Red Mountain Land Preservers & the News...

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09/01/26 Kayenta Connection News Update on the Fight to Stop the Reef/Black Desert Appropriation of Shivwits Land and Water for Golf Course and an Airport.  This article, published in the Kayenta Connection in September of 2026 and written by Patrician O'Rorke, sheds new light on the impact of Reef Capital Partners’ proposed golf courses and airport on the Shivwits reservation will have on residents. Recent events highlighting the dishonest tactics Reef and its affiliates are using to suppress the rights of Shivwits members who oppose them are also covered in the article. Information on the exploitation of water resources and the proposed airport is covered. From the Kayenta Connection: 

Reef is now claiming that its end run on state and county water conservation policies is insignificant because it will only use 2,000 acre-feet per year of water for its golf courses. Even assuming that Reef’s low estimate proves accurate, it is certainly not insignificant. 2,000 acre-feet is 651,702,000 gallons of water each year. Over 99 years, that is more than 65 billion gallons of water, enough to fill 98,000 Olympic swimming pools. 

We now have the site plan for the airport Reef wants to build for the ultra-high net worth tourists, golfers, celebrities and investors it hopes to attract. The site is the abandoned Apex plant site east of Bulldog Pass Road on the south side of Old Highway 91, about 3 1/2 miles west of Ivins by air. The terminal is 35,000 square feet—the same size as the terminal at St. George Regional Airport. The plan includes a 6,000-foot runway, fuel farm, 60 hangars, ground support vehicle area, emergency services and fire staging facility, and 300 passenger parking spaces. That is large enough to handle most business jets and some small airliners, with 25 to 75 takeoffs and 25 to 75 landings every day. Aeronautical and medical experts warn that the predictable noise, air pollution, and health problems caused by the airport shown in Reef’s site plan would be detrimental to the health and well-being of residents on and off the reservation. Issues related to the planned airport covered in the article include noise, air pollution, health problems, taxpayer expense, and property value decreases.  

Mark Echo Hawk, an attorney from Idaho, boasts on the website of his Pocatello law firm that he collaborated on Reef’s special interest legislation. He even traveled to Washington to help Reef’s lobbyist push a bill through Congress that would deprive his own clients of their right to vote. After Shivwits members voiced their objections, sent a delegation to Washington and managed to defeat that legislation, Mr. Echo Hawk and the incumbent band council members collaborating with Reef were quick to retaliate against them.

Banishment of the Elected Shivwits Chairperson. After orchestrating the illegal ouster of the elected Shivwits Chairperson, Phillip Bushhead, for objecting to Reef’s legislation and insisting on the Shivwits members’ right to vote. Mr. Echo Hawk and the band council members collaborating with Reef actually banished the elected Chairperson from attending any band meetings and prohibited him from setting foot on his own reservation, while installing a woman who was not even nominated, much less elected, to that position as an illegitimate “acting chair”. The Tribal Council has ruled that Mr. Bushhead’s removal was unconstitutional; it continues to recognize him as the only legitimate Chairperson of the Shivwits band.

Please link to the Connections Article for and to Just the Facts on this website for more details.  

07/17/26 Salt Lake Tribune:  The Colorado River’s 2 biggest reservoirs just hit a new record low

Total water stored in Lake Powell and Lake Mead drop to levels last seen before Lake Powell even existed. Combined storage at Lake Powell and Lake Mead hits record low   

From the SLT Article: "After a record dry and warm winter, Reclamation has been reducing flows out of Glen Canyon Dam and increasing releases out of Flaming Gorge to keep water at Lake Powell above what the agency has called “critical elevation levels.” Below 3,500 feet, the agency has documented damage to the infrastructure at the dam. Below 3,490 feet, the dam can no longer generate hydropower and Reclamation must send water through lower outlets that weren’t “intended to be operated” for long-term use." " Modifying the dam also won’t solve the “the math problem,” he said, which is that water consumption is exceeding supply in the basin. “It doesn’t generate one drop of additional water, and I don’t know what the cost will be, and I don’t even want to guess,” he added. The bigger picture, Balken said, is that the basin needs to figure out how to consume less water.

