D.C. Circuit Rejects Ute Tribe Claim to 1.5 Million Utah Acres

A three-judge D.C. Circuit panel denied the Ute Indian Tribe’s request to restore ownership of 1.5 million acres in northeastern Utah, finding the land ineligible under the Indian Reorganization Act.

On Friday, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit affirmed the Interior Department’s refusal to restore 1.5 million acres of public domain land in the Uncompahgre Reservation to the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation. Writing for the court, Judge Gregory Katsas, a Trump appointee, interpreted the 1880 Act as conferring compensable title only to lands within the original Colorado reservation, not to the Utah parcel in question.

He highlighted statutory language that earmarked proceeds from sales of unallotted lands for the benefit of Indians, noting that none of those lands were in Utah. The decision aligns with a 1971 Supreme Court ruling that limited tribal ownership to lands specified in an 1868 treaty. Earlier, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, also a Trump appointee, had granted summary judgment to the government, concluding the tribe lacked a compensable claim.

The court rejected the tribe’s argument that the 1880 Act created a “replacement reservation,” emphasizing that the act actually allocated individual parcels and terminated broader tribal ownership. The panel’s decision was joined by Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan and Senior Judge Judith Rogers. The tribe has not yet issued a statement.