Wyoming Senators Look to Deny EPA’s Wind River Ruling
The Northern Arapaho Tribe on April 1 presented a press release in regards to the latest step by Wyoming legislators to stifle the Wind River Reservation boundaries.
According to the release, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) has drafted legislation, that is supported by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), that would eliminate the reservation status of a significant portion of Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone homeland in central Wyoming.
Its chilling to see this kind of attack on Indian country in 2014, Darrell ONeal, Northern Arapaho Business Council chairman, said in the release.
The drafted bill is a response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys decision to treat the Wind River tribes as a state under the Clean Air Act.
The EPA ruling gave the tribes authority to monitor the air and submit opinions about permits to emit chemicals into the atmosphere on the Wind River Indian Reservation and within 50 miles of the reservation boundaries, according to an ICTMN story in January.
Within those boundaries sits the town of Riverton, long thought to have been usurped from the reservation in a 1905 land act, but it was decided in December the act did no such thing.
A detailed legal analysis in the EPA decision concluded that the town of Riverton is part of the Wind River Reservation, a position the tribes have always held, the tribal release states.
Full Article: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/04/02/wyoming-senators-look-deny-epas-wind-river-ruling-154288 Ref Articles: EPA Says Wind River Reservation Can Monitor Air Quality
Wyoming senators write bill denying EPA ruling that Riverton is reservation land
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Stupid, stupid, stupid people - only Congress has that authority and they should know that. The treaty made the reservation - approved by Congress. The EPA - approved by Congress - has the power and authority to enable Tribes As States (40 CFR part 49) -
. The state isn't even a player.
The state has no say in this, but they will scream until their friends on the hill hear them.
I live in Riverton and own two business here. There has been a stay issued on the decision by the EPA, and none of the law will be enforced until it is decided in the courts. This is a loose, loose situation for both the tribes and Riverton. Riverton and the tribes will loose all of it's state funding for education, roads, law enforcement health and safety regulations. The only people who will gain anything from thisare the lawyers.
The Northern Arapaho tribe have already stated that they want criminal jurisdiction over Riverton, and the Shoshone tribe does not, they want to monitor air quality. And why they want to do that is anyone's guess as there is absolutely no heavy manufacturing or any air polluting factories located on the reservation or within Fremont county for that matter. The nearest heavy manufacturing if you can call it that is in Casper 120 miles from here. The only air quality issues in Riverton or on the reservation is when the river bottom catches on fire and fills the valley with smoke.
Cassity thanks for the information. Always good to have a locals view.