2019 Land & Water News Stories
Gazette opinion: Hopes for bipartisan Montana water law in 2020 (The Billings Gazette) 12/16/19
It happened here: Yakama Nation lends money for Alaska Natives' land-claim fight (Yakima Herald) 12/14/19
Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma receives funding from EPA (Tahlequah Daily Press) 12/12/19
Being frank: Leadership, cooperation, commitment will recover salmon (Nisqually Valley News) 12/10/19
Montana Free Press: Blackfeet leader concerned about plans for sacred grizzly bears (Indianz) 12/10/19
Water-rights measure to include $1.9 billion for Montana tribes (The Lewiston Tribune) 12/7/19
Arizona tribes oppose plan to dam Colorado River tributary (Navajo-Hopi Observer) 12/3/19
Native youth take care of their ancestral lands (Indianz) 12/2/19
Standing Rock Nation once part of 'Great Sioux Reservation' (The Bismarck Tribune) 11/24/19
Quapaw Nation reaches trust settlement (Miami News-Record) 11/20/19
Tribes' water rights at Klamath River upheld by federal circuit court (Eureka Times-Standard) 11/15/19
Makah Tribe in Washington hopes to hunt whales again after 20 years of legal fights and layers of scientific review (The Oregonian) 11/15/19
Historically left out, Colorado River tribes call for more sway in western water talks (Aspen Public Radio) 11/13/19
Thousands of Alaska Native veterans now eligible for land allotments, but hurdles remain (Alaska Public Media) 11/12/19
What western states can learn from Native American wildfire management strategies (Indianz) 11/12/19
Navajo Nation appeals case against feds over water rights (Havasu News-Herald) 11/12/19
In Tlingit land-rights loss, a Native American rights attorney lays out injustice and hope for the future (Alaska Public Radio) 11/11/19
Tribes raise alarms about proposed 'memorial forest' near San Francisco Peaks (Arizona Central) 11/8/19
Another tribal homelands bill on the agenda in a heated political era (Indianz) 11/6/19
Snoqualmie Tribe buys ancestral Snoqualmie Falls from Muckleshoot for $125 million (Indian Country Today) 11/5/19
Uprooted: The 1950's plan to erase Indian Country (Minnesota Public Radio) 11/4/19
House OKs permanent ban on mining 1 million acres around Grand Canyon (Navajo-Hopi Observer) 10/31/19
Tribes cheer passage of bills to protect ancestral lands from development (Indianz) 10/31/19 (See 116th Congress H.R.1373, H.R.2181)
Shoshones claim hunting rights under court ruling (The Sheridan Press) 10/31/19
Prairie Island Indian Community welcomes homelands legislation (Indianz) 10/29/19 (See 116th Congress H.R.4752)
'We are closely related to fire. Fire takes care of us and we take care of fire.' (Indianz) 10/29/19
Sealaska Heritage Institute to sponsor lecture on pivotal lawsuit that affected Tlingit and Haida, land claims (Indian Country Today) 10/28/19
Choctaw Nation to aid local water resources (Sherman Herald Democrat) 10/25/19
Bill to add Prairie Island land into federal trust introduced in Congress (Hastings Star Gazette) 10/22/19 (See 116th Congress H.R.4752)
Native American community, city in talks about possible land swaps (Rapid City Journal) 10/20/19
Respect Alaska tribes rights on the Tongass question (Alaska Native News) 10/16/19
Yakama and Lummi Nation leaders call for removal of 3 Lower Columbia River dams (Northwest Public Broadcasting) 10/14/19
A letter from the Yankton Sioux Territory (Sierra Club) 10/14/19
The great American Indian land heist (Forbes) 10/14/19
Wyoming tribe to begin off-reservation hunting following Supreme Court ruling (Casper Star Tribune) 10/14/19
The Arctic's future is Indigenous (Indianz) 10/11/19
Making national parks accessible to Native people again (Yes! Magazine) 10/9/19
Land-in-trust case crowns UKB celebration (Tahlequah Daily Press) 10/9/19
Waiting on the Supreme Court to return eastern Oklahoma to Indigenous nations (Indianz) 10/9/19
Native protectors at Wash. State Capitol square off with riot police, and stay put (Indian Country Today) 10/9/19
Carrizo-Comecrudo block construction on border wall with cease and desist order (Indian Country Today) 10/3/19
Native American tribes support national park status for Cahokia mounds (St. Louis Public Radio) 10/1/19
Indigenous hunters are protecting animals, land and waterways (Indianz) 9/30/19
Tribes hold Trump feet to fire on tar-sands pipeline permit (Indianz) 9/30/19
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes on need to protect tribes under National Historic Preservation Act (Indian Country Today) 9/26/19
United Methodist Church gives historic mission site and land back to Wyandotte Nation (Indian Country Today) 9/23/19
New Mexico tribe loses claim to national preserve (Rapid City Journal) 9/17/19
