| OCR Text |
Show This proposed compact is supposed to resolve issues of conflict between the Ute Tribe, State Agencies, Federal land and public resource management Agencies, and Uintah Basin residents. Can we presume there is only one issue, that of Ute Tribal demands, and all else falls into line at some point? I think there are other issues and separate issues - all of which need to be addressed within their own legally constituted contexts. I have no confidence this will take place in Salt Lake City. Issues I see need to be dealt with. a. Water allocation to Tribal lands as obligated under the Winters Doctrine of 1908. Interpretation of purpose of water. b. The CUP as the means of supplying this water, subject to consequences of "borrowing" 61,000 a f of water annually for the transbasin diversion to the Bonneville Basin for Utah's development purposes, "until the year 2,005". This was a. 1965 compact called the "Deferral Agreement". CUP purpose. c. Jurisdiction over all wildlife and fish within boundaries of the original tribal reservation which includes National Forests, BLM, and possibly National Monument lands. It includes proposed Wild and Scenic Rivers (White and Green) non-degradation streams and yet to be identified National Resource Waters. d. The responsibility of the Forest Service and the BLM, under Organic Acts and Multiple Use - Sustained Yield policies. There are already enormous and complicated problems of impllmenting this on the Uinta Range National Forests and on BLM lands in the Brown's Park and oil shale area. e. Inevitable conflict of Tribal jurisdiction over wildlife and fish for their purposes and wilderness classification and management. Wilderness issues are being debated now, under orders from Congress, which resolution will run counter to Ute purposes. f. Dinosaur National Monument. I don't know whether this Monument will be involved physically or through Clean Air/Clean Water issues. g. The issue of exemptions of Reservation lands from existing Federal and State laws and regulations for protecting the environment. h. The issue of alternatives for recompense to Utes from hunting and fishing licenses, leaving Federal and State management unchanged. I don't know whether this is a good idea. But it might merit being explored. |
