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 let money set aside for buying land also be used to manage that land and other national forest land in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, for purposes such as forest health, water quality, and preserving cultural sites. It would allow land and funds to be transferred to the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, as well as to state and local governments, and would let the Tribe use transferred funds to buy and manage land of cultural importance to it. The Forest Service would have to make a yearly spending plan by March 15 after consulting with regional agencies, the two states, the Tribe, and local governments.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Catherine Cortez Masto Democrat sponsor
• 3 cosponsors