Ivins • Utah Sen. John Curtis has put a congressional bill on hold to investigate concerns raised by some Paiute band members who say the legislation would put the tribe’s sovereignty in jeopardy.

The legislation would allow the Shivwits Band of Paiutes to lease tribal land for up to 99 years and authorize state courts to handle certain disputes on reservation land — changes tribal leaders say would make it easier to pursue large-scale projects like a proposed golf resort west of St. George.

“Due to concerns raised with the senator and our office, we are exercising due diligence to ensure we consider the issues from all perspectives before moving forward with the Shivwits Band of Paiutes Jurisdictional Clarity Act,” a spokesperson for Curtis’ office said in an email.

Curtis’ decision follows a House vote on March 16 to approve H.R. 3073, a companion bill sponsored by Rep. Celeste Maloy. It also follows two petitions asking the two members of Congress to withdraw their support for the legislation.

“This is not something the Shivwits people want,” said Mary Snow, a leader of the Red Mountain Land Preservers, a group opposing the project that submitted one of the petitions.

What the bill would change

The legislation, according to Curtis and Maloy’s offices, would give state courts jurisdiction over civil cases or disputes that occur on the tribe’s trust lands where the Shivwits Band is a party. The act also authorizes the band to lease its trust land for up to 99 years, a significant change from current federal law which generally caps leases on tribal land at 25 years.

Shivwits leaders say the legislation would aid economic development, including a proposed joint venture announced in October with Reef Capital, the developer of Black Desert Resort, to build a large sports and retail complex on roughly 1,250 acres of reservation land west of St. George. Plans for the resort show three 18-hole golf courses, a practice course, as well as other sports fields and lodging.

Supporters of the project estimate the resort could net the 300-plus members of the federally recognized tribe as much as $149 million through leasing tribal land and water rights and create at least 135 jobs on the Shivwits Band of Paiutes Reservation.

If the Clarity Act is not passed, resort and legislation supporters argue, developers will be reluctant to enter into long-term contracts because of the uncertainty in current federal statute, which will limit the Shivwits’ ability to pursue economic development. The legislation, they add, is not specific to Reef Capital’s project.

“It simply clarifies that the band may, if it chooses, enter into leases of up to 99 years and may designate state or federal court jurisdiction in commercial contracts,” Hope Silvas, acting chair of the Shivwits Band Council, said via email.

A growing divide over the project

When the Shivwits resort was first announced, it seemed to spark little opposition. But with the rise of the Red Mountain Land Preservers, about 75 Shivwits and a few hundred supporters who say they oppose supplanting sacred land with golf courses, the reservation has become increasingly divided and the rhetoric is more heated, according to Snow.

About 100 group members and supporters from the wider community turned out for a March 7 meeting at the band’s recreation center to voice their disapproval of the resort and pending congressional legislation.

“I couldn’t sit by and stand silent while our heritage is on the auction block,” Snow said at the event. “I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing this for our children, for our grandchildren [and] for the elders who are sometimes pushed aside.”

Aided by more than $22,000 donations, Red Mountain members recently hired an attorney to help push back against the resort and the congressional bills.

Red Mountain members pointed to federal lobbying disclosures showing that Reef Capital paid Virginia lobbyist Thomas Brierton $144,000 over the past year to lobby Utah’s congressional delegation in support of the legislation.

A spokesperson for Curtis said the senator’s office spoke with Brierton, but was under the impression he was lobbying for the tribe, not Reef Capital. Mark Echo Hawk, tribal attorney for the Shivwits Band of Paiutes, said he doesn’t see a problem with Reef Capital’s involvement.

“I’ve seen a lot of folk that have just helped without hope of return,” he told The Tribune. “And so it doesn’t surprise me that any potential project developer would write a letter to a congressman or weigh in and say, ‘Hey, this could be good for Indian country.’”

Patricia O’Rorke, a retired attorney experienced in tribal law who is assisting resort opponents, said Reef Capital’s involvement is an effort to get around the Washington County Water Conservancy’s position not to supply water to any new golf courses.

Manning calls that assertion false. saying the county water district’s moratorium on supplying water to new golf courses is irrelevant because the water in question belongs to the Shivwits.

“It’s the Shivwits’ water,” he said, “and there’s no municipal or government entity that has the right to tell them whether they can build a golf course or not. They just can’t do that.”

Under a 2001 settlement, St. George and the Washington County Water Conservancy District must supply the band with 2,000 acre-feet of reuse water each year and up to 1,900 acre-feet of fresh water, which can be reduced in dry years.

O’Rorke said congressional action is not necessary because the Shivwits are already empowered under federal law to convey legal jurisdiction for the band’s trust land to the state of Utah. All that is required, she added, is for the majority of band members to consent to that change in a special election.

“The only reason for this bill is to eliminate the Shivwits’ right to vote and forcibly transfer jurisdiction to the state — whether the Shivwits want it or not — to further the interests of a non-Indian developer,” she said.

Band officials say there is no truth to such assertions. Patrick Manning, Black Desert’s managing partner echoed those comments, saying in a text that the “band has full authority over its legislative decisions” and that “Black Desert respects and supports the Band Council’s direction.”

Tribal leaders defend project

Snow and other opponents asked band leaders to disclose financial agreements between the Shivwits and Reef Capital. Silvas rebuffed that request in a Jan. 30 letter, citing “attorney-client privilege, closed-session protections and commercial confidentiality,” among other things.

Silvas said Shivwits leaders have worked to keep band members informed. She noted the land in question was set aside for a major economic development project 14 years ago, long before Black Desert entered the picture.

Lawrence Snow, land resource manager for the reservation, said the footprint of the land reserved for economic development years ago was much smaller than the current proposal.

Silvas noted that a survey was distributed to every band member, along with the multiple town halls and community meetings Shivwits leaders hosted. She said they showed the majority of the band supported moving forward with the resort project.

Opponents have asked the council to hold a band-wide vote on the project, according to Mary Snow. But Silvas balked at the idea.

“The Shivwits Band of Paiutes is a sovereign tribal nation,” Silvas stated in an email. “The Band Council is the duly elected governing body of our people, and how we engage our membership and make decisions on their behalf is a matter of internal tribal governance. It is not subject to direction from outside parties.”