Santini-Burton Modernization Act of 2026

This bill changes a 1980 federal law that lets the Forest Service buy environmentally sensitive land in the Lake Tahoe Basin. It would allow money set aside for buying land to also be used for managing that land, including forest health, water quality, wildfire-area upkeep, reducing recreation impacts, protecting cultural sites, and related research. It would let the Forest Service transfer land and funds to the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, as well as to state and local governments and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. It would require a yearly spending plan made with input from the states, the Tribe, local governments, and the regional planning agency. It would also allow funds to go to the Washoe Tribe to buy and manage land of cultural significance to the Tribe in the basin.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Kevin Kiley Independent sponsor
• 2 cosponsors