Website editor's note:  The article says, "water consumption" in the SW is "exceeding supply" and "we need to figure out how to consume less water." Great plan. One logical idea is to stop permitting water guzzling golf courses like the four Reef/Black Desert plans for the Shivwits Reservation. Instead, let's allow the Shivwits people to choose for themselves whether they want golf courses on their land and allow them to vote on whether they want to keep their own valuable water rights and sell the water at ever increasing prices for the century to come.   

06/16/26 Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Rep. Maloy accepted $30k in campaign donations from developer behind proposed Shivwits golf resort.  Critics question whether donations from a resort developer create a conflict as Congress considers legislation backed by Shivwits leaders. Celeste Maloy faces questions over donations from developer backing proposed Shivwits golf resort

"Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy is facing criticism over federal legislation she is sponsoring after a developer seeking to build a golf resort on the Shivwits Band of Paiute Reservation donated a total of $30,500 to her and a political action committee tied to the congresswoman. Critics say the developer stands to directly profit from the Shivwits Band of Paiutes Jurisdictional Clarity Act, which Maloy and U.S. Sen. John Curtis introduced in April 2025. Opponents question Maloy’s motivation, claiming the bill is tailored to benefit a non-Native developer at the expense of the Shivwits and their sovereignty.

 “Money flows from a major developer into a congressional campaign, and suddenly doors open in Washington,” Mary Snow, a Shivwits Band member leading the group opposing the resort, said in a text. “It forces me to ask the hard question: Who does this project really benefit?”   

"Hope Silvas, acting Shivwits Band Council Chair, previously told The Tribune that the Clarity Act is not specific to the resort proposal and that band leaders — not Reef Capital — are pushing for its passage to prevent legal uncertainty from scaring off developers or stalling development on the reservation. But the resort’s opponents contend otherwise, pointing to federal lobbying disclosures that show Reef Capital has paid Virginia-based lobbyist Thomas Brierton $180,000 over the past 13 months to lobby Utah’s congressional delegation to support the legislation. Snow and other critics insist the bill is unnecessary, noting that federal law already allows the band to grant legal jurisdiction if a majority of its members approve the change through a special election – a route Shivwits officials have refused to take thus far. They further argue the legislation would strip the Shivwits of their right to conduct a band-wide vote on the resort, forcing state jurisdiction upon them against their will and causing the band to lose control of its land and water rights.

05/18/26 Salt Lake Tribune: Shivwits golf resort proposal raises water concerns amid southern Utah drought; How much water would a massive golf resort use in drought-stricken southern Utah? Some resort opponents and water managers are raising concerns about whether the Shivwits Band of Paiutes have enough water to maintain multiple proposed golf courses.

Despite a record-low snowpack and an emergency drought declaration from Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Shivwits Band of Paiutes leaders say there is ample water on hand to move forward with a major golf resort in southern Utah. Opponents, though, argue the 1,250-acre resort proposed for reservation land west of St. George will soak up all or most of the band’s water rights and limit the Shivwits’ ability to pursue future development. The issue is a major point of contention dividing the pro-golf Shivwits leadership and the Red Mountain Land Preservers, a group opposed to the resort.

Lawrence Snow, a Shivwits member of the rapidly growing Red Mountain resistance group, said he fears the resort, if built, would consume too much of the tribe’s water and further a long history of corporate exploitation of Native Americans.  “It is a big land grab and water grab for a big corporation,” he said. “Under the long-term lease the Shivwits Band Council and Capitol Reef are discussing, our land and our water will be gone, and we will never get them back. This resort will tie up the future for our children and grandchildren.” 

