S. 643: To amend the Grand Ronde Reservation Act to address the hunting, fishing, trapping, and animal gathering rights of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community, and for other purposes

This bill provides a process by which the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and Oregon may negotiate to amend or replace the existing agreement defining the tribe's hunting, fishing, trapping, and animal gathering rights.

The current agreement, which was made effective by a January 12, 1987, consent decree by the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, serves as the exclusive and final determination of the tribe's hunting, fishing, trapping, and gathering rights. This bill instead allows a December 2, 1986, agreement between the United States, Oregon, and the tribe (known as the Grand Ronde Hunting and Fishing Agreement) to define the tribe's rights until and unless it is amended or replaced upon mutual agreement of the tribe and Oregon.

The bill allows the tribe and Oregon to return to the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon to request the modification or termination of the January 12, 1987, consent decree.

Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.