.

“For the Huna Tlingit people, this traditional gull egg harvest is a significant part of their culture that took place well before the establishment of the Glacier Bay National Park and it’s truly unfortunate that it took this long to allow the practice to resume," Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), a co-sponsor of the bill, said in a press release.

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