 Washington County Water Conservancy District General Manager Zach Renstrom said that after news about the golf courses surfaced, Reef Capital approached the district about providing water beyond the limits outlined in the 2001 agreement. Black Desert managing partner Patrick Manning said, “I don’t believe [anyone] has been asked for ‘more’ water, just more efficient ways to utilize what already exists.” 

Website editor's note: Manning did not clarify how he both asked and did not ask Washington County Water Conservancy District about providing water beyond Shivwits water treaty limits for his four-golf course resort, situated in the corner of the Mojave Desert. 

 May 6th, 2026,26 Salt Lake Tribune: Letter: Reef Capital’s campaign contributions to Rep. Maloy point to tainted legislation affecting Shivwits lands; Reef Capital’s campaign contributions to Rep. Maloy point to tainted legislation affecting Shivwits lands

Concern regarding Rep. Celeste Maloy’s $5,000 contributions from oil and gas companies like Chevron (“U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy reports massive fundraising lead in race for Utah’s new 3rd District,” April 17) pale in comparison to the $50,500 in campaign contributions Reef Capital Partners appears to have paid Maloy to sponsor, support and ensure the passage of The Shivwits Band of Paiutes Jurisdictional Clarity Act (S. 1508 and H.R. 3073).C

Reef, which plans to build four golf courses, a luxury resort, and an airport on Shivwits Trust Lands near Ivins, is facing headwinds from the many Shivwits Band members who oppose the project.

Reef paid a lobbyist $180,000 for the sole job of promoting the act, which facilitates Reef’s development plans by mandating a transfer of Shivwits legal power and authority to the state of Utah and disallowing Shivwits members their federal right to vote on the issue (25 U.S.C. Section 1326). 

The amount, timing, and acceptance of Reef’s campaign contributions to Rep. Maloy raise considerable questions about her legislative impartiality. Federal election records show that Patrick Manning, Reef’s director of Black Desert Resort, paid $10,500 to “Team Celeste” two days after she orchestrated favorable testimony on the act to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

Reef promptly paid another $20,000 to “Celeste for Congress” and $20,000 more to the Republican National Campaign Committee (attributed to “Team Celeste”) a few days after Maloy ensured the passage of H.R. 3073 in the House of Representatives. The odor of potentially tainted political contributions can’t be avoided.

The clear beneficiary of the legislation isn’t the Shivwits people, but Reef Capital. Sen. John Curits should immediately withdraw his co-sponsorship from S. 1508, renounce his support for H.R. 3073, and work to kill this tainted, discriminatory, and unnecessary legislation in committee.  Eileen Geller, Ivins

 05/01/26 Salt Lake Tribune: Shivwits Band Council removes Phillip Bushhead as chair amid tensions over golf resort. Shivwits council ousts newly elected chair as tensions grow over planned golf resort: Shivwits chair vows to fight his removal and is appealing to tribal authorities. During his bid to become chair of the Shivwits Band Council, Phillip Bushhead ran on stopping a golf resort planned for the reservation and related congressional legislation that he argued would undermine the tribe’s sovereignty.

Bushhead’s tenure as chair may be short-lived. Less than a month after winning the March 26 special election, the 40-year-old Paiute leader said the Shivwits Band Council voted unanimously in a contentious, closed-door meeting Tuesday to remove him for alleged misconduct and bylaw violations."  Bushhead opposes the resort, calling it a desecration of sacred land and claims that many of the band’s members are opposed. Critiquing the legislation, he argues state jurisdiction would erode Shivwits self-governance, and he petitioned Curtis and Maloy to withdraw their support.  

Following the instructions in the letter he received from the council, Bushhead said he arrived at Tuesday’s hearing with three witnesses: his mother, Darla Bushhead, along with Rik’l Razo and Mary Snow. He stated they were there to testify on his behalf and film the proceedings.

