• Home
  • About Off The Grid
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Survival
  • Gardening
  • Food
  • Worldview
  • Health
  • Privacy
  • Hunting
  • Defense
  • Financial
  • News
  • Misc
No Result
View All Result
  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Survival
  • Gardening
  • Food
  • Worldview
  • Health
  • Privacy
  • Hunting
  • Defense
  • Financial
  • News
  • Misc
No Result
View All Result
Off The Grid News
Home Current Events

EPA Moves 3 Wyoming Towns Into Indian Reservation, Redraws State’s Boundaries

by Off The Grid News Staff
in Current Events
Print Print
riverton indian tribe epa
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on TruthEmail Article
riverton indian tribe epa
Riverton, Wyoming.

Residents of Riverton, Wyoming, will soon live in the Wind River Indian Reservation and not in the state of Wyoming if a controversial decision by the Environmental Protection Agency is upheld.

Wyoming officials are upset because they say the EPA arbitrarily redrew the Reservation’s boundaries to include Riverton — a city of 10,000 people — and two other towns in mid-December. All total, the federal government transferred 1 million acres of land, without Congress even having a say. A century ago, Congress said the land was not Native American land.

“My deep concern is about an administrative agency of the federal government altering a state’s boundary and going against over 100 years of history and law,” Wyoming Governor Matt Mead said of the EPA’s decision. “This should be a concern to all citizens because, if the EPA can unilaterally take land away from a state, where will it stop?”

Mead also said, “It is outrageous to me that a regulatory agency has proposed changing jurisdictional boundaries established by history and the Courts.”

Wyoming is challenging the government’s action in court.

The EPA’s action began as a routine request for federal funds to monitor air quality on the reservation. The Clean Air Act gives reservation governments the right to monitor air quality. The EPA granted the request but ruled that the reservation’s boundaries include Riverton and the small towns of Kinnear and Pavillion.

No Longer in the State of Wyoming

All three communities were originally within the boundaries of the Wind River Reservation when it was set up in 1868. Congress changed the reservation’s boundaries in 1905 to open the region of central Wyoming up for homesteading. The Northern Arapaho and Shoshone tribes that live on the reservation challenged the action in federal court but lost.

The True Christian Heritage and Christian Ideals That Are Woven Into The Very Fabric Of The Constitution…

The EPA effectively overruled Congress and the federal courts by making a decision about the reservation’s boundaries, Mead and Wyoming Attorney General Peter K. Michael contend. If the EPA’s decision stands, the state of Wyoming will no longer have any authority over Riverton and the other towns. That means state law will no longer be in effect there and the state can longer collect taxes in the area.

This also means that the legal status of the citizens of Riverton is unclear. A letter from the Northern Arapaho Business Council to the Mayor of Riverton suggests that Riverton police officers be deputized as tribal police and that prisoners in the local jail be transferred to tribal custody.

“There are at least two valuable federal tax incentives available to enterprises within Indian country,” the letter noted. It also suggested that taxes will go down in Riverton because of the decision. “The EPA decision should now allow Riverton businesses to use accelerated property depreciation schedules and to obtain employment payroll tax credits through the IRS.”

State and Local Officials Caught by Surprise

Attorney General Michael has filed a petition of reconsideration asking federal courts to overturn the EPA’s action. The petition contains 22,000 pages of supporting evidence.

Critics are accusing the EPA and the tribal government of staging a blatant land grab. They also allege that the agency made no effort to alert anybody in Wyoming to the pending action.

“The EPA did not meet with the governor and did not give us a heads up that this decision was coming,” Renny MacKay, Mead’s spokesman, told NewsMax.

“We did not know anything until we read about it in the news and started getting calls from the media for comment,” Riverton city administrator Steven Weaver said.

Riverton released its own statement:

To date, all court rulings have agreed that the City of Riverton is not on the Wind River Reservation and is not Indian Country. There has been no legal change of status regarding criminal law or civil law in Riverton.  Tax rates and collection methods remain the same, court jurisdictions remain the same, and police authority remains the same throughout Riverton.  Future changes in legal status will only be recognized when issued by a legal court authority with the proper jurisdiction to rule on such matters.

Legal Ramifications Unclear

The legal ramifications of the EPA’s decision could be immense, because Indian reservations are not considered part of a state. Instead, they are under the jurisdiction of tribal governments and federal law. That is why reservations can have legalized gambling even in states where casinos are illegal.

Sign up for Off The Grid News’ weekly email and stay informed about the issues important to you

ShareTweetShareSend

Related Posts

How U.S. Tariffs Reshape China’s Top 20 Raw Supplement Imports

How U.S. Tariffs Reshape China’s Top 20 Raw Supplement Imports

by Bill Heid

The U.S.-China trade war has escalated to a critical phase in 2025, with tariffs on Chinese imports reaching unprecedented levels,...

Doomsday Dominoes: What Happens When Nukes Are Launched In India Or Pakistan

Doomsday Dominoes: What Happens When Nukes Are Launched In India Or Pakistan

by Bill Heid

Health, Environmental, and Economic Impacts of a Nuclear War Between India and Pakistan The specter of nuclear conflict remains one...

The Long…  Bloody History of India and Pakistan’s Endless Conflict

The Long… Bloody History of India and Pakistan’s Endless Conflict

by Bill Heid

A Nation Born in Bloodshed The roots of the ongoing hostility between India and Pakistan officially stretch back to 1947,...

Next Post
grape seed extract cancer

How All-Natural Grape Extract Can Beat Cancer

Please login to join discussion

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

7 Must-Have Pistols If You Want Cheap Ammo

7 Must-Have Pistols If You Want Cheap Ammo

The Simple All-Natural Way To Boost Your Livestock’s Immunity

The Simple All-Natural Way To Keep Your Livestock From Ever Getting Sick

How To Make A Deep Water Culture (DWC) System with Matt the Grower

TRENDING STORIES

  • bubonic plague

    Is Another Bubonic Plague Pandemic On The Horizon?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Waco Fertilizer Plant Explosion & A Look Back On The “Waco Massacre”

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Make Yourself 3 Times More Likely To Survive A Heart Attack

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • AI Surveillance Of Shoppers: Walmart’s Newest Tool To Grab Your Data

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Apocalyptic’ Microchip Implants Are Here – And Being Inserted Into People’s Hands

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Subscribe to our Insider Newsletter

Huge discounts on off-the-grid gear and life saving supplements.






‘Off The Grid News’ is an independent, weekly email newsletter and website that is crammed full of practical information on living and surviving off the grid. Advice you’ll never hear from the mainstream media.

  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Extreme Survival
  • Survival Gardening
  • Off-Grid Foods
  • Worldview
  • Natural Health
  • Survival Hunting
  • Privacy
  • Financial
  • Current Events
  • Self Defense
  • Home Defense
  • Pain-Free Living
  • Miscellaneous
  • Off Grid Videos

© Copyright 2025 Off The Grid News.  All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Survival
  • Gardening
  • Food
  • Worldview
  • Health
  • Privacy
  • Hunting
  • Defense
  • Financial
  • News
  • Misc
  • Videos

© Copyright 2025 Off The Grid News.  All Rights Reserved.