This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Skull Valley Band of Goshutes has elected new leaders with the help of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Lori Bear Skiby will be the small Tooele County tribe's chairwoman for the next four years.
A former vice chairwoman, she replaces her father, Lawrence Bear, who died last spring.
The new vice chairman is Garth Bear Jr. Kristen Bear Stewart will continue as secretary.
The Goshutes rely on this three-person executive committee to carry out day-to-day business.
All the adult Goshutes make up a tribal council, which sets the policy direction for the executive committee to implement.
It's unclear what the new leadership might mean for the Goshutes' plans to host a high-level nuclear-waste storage site on reservation lands. The project, licensed as part of a partnership with a consortium of nuclear-reactor companies called Private Fuel Storage, has been on hold for nearly five years partly because of roadblocks advocated by Utahns in Congress.
Skiby had nothing to add Monday about the elections or the executive committee's immediate plans.
"We've got a lot of work ahead of us," she said.
For the past two months, the BIA has conducted a mail-in election. Balloting ended Saturday.