Mary Snow, a Red Mountain resistance leader, reported that Silvas grew agitated upon seeing the three witnesses. Before the hearing began, she said Silvas told them to leave because it was a closed-door meeting, then called the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and directed arriving deputies to escort the trio from the hearing. “I told a deputy that I was a band member and this was a Shivwits building and I had a right to be there,” Snow recalled. “He said, ‘I’m here under the direction of the Band Council, and if you don’t leave you are going to be arrested for trespassing.’” After their removal, Bushhead said the meeting got more heated and he yelled at council members that they had no right to remove the witnesses."

Website editor's note 6.7.2026: Since this article appeared, Phil Bushhead confirmed that he did speak loudly to council members, but only after Hope Silvas called Sheriff's deputies to forcibly remove his mother, a tribal elder, from the room by roughly holding her arms behind her back as she cried out in pain. Mr. Bushhead did appeal his removal as chairman, and the Paiute Indian Tribue of Utah inquiry, after hearing extensive testimony, determined the Shivwits Band Council had wrongly removed Bushhead as the Shivwits Band Council Chairman. The Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, which has been composed of 5 Bands including the Shivwits since the late 1800s, continues to recognize Mr. Bushhead as the duly elected Shivwits Council Chair and representative of the Shivwits Band to the Paiute council rather than Hope Silvas who the rogue Council subsequently "elected" as chair in contravention of the Southern Paiute Constriction and Bylaws, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah's binding decision, and the majority vote of Band Members for Mr. Bushead as their leader. 

It is curious that the man whom Shivwits members voted to be their leader was elected on a platform of rooting out Band Council corruption regarding the Reef development and congressional legislation, was then ousted by the very same allegedly corrupt Band Council. Furthermore, the Shivwits Band Council has now attempted to unilaterally, with no vote of members or prior notification of the people, to withdraw the Band from the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, declaring itself to suddenly be its own tribe. Conveniently, this leaves the Band Council untethered to prior obligations of representative government every other Native American Tribe has and leaves the Shivwits people without the robust human rights and legal protections of the Southern Paiute Constitution or Bylaws. 

04/04/25 Salt Lake Tribune:  Paiute wins Shivwits chair post on anti-golf-course platform 

New Utah tribal leader vows to fight luxury golf resort and congressional action: “There is a lot of corruption happening right now,” he says, adding, “I can change the reservation for the better.”  As the Shivwits Band Council’s newly elected chair, Phillip Bushhead wants to put the brakes on a resort planned for the reservation and congressional legislation he says will harm the tribe’s sovereignty. The 40-year-old Bushhead was the victor over three other candidates in a March 26 special election to fill the post vacated by Tina Gonzales, who resigned in January after numerous grievances were lodged against her. When Bushhead is sworn in as the new chair at the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah headquarters in Cedar City on Monday, he said his focus will be bringing transparency to the Band Council’s financial dealings with outside developers. 

At issue is the Shivwits Band of Paiutes Jurisdictional Clarity Act. This proposed act, introduced as companion bills by Utah Sen. John Curtis and Rep. Celeste Maloy seeks to grant state courts jurisdiction over civil disputes that occur on the tribe’s trust lands, where the Shivwits Band is a party, and to authorize the band to lease its trust land for up to 99 years. Bushhead, who is half Paiute and half Oglala Sioux, sought the chair position on a platform promising to do what he could to put a stop to the proposed resort, which he characterized as a desecration of the band’s sacred lands. He also vowed to fight the legislation, asserting it would undermine the Shivwits’ right to self-governance by handing over legal jurisdiction to state courts.

Bushhead is also a member of the Red Mountain Land Preservers, a group that is opposing the project and has petitioned Curtis and Maloy to withdraw their support for congressional legislation. He and other group members contend the bills are not necessary because existing federal law already empowers the Shivwits to grant legal jurisdiction for the band’s trust land. This change requires only the consent of a majority of band members, which must be secured through a special election.

