Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney has reaffirmed the 2017 decision to place Camp 4 into trust for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, the tribe announced Tuesday.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson overturned the decision by the Bureau of Indians Affairs to place Camp 4 into trust for the tribe based on a lawsuit by a local landowner that claimed the former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary who signed the order in 2017 did not have the right to do so because he was no longer serving as the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs.
Putting the land in trust means it will become part of the Chumash reservation.
The tribe purchased the nearly 1,400-acre Camp 4 property in the Santa Ynez Valley from the Fess Parker estate in 2010. Nearby residents have opposed it becoming part of the reservation because of fears of overdevelopment.
However, tribal leaders say they plan to build 143 housing units for members and a small tribal administrative building. The rest of the land, they say, will be preserved as agricultural land or environmental open space.
