Tribal Natural Resources News
Native American tribes around the West are making critical decisions regarding the management of their resources — land, water, fossil fuels and renewable resources. The Tribal Natural Resources Desk aims to produce objective reporting to tell stories of tribes empowering themselves through stewardship and decision-making around their resources.
There are plenty of dogs, cats and other stray animals on tribal reservations. These volunteers have made it their mission to take care of them, and one is getting national recognition.
→ More tribal natural resources stories
→ More tribal natural resources stories
May. 6, 2024
President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn into office tomorrow in Washington, D.C. With that comes a lot of expectations from interested parties around the country — including tribes.
Jan. 19, 2021
President-elect Joe Biden's choice of Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior is an indication of how public lands — including Bears Ears National Monument and Chaco Canyon — will be managed in the new administration.
Jan. 18, 2021
Attorney Michael Nixon said the Forest Service has pledged not to transfer Oak Flat to a copper mining company until the very end of a 60-day window that began Friday with the release of an environmental review.
Jan. 17, 2021
The Tonto National Forest has released a final Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Resolution Copper Mine, paving the way for one of the largest copper mines in the U.S.
Jan. 15, 2021
An Apache grassroots group has filed a temporary restraining order to block a land transfer involving the Oak Flat section of the Tonto National Forest, paving the way for a massive copper mine.
Jan. 14, 2021
A group of Apaches who have tried for years to reverse a land swap in Arizona that will make way for one of the largest copper mines in the U.S. sued the federal government Tuesday.
Jan. 13, 2021
A recent COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress includes assistance for Navajo Nation water development in Utah.
Dec. 22, 2020
The Colorado River Indian Tribes near Parker is proposing a federal law to allow it to lease water rights in Arizona, a move that could aid the state’s response to the drought.
Dec. 12, 2020
Vancouver-based Desert Mountain Energy has been looking at drilling for helium and hydrocarbons around Flagstaff for some time now, but the city filed a restraining order Friday to stop the company from drilling wells on state land about 35 miles east of Flagstaff.
Dec. 12, 2020
Filmmakers Jordan Fein and Hunter Robert Baker joined The Show to talk about the documentary, "The Blessing," which follows the story of a Native American coal miner.
Nov. 24, 2020
The Navajo people have relied on medicine men for spiritual, psychological and physical wellness for centuries. But as Anthony Wallace reports, these ancient healers have been threatened by the pandemic. Now, they’re fighting for survival.
Nov. 18, 2020
Arizona's largest utility APS announced a $127 million cash commitment to the Navajo Nation over the next 10 years.
The money is meant to provide transitional support to communities affected by the closure and environmental effects of the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station.
Nov. 8, 2020
The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority is using CARES Act funds to extend electricity to 510 families — and so far it has reached more than half its goal.
In a report given to the tribal president and vice president on Monday, 335 families have now been connected.
Nov. 4, 2020
The Environmental Protection Agency is partnering with Northern Arizona University and the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals on a program to manage pesticide use on tribal lands.
Oct. 7, 2020
The Navajo Nation has suffered immensely during COVID-19, with more than 8,000 cases and over 450 deaths. The pandemic has also made it tough to get supplies and food. But some Native Americans are overcoming food insecurity by returning to their traditional ways.
Sept. 2, 2020
Federal, state, local and tribal leaders Tuesday announced the Rio Reimagined-Rio Salado Project in Arizona as the 20th Urban Waters Federal Partnership location.
Sept. 1, 2020
Flatbed trucks are loaded with brimming barrels of water, and the teams take off — up and down the burnt orange washboard roads that crisscross the Navajo Nation Reservation.
Zoel Zohnnie grew up on a ranch in these vast lands, knowing what it’s like to live without running water, knowing what it means to drive for miles to fill up at a community water station and then haul it back home.
Aug. 25, 2020
Five years ago an EPA crew investigating a mine in Colorado accidentally unleashed 3 million gallons of metal-contaminated waste into the southwest river system. Downstream hundreds of Navajo quit farming as a result. But that’s changed in recent months as the tribe became one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus.
July 24, 2020
Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva is asking why more hasn’t been done to clean up a coal mining site on the Navajo Nation.
July 24, 2020
Members of Yaqui Indigenous communities in southern Sonora, Mexico, are blocking a federal highway and the railway in a renewed battle over land and water rights. The blockade gained attention this week after stopping the movement of goods headed for the United States.
July 23, 2020
