** Dams and helium are the latest threats to Navajo land and water
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Monday, May 17, 2021
Little Colorado River, Bureau of Reclamation ([link removed])

Northern Arizona is turning into the next battleground over fracking, as companies drill for helium, not oil. The Arizona Republic reports ([link removed]) that some of the highest concentrations of helium in North America exist on the Navajo Nation, where the tribal members struggle with the legacy of toxic uranium and coal mining over the last century.

Residents on and off the Nation are raising alarms over a lack of information as extraction companies begin to use hydraulic fracturing to extract helium trapped 2,000 feet or more underground. One fracking company out of Texas, Ranger Development, left trash and incomplete fencing on one well site, which local residents had to clean up in order to protect their cattle. Ranger told the Republic ([link removed]) it's not required to communicate with permittees who have concerns over its fracking operations.

Also on the Navajo Nation, a company is attempting to build multiple dams ([link removed]) on a canyon that feeds the Little Colorado River to store water for pumped hydro energy storage. Washington Post columnist David Von Drehle called it a "rapacious project ([link removed]) " while noting the area is a "popular target for exploitation" because of its location just outside of Grand Canyon National Park.


** Adopted wild horses sent to slaughter
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A New York Times investigation found that a Trump administration program that paid people to adopt wild horses from the Bureau of Land Management has instead led to truckloads of horses being sold for slaughter ([link removed]) . The program required adopters to promise not to resell the horses, but the agency now says it has no authority to enforce those agreements, and people who adopt then dump the mustangs are free to do it again—getting paid multiple times to temporarily house then slaughter horses.
Quick hits


** Utah county paid $483,000 to group leading disinformation campaign against Biden conservation plan
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])


** Editorial: Now that "vampire" Gila River project is dead, the river deserves permanent protection
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Santa Fe New Mexican ([link removed])


** Letter: Here's why ranchers are supporting 30x30
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Vail Daily ([link removed])


** Early wildfire season on the way for drought-stricken Nevada and California
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Associated Press ([link removed]) | Mother Jones ([link removed])


** Colorado coal country looks for "the next thing" as mining companies leave town
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Denver Post ([link removed])


** Opinions: Biden jobs plan is a chance to reimagine nature as infrastructure; Antiquities Act is key to helping rural economies
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The Hill ([link removed]) | Las Cruces Sun-News ([link removed])


** Navajo members, Arizona residents want details about helium fracking plans
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Arizona Republic ([link removed])


** Viral golfer, facing possible jail time, tells people to not hit golf balls inside national parks
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KULR ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Part of the advantage of being a developer who puts forth proposals like these is that it’s possible to suffer multiple defeats, lick one’s wounds, replenish one’s war chest, and return to fight again in a cycle that can continue pretty much indefinitely. Conservationists, on the other hand, need only lose once, at which point whatever they’ve been fighting to protect is either irreparably harmed . . . or vanishes forever.”
—Kevin Fedarko, The Washington Post ([link removed])
Picture this


** @mypubliclands ([link removed])
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Happy #WildlifeWednesday ([link removed]) from this Sandhill Crane mama and her babies spotted on Wyoming public lands! Did you know....Sandhill Crane offspring aren’t called chicks? Their name is based on their long, strong legs. Any guesses what these little youngsters are called? They are called colts!

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