Southern Paiute 

Consortium

Charley Bulletts, Director

H.C. 65 Box 2 

Fredonia, AZ 86022

(928)643-8313 E-mail: kptspai@scinternet.net

Established 1993

July 18, 2007
Traditional Lands of the Southern Paiute 

People

• “Southern Paiute were the first inhabitants of this region and 

are responsible for protecting and managing this land along 

with the water and all that is upon and within it.”

Consortium Means

• CONSORTIUM-1: an agreement, 

combination, or group formed to undertake 

an enterprise beyond the resources of any 

one member.2: ASSOCIATION, SOCIETY
In the Beginning 

Gloria Benson & Geneal Anderson

In the late 1980s and early 1990s the 

EIS for Glen Canyon Dam was being 

prepared; Southern Paiute tribes had 

to work hard to be included

Goal is more effective 

Government-to-Government 

interaction between the tribes, the 

BOR, and other federal agencies

3 Southern Paiute Tribes: Kaibab 

Band of Paiute, Paiute Indian Tribe 

of Utah (rep Shivwits Band), San 

Juan Southern Paiute sign PA

2 Southern Paiute Tribes: Kaibab 

Band of Paiute, Paiute Indian Tribe of 

Utah (rep Shivwits Band) form the 

Southern Paiute Consortium
• The basis for the Southern Paiute monitoring and 

education program and the results of its intial 

development and implementation are fully discussed 

in the report, (Past, Present, Future) Managing 

Southern Paiute Resources in the Colorado River 

Corridor (Stoffle, Austin, Fulfrost, Phillips and Drye 

1995)

• The results of each succeeding year’s activities are 

reported in annual reports to the BOR and NPS
Basis for SPC Program

• Translate general responsibility for caring 

for the traditional lands of the Southern 

Paiutes into ways of engaging with 

scientists, land managers, and others

• Ensure that its member tribes continue to 

have the information necessary for 

participating in decisions related to dam 

management 
Elder Participation
We all Work 
Approach

• The SPC monitors sites within the Colorado 

River Corridor that are both of particular cultural 

significance to Southern Paiutes and potentially 

impacted by the operations of the dam 

• The conditions at each site are evaluated in a 

holistic manner – plant communities and 

individual plants, beach and bank conditions, 

rock writing and artifacts from the past

• Specific methods used at individual sites include 

line transects and monitoring of plants in 

selected plots

• The data collected from all sites are compiled to 

provide an assessment of larger trends 
Monitoring Highlights from 2012

Interactions between the main channel and 

side canyons continue to be significant.

For example, South Canyon appears to have 

flooded since the 2011 high water. Instead of 

sand and silt deposits the SPC monitors 

found mixed sand and gravel in the bed of 

the canyon. 
More Findings...

Effect of Tamarisk Beetle at South Canyon 

Though most of the Marble Canyon area from Lees Ferry 

and down has been affected by the beetles, there are a 

couple of short reaches between Lees Ferry and South 

Canyon where the tamarisk is still healthy and apparently 

unaffected by the beetles.
The Nankoweap Creek bed 

continues to grow wider. A 

September 2009 flash flood 

resulted in completed loss of 

Transect 1. The SPC 

established a new transect n 

the creek bed to document 

recovery of plants in the 

lower creek bed.
There has been a general decline in all species except 

catclaw acacia (Acacia greggii) along the Kanab Creek 

transect, (beyond the high water zone) due to drought.

High water releases made water available to the 

vegetation near the river and was a significant benefit.

Upper portion of Kanab 

Creek, Transect 1

Lower portion of Kanab 

Creek, Transect 1, with 

dessicated prickly pear
Thanks