H.R. 2388 becomes law, restoring about 1,083 acres to the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe
H.R. 2388, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Project Lands Restoration Act, became law on October 20, 2026, taking about 1,083 acres of federal land in Washington State into trust for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. The president signed it into law, enacting it as Public Law 119-128.
The land — approximately 1,082.63 acres on the Olympic Peninsula, previously managed by the National Park Service — is now held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the tribe, and becomes part of the tribe's existing reservation. When land is held in trust, the federal government holds legal title and the land is set aside for the tribe's use; placing it within the reservation brings it under tribal and federal jurisdiction rather than ordinary state and local control.
The parcels were acquired by the federal government in connection with the restoration of the Elwha River, where two dams were removed between 2011 and 2014 in one of the largest dam-removal projects in U.S. history. A 1992 law had directed the National Park Service to identify such lands for transfer into trust for the tribe; this law completes that transfer.
The law also prohibits gaming on the land: it states that the land shall not be considered "Indian lands" for the purposes of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the federal law that governs gaming on tribal lands. It further provides that nothing in the law affects the tribe's rights under the 1855 Treaty of Point No Point, and directs the Secretary of the Interior to survey the land's boundaries.
The bill was introduced in March 2025 by Representative Emily Randall, a Democrat who represents Washington's 6th congressional district. On the House floor, Randall called the measure "a promise fulfilled," saying it "affirms the Tribe's sovereign right to protect and manage sacred sites for generations to come." The Department of the Interior, in a statement submitted to a House subcommittee, said it supported conveying the lands into trust for the tribe. The bill passed the House by voice vote in December 2025 and the Senate by unanimous consent in September 2026 before being signed into law.
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