DOE - Fossil Energy Techline - Issued on:  January 14, 2000

Richardson Announces Historic Return of Land in Utah to Native Americans

Largest Voluntary Return of Land to
Native Americans in More than a Century 

Fort Duchesne, UT - Energy Secretary Bill Richardson today announced plans for the largest voluntary return of land to Native Americans in the lower 48 states in more than a century.

Speaking at Fort Duchesne on the Ute Indian Tribe reservation, Richardson said that the Energy Department, the Department of the Interior, the State of Utah, and the Tribe have agreed to support legislation that would transfer 84,000 acres in northern Utah to the Northern Ute Indian Tribe.

The land -- referred to as the Naval Oil Shale Reserve No. 2 -- was taken from the Ute reservation in 1916 to secure its rich oil shale deposits as a potential source of fuel for the Navy's oil-burning ships.

	The Naval Oil Shale Reserve No. 2 was set aside in 1916 as a source of shale oil for the U.S. Navy. Today, its prime energy value may be the natural gas reservoirs that lie beneath it.

"Today, we're doing the right thing -- the right thing for the environment, the right thing for the Utes, the right thing for the state of Utah and the right thing for the American people," Richardson said.

The agreement to support legislation in the upcoming Congress was signed by Secretary Richardson, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, Ute Tribal Business Committee Chairman O. Roland McCook Sr., and Utah Governor Michael Leavitt.

Under the agreement, a portion of any royalties from future energy production on the lands would go into a fund to help cleanup and remove 10.5 million tons of radioactive mill tailings from the doorstep of two national treasures -- Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park, near Moab, Utah. The site is the nation's fifth largest pile of uranium mill tailings, the radioactive contaminated waste products from nearly three decades of uranium mining operations.

Another provision would put into place additional environmental protection for a 75-mile stretch of the Green River. The Ute Tribe would agree to establish a 1/4-mile land corridor along this section of the river and protect is as an environmentally sensitive area.

In a press announcement issued today by the Energy Department, the Ute's McCook said,

"In 1882, the United States identified lands in eastern Utah that were to remain tribal property for all time. Regrettably, this promise, like so many given to the Tribe over the years, proved to be false. As a result of the leadership of Secretary Richardson, however, a portion of the promise is now to be fulfilled. The return of our traditional homelands is not only a great day for the Tribe and its membership, but also may mark a new beginning for Indian Country as a whole."

Governor Leavitt added, "The people of Utah appreciate and applaud Secretary Richardson and the U.S. Department of Energy for taking this bold action to address two longtime issues in our state: the return of the Ute Tribe's land to Tribal ownership and control, and a plan to further address the environmental problems posed by the tailings in Moab."

"This agreement in principle is a great first step," said Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. "There are still, of course, many issues that have to be worked out, but we are moving forward in a very positive, productive way to restore this landscape. This area is the historical home of the Ute people. It is a gateway to two magnificent national parks, Arches and Canyonlands. It deserves our best restoration efforts."

The Naval Oil Shale Reserve No. 2 is an 89,000-acre undeveloped tract of land almost completely surrounded by the Uintah and Ouray Reservation of the Northern Utes. When President Woodrow Wilson signed the executive order setting aside the property on December 6, 1916, the federal government thought its rich oil shale deposits might one day provide a secure source of oil for the U.S. Navy. Today, however, economic prospects for oil produced from shale are well into the future, and the United States no longer needs the property for national security purposes.

Geologic surveys, however, have revealed structures beneath the Reserve that may hold conventional natural gas deposits. There may also be potential prospects for commercial flagstone production.

Under the Energy Department's plan, the United States would convey to the Ute Indian Tribe all of the reserve except for a small tract of approximately 5,000 acres west of the Green River. This acreage, along with a portion of the Green River that is currently under the jurisdiction of the Energy Department, would be transferred to the Department of the Interior. A one-quarter mile easement on the east side of the Green River within the reserve would also be provided to the Interior Department.

The Energy Department's proposal is part of the Clinton Administration's initiative to return Federal assets that are no longer needed by the Government to the private sector or local jurisdictions. In 1998 the Energy Department sold the Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve Number 1 to Occidental Petroleum Company in the largest divestiture of federal property in the history of the U.S. government. More recently, the Energy Department transferred the two Naval Oil Shale Reserves in Colorado to the Department of the Interior where they are now part of the agency's land and mineral management program.

With refined petroleum products and nuclear energy now meeting the military's fuel needs, the properties no longer serve a strategic purpose. The country's civilian and defense emergency oil supplies are now held in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Texas and Louisiana.

The Uintah and Ouray Reservation is the second largest Indian Reservation in the United States, encompassing approximately 4.5 million acres. The Reservation serves as home for the Whiteriver, Uintah and Uncompahgre bands, also known as the Northern Ute Indian Tribe. Background on the Northern Utes can be found at: http://www.northernute.com.

- End of TechLine -

For more information, contact:
Robert C. Porter, DOE Office of Fossil Energy, (202) 586-6503, e-mail: robert.porter@hq.doe.gov.