COOS BAY — Members of Oregon’s congressional delegation have resurrected a local Indian tribe’s bid for the Cape Arago Lighthouse.

A bipartisan bill introduced this week would transfer the federally owned Chief’s Island and Gregory Point to the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians. The U.S. Coast Guard administers the land now.

Sens. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Congressmen Peter DeFazio,D-Ore., are working together to advance the legislation in the U.S. Senate. This partnership comes after a similar effort — via a provision in the Coast Guard Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 — stalled. That provision also sought to transfer the Umpqua Lighthouse to Douglas County. It is expected to be reintroduced on its own in the near future, an aide in Smith’s office said.

According to Senate Bill 3194, also known as the Oregon Surplus Federal Land Act of 2008, the tribe would receive about 24 acres including tiny Chief’s Island, where the lighthouse sits, and nearby Gregory Point. The properties are considered sacred ancestral land to the Confederated Tribes, said Chief David Brainard.

“It’s a very important site to the tribe — just one of the most beautiful places in the world,” Brainard said. “There’s a lot of history that’s happened out there.”

Tribal Administrator Francis Somday said the land was the site of an Indian village and tribal cemetery. Members of the tribe continue to pay respects to their ancestors and perform ceremonies there, including the Salmon Ceremony in August.

He said the tribes have sought ownership of the land since at least 1984. The U.S. Interior Department contends the tribes do not qualify to assume ownership under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.

“We think they were wrong,” Somday said.

In an e-mail to The World, Tom Fazzini, a deputy press secretary in Wyden’s office, explained:

“It is our understanding that they are concerned that the Confederated Tribes do not fit the Interior Department’s definition of a ‘non-profit’ and therefore are not qualified to receive the land under the National Historical Preservation Act,” Fazzini wrote. “Senators Wyden and Smith and Representative DeFazio have joined to support legislation, which would not require Interior Department approval and that returns this land to the Confederated Tribes.”

Brainard, who has been visiting Chief’s Island since he was a boy in the 1950s, said he’s hopeful about the bill, because it’s non-controversial and has been backed by politicians from both parties.

“We are very optimistic, but we know from past experiences that you don’t count chickens. We won’t celebrate until it’s a done deal,” Brainard said.

If the property is returned to the tribes, Brainard said, members will hold more ceremonies on Chief’s Island. The lands would be held in trust and would become part of the tribes’ reservation.

“We’ll have occasions to get out there and give the tribal children and the elders the experience of the place,” Brainard said.

In exchange, the tribes will have to maintain the light station and make it available for education, park, recreation, cultural or historic preservation purposes for the general public at reasonable times and under reasonable conditions, the bill stated.

A spokesman in Smith’s Washington office said the new stand-alone bill should move more easily through Congress because it no longer is weighted down and has wide support. It also is backed by the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee. He said the committee may hold a hearing on the proposed legislation before the August recess.

 “When the Oregon delegation unites in a bipartisan, bicameral approach, we can achieve effective results for our state,” Smith said. “I hope that with the support of local groups and bipartisan agreement in Congress, we can move this important piece of legislation swiftly into law.”