March 30, 2026, Salt Lake Tribune:   Voices: Maloy’s bill is a profound deprivation of Shivwits’ rights Voices: Celeste Maloy’s bill is a profound deprivation of the Shivwits’ rights: Maloy should pull her sponsorship and allow the Shivwits to decide for themselves whether to relinquish jurisdiction over their reservation to the State of Utah.

Confronted with mounting questions about her sponsorship of a bill that would transfer jurisdiction over the Shivwits Band of Utah Paiutes reservation to the State of Utah, Congresswoman Celeste Maloy appears confused as to what her legislation actually does. Maloy’s bill would impose a profound change on the Shivwits reservation without the vote of tribal members required by current federal law. The bill, HR3073, clearly mandates that “the State of Utah shall have jurisdiction” over any civil cause of action involving the Shivwits that arises anywhere on their reservation.

In her latest newsletter, Maloy claims that this mandatory language would somehow give the Shivwits people an “option to use state or federal courts.” Anyone who reads the bill can see that is either a bald-faced lie or Maloy has no idea what the bill she is sponsoring says. Instead of giving the Shivwits an “option to use state or federal courts,” HR3073 eliminates that option by forcibly transferring jurisdiction to the State without the Shivwits’ consent. This is no small matter — it is a profound deprivation of the Shivwits’ right to vote and retain jurisdiction over their trust land, rights guaranteed to all Native American tribes.

Freedom from state control is the most essential characteristic of an Indian reservation. The reason we have Indian reservations in the first place is to reserve what remains of a tribe’s ancestral land from state control and hold it in trust for the tribal members under the protections of Tribal and federal law. The decision to relinquish jurisdiction is so profound that it cannot be made by a tribe’s governing council, not even by unanimous vote. Federal law — 25 U.S.C. § 1322-1326 — establishes that a state can only acquire jurisdiction over tribal trust land through the consent of a majority of the tribal members in a special election held for that purpose.

If enacted into law, Maloy’s bill would eliminate that essential protection for the Shivwits. As a retired attorney with some experience reading statutes, it is difficult to understand how a congresswoman could not know the difference between “shall” and “may with the consent of the tribal members by majority vote.” Maloy’s constituents are questioning why she is sponsoring a special federal law to deprive the Shivwits of the right to vote that every other Native American tribe enjoys. All of southern Utah lies on what was once Paiute land.

Why deny the little 311-member Shivwits band the right to control what little remains of their ancestral land and water? If this is really as beneficial for the Shivwits people as Maloy claims, why can’t they vote on it like the members of every other Native American tribe can do? The answer is obvious. Although Maloy contends that HR3073 doesn’t “greenlight any particular project or development,” it is part and parcel of the plans of a private equity firm, Reef Capital Partners, to build its controversial Black Desert golf development in Ivins. Black Desert already has a 19-hole PGA golf course, but Reef Capital wants to build three additional courses, an airport and other facilities for its resort guests and PGA events. However, with 14 existing golf courses in a drought-stricken area, the county water district will not provide water for new courses. To circumvent the county’s restrictions, Reef Capital seems to have set its sights on the Shivwits’ land and water.

It seems Reef Capital wants a congressional guarantee of state jurisdiction to protect its own interests. But the Shivwits people have made it clear they don’t want Reef Capital’s golf development or state jurisdiction. They certainly don’t need them for economic development because, like other Native American tribes, they are already achieving economic development on their trust land without a sweeping waiver of jurisdiction. Maloy’s bill would be completely unnecessary if the Shivwits people wanted to waive jurisdiction. They could do that right now by majority vote. 

This bill would eliminate the Shivwits’ right to vote and forcibly transfer jurisdiction to the State whether the Shivwits want it or not. Reef Capital is paying a full-time lobbyist from Virginia to push HR3073 through Congress. Maloy claims she introduced HR3073 at the request of the band’s “leadership,” referring to a former band chairwoman who read legalistic testimony seemingly prepared by those lobbyists and lawyers. That chairwoman resigned after numerous grievances were filed against her; she has been barred from holding band office again for at least 10 years.

