US Senate committee passes effort to restore Lower Elwha land

Published 1:30 am Friday, May 22, 2026

PORT ANGELES — A bill in the U.S. Senate to restore land to the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe has passed through a committee on its way to the full Senate.

The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Project Lands Restoration Act passed the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs unanimously on Wednesday.

“Taking this land into trust boosts the habitat restoration efforts led by the Lower Elwha Tribe and federal agencies,” U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Edmonds, said during the committee meeting. “It will help us in the recovery of all five species of Pacific salmon and other native fish and preserve the tribe’s cultural and natural resources along the river. Passing this bill is an important action for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and I look forward to getting it signed into (law).”

If approved by the full Senate, the act would transfer three parcels of land totaling 1,082 acres to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be held in trust for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, according to a news release.

“The 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,” the news release stated. “The two remaining parcels were acquired by the U.S. Department of the Interior to construct a pipeline to transfer surface water to the tribe’s new fish hatchery, the House of Salmon.”

Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Chairwoman Frances Charles said Thursday that the tribe has been working on this process for quite a while.

“We’re really ecstatic about the act passing through the committee,” Charles said. “We’ll continue doing what we have to.”

The land is part of what the tribe calls project land, Charles said.

“We’ve been working with Olympic National Park and some other agencies for the support of land acquisition for transfer into the tribal trust lands for access to it,” she said.

If the act is approved by the full Senate and the land is placed into trust for the tribe, the tribe plans to keep the land as it is and protect the river’s boundaries.

“It’s just one step forward for the protection of the land that we have been dealing with for years,” Charles said. “We have some sensitive areas in that land that we want to make sure we protect as much as we can.”

The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Project Lands Restoration Act would boost 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, along with steelhead and bull trout, according to the news release.

The act also would advance the decades-long effort to restore the Elwha River, the news release stated.

The proposal has received support from the state Department of Transportation, the Makah Tribe and the city of Port Angeles.

A hearing for the bill before the full Senate has not yet been scheduled.

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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.