PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) — Congressman Norm Dicks’ office says President Obama could sign the land deal with the Quileute Tribe as soon as Friday.
The agreement that passed Congress this month will allow the 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 transfer gives the tribe 785 acres in the park and settles a reservation boundary dispute. In return, the tribe assures access to coastal beaches reached by trails through tribal lands.
The Peninsula Daily News reports (http://is.gd/lbLjKT ) the tribe has about 700 members and hundreds live in the “lower village” along the Quillayute River.
The tribe plans to move its 60-student school, elder and child care centers and headquarters.
