“Congress finds the following:“(1) Since 1964, the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida have lived and governed their own affairs on a strip of land on the northern edge of the Everglades National Park pursuant to permits from the National Park Service and other legal authority. The current permit expires in 2014.
“(2) Since the commencement of the Tribe’s permitted use and occupancy of the Special Use Permit Area, the Tribe’s membership has grown, as have the needs and desires of the Tribe and its members for modern housing, governmental and administrative facilities, schools and cultural amenities, and related structures.
“(3) The United States, the State of Florida, the Miccosukee Tribe, and the Seminole Tribe of Florida are participating in a major intergovernmental effort to restore the South Florida ecosystem, including the restoration of the environment of the Park.
“(4) The Special Use Permit Area is located within the northern boundary of the Park, which is critical to the protection and restoration of the Everglades, as well as to the cultural values of the Miccosukee Tribe.
“(5) The interests of both the Miccosukee Tribe and the United States would be enhanced by a further delineation of the rights and obligations of each with respect to the Special Use Permit Area and to the Park as a whole.
“(6) The amount and location of land allocated to the Tribe fulfills the purposes of the Park.
“(7) The use of the Miccosukee Reserved Area by the Miccosukee Tribe does not constitute an abandonment of the Park.
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