Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Haaland's travels highlight need for improved tribal consultation
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Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland speaking at an event to return 465 acres of ancestral homeland to Virginia's Rappahannock Tribe. Photo: @SecDebHaaland ([link removed])
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland's recent travel to Virginia, Texas, and New Mexico provided an opportunity to meet with Native American tribes about their growing frustration ([link removed]) with the federal government's failure to include them when making decisions about land management, energy development, and the protection of sacred sites.
The first Native American cabinet secretary in history, Haaland said on her first day on the job ([link removed]) , "I want the era where tribes have been on the back burner to be over, and I want to make sure that they have real opportunities to have a seat at the table." So far, Haaland has met with 130 of the nation’s 574 federally recognized tribes as she seeks to overhaul a federal tribal consultation system that critics refer to as a check-the-box exercise.
The U.S. Constitution, along with various treaties and statutes, requires the federal government to consult meaningfully and in good faith with Native American and Alaska Native tribes when making decisions or taking action that has the potential to impact them. However, a 2019 report from a government watchdog found some federal agencies lacked respect for tribal sovereignty ([link removed]) or didn’t have enough resources for effective consultation. A congressional committee hearing is scheduled next week to consider a bill authored by Arizona Representative Raúl Grijalva that would codify a framework for tribal consultation that would also insulate the process from changes in administration.
Quick hits
** Exxon signals record quarterly profit from high oil and gas prices
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Reuters ([link removed])
** Scientists warn the world must decide now between coal and climate
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Casper Star-Tribune ([link removed])
** Mining company to begin clearing and grading Arizona desert, tribes prepare to sue
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Arizona Daily Star ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed])
** Interior Secretary Deb Haaland's trip to New Mexico highlighted need for more inclusion, dialogue with tribes
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The Paper ([link removed])
** BLM to hold solar auction 10 miles northeast of Las Vegas
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E&E News ([link removed])
** Conservation group seeks monument status for California mesa threatened by mining
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
** When oil and gas wells stop producing, environmental impacts remain
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New Mexico Political Report ([link removed])
** Species on the move: 4 ways conservation efforts can adapt to climate change
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The Conversation ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” I think that part of what we need to do is become latter-day Noahs and build ‘arks’ in the shape of parks, refuges, protected areas, and reserves to support the preservation of the most beautiful and most diverse aspects of the biota. The more arks we launch into this pretty inhospitable-looking sea of the future, the more chance we’ll get through to the other side.”
—William deBuys, author & conservationist, UK Independent ([link removed])
Picture this
** @Interior ([link removed])
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Nature is essential to the health, well-being and prosperity of every family and community in America. Learn more about the America the Beautiful initiative and our efforts to conserve at least 30% of lands and waters by 2030. [link removed]… ([link removed]) Photo by Bob Wick / BLM
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