Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
SPRINGDALE, Washington County — A dustup over a trail-use agreement between the town of Springdale and the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah is underway as the tribe accuses the town of making false claims.
The town and tribe made a trail-use agreement in December 2021 to allow public access to Paiute-owned land above the George A. Barker River Park trail, which is also part of the Nung'wu Poa trail system. Under the agreement, the town was able to bypass what would have ordinarily required an application for an easement.
Recently, however, the tribe has been negotiating a memorandum of agreement with Springdale while seeking to put the trail in a trust with the federal government. The tribal trust process puts the legal title to lands in the federal government's possession while allowing a tribe to hold the beneficial interest — meaning the tribe gets to use the land without legally owning it, and receives a percentage of the proceeds if it is sold.
The dispute began after the tribe gave the town notice of its plan to put the land in a tribal trust, and the town appears to have requested that the tribe agree to follow the town's regulations in doing so. These regulations, Springdale...
Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes Springdale and the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah dispute an existing trail-use agreement. The tribe is seeking Tribal Trust status for land preservation, not commer...