2015 Land & Water News Stories
California wants to store water for farmers, but struggles over how to do it (NY Times) 12/21/15
Judging 'Indian Character' in Nebraska v. Parker (Indian Country Today) 12/19/15
Klamath Basin: Water pact crumbles in Congress after years of work (Oregonian) 12/19/15
Alaska presses D.C. Court of Appeals to reject trust acquisitions in Alaska (Lexology) 12/17/15
Judge rules against Penobscot Nation in lawsuit over river rights (Bangor Daily News) 12/16/15
Landowners try to choke off casino's water with 19th-Century lawsuit (Bloomberg Business) 12/14/15
Klamath dam removal efforts to continue if historic agreements fail (Daily Journal) 12/14/15
Navajo Nation Council opposes land-into-trust reform measure (Indianz) 12/11/15
Judge won’t dismiss compact suit lawsuit (Daily InterLake) 12/11/15
Barely a trickle of hope for Klamath Basin water agreement (Public News Service) 12/11/15
Oregon congressional delegation at odds on Klamath Basin bill (The Oregonian) 12/3/15
Bill improves the trust land acquisition process for tribes and promotes better transparency (Native News Online) 12/3/15
Bennet, Markey introduce bill to protect Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Sen. Bennet) 12/2/15
Osage Nation seeks to intervene in wind lawsuit (National Wind Watch) 12/2/15
U.S. Senate panel delays vote on Blackfeet water agreement (Flathead Beacon) 12/2/15
Senate committee approves bill to reform land-into-trust process (Indianz) 12/2/15
How the Gold King Mine spill continues to affect Navajo life (LA Times) 12/2/15
House passes bill to place land in trust for Susanville Rancheria (Indianz) 12/1/15
DOI plans to cancel Badger-Two med leases (FlatHead News Group) 11/25/15
Pueblo water settlement hits major roadblock with non-Indians (Indianz) 11/19/15
Judges must decide Wyoming's Wind River boundary dispute (Denver Post) 11/17/15
Wyoming Senator Barrasso introduces Carcieri compromise bill (National Law Review) 11/17/15
Lawyers argue Wind River boundary dispute before judges (Billings Gazette) 11/14/15
In the dry west, waiting for Congress (NY Times) 11/6/15
Agua Caliente Band seeks support at critical stage in water rights case (Indianz) 11/2/15
Feds: winter salmon run nearly extinguished in California drought (Sacaramento Bee) 10/28/15
Congress yet to take action on Carcieri land-into-trust decision (Indianz) 10/28/15
CSKT Water Compact: Homestead Act outranks treaties (Missoulian) 10/26/15
Judges hear Washington challenge to fish-passage ruling (Washington Times) 10/16/15
Court case: should state spend billions to ease fish passage? (Seattle Times) 10/16/15
Judge lets tribes hunt deer at night in northern Wisconsin (ABC 27) 10/14/15
Congress approves land-into-trust bill for Pueblos in New Mexico (Indianz) 10/7/15
Changes to Navajo Nation water rights settlement signed into law (Indianz) 10/1/15
Attorneys don't buy state's argument on land trust lawsuit (Alaska Journal of Commerce) 9/30/15
Time running out on water pact (Herald and News) 9/20/15
Bill boosting tribal land rights in Southern Oregon passes U.S. House (Mail Tribune) 9/17/15
Cabazon, Fond du Lac Band, Ponca Tribe, Quinault Indian Nation, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes to begin implementation of land buy-back program (Native American Times) 9/16/15
Judge rules individual Native Americans can't sue for loss of public land (IPR) 9/2/15
If you're going to talk about arctic shipping, talk to Alaska's tribes (Alaksa Dispatch News) 9/1/15
State appeal in Alaska tribal land case fights prospect of Indian country (Alaska Dispatch News) 8/25/15
Coastal villages complain of being left out of Arctic planning (Arctic Newswire) 8/24/15
Compact foe rallies crowd for campaign to fight water deal
(Daily Inter Lake) 8/15/15
Legal briefs complete in Indian reservation boundary suit (Washington Times) 8/14/15
Kennewick Irrigation District water users call for Columbia River water rights (Tri-City Herald) 8/13/15
Reid introduces the Moapa Band of Paiutes Land Conveyance Act (Office of Sen. Reid) 8/6/15
Cole, McCollum introduce bill to reaffirm tribal trust agreements (The Daily Ardmoreite) 7/24/15
Inter-tribal dispute over land in New Mexico aired at hearing (Indianz) 7/16/15
Pamunkey Tribe faces big hurdle in placing reservation into trust (Indianz) 7/13/15
House Natural Resources Committee considers tribal bills at markup (Indianz) 7/06/15
Sen. Cantwell introduces bill aimed at ensuring water supply for Yakima River Basin (Register Guard) 7/01/15
In drying Colorado River Basin, Indian tribes are water dealmakers (Circle of Blue) 7/01/15
Appeals court revives Jemez Pueblo's claim to Valles Caldera (
Albuquerque Journal) 6/26/15
For water rights in Montana, it's still the wild west (Wall Street Journal) 6/26/15
