News & Updates
Conference of Western Attorneys General
November 22, 2023
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US Wildlife Managers Have No Immediate Plans to Capture Wandering Mexican Gray Wolf
One lone Mexican gray wolf has traveled hundreds of miles from the forests of southeastern Arizona, across the desert of central New Mexico to the edge of what is known as the Yellowstone of the Southwest. The wolf has reached the Valles Caldera National Preserve in northern New Mexico, she has wandered far beyond the boundaries established along the Arizona-New Mexico border that manages the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America. The recovery area that spans tens of thousands of square miles is home to more than 240 of the endangered predators.
Federal wildlife managers have confirmed to the Associated Press they have no immediate plans for capturing the lone female wolf nicknamed Asha. But they will continue tracking her movements.
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Petition Seeks Endangered Species Protection for Oregon’s Crater Lake Newt
The Center for Biological Diversity filed a legal petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the Crater Lake newt (also known as the Mazama newt) under the Endangered Species Act. The newt exists only in Crater Lake, and its populations have plummeted in recent years because of warming lake temperatures and the expanding population of signal crayfish, a predator species introduced to the lake. The Crater Lake newt is a subspecies of the more widely distributed rough-skinned newt. While the rough-skinned newt possesses a potent neurotoxin to deter predators, the Crater Lake newt is adapted to being the lake’s top aquatic predator and lacks any predator defense mechanisms.
Newts have disappeared where crayfish are present, and crayfish may now occupy up to 95% of the lake’s shoreline. Scientists anticipate that crayfish will occupy all of the lake’s shoreline in as little as two years. Crayfish also compete with newts for food, as both species feed on invertebrates. Where crayfish are present, invertebrate populations have been decimated. Crater Lake is part of the National Park System and is famous for its status as one of the world’s deepest and clearest lakes. Crayfish threaten not only the newt, but the lake’s clarity as well. Park managers have made several attempts at crayfish removal, but none have been successful. Scientists recommend that more funding go toward crayfish removal efforts and that a comprehensive recovery plan for the newt be developed. Protection of the newt under the Endangered Species Act would address both recommendations.
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NPS Rejects Plan to Create New National Park in Georgia
The National Park Service (NPS) has turned down a plan to designate a site on the outskirts of Macon, Georgia, as the country’s newest national park. The proposal to create the 64th National Park in central Georgia did not meet its criteria to become a larger stand-alone site. Under the plan, the proposed Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve would have made history as Georgia’s very first national park and a step toward advancing the co-management of public lands with Native American tribes. Seeking to mend relationships with a tribe that had historic ties to the region, the Macon-Bibb County Mayor and others wanted NPS to team up to co-manage the park with citizens of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma, whose ancestors were forced to relinquish their land in Georgia more than 200 years ago and move west. The tribe, the fourth largest in the nation, has more than 91,000 citizens.
Local officials have lobbied for the national park for years, hoping that the highest NPS designation would bring more tourists and put the city in the same class with other top-tier sites such as Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon. In its study, NPS said it had identified opportunities to work with other agencies and tribes on partnerships to expand conservation and provide more federal recognition to the area. As possibilities, the agency said local and tribal officials could pursue the designation of a national heritage area, national historic landmark, national natural landmark, or as a wild and scenic river.
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Judge Finds Voting Rights Act Violation in North Dakota Redistricting for Two Tribes
North Dakota’s 2021 legislative redistricting plan violates the rights of two Native American tribes because it dilutes their voting strength, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Chief Judge said the redrawn legislative districts violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The ruling came months after a trial held in June in Fargo. The decision could lead to another surprise special session of the Legislature.
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California Cracking Down on Universities Failing to Reunite Native American Remains with Tribes
In California, state law requires universities to show their work trying to reunite native remains with the tribes they belong to. Four years after the Governor offered an apology for the state's historic treatment of Native Americans, Assemblymember James Ramos, who is a Native American, is calling out California universities that are failing to return those remains. Federal documents show the details of the types of Native American collections held by California universities and the work to return them. A recent notice filed by UC Davis describes that human remains representing, at minimum, 39 individuals were removed from Amador County by a graduate student at the Department of Anthropology who was directing a salvage excavation in 1965. Another notice, filed by Sacramento State, shows a collection of human remains representing 379 individuals of Native American ancestry from the 1967 excavation that were located in a cemetary area known as the Rooney extension. The landowner gifted the collections to Sacramento State. A federal law called The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was passed in 1990 to force the return of tribal remains.
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What’s Next for WOTUS Following Sackett Ruling?
On January 18, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Corps of Engineers published a final rule defining “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act despite the fact that a case on that issue was pending on the Supreme Court’s docket. The January rule is the subject of numerous challenges and is stayed in 27 states.
On May 25, 2023, the Supreme Court addressed the scope of Clean Water Act jurisdiction in Sackett v. EPA. All nine justices agreed that significant nexus is not a legitimate basis for establishing Clean Water Act jurisdiction. All nine justices agreed that Sackett’s property in Idaho, which is separated from a large wetland by a road and separated from Priest Lake by dry land and a row of houses, is not regulated by the Clean Water Act.
As with the guidance on tributaries, it appears questionable that the January 2023 preamble language on what constitutes a “continuous surface connection” is consistent with Sackett. The definition of WOTUS remains murky and litigation will continue.
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State was granted writ of mandamus directing magistrate to issue arrest warrant for enrolled member of Navajo Nation alleged to have distributed child pornography within bounds of Cherokee Nation, because under Oklahoma law magistrates are not empowered to make jurisdictional determinations in their limited ex parte review of applications for arrest warrants.
Tribal sovereign immunity prohibited state court from hearing a personal injury action against a tribally-owned Washington corporation that owned and operated a golf course located outside reservation boundaries.
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Each year we sponsor a 90-minute webinar on current Indian issues in conjunction with the publication of the American Indian Law Deskbook by Thomson Reuters. This year’s webinar will focus on dispute resolution issues and identifying an effective mechanism that often requires addressing forum selection, choice of law, and sovereign immunity. The difficulty in addressing these issues often discourages public and private entities from entering into agreements with Tribes, stifling economic development and discouraging the coordination of law enforcement and other governmental services. The knowledgeable speakers will be Assistant Professor Adam Crepelle of Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and former CWAG Director Tom Gede who is currently Counsel at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.
The webinar will be held on December 7, 2023, at 1:00 PM EST.
You can register for the webinar at the West LegalEdCenter using the link below.
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All summaries are posted in CWAG's Google Docs account, accessible through the link below. Should you have any issues with the links, contact Patricia Salazar at [email protected] with questions.
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Conference of Western Attorneys General
5050 Laguna Blvd | Suite 112-323 | Elk Grove, California 95758
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