GREEN RIVER - The Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes are requesting that about 56,000 acres of excess federal lands within their Wind River Reservation be transferred back to the tribes as required by the federal excess property laws.

The area, known as Muddy Ridge, has a long history.

In 1903, the tribes ceded approximately 112,000 acres within the Muddy Ridge area of the reservation, at a price of about $1.50 per acre, according to interviews with tribal officials and federal documents.

The land is located about 10 miles north of Riverton along Muddy Ridge and includes Muddy Creek and Five Mile Creek.

In 1918, the Bureau of Reclamation (BuRec) withdrew much of the land for irrigation purposes. The government began a three-phase irrigation project that included the construction of irrigation canals within what is called the Riverton Unit in the Midvale area.

In the 1960s, farmers in the Midvale area began grazing on the acreage and established the Midvale Grazing Association. The association has about 30 members that currently graze on the acreage.

In 1975, Congress enacted a law that states that excess federal land within a reservation shall be transferred in trust for the tribe. The act is not discretionary and was enacted to enhance economic benefits to the tribes.

In 1976, as part of the new Federal Land Policy Management ACT (FLPMA) requirements, the BuRec began a review of withdrawn lands, including the acreage within Muddy Ridge, to determine the land's use and status.

In 1990, the BuRec completed the review of the withdrawn lands in the Riverton Unit and identified approximately 56,296 acres of land surplus to the agency's needs within the unit.

The agency determined the acreage no longer meets the purposes for which they were withdrawn, irrigation, and are being used instead for grazing purposes.

The BuRec, in accordance with the FLPMA, then submits a report reviewing the withdrawn lands to the Bureau of Land Management to implement the relinquishment of the lands no longer required by BuRec.

In October 1993, the BuRec's Commissioner of Reclamation Dan Beard sent a memorandum to the director of the BLM recommending the excess lands within the Riverton Unit be returned to public domain, and in conjunction with the termination, the lands be transferred to the tribes.

BuRec, BLM, tribal representatives and the Bureau of Indian Affairs began meeting in 2000 to discuss options for returning the lands to the tribes.

The lands are also addressed in ongoing discussions on the Wind River Water Rights Implementation program between the Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes, the state of Wyoming and the Department of the Interior.

In the meantime, the BuRec continues to administer the lands until the lands are transferred from their jurisdiction.