Navajo Nation

Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are resisting the deal because it would allow the Navajo and Hopi to lease water to cities downstream, likely the growing towns around Phoenix.

Senator Mike Lee’s push to fast-track rule changes for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument failed to pass before a key deadline. But the fight over the southern Utah monument is likely far from over.

The application for preliminary permits is Nature and People First's latest proposal for energy development on tribal land. The federal government denied a similar proposal by the company in 2024.

A recent $1B pledge from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could help chip away at a backlog dating to 1993. But Kennedy says it will take much more — $8B — to replace the seven clinics and hospitals still on the list.

Colorado's capital city has managed two conservation herds of bison in its mountain parks since 1914. Six years ago, it started donating them to tribes rather than auctioning extras off to ranchers.

Dozens of the 575 federally recognized Native American tribes are making it easier to get tribal IDs by waiving fees, lowering the age of eligibility and printing cards on the spot. As Native Americans rush to secure the documents, many see a bitter irony in the first people of the land having to prove that they too are U.S. citizens.

The Biden administration issued an order in 2023 banning new oil and gas development within 10 miles of the historic site for 20 years. Tribal leaders who had celebrated the move are now concerned about the potential for protections to be rolled back.

Two years ahead of what could be a final round of applications, allegations of predatory representation and solicitation are on the rise, and especially targeting tribal communities. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act was reauthorized over the summer.

On July 16, 1945, the U.S. detonated the first nuclear bomb. In the years that followed, other tests led to a wave of health problems in Utah and across the West. Now, advocates are celebrating the expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

Nationwide, tens of thousands of Indigenous households use firewood to help heat their homes. That's why the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California is making sure their elders have the chopped wood they need.

The move came after tribes across the country objected to the removal of their histories. Defense Department officials said the Navajo Code Talker material was erroneously erased after part of a broader sweep of information that promoted diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI.

The Pacific Institute reports looks at nature-based solutions and technology to help those hit hardest by climate change. But as federal funding dries up, it could be harder to address water woes and prepare communities for more frequent and extreme weather.