Lawsuit accuses US government of mismanaging tribal land (Washington Times) 6/22/15
Southern Utes challenge fracking law (Denver Post) 6/21/15
Tribes plan to file water claims next week (Daily Inter Lake) 6/19/15
Thomas Beauty: Yavapai-Apache Nation addresses water rights (Indianz) 6/19/15
Flagstaff, Hopi Tribe work toward settlement of lawsuit (Greenfield Daily Reporter) 6/16/2015
Lawyer spearheads water compact legal challenge (Daily Inter Lake) 6/15/2015
Landowners on reservations get government buyback offers (Great Falls Tribune) 6/8/2015
Land for Klamath Tribes identified (Herald and News) 5/30/2015 [see related U.S. legislation]
Oklahoma's Osage Nation signs up for land buy-back program (NewsOK) 5/29/2015
Water authority will continue Eastern Nevada water effort (Record Courier) 5/23/2015
Non-Indians sued by Montana tribes win dismissal of lawsuit (Fairfield Sun Times) 5/22/2015
Osage land oil lease rules tightened (Courthouse News) 5/21/2015
Federal judge dismisses tribes' lawsuit over Flathead Reservation water (Casper Star Tribune) 5/20/2015
Tribal-state elver dispute flares up again (Quoddy Tides) 5/11/2015
Senate Indian Affairs Committee passes Pueblo land measure (Indianz) 5/13/2015
CSKT must still file water rights claims, will then ask for stay
(Missoulian) 5/6/15
Maine panel to take up tribal fishing pact request
(SF Gate) 5/5/15
Native American groups say Michigan land sale to Canadian mining co. violates 1836 treaty (Raw Story) 4/28/15
Klamath Tribes seek parts of Fremont-Winema National Forest after failed land deal (Oregon Live) 4/24/15
DOI, Navajo Nation partner to implement land buy-back program (Native Times) 4/22/15
National Park Service proposes rule for tribal gathering and removal of plants
(Indian Country Today) 4/21/15
Agua Caliente's legal tug-of-war over California groundwater
(Indian Country Today) 4/20/15
High court rejects Wisconsin appeal over tribal night hunts (ABC News) 4/20/15
Utah's Indian tribes restaking a claim to their homeland with proposed Bears Ears conservation area (Salt Lake Tribune) 4/19/15
Native American Land Conservancy announces project to protect thousands of acres in Mojave Desert (PR Log) 4/17/15
Michigan sells treaty-protected, pristine public land for limestone mine (Indian Country Today) 4/14/15
Standing Rock Sioux Reservation sees $195M in buyback offers (Indianz) 4/6/15
Agua Caliente scores victory in water rights issue
(Indian Country Today) 4/1/15
Klamath tribal members refuse to support water settlement (Eugene Weekly) 4/1/15
Tribe fights Coachella Valley water agencies for aquifer rights (LA Times) 3/31/15
Rare truce in land-use wars in Utah (Wall Street Journal) 3/26/15
DOI sends another $34m in offers on Rosebud Sioux reservation (Indianz) 3/24/15
Tribal Nations oppose Montana bison bills that they say trample sovereignty (Indian Country Today) 3/23/15
Bill introduced in Senate to fix Carcieri land-into-trust decision (Indianz) 3/16/15
Judge dismisses lawsuit seeking reservation land in Minnesota (Crookston Times) 3/11/15
BIA puts land into trust for Cowlitz Tribe
(Indian Country Today) 3/10/15
Judge dismisses lawsuit seeking reservation land in Minnesota (Crookston Times) 3/11/15
Secretary Jewell to sign historic water rights agreement with Shoshone-Paiute tribes and state of Nevada (Department of Interior) 2/25/15
Water deal between tribes, state passes first hurdle (Navajo Times) 2/20/15
Tribes legally evicted Colorado River reservation tenant, judge rules
(LA Times) 2/18/19
Lawmakers consider water deal between Flathead tribes, state (Great Falls Tribune) 2/16/15
Washburn approves Ho-Chunk Nation's HEARTH Act tribal land leasing codes
(Indian Country Today) 2/12/15
Lawsuit seeks to wrest control of Lake Quinault from tribe (Indian Country Today) 2/10/15
Lawmakers seek to wrap up costly tribal relocation program (ABC News) 2/9/15
Negotiated water compact matters beyond Flathead (Montana Standard) 2/9/15
Maine told to tighten tribal land water rules (Portland Press Herald) 2/6/15
New governor of Alaska seeks to delay land-into-trust litigation (Indianz) 2/5/15
Two tribal nations sign land buy-back agreements
(Indian Country Today) 2/4/15
Federal land bill calls for expansion of Red Rock Canyon
(Review Journal) 2/2/15
Holdouts, tribes clash over border of Colorado River reservation (L.A. Times) 1/15/15)
DOI signs land agreements in Washington state
(Native Times) 1/14/15
CSKT Water Compact sent to Legislature (Independent Record) 1/13/15
10 states support Wyoming in challenging EPA's changing of the Wind River Indian Reservation boundary (County 10) 1/7/15
For many Navajo, a visit from the 'Water Lady' is a refreshing sight (NPR) 1/6/15
Water compacts: Crow suit mirrors Flathead concerns (Missoulian) 1/2/15
