18-1-102. LACK OF ADEQUATE LAND USE REGULATIONS.

The Rosebud Reservation, tribally-owned trust lands and allotted trust lands owned by enrolled tribal members lie within Todd, Tripp, Mellette, Gregory and Lyman Counties, South Dakota. Todd County, in which the majority of the Reservation lies, has no land use regulations of any kind. The remaining four counties are similarly without any land use regulations.

The Reservation is checkerboard with both trust land and nontrust land and within the historical boundaries of the Rosebud Reservation are substantial populations of both Indians and non-Indians. The Reservation was established as an agricultural reservation for farming and ranching purposes to provide a permanent homeland for the Tribe. Since establishment of the Reservation by the Treaty, the Tribe has maintained the essential character of the entire Reservation; however, as additional residential, commercial, governmental and agricultural activities multiply, the need for adequate land use controls grows ever more serious. Tribal land and tribal members are the most precious assets of the tribe. The Reservation is too valuable a tribal resource to be damaged by uncontrolled development and use of land with their attendant problems.

The Council finds that such uncontrolled use of land has a demonstrably serious impact which imperils the economic security, health, welfare and general well-being of the Tribe, its members, and all residents of the Reservation, resulting in:

1. Gradual loss of the essential character of the Reservation,
2. Destruction of the historical and cultural values and traditions of the Tribe,
3. Deterioration of the aesthetics of the Reservation,
4. Increased transportation problems,
5. Increased inability of the infrastructure of the Reservation to provide governmental services for the population,
6. Increased air, water and solid waste disposal pollution;
7. An adverse affect upon the Reservation school system,
8. Increased contamination of drinking water from the Ogallala Aquifer and surface water supplies, and
9. Deterioration of the standards of living, quality of life, welfare and well-being of all Reservation residents, whether tribal members or not.