State signs memorandum of understanding with Southern Ute Tribe

Special to the Press

MONTROSE — The Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Colorado Wildlife Commission, Gov. Bill Ritter and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) concerning wildlife management and enforcement in an area known as the Brunot area.

In 1874, Congress approved an agreement between the U.S. and certain Ute Indians in Colorado, known as the "Brunot Agreement." 

Under this agreement, the Utes ceded certain land to the U.S. but reserved a right to hunt on those lands for "so long as the game lasts and the Indians are at peace with the white people."

The Brunot Agreement covers land now known as the Brunot Area, which roughly extends from U.S. Highway 160 on the southern boundaries of Montrose and Gunnison counties on the north and from the middle of   Mineral County on the east to just west of Cortez.

Since 1972, the Tribe has refrained from exercising its rights in the Brunot area, but after a recent decision of the Southern Ute Indian Tribal Council, the tribe now plans to allow tribal members to exercise their rights under the Brunot Agreement.  Prior to exercising those rights, however, the tribe and the Division of Wildlife worked together to develop an MOU in recognition of the parties’ shared responsibility for the well-being and perpetuation of the wildlife resources and habitat of the area.

The tribe has managed and operated a professional wildlife management program on its reservation in southwest Colorado for a number of years and will adopt rules for hunting and fishing by tribal members within the Brunot area in a manner consistent with its existing practices.

There are currently 1,431 members of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. On average, some 225 members obtain deer or elk licenses annually for hunting on the Reservation. Importantly, the Brunot Agreement does not give members of the tribe any rights to hunt on private land in the Brunot area without first obtaining landowner permission, and hunting rights are not transferable to other hunters who do not belong to Ute tribes.

DOW staff will host several open house events to answer any questions concerning the Agreement. The open house event scheduled for Montrose is Oct. 21, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 1391 S. Townsend Ave.