Land officially deeded to Ute Tribe

DECEMBER 5, 2000

Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson on Monday officially deeded about 85,000 acres of land back to the Northern Ute Tribe of Utah.

The land was taken from the tribe in 1916 by the government for future use by the Navy. But it was never developed and in November, President Bill Clinton signed into law the bill returning the land to the tribe.

The Department of Energy says the land holds about 17.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas and is worth $60 million. As part of getting the land back, the tribe has agreed to give 9 percent of any royalties it obtains to the government, in order to help pay for the cleanup of uranimum mill tailings sitting on the banks of the Colorado River.

Get the Story:
U.S. Deeds Land Back To Tribe (The Salt Lake Tribune 12/5)

View a Map of the Land:
Naval Oil Shale Reserve No. 2 (Dept of Energy)

View a Photo of the Mine Area:
Atlas Mines Tailing Pile (Utah Dept of Environmental Quality)

Get the Law:
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (H.R.4205. See Section 3405 - TRANSFER OF OIL SHALE RESERVE NUMBERED 2)

Related Stories:
Richardson, Babbitt pledge support (Tribal Law 11/14)
Report: DOE wasting cleanup money (Enviro 11/02)
Land returned to Ute Tribe (Tribal Law 11/01)
DOE revises tribal policies (Enviro 11/1)

Relevant Links:
The Northern Ute Tribe - www.northernute.com
The Department of Energy - www.energy.gov
Decommissioning of Moab, Utah, Uranium Mill Tailings - www.antenna.nl/wise/uranium/udmoa.html