February 02, 2026
The D.C. Circuit got a lesson in tribal history dating back to the 19th century as lawyers for the federal government and a Native American tribe argued Monday whether a congressional act gives the tribe compensable title to 1.5 million acres of Utah land where an oilfield lies.
February 13, 2025
A District of Columbia federal judge refused to hand over ownership of federally managed land in a Utah reservation to a Utah tribe, ruling Thursday that the tribe wasn't entitled to ownership.
December 16, 2024
The federal government and the legal team representing the Ute Indian Tribe clashed over the interpretation of two 19th-century laws during a hearing in Washington, D.C., federal court Monday, as the tribe seeks to restore lands within its Utah reservation to trust status.
April 30, 2024
Efforts by a Utah tribe to restore public lands to a trust status that would prevent federal officials from illegally accessing the property are based on a false premise, the United States said, arguing that two 19th century laws support its bid to dismiss the case.
August 19, 2022
The U.S. government need not face an allegation that it trespassed on land belonging to the Ute Indian Tribe and exploited the natural resources there, a D.C. federal judge has ruled, finding that the Utah tribe should have tried blocking that practice decades ago.
March 01, 2022
A Native American tribe in Utah told a D.C. federal judge that the federal government's attempt to bring up a new argument comes too late in its response to a tribal lawsuit alleging that the government is trespassing on the tribe's land and mismanaging its water resources.
February 03, 2022
The federal government has urged a D.C. federal court to reconsider a decision in December to keep the Ute Indian Tribe's trespass claim intact in a lawsuit alleging the government mismanaged tribal land.
December 16, 2021
A D.C. federal judge has trimmed a Utah tribe's complaint against the federal government for allegedly mismanaging the tribe's land, while allowing the tribe to seek declaratory and injunctive relief for ongoing trespass.
March 14, 2019
The U.S. Department of the Interior urged a D.C. federal court to trim claims from a Utah tribe's suit alleging mismanagement of a portion of the tribe's land known as the Uncompahgre Reservation, saying the majority of the claims are barred by a 2012 settlement.