The Ute Indian Tribe has filed two complaints against the United States of America in federal court. According to a Tribe press release dated March 9th, the Ute Tribe has commenced litigation against the United States for what it calls “its blatant mismanagement of the Tribe’s Uncompahgre Reservation lands.” One complaint is filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and a second complaint is filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The first complaint is seeking significant monetary relief to, quote, “compensate the Tribe for the United States’ sale and use of its Uncompahgre Reservation lands.” In the second complaint the Tribe says they are seeking “quiet title to the lands of the Uncompahgre Reservation, among other things.” Both of the court cases are titled Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation v. United States of America. The Ute Tribal Business Committee stated, “The Ute Indian Tribe has had to bring these lawsuits against the United States because of its refusal to recognize the Tribe’s ongoing title and interest in the Uncompahgre Reservation lands currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management.” In the press release, the Tribe claims money owed for the Bureau of Land Management’s leasing and utilization of the Uncompahgre land, estimating that the BLM has received hundreds of millions of dollars from the lease of minerals and grazing on these lands.
