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The National Park Service this month issued a first-ever director’s order to strengthen its consultation with tribes.
The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel has more.
The new order comes from National Park Service Director Chuck Sams (Cayuse and Walla Walla).
He’s the first Native American to lead the federal agency.
Sams says too often tribes experience a lack of collaboration.
“Where a federal agency just kind of tells you what’s going to happen to a particular piece of land that they manage that tribes may have interest in. And this director’s order actually brings much more meaningful discussion with tribes up front before all the decisions are made.”
That includes respecting that tribes see the plants and animals populating their lands as cultural resources. The order also calls for honoring tribes’ sovereignty and oral traditions.
Sams says some national parks already have strong relationships with tribal nations.
Yellowstone National Park has agreements with tribes to support bison restoration and management.
And Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve in Idaho last month worked with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes to create displays with Indigenous history and perspectives.
President Donald Trump in 2017 expediating the process for the Keystone XL pipeline and Dakota Access pipeline. (Courtesy The White House)
President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda for “energy dominance” could impact leaders in the sector, including the state of Wyoming and tribes.
But some say the industry might have limited tolerance for blanket policy shifts, as Kathleen Shannon reports.
Before the election, the University of Wyoming hosted this year’s Tribal Energy Summit, where major themes were carbon capture, rare earth elements and critical minerals, and community engagement.
After the election, there are questions about how far Trump will sidestep the nation’s momentum toward renewable energy.
Daniel Cardenas with the National Tribal Energy Association expects the next Trump administration to look similar to the last one.
“They weren’t outright anti-renewable. They were just preaching an ‘all-above’ strategy, with more of a focus on fossil energy. But I think that’s probably the route that things will go, which supports what Wyoming’s already doing during Gov. [Mark] Gordon (R-WY)’s administration, is ‘all-the-above.'”
Cardenas says despite campaign rhetoric, industry leaders see opportunities in a varied approach to energy production.
ExxonMobil’s CEO this week urged Trump to stay in the Paris Climate Agreement, which Trump promised to back out of in 2017.
A vast majority of the U.S. reserves of key energy-transition metals are located within 35 miles of Native American reservations, according to the investment firm MSCI.
Cardenas says Tribes have been left out of the conversation on the energy transition – which he calls the “energy evolution” – but that they could be key partners.
“Collectively, tribes are the largest private landowners in the United States outside the federal government. So no matter what, if the country needs and wants to develop more infrastructure, the path to that is through Indian Country.”
Investments in clean energy – especially in “red” states like Wyoming – are foundational to President Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which Trump has called a “green new scam.”
Trump’s power to change Biden’s law, however, may be limited by Congress.
In California, the Yurok Tribe, Del Norte County Superior Court, and District Attorney’s Office recently signed an agreement to allow Yurok citizens, who are adults, facing certain criminal charges an opportunity to defer prosecution.
They’ll instead enroll in the tribal court’s wellness program, which uses a holistic approach.
The Yurok Tribal Court, along with the District Attorney or Superior Court, will determine if an individual is eligible to participate.
If the individual qualifies, the tribal court will develop a wellness plan and oversee its implementation through culturally integrated case management.
Diversion periods are often set at six months to two years.
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