No Utah open season

VERNAL — Just who is to enforce the law on 2 million acres that checkerboard eastern Utah's Uintah, Duchesene and Wasatch counties is under review — but that doesn't mean the vast territory is a lawless zone open to hunters who want to roam the hills without a license.

Lt. Torrey Christophersen of the Division of Wildlife Resources says word is spreading erroneously that the area in the Book Cliffs and other exterior boundary lands of the Ute Reservation are void of any rule of law when it comes to hunting and fishing due to a ruling in recent hunting case.

"It's not going to be a no-man's land in the law enforcement arena," said Christophersen, DWR northeastern region law enforcement manager. "We are getting several calls from some people saying, 'We heard you can't do a thing, we are going hunting this fall.' ... That is absolutely not true."

Eight government entities, including the U.S. Attorney General's Office, are reviewing law enforcement options for the region because the Utah Court of Appeals has ruled the Ute Tribe has jurisdiction over the land.

Most of the land is currently under either U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management oversight. The management of big game and criminal jurisdiction over hunting and fishing violations has been handled by the Division of Wildlife Resources. However, the appellate ruling in Reber v. Utah gives the Ute Tribe, not the state of Utah, jurisdiction over wildlife law enforcement.

That's why DWR officials in the Uintah Basin want guidance from the U.S. Attorney General's Office on the best way to address the prosecution of non-Indians charged with hunting or fishing violations. Non-tribal members had previously gone to state court for prosecution, but they now appear to be headed to federal court, as is the case with those who belong to the tribe.

The jurisdictional status change came on the heels of a November 2005 appellate court ruling that determined the state had no authority to prosecute Rick Reber, 54, formerly of Lapoint, for hunting without a license and helping his son take a deer in the Book Cliffs in 2002.

Reber claimed his mixed-blood Uinta band heritage gave him the right to hunt and fish on Ute land. The Appeals Court made no finding on claims of Reber's heritage but did agree the alleged crime occurred within the exterior boundaries of the Ute Reservation.

Prosecutors with the Utah Attorney General's Office have appealed the ruling to the Utah Supreme Court. In the meantime, Christophersen said a decision must be made as to how and where crimes committed within the impacted areas will be prosecuted.