** Indigenous groups protesting border wall in Arizona clash with federal agents
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Thursday, September 24, 2020
President Trump visit a new section of border wall in Arizona in June, 2020. CBP photo by Jerry Glaser ([link removed]) .
On Monday, a demonstration led by indigenous O’odham women ([link removed]) temporarily halted the machinery erecting the Trump administration's 30-foot wall through the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona, an area they consider sacred and part of their ancestral homelands ([link removed]) .
Officials with U.S. Border Patrol and the National Park Service repeatedly ordered the protesters to move. In a confrontation caught on camera ([link removed]) , armed federal agents knocked the protesters to the ground, yanked them apart, and drew stun guns when they refused to move.
Laiken Jordahl, an organizer who works on border issues for the Center for Biological Diversity, said of the confrontation ([link removed]) , "I would call it an uprising. This administration has given Indigenous people no choice but to take direct action to make their voices heard because they’ve been silenced in every other way.”
Tribal opposition to the construction of the border wall through Organ Pipe has been known for some time. Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris Jr. said in 2019 ([link removed]) , “We’ve historically lived in this area from time immemorial. We feel very strongly that this particular wall will desecrate this area forever. I would compare it to building a wall over your parents’ graveyards. It would have the same effect.”
** Storymap: Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan
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The sixth installation of the Center for Western Priorities' ongoing “Road to 30” series ([link removed]) highlighting the vision of protecting 30 percent of our land and water by 2030 explores the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) ([link removed]) , a landmark effort to conserve the iconic California desert and focus renewable energy development in suitable areas—a consensus plan that the Trump administration may soon roll back.
Quick hits
** Despite previous losses, Trump's anti-environment deregulatory agenda buoyed by Supreme Court fight
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New York Times ([link removed])
** Popular hiking trails in Zion National Park desecrated by unprecedented amount of graffiti
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St. George News ([link removed])
** Pebble Mine executive resigns after being caught on tape bragging about influencing state, federal officials
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Washington Post ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
** Opinion: Oil and gas leasing in Utah threatens the state's economy
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Deseret News ([link removed])
** Before filing for bankruptcy, company spent $10 million to influence Colorado oil and gas regulations
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Wall Street Journal ([link removed])
** Indigenous groups clash with federal agents protesting border wall in Arizona
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Washington Post ([link removed])
** Story map exploring the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan for the California Desert
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Westwise ([link removed])
** Opinion: William Perry Pendley is not fit to lead the BLM
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Arizona Capitol Times ([link removed])
Quote of the day
As a veteran, my connection to our public lands has only grown deeper. I believe it is a patriotic duty to protect America’s outdoors, especially now when families are turning to our parks for solace. I want to ensure that this appreciation of our natural resources extends into future generations, but for that to happen we need responsible leadership. The Trump administration withdrew their nomination because it was impossible to ignore that Pendley’s bigotry and extreme record on public lands make him unfit to lead the BLM. Now, the administration must end this charade and remove Pendley entirely, once and for all."
—Mark Cardenas ([link removed]) , HECHO Advisory Board Member, former Arizona state representative, and Iraq War Army veteran
Picture this
** @USFWSHistory ([link removed])
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This Day in Environmental History: September 21, 2012 Valle de Oro NWR, NM established. A former dairy farm outside Albuquerque, it is the Southwest’s first urban wildlife refuge, serving as an oasis for both wildlife and people.
Photo: Sandhill cranes by Anthony Temer/USFWS.
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