According to lobbyist’s disclosures, Reef Capital Partners is paying to push Maloy’s bill through Congress and transfer jurisdiction over the Shivwits reservation without a vote. The Shivwits are in the process of electing a new chairperson. Instead of waiting for that election, Maloy is rushing HR3073 to a floor vote before it can occur. Maloy should pull her sponsorship of HR3073 now, allow the Shivwits members to elect their new chairperson and let them decide for themselves by majority vote whether to relinquish jurisdiction over their reservation to the State of Utah. 

Website Editor's note: The Shivwits did elect a new chairperson, only to have him ousted by a renegade Band Council. And Maloy pushed the bill through to passage in the House of Representatives. That she received 50 k from Reef can't be a coincidence. 

March 26th, 2026, Salt Lake Tribune: Why a Utah golf resort and tribal sovereignty bill are dividing the Shivwits Band of Paiutes.  A proposed golf resort and a question of sovereignty divide the Shivwits Band; Resort opponents say proposed legislation puts developers’ interest ahead of tribal members. "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. 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." 

 December 2025 12/18/25, from the Salt Lake Tribune: Utah tribe’s resort plan with developer draws criticism over transparency A Utah tribe and major developer are planning a huge resort — but some tribal members say they’ve been kept in the dark; Resort opponents accuse tribe leaders, Black Desert Resort officials of lack of transparency.  “It feels spiritual and does something to one’s soul to see all those red colors and that magnificent Red Mountain,” Snow said. “When I was young, everyone on the reservation was taught you don’t go to the base of Red Mountain without permission because it is a spiritual place and that’s where the spirits go.”  

Snow, who is land resource manager for the Shivwits Band of Paiutes Reservation, and others are now seeing red over a planned joint venture between the band and Black Desert Resort to build a massive sports, tourism and retail complex on 1,250 acres of tribal land west of St. George. As announced in an October news release, Shivwits and resort officials will manage the enterprise that will include golf courses, a youth sports complex, a cultural museum, shopping, dining and a hotel and create 135 jobs. 

But tribal leaders have been reticent about revealing specifics about what the resort will include and the financial arrangement between the two groups. Angered by what they say is a lack of transparency and the prospect of hordes of tourists descending on the Red Mountain land and desecrating graves and other sacred sites, Snow and some other Shivwits have banded together to try and inform the public — and if possible, kill the deal.

November 21st, 2025: This article in the St. George News was soon after Shivwits Band Members found out about Reef's secret plan for developing their land.  Mary Snow and her father, land manager Lawrence Snow said, "All the people that were raised by their grandparents heard a story about this Red Mountain,” Snow said. “That you don’t go up there – it’s a spiritual place. That’s where the spirits go. And so no one’s been up there."   ‘It’s a spiritual place': Shivwits Band members oppose luxury resort development on reservation land | News | stgeorgeutah.com 

Website Editor's note: Please click on the above link. In addition to an excellent article, there is a poignant, powerful video of Shivwits Band members expressing the sacred nature of the land where Reef Capital/Black Desert plan to place the four luxury golf courses and resort.  

November 25th, 2025: The Salt Lake Tribune published an article entitled, "In water-strapped southern Utah, tighter limits may spell the end for new golf courses," with a Washington County water district spokesperson saying, "the region doesn’t have water to spare, "and that golf courses "do not produce an extraordinary amount of income relative to the extraordinary amount of water that they require." According to the article, "golf courses use hundreds of millions of gallons of water per year. According to data obtained by The Tribune in 2023, Sand Hollow Resort used over 290 million gallons of water in 2022.  Utah golf courses water use (in acre-feet) - Google Sheets While new technology has improved the industry’s water efficiency, it would be impossible for a golf course to ever use less than 9 million gallons per year in Utah."    Water-strapped southern Utah county's new policy likely to limit future golf courses