Round Valley Indian Tribes joins effort to craft a two-basin solution for Eel and Russian Rivers (Indian Country Today) 9/12/19
The battle for Bad River (Gizmodo) 9/11/19
The Shinnecock Nation's land: Is it a territory or a reservation? (The Southampton Press) 9/9/19
Court reverses ruling on UKB trust land (Tahlequah Daily Press) 9/5/19 (See Cherokee Nation v. Bernhardt)
Rosemont copper mine suffers another setback in decade of legal battles (Indianz) 9/3/19
Deadlines loom for Navajo looking to take part in land buy-back program (Indian Country Today) 9/1/19
Federal District Court affirms Yakama reservation's boundaries (Indian Country Today) 8/28/19
Karuk Tribe turns to traditional knowledge to protect homelands (Indianz) 8/29/19
Oglala Sioux Tribe battles uranium mining in sacred Black Hills (Indianz) 8/29/19
Standing Rock requests to intervene in proposed DAPL expansion decision (The Bismarck Tribune) 8/28/19
Tribe signs land trust agreement with Virginia (Indian Country Today) 8/28/19
Little Traverse Bay Bands lose lawsuit over status of reservation (Indianz) 8/27/19 (See Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians v. Whitmer)
Keystone Pipeline's alternate route gets the go-ahead from Nebraska court (National Public Radio) 8/23/19 (See In re Application No. OP-0003)
Native Sun News Today: Summit focuses on sacredness of water (Indianz) 8/22/19
When public lands become tribal lands again (High Country News) 8/16/19
Third annual Mni Ki Wakan Water is Sacred: World Indigenous Peoples Decade of Water announced (Indian Country Today) 8/12/19
Little Shell Tribe offers to run Hell Creek State Park (Helena Independent Record) 8/11/19
The legacy of colonialism on public lands created the Mauna Kea conflict (High Country News) 8/6/19
Land acknowledgements a way to honor Native American and Indigenous people (MSU Extension) 7/30/19
It happened here: Federal suit affirms Yakama treaty rights to fish (Yakima Herald) 7/29/19
Justice Department urges reversal of ruling on Agua Caliente water-rights case (The Desert Sun) 7/19/19 (See Agua Calienta Band of Cahuilla Indians v. Coachella Valley Water District)
Natural Resources Committee passes bill to protect Chaco Canyon from future drilling (Indian Country Today) 7/18/19 (See 116th Congress S.1079)
Seven ways tribes are repairing the Salish Sea and Washington waterways (Indian Country Today) 6/30/19
Cronkite News: Tribal leaders push for water rights settlements on Capitol Hill (Indianz) 6/27/19
'Lack of water is a major obstacle' to Hualapai Tribe's future (Indian Country Today) 6/27/19
New Mexico delegation introduces bill to fulfill Aamodt Litigation Settlement (Martin Heinrich) 6/21/19
Law protecting tribal fishing waters among bills signed by Mills (Mainebiz) 6/24/19
Trump administration weighs new headquarters for Bureau of Land Management (Indianz) 6/11/19
Colorado River drought contingency agreements signed (Moab Times-Independent) 6/7/19
Trump administration defers to Congress on protections for ancestral lands (Indianz) 6/7/19 (See 116th Congress H.R.1373, H.R.2181, S.1079)
US land managers shift position on Chaco protection bill (The Washington Post) 6/5/19
Montana Free Press: Crow Tribe seeks protections for ancestral and sacred lands (Indianz) 6/5/19
House subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples takes up tribal homelands legislation (Indianz) 6/3/19 (See 116th Congress H.R. 703, H.R. 1031, H.R. 1803, H.R. 2961)
Montana honors Crow treaty rights in Custer Gallatin National Forest (The Billings Gazette) 6/2/19
Tribal citizens say harassment affects how they hunt, fish (Interlocken Public Radio) 5/30/19
Unfulfilled promise: $488 million water project incomplete for tribes (Rapid City Journal) 5/26/19
Judge dismisses tribe's lawsuit in land seizure dispute (The Bismarck Tribune) 5/23/19
7-state plan to preserve Colorado River water adopted at Hoover Dam ceremony (Colorado Public Radio) 5/21/19
Rosebud lawsuit says Keystone XL Pipeline route crosses trust land (South Dakota Public Radio) 5/21/19
Navajo Utah Water Settlement Act moves forward (Indian Country Today) 5/20/19 (See 116th Congress H.R. 644)
Tribes pleased with conviction of looting activity at Devil Canyon archeological site (Indian Country Today) 5/16/19
US House bill clears path for Alaska tribe to put land in trust (Alaska Public Radio) 5/15/19 (See 116th Congress H.R. 375)
In key committee hearing, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich calls for protection of Chaco Canyon area (Los Alamos Daily Post) 5/15/19
Catawba Nation asks Congress to fulfill promise in land claim settlement (Indianz) 5/3/19 (See 116th Congress S.790)
