WELCOME TO WREQC

The Wind River Water Code of the Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes recognizes that the reservation's natural resources are all interconnected and that there are cultural,spiritual and economic values to the resources that should guide their use, management, and protection.

Intro

The Wind River Environmental Quality Commission (WREQC) is approximately eighteen years old with its birth year, 1985. Thereafter, the Joint Business Council (JBC), for the Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes, through their General Councils enacted the WREQC into the Wind River Indian Reservation's Law Enforcement Codes (WRLEC), for the Reservation in 1986, Chapter 18 of the WRLEC addresses the WREQC and its authority.

Protecting the natural resources of the Wind River Indian Reservation is, and has been, a way of life, and remains one of the major priorities of the Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes. The Tribes believe that the earth, water, and sky together sustain us as a people and that we are related to all the animals and other living things such as plants, trees, rocks, and soils. What effects all living things will also affect us. Therefore, our lives must revolve around and be dedicated to the protection of all the natural resources.

The Reservation is known to the Shoshone people as the Warm Valleys which is surrounded by the Wind River Mountain Range to the west, the Owl Creek Mountain Range to the north, and the Absaroka Mountains to the South. On the southwest and western boundaries of the Reservation is the Bridger-Teton National Forest, with the Shoshone National Forest to the northwest. One hundred and thirty miles [139 miles] northwest of the Reservation is the Greater Yellowstone National Park and Teton National Park. These parks bring thousands of visitors to Wyoming each year, which introduces many economic advantages the Tribes may pursue.