PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) — The U.S. House approved a bill Monday that will allow the Quileute tribe to move its school and other buildings out of a tsunami zone on the Washington coast to higher ground in Olympic National Park.
The land transfer bill gives the tribe 785 acres in the park and settles a reservation boundary dispute. In return the tribe assures access to coastal beaches that are reached by trails through tribal lands.
The Peninsula Daily News reports (http://is.gd/7Rf8By ) there’s similar legislation awaiting action in the U.S. Senate.
The tribe needs higher land to put the school, elder and child care centers and the tribal headquarters out of reach of a tsunami.
The tribe has been seeking land to move to outside of the tsunami zone for about 50 years.
