News & Updates from CWAG
April 18, 2023
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At Least 3 California Condors Die From Bird Flu in Arizona
By Stephanie Lai | April 9, 2023 | New York Times
At least three California condors in northern Arizona have died since last month from bird flu, which could spread and pose yet another threat to the endangered species. Officials are trying to determine whether the virus was the cause of death for five other condors.
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In Pristine Alaska, an Oil Giant Prepares to Drill for Decades
By Lisa Friedman and Clifford Krauss | April 6, 2023 | New York Times
It’s been days since the current administration approved an $8 billion project to drill for oil in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, the nation’s single largest expanse of untouched wilderness. But the oil giant ConocoPhillips is already in motion, massing equipment and flying in workers and provisions to this vast frozen flatland 250 miles above the Arctic Circle.
Most Alaska Native groups see Willow as an economic engine. The Kuukpik Corporation, which owns and manages much of the land around Willow on behalf of Alaska Native groups, receives royalties from nearby drilling. Many residents receive annual dividends.
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Mass Yellowstone Hunt Kills 1,150 Bison
By Jim Robbins | April 4, 2023 | New York Times
It has been four months since state and federal officials have sanctioned a hunt of the bison that delight millions of tourists and are a centerpiece of Native American culture and history. It is part of a strategy to prevent them from getting near livestock because some 60 percent of the bison herd carries a disease, brucellosis, that could infect cattle and cause cows to abort their calves.
Still, some critics of the hunt note that there has never been an outbreak of brucellosis infection among Montana’s roughly two million cattle that could be traced to Yellowstone bison. If cattle were to become infected with the highly contagious Brucella abortus bacterium, it would lock down the animals. Brucellosis bacteria can spread from animals to people, primarily through raw dairy products, but transmission can also be airborne. In humans, a brucellosis infection can cause undulant fever and fatigue. It can be treated with antibiotics but may recur or become a chronic illness.
U.S. officials have rejected inoculations against brucellosis for park bison because they say existing vaccines lack efficacy and are hard to distribute. Elk in the region also are infected and could reinfect any immunized bison. Cattle are immunized against brucellosis. Deer, moose, and other species can also harbor brucellosis but are less of a primary source of contagion.
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Former Senate aide will lead EPA's American Indian office
By: Kevin Bogardus | April 12, 2023 | GREENWIRE
EPA has brought on a new political appointee as its top representative for Native Americans and tribal governments.
Kenneth Martin, a former senior policy adviser for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, joined the agency this week as director of the American Indian Environmental Office. Based in EPA's international and tribal affairs program, the office is a federal hub for protecting human health and the environment in Indian Country. It implements the agency's 1984 Indian Policy, leads consultation with tribes, and helps administer tribal grant programs.
Martin was at the EPW panel for the last six years, working on issues like infrastructure and environmental policy. An enrolled member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Martin is originally from Wisconsin and was raised on the Menominee Indian Reservation. He studied political science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
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White House Administration Proposes Evenly Cutting Water Allotments From Colorado River
By Christopher Flavelle | April 11, 2023 | New York Times
After months of negotiations between the states that depend on the shrinking Colorado River, the current administration proposed to put aside legal precedent and save what’s left of the river by evenly cutting water allotments, reducing the water delivered to California, Arizona, and Nevada by as much as one-quarter. The size of those reductions and the prospect of the federal government unilaterally imposing them on states have never occurred in American history.
The Interior Department, which manages the river, released a draft analysis that considered three options. The draft analysis did not formally endorse any option; a final analysis is expected this summer, and it could include still other approaches.
The Interior Department has accelerated that approach, providing hundreds of millions of dollars for water conservation along the Colorado River. But it’s unlikely to be enough. The federal government has the ability to impose cuts only on the lower-basin states that rely on water released from Lake Mead and Lake Powell. As a result, the draft analysis is focused on how to distribute cuts among those three states.
Since then, the states have continued negotiating, without reaching a deal. The Interior Department made clear that it would still welcome an agreement among the states, which it could study in the final assessment due out this summer.
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U.S. Judge Blocks Clean Water Rule in 24 States
Reporting by Clark Mindock and Nichola Groom
April 12, 2023 | Reuters
A federal judge in North Dakota temporarily blocked the implementation of a current administration rule establishing protections for seasonal streams and wetlands in 24 states, according to court documents.
U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland granted the states' request for a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of the Environmental Protection Agency's Waters of the United States rule, which was finalized in December.
The rule protects waterways that have a "significant nexus" to navigable U.S. waters - a standard that ranchers, developers, and other industry groups have said is overly broad and creates burdensome permitting and regulatory hurdles.
The U.S. Supreme Court is also considering the scope of the law and heard oral arguments in a case challenging an earlier interpretation of its reach in October.
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The States of West Virginia, North Dakota, Georgia, Iowa, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming announce that the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota issued a preliminary injunction barring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from implementing its final rule redefining Waters of the United States (WOTUS).
In February, Attorney General Formella joined a coalition of 24 states in a lawsuit against the EPA, asking a federal court to vacate the newly published final rule redefining WOTUS and declare it unlawful.
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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 psalazar@agalliance.org with any questions.
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In re: Gold King Mine Release in San Juan County, 2023 WL 2914718 (D. N.M., April 12, 2023). Navajo Nation’s claim for damages to “restore members’ confidence in San Juan River” could not be pursued under CERCLA § 107, which limits natural resource damages to restoration, replacement, or acquisition of equivalent resources, but court allowed Nation’s claims to proceed under state tort laws after finding the asserted injuries were distinct from injury to the River.
In re Robert F., __ Cal. Rptr. 3d ___, 2023 WL 2905390 (4th Dist., April 12, 2023). California laws implementing Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) did not require county welfare department to ask extended family members about a child’s Indian status when the child was placed into temporary custody pursuant to a warrant.
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. Howe, 2023 WL 2868670 (D. N.D., April 10, 2023). North Dakota Secretary of State was not entitled to summary judgment in case alleging that voting rights of Native Americans residing on two reservations were impermissibly diluted when North Dakota redrew its legislative districts after receiving 2020 census data.
Pauma Band of Mission Indians v. Newsom, 2023 WL 2842453 (E.D. Calif., April 7, 2023). In litigation alleging California’s failure to engage in good faith negotiations pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, California’s motion to transfer venue from Eastern District of California to Central District was denied for failure to weigh the applicable public and private factors.
Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians v. California, 2023 WL 2841065 (E.D. Calif., April 7, 2023). In litigation alleging California’s failure to engage in good faith negotiations pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, California’s motion to transfer venue from Eastern District of California to Central District was granted.
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Conference of Western Attorneys General
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