land management
States profit from lands on tribal reservations, hindering tribal sovereignty
Tribes are forced to lease their own lands from states, which profit from resources like timber, gas, and minerals, while tribal sovereignty and environmental management are undermined.
Anna V. Smith and Maria Parazo Rose report for High Country News and Grist.
In short:
- State trust lands, once seized from tribes, are leased for public institutions like schools and hospitals, often benefiting non-Indigenous citizens.
- Tribal nations, such as the Ute and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, lease millions of acres from states for agriculture and resource use.
- Tribes are pushing for land return through programs like Montana’s land exchange, but legal barriers, such as subsurface mineral rights, complicate the process.
Key quote:
“Hundreds of thousands of millions of dollars that could have perhaps been used to educate, to create housing, to create economic opportunity have been lost to the tribes.”
— Minnesota State Senator, Mary Kunesh
Why this matters:
Land leasing affects tribal sovereignty and limits Indigenous management of vital ecosystems. To use these lands, the tribes themselves often have to pay, a grim irony considering these territories were once meant to be set aside for their exclusive use. Read more: Why Indigenous women are risking arrest to fight Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline through Minnesota.
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The Ashaninka’s cultural revival is reshaping the Amazon region
The Ashaninka tribe, once displaced by deforestation and cattle farming, has restored its territory and is now leading efforts to expand its land management strategies across 12 Indigenous territories in the Amazon.
Fabiano Maisonnave and Jorge Saenz report for the Associated Press.
In short:
- The Ashaninka people are using their successful reforestation and self-sufficiency model to help 12 Indigenous territories across 1.6 million acres of Amazon rainforest.
- Supported by $6.8 million from the Amazon Fund, their efforts focus on food production, cultural preservation and forest surveillance.
- The project emphasizes working with neighboring Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities to create regional cooperation for forest protection.
Key quote:
“The culprits for this live far from us. But if we start pointing fingers, we’ll waste a lot of energy and solve nothing. Instead, we’re focusing on adaptation.”
— Francisco Piyãko, OPIRJ leader
Why this matters:
As deforestation drives climate change, the Ashaninka are showing the world that preserving biodiversity isn’t just possible—it’s essential. This effort isn't only about the trees; it's about cultural survival, feeding their people and using their deep connection to the land to ensure its future. Read more: The planet’s largest ecosystems could collapse faster than we thought.
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In new collaborations, tribes become stewards of parks and monuments
There's a growing movement to restore tribes’ role in managing the lands and waters within their ancestral territories. Many of America’s most cherished public lands were established only after the displacement of the Indigenous people who called them home.
Oil and gas land sale nets $79M amid New Mexico climate concerns
A contentious auction of public land to the oil and gas industry brought in about $78.8 million to the federal government this week, amid outcry from New Mexico environmental groups calling for a halt on using the lands for fossil fuel drilling.
Biden released a “nature-based-solutions” climate roadmap at COP27. What is that?
The phrase “nature-based solutions” is vague, and no one really knows what it means. “Is vinegar a nature-based cleaning solution?” one researcher joked with me.
Native guardians: Canada’s First Nations move to protect their lands
Faced with mounting impacts from warming and a push for resource development, Indigenous communities in northern Canada are setting aside vast areas for protection and partnering with scientists on research that can help conserve their lands and way of life.
Endangered status sought for snail near Nevada lithium mine
Conservationists are seeking Endangered Species Act protection for a tiny snail half the size of a pea that is known to exist only in high-desert springs near a huge lithium mine planned in Nevada along the Oregon state line.
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