Wyoming to EPA: Place Tribal Boundary Decision on Hold and Reconsider

In a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed Monday, the State of Wyoming, through the Attorney General, says the EPA used incomplete facts and faulty legal conclusions when making its decision to change existing law and alter the boundary of the State and the Wind River Reservation. The State’s petition asks the agency to reconsider and also stay any implementation of its December decision revising the WRR boundary.

In a news release Governor Matt Mead said “I understand that the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes have a different opinion about the Wind River Reservation Boundary. My deep concern is about an administrative agency of the federal government altering a state’s boundary and going against over 100 years of history and law. The Governor MatI want to thanked the Attorney General and his staff for acting with urgency and preparing a thorough review of the historical record.

The Attorney General’s petition shows that, in conjunction with the Tribes, Congress diminished the Wind River Reservation in 1905. Given the fundamentally flawed process and decision and the likelihood of irreparable harm, the EPA should put a hold on its decision and reopen its process to incorporate all of the available evidence, give interested parties an opportunity to respond to the facts and arguments and complete its review in a transparent manner.

The State has also asked the EPA to stay its decision until a final judicial decision has been issued.