The Ute Tribe is taking the extraordinary step to end all non-tribal hunting, fishing permits

Ute Chairman Julius T. Murray III said non-members leave trash and ride ATVs on tribal lands.

Piles of trash — food wrappers, soda cans and toilet paper — left at campsites. All-terrain vehicle tracks marked in the brittle desert dirt. Evidence that people passed through private areas and on roads clearly labeled “closed.”

After a series of “these outrageous violations,” the Ute Indian Tribe of Utah is now taking the extraordinary step of suspending all fishing and hunting permits for outsiders to recreate on its lands. .

The decision from the tribe’s governing Business Committee came at the end of January in a formal resolution. All existing permits for non-tribal members to access Ute land for recreation are immediately terminated. And the chairman for the Utes said there is a moratorium on issuing any new permits — which will continue indefinitely.

“As long as there are individuals who do not respect tribal jurisdiction and sovereignty and treat our homeland as a place of lawlessness, then we have no choice but to draw a hard line on all permits that not a member,” said Chairman Julius T. Murray III.

He added: “Non-member hunting and fishing on our lands is a privilege, not a right.”

The tribe’s Uintah and Ouray Reservation, located in the northeast corner of Utah, covers 4.5 million acres in the Uinta Basin. The land is under the sovereign jurisdiction of the tribe, which may choose to limit access for any reason.

This appears to be the first time the tribe has taken such large-scale action.

The termination of permits applies mostly to hunting and fishing on tribal lands, but also extends to any outdoor recreation, including boating, swimming or camping.

The tribe issues permits to outsiders for those activities — and when those are issued, a non-tribal member pays a fee and agrees to abide by a list of rules. . For fishing and hunting, which used to include no access to Desolation Canyon, for example.

Additionally, non-members are not allowed to drive ATVS on tribal lands. And permit holders are expressly told to pack away any trash.

There is a 25-page list of rules that lists what non-members are allowed to do with their permit, including what fish they can keep if angling, what bodies of water they can boat, etc.

Murray said in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune that the Business Committee felt the “simple rules” were not being followed.

“There are people out there who don’t respect the land,” he said. “And the committee decided to be pro-active about it.”

On trespassing, he added, “it happens all the time.”

Murray also referenced an incident, from 2022 in which a Ute Fish and Wildlife officer tried to confront a couple, both non-members, riding an ATV on the reservation. As the couple drove away, the officer shot and hit the man and woman, according to court records.

The chairman said the officer was also injured and dragged to the side of the ATV.

The officer has been charged federally by the US Attorney’s Office for firing his weapon during the altercation. But the couple did not face charges for trespassing or violating tribal rules.

While the Ute Tribe has civil jurisdiction on the reservation, it does not have criminal jurisdiction, Murray said — so the tribe cannot pursue charges against the couple.

The federal government is supposed to represent tribes with criminal matters, and Murray said he’s disappointed the government hasn’t taken that side of the conflict.

He said that leaves the tribe with limited options and led, in part, to the decision to suspend the permits.

“It’s always the bad apples that ruin it for everyone,” he said. “And we have to protect our land and our people from bad actors.”