Getting Tribal Land Back on the Wind River Reservation
At 2.2 million acres, the Wind River Indian Reservation is roughly the same size as Yellowstone National Park.
The expansive landscape contains hundreds of lakes, miles upon miles of rivers and streams, and some of the most remote mountains in the Lower-48. Grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, bald eagles, and vast herds of elk, deer, and antelope are just a few of the species that call Wind River home. The Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes steward the landscape and its wildlife; they are actively working to restore native buffalo, improve riparian habitats, and restore the Big Wind River.
Pronghorn antelope on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. (Photo Jennifer Strickland/USFWS)
Yet the reservation originated as a landscape 20 times its current size. What began as a 44-million-acre reservation in 1863 was reduced to less than 3 million acres in 1868. The 1868 Treaty – a nation-to-nation peace agreement between the U.S. Federal government and Shoshone Tribe guaranteed lands “for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Shoshone Indians.” A long history of broken Treaty agreements followed by the federal government taking more Tribal lands within the reservation boundary for private and federal use.
One such area is Muddy Ridge.
Muddy Ridge is an expanse of undeveloped land on the north side of the Big Wind River in the northeast portion of the Wind River Indian Reservation.
In 1920, the land was removed from Tribal control to create irrigation for non-Tribal residents as part of the Riverton Reclamation Project. Land, however, that was not used for the project was categorized as “excess property,” and was supposed to be returned to the Tribes.
Since 1943, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe has been actively pursuing the return of many lands withdrawn by the U.S. government. Some successful restorations have occurred, but the Tribes continue to dispute that more than 100,000 acres of excess lands remain in U.S. government control. Even though 57,000 acres is recognized by the Bureau of Reclamation as “excess” to the property, the federal government has refused to turn it back over to Tribal ownership.
Repatriating Muddy Ridge would open additional landscape for buffalo restoration, allowing for cohesive land and water management across the reservation, and supporting Tribal sovereignty and self-determination.
The Wind River Water and Buffalo Alliance is working in lockstep with Tribal leadership from the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho to advocate for the repatriation of Muddy Ridge. We are actively engaging agencies within the U.S. Department of Interior – specifically the Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation – to coordinate and come to a decision that honors Tribal sovereignty.
Despite the Tribes’ efforts to return Muddy Ridge and other lands, Senator Barrasso and Representative Hageman of Wyoming recently introduced a bill that would take a piece of excess property the Tribes have called out in their requests and hand it over to private non-Tribal irrigators. Titled the Pilot Butte Conveyance Act, this legislation was created and introduced without any conversation with the Tribes.
In fact, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe was unaware of the bill until it passed the House of Representatives. This is yet another instance of the Treaty being broken and the shocking reality that Tribes must fight to get their land back. The Wind River Water & Buffalo Alliance is fighting alongside the Tribes as they oppose this bill.
In the coming weeks, the Wind River Water & Buffalo Alliance will be hosting community meetings November 18 through 21 to discuss Muddy Ridge and the Pilot Butte Conveyance Act. Join us to learn how you make your voice heard on these critical issues.
— Wes Martel