Gov. Jared Polis signed Colorado Senate Bill 24-193, a bill that preserves tribal governments’ oversight of land annexations within exterior reservation boundaries, into law on Thursday.
“With SB24-193, we are sending a clear message: collaboration thrives when we honor treaties and respect Tribal sovereignty,” Southern Ute Tribal Chairman Melvin Baker said in a written statement to The Durango Herald on Friday.
Since the bill passed unanimously in the state Senate in April and the House of Representatives in May, tension between the city of Durango and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe have only grown more taut.
The tension stems from conflicting statements from the tribe and the city about each government’s stance and actions on the annexation of private land in the La Posta area, which extends into the exterior boundaries of tribal lands.
But on Friday morning, Durango Mayor Jessika Buell said she is focused on looking forward.
“I’m just hopeful that now that this is done, we can move forward and hopefully get on the same page with everybody,” she said.
The governor’s office had been tight-lipped on whether Polis would sign the legislation. Last week, a spokesperson for the governor’s office only said Polis was reviewing the bill.
Buell said she and other city officials expected Polis to sign the legislation, which renders any annexation of lands within the exterior boundaries of a federally recognized Indian tribe’s reservation into a Colorado town or city moot without that Tribal Council’s or governing body’s approval.
Despite a hostile back and forth between the city and the tribe, Buell said she would have likely supported the legislation. But she wishes the tribe had consulted with the city before vilifying city officials before the Legislature.
City Council’s policy on legislation is it must hear both sides for and against a bill before adopting an official stance on it.
“This Bill should have been unnecessary,” Baker said. “The time for a local government to attempt to exercise jurisdiction over Reservation lands without the Tribe’s consent should have long passed. But now is the time to look to the future.”
He said annexation is unnecessary for economic development; the tribe is a good neighbor and strong contributor to the community, he added.
“In looking at the relationship with the City of Durango, it is ultimately in the City’s court,” he said. “We had agreed to meet and proposed dates, but the City declined. We are happy to talk to landowners in the La Posta area about opportunities to work together.
SUIT officials lobbied the Colorado Legislature to pass the bill, which officials say reaffirms federal legislation and historic treaties preserving tribal oversight of land annexations within tribal boundaries.
Southern Ute Indian Tribal Council Vice Chairman Lorelei Cloud argued to the Colorado Senate Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs on April 17 the legislation is needed.
She cited the city’s interest in the La Posta area south of Durango and described the city’s interactions with private landowners about annexing their properties into the city as “jeopardizing our progress to reinforce our boundaries, jurisdiction and culture.”
Records obtained by the tribe through open records requests revealed the city has petitioned landowners to annex their properties into city limits with the promise the move would raise their property values, she said.
The Southern Ute Drum, the official biweekly community newspaper of the tribe, published an excoriating front-page article on May 17 titled “Durango’s secret efforts to annex Reservation lands,” in which a staff reporter included screenshots of city communications that allegedly demonstrate the city approached private land owners about annexation, not the other way around.
The article described the city’s actions as an “attack” on the tribe.
City officials have since called the tribe’s recounting of the city and the La Posta area project a misrepresentation of the city’s intentions and actions, itself being an “attack” on the city.
Councilor Melissa Youssef said last week the city did not initiate annexation talks with private property owners and the city is not trying to take tribal land.
City Attorney Mark Morgan said the city documents obtained by the Drum through records requests are examples of the standard process the city employs when exploring annexation with landowners who have inquired with the city.
He said SUIT was provided updates about the city’s conversations with interested landowners routinely “through email, quarterly staff meetings, and quarterly joint council meetings,” which City Council canceled in April after the tribe’s testimony to the Legislature.
Morgan also responded to the Drum article with an opinion piece titled “Sovereignty or profit, it’s ‘complicated,’” published May 26 in the Herald. In the column, Morgan insinuates the tribe’s “vilification” of the city is itself a veiled attempt to promote renewed focus on development in Three Springs, for which the tribe has a financial interest.
cburney@durangoherald.com
