A view of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Photo from JGHowes / Wikipedia
A jurisdictional dispute between the two tribes, the state of Wyoming and the Obama administration continues to churn in the federal court system. In December 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency approved treatment as state applications for the Eastern Shoshone Tribe and the Northern Arapaho Tribe. The decision recognized the tribes' authority to set air quality standards for the entire Wind River Reservation. The state immediately took the matter to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Among other issues, officials claim the EPA's decision does not apply to 171,000 acres whose legal status has been in dispute since 1905. The tribes claim the acreage was never removed from the reservation, a view the EPA supports. The state, however, believes the land is no longer Indian Country since it was open to allotment. The state filed its petition with the 10th Circuit in February 2014. More than a year later, briefs are still being filed by the tribes, the EPA, other states and other interested parties. One of the latest came from Andrew Yellowbear Jr., a Northern Arapaho man who is serving a life sentence for the murder of his daughter in 2004. He disputed the state's jurisdiction over him because he said the crime occurred on land that is still a part of the reservation. The tribe, however, opposed the addition of his brief to the EPA case. The 10th Circuit denied his participation today.
Despite the activity, the 10th Circuit has yet to schedule oral arguments in the case.
Get the Story:Wyoming tribe seeks to exclude Andrew Yellowbear from reservation boundary case (AP 4/27)
Appeals court rejects Wyoming inmate's petition to be heard in reservation boundary dispute (AP 4/27)
Wyo. Tribe Backs EPA In Wind River Boundary Dispute (Law 360 4/24)
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