'Not extinct': Colville Tribes win appeal in hunting rights case in Canada (Indianz) 5/2/19
YES! Magazine: Indigenous women reclaim ancestral land in California (Indianz) 5/1/19
Bde Maka Ska is Lake Calhoun, Court of Appeals rules Monday (StarTribune) 4/29/19
After 3 years, federal bill to fix Columbia River tribal fishing sites could become law (The Oregonian) 4/26/19 (See 116th Congress H.R.91)
Bill in Congress would resolve large Utah water rights claim (Navajo-Hopi Observer) 4/23/19 (See 116th Congress S.1207)
Cronkite News: Tribes finally at the table in Colorado River water talks (Indianz) 4/16/19
Trump signs bill endorsing Colorado River drought plan (USA Today) 4/16/19 (See 116th Congress H.R.2030)
Navajo Nation Council commends introduction of Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement Act (Native News Online) 4/16/19 (See 116th Congress S.1207)
Romney, McSally, Sinema introduce legislation to settle water rights for Navajo Nation in Utah (UtahPolicy.com) 4/15/19 (See 116th Congress S.1207)
'Enough is Enough': Tribes endorse bill to protect ancestral lands from Trump (Indianz) 4/9/19 (See 116th Congress S.1097)
Udall, Heinrich, Lujan, Haaland introduce legislation to protect Chaco Canyon Area (U.S. Senator Tom Udall) 4/9/19 (See 116th Congress S.1097)
Cronkite News: Congress passes Colorado River drought plan that includes tribes (Indianz) 4/9/19 (See 116th Congress H.R.2030)
Waiting for Congress to fund tribal water projects ... as promised (Indian Country Today) 4/5/19
Feds support tribe's push for only whale hunt in mainland US (ABC News) 4/4/19
Testimony of John E. Echohawk before the House Committee on Natural Resources (House Committee on Natural Resources) 4/4/19
House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States takes up Carcieri fix (Indianz) 3/29/19 (See 116th Congress H.R.312, H.R.375)
House set to clear first Indian Country bills under Democratic control (Indianz) 3/22/19 (See 116th Congress H.R.1388, H.R.297, H.R.312)
Lawmakers celebrate Yakima Basin water funding (The Lewiston Tribune) 3/21/19
Tribes continue push for trust ownership of Bison Range (Missoulian) 3/20/19
Pieces of Haaland's first bill become law as part of Public Lands Package (Native News Online) 3/13/19 (See 116th Congress H.R.1050)
The Columbia River Treaty is set to expire soon. What does that mean for Idaho salmon? (Idaho Statesman) 3/12/19
Hemp Production Program (USDA) 2/27/19
Long dispute over Sardis Lake water rights settled (The Journal Record) 2/26/19
Snoqualmie Tribe celebrates 'Land into Trust' decision (Snoqualmie Valley Record) 2/25/19 (See Long v. Snoqualmie Gaming Commission )
State of Alaska seeks to takeover subsistence management (Anchorage Press) 2/24/19
Sitka Tribe sues state of Alaska over management of subsistence fishery (Indianz) 2/20/19
Wyoming hunting case could have broad implications (Gillette News Record) 2/18/19 (See Herrera v. Wyoming)
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe faces new obstacle in bid to protect homelands (Indianz) 2/18/19
Tribal group threatens to pull out of Arizona water-sharing plan (KTAR News) 2/18/19
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians vows to keep fighting for homelands (Indianz) 2/14/19
American Indians protest wall due to begin construction at southern border (Native News Online) 2/5/19
How Arizona's drought plan will spread the pain to farms, cities, tribes, developers (Tucson.com) 2/3/19
Vote expected today on Ducey's drought contigency program (Navajo-Hopi Observer) 1/31/19
Tribal land known for waterfalls won't allow tour guides (The Morning Journal) 1/31/19
One tribal nation could decide the fate of Arizona's drought plan (High Country News) 1/28/19
Aquinnah tribe objects to Keating bill (Cape Cod Times) 1/28/19 (See 116th Congress H.R.312)
Wilton Rancheria scores another win in long-running fight over homelands (Indianz) 1/25/19
Talks to begin this week with state on Isle de Jean Charles project (The Houma Times) 1/22/19
Tribe turns down funds to relocate as Louisiana buys land anyways (TruthOut) 1/17/19
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe faces opposition to land-into-trust application (Indianz) 1/16/19
Can congress void a tribal treaty without telling anyone? (The Atlantic) 1/13/19 (See Herrera v. Wyoming)
Masphee tribe's casino land bill re-introduced in Congress (South Coast Today) 1/9/19 (See 116th Congress H.R.312)
Chumash reintroduces legislation to place Camp 4 into federal trust (Santa Ynez Valley Star) 1/9/19 (See 116th Congress H.R.317)
Judge denies government request for stay in Cape tribe's lawsuit (Cape Cod Times) 1/3/19
