Biden has the opportunity to make conservation history, including by designating more Indigenous spiritual and cultural sites as national monuments

Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Biden admin apologizes for Indian boarding schools, but there's more to do
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Monday, October 28, 2024
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland speaking at the Gila River Indian Community, @SecDebHaaland via X ([link removed]) .

Last week during a visit to the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, President Joe Biden offered a formal apology ([link removed]) for atrocities committed at Indian boarding schools from the early 1800s to the 1970s. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who joined President Biden at the event in Arizona, said ([link removed]) , "We all carry the trauma that these policies and these places inflicted. This is the first time in history that a United States Cabinet secretary has shared the traumas of our past, and I acknowledge that this trauma was perpetrated by the agency that I now lead."

Earlier in his term, President Biden designated new national monuments of spiritual and cultural importance to Tribes in the West using his authority under the Antiquities Act ([link removed]) . Avi Kwa Ame National Monument and Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni-Ancenstral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument were both designated in 2023. The Bears Ears National Monument draft management plan ([link removed]) , released in 2024, is historic in its inclusion of Tribal co-management of the monument.

Indigenous communities across the West have called on President Biden to protect additional areas of spiritual and cultural importance as national monuments. Examples include the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument ([link removed]) in California, Sáttítla Medicine Lake Highlands ([link removed]) in California, and the proposed Kw'tsán National Monument ([link removed]) in California. In the remaining days of his presidency, President Biden has the opportunity to make conservation history ([link removed]) while continuing to make progress on addressing historical injustices to Indigenous communities.


** Quick hits
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Biden offers 'long-overdue' apology for Indian boarding school atrocities

CBS News ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed]) | NBC News ([link removed]) | The Hill ([link removed])

Handful of states join Utah's fringe lawsuit to take over national public lands

WyoFile ([link removed]) | Utah News Dispatch ([link removed]) | Cowboy State Daily ([link removed])

Opinion: The White Mesa Mill is a dumping ground on my ancestral lands. I’m asking the people of Utah for help

Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])

A rural Arizona community may soon have a state government fix for its drying wells

Inside Climate News ([link removed])

On Navajo Nation, a push to electrify more homes

Associated Press ([link removed])

Forest Service halts prescribed burns in California. Is it worth the risk?

KQED ([link removed])

Lahontan cutthroat trout were once wiped from Lake Tahoe. Scientists have them spawning again

Nevada Independent ([link removed])

National park’s 25th anniversary is a milestone for Colorado conservation, compromise

Denver Post ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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” The transfer of public lands from federal to state governments is the pathway to streamlined privatization.”

—Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Cowboy State Daily ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@usinterior ([link removed])
The rippled dunes at @whitesandsnps ([link removed]) constantly shift and change, creating a unique and mesmerizing environment. The brilliant white gypsum sands make a surreal and breathtaking setting, especially at sunrise and sunset, when the light reflects off the dunes, painting the landscape in warm hues.

Photo by Raghuveer Makala

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