Tribes renew push for return of Wind River lands

The Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes are urging the federal government to return tens of thousands of acres within the Wind River Indian Reservation, according to WyoFile. In a July 15 letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the Eastern Shoshone Business Council wrote, “It has been the Wind River Tribes’ view for eighty years that these lands, which were part of the 1868 Treaty, should be returned to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes as part of the Wind River Indian Reservation.”

The tribes are seeking to reacquire roughly 69,000 acres identified as “excess” by the Bureau of Reclamation, according to agency officials. Bureau of Land Management staff are reviewing updated legal descriptions of the property, with a public comment period expected after environmental assessments are published this winter, BLM-Wyoming Senior Advisor Brad Purdy said.