Department of Natural Resources

In 2005 Tribal Council exercised its rights to self-determination and self-governance and adopted the Pueblo’s first-ever Wildlife Conservation Code to ensure the persistence of traditionally important wildlife for current and future generations. Adoption of the Wildlife Conservation Code represented a policy shift that demonstrated the Tribal Community’s desire to develop codes and ordinances to help manage, protect, and regulate its natural, cultural, and environmental resources.

Tribal Council authorized the creation of a new enforcement division, the Conservation Enforcement Division within the Santa Ana Department of Natural Resources to develop the Pueblo’s capacity to enforce existing and future natural, cultural, livestock and environmental codes and ordinances.  Conservation Officers are responsible for protecting and promoting the Pueblo’s natural and environmental resources.

In 2013 the Pueblo hired a Conservation Enforcement Division Manager to oversee and develop the Pueblo’s Conservation Enforcement Division.  Currently the Division consists of a manager and three full time certified Conservation Officers.  The Officers patrol the Pueblo’s 140,000 acres on a daily basis, investigating criminal activity and managing the wildlife.