546
PUBLIC LAW 717-JULY U, 1956
[70 S T A T.
SEC. 6. Act 249 of the Session Laws of Hawaii, 1955, as amended by section 5 above is hereby approved and ratified. Approved July 14, 1956. Public Law 717
CHAPTER 603
July 14. 1956 AN ACT ———'• .— To provide for settlement in part of certain claims of the Uintah and White River Bands of Ute Indians in Court of Claims case numbered 47568, through restoration of subsurface rights in certain lands formerly a part of the Uintah Indian Reservation. Uintah and White R i v e r B and s of
indians. '"^'
68 Stat. 873.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That after acceptance by the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, in Utah, of the provisions of this Act and the filing by the Uintah and White River Bands of Ute Indians of an amendment to the petition in Court of Claims case numbered 47568, as provided in section 5 hereof, all right, title, and interest in and to the mineral and oil and gas resources of the land described in section 6, shall be restored to tribal ownership and vested in the United States in trust for the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation in Utah, subject to valid leases, locations, or other claims that are outstanding as of the effective date of this Act and that are thereafter maintained in compliance with the laws under which they were initiated, and all rentals, royalties, or other payments received by the United States under or on account of such leases after the effective date of this Act shall be deposited into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservations, in Utah, pursuant to the provisions of the Act of May 17, 1926 (44 Stat. 560), as amended (25 U.S.C. sec. 155), and shall be subject to division between the full-blood and the mixed-blood groups, and shall be available for advance or expenditure, in accordance with the provisions of sections 10 and 11 of the Act of August 27, 1954 (68 Stat. 868). SEC. 2. The Ute Indian tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, in Utah, acting by the tribal business committee representing the fullblood group, and the authorized representatives of the mixed-blood group (in accordance with section 10 of the Act of August 27, 1954, 68 Stat. 868), may prospect, mine, drill, remove, process, or otherwise exploit any or all of the mineral and oil and gas resources of the land described in section 6 of this Act that are not covered by valid leases, locations, or other claims as of the effective date of this Act; may sell or otherwise dispose of any or all of the production obtained through the exploitation of such resources by said tribe; and may issue leases or permits for the prospecting, mining, drilling, removal, or processing of such resources. Each such action shall be in accordance with the provisions of law and of the constitution, bylaws, and corporate charter of said tribe that would be applicable to the taking of like action with respect to mineral resources within the Uintah and Ouray Reservation. Any operations conducted pursuant to this section or under a lease or permit issued pursuant to this section shall also be subject to the direction and control of the Secretary of Agriculture to the extent provided in section 3 of this Act. The mineral resources of the land described in section 6 shall not be subject to disposition otherwise than as provided in this section, except in pursuance of valid leases, locations or other claims existing at the time this Act becomes effective and thereafter maintained in compliance with the laws under which the same were initiated.
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