17-532, 587 U.S. 329 (2019), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that Wyoming's statehood did not void the Crow Tribe's right to hunt on "unoccupied lands of the United States" under an 1868 treaty, and that the Bighorn National Forest did not automatically become "occupied" when the forest was created.
Wyoming officials cited Herrera and his companions for hunting out of season, a violation of state law.
[4][5] Herrera's two companions both pleaded guilty to the poaching charges and paid the fines that Wyoming imposed.
[4] Wyoming disagreed, arguing that Herrera's claim had been invalidated by the Supreme Court 120 years prior, in Ward v. Race Horse.
[6] The Supreme Court accepted the case to answer the question:[3] Did Wyoming's admission to the Union or the establishment of the Bighorn National Forest abrogate the Crow Tribe of Indians' 1868 federal treaty right to hunt on the "unoccupied lands of the United States," thereby permitting the present-day conviction of a Crow member who engaged in subsistence hunting for his family?In a 5 to 4 decision, the split Court ruled that Wyoming's admission did not abrogate the Indians' rights.