2024
26
Mar
ASU Works with Tribal Reps to Fulfill NAGPRA Obligations
Dear Friends,
As I mentioned in a previous note, I always take window seats while flying so I can watch the landscape below as we cruise along. On Thursday, March 21, I had a window seat from Tucson to Denver. I almost wish I hadn’t; what I saw made me sick to my stomach.
As you can see from...
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2022
30
Nov
Breaking: Biden to Declare Avi Kwa Ame National Monument
Dear Friends,
I’ll get to a story about a gentle Buddhist woman and her “fly pistol” in a bit, but first I need to tell you about intervening in public lands court cases.
Last week, we highlighted that the Tribes of the Bears Ears Coalition filed to intervene in the two lawsuits brought ...
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2022
06
Sep
Capturing Day-to-Night in Bears Ears
Dear Friends,
A week from today, the bill to establish a Great Bend of the Gila National Conservation Area (H.R. 8719) will have a hearing before the House Natural Resources Committee in Washington, DC. It will be heard along with two other bills (H.R. 8108, Advancing Tribal Parity on Public Land...
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2022
30
Aug
Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition Releases Land Management Plan
Dear Friends,
For the past two weeks and counting, I have productively applied my dated archaeological field skills to my daily life at the office. The Bates Mansion—Archaeology Southwest’s historic home in downtown Tucson—has had plumbing problems. Very serious plumbing problems.
Under ...
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2022
21
Jun
Tribes, BLM Sign Historic Agreement for Managing Bears Ears National Monument
Dear Friends,
The lengthy timeline of emotional events related to Bears Ears National Monument settled into a very positive place this past Saturday. An even better future is on that horizon.
The five Tribes of the Bears Ears Commission signed an Inter-Governmental Cooperative Agreement with t...
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2022
07
Jun
Register Now for the 2022 Pecos Conference
Dear Friends,
The Cooper’s Hawk—whose silent but powerful blow to the back of my head I described here last week—has not gotten much friendlier. Being a “friend of birds” at heart, I have become aggressively defensive.
I enclose a photo of my protective gear: a hard hat—with enhanc...
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2021
07
Dec
STOP Act Passes US House of Representatives
Dear Friends,
An advocacy trip to promote the protection of the Great Bend of the Gila has me meeting with the Tribal Council of the Fort Yuma Quechan (pronounced “kwahtsahn”) this morning. I’m here with Tribal Outreach Fellow Skylar Begay. The Tribal offices are on the California side of...
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2021
13
Oct
RESTORED!
Dear Friends,
Last Friday, President Biden restored Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, reversing the likely illegal 2017 Trump downsizing. I urge you to watch the event, and certainly Secretary Haaland’s remarks.
The nearly 10 months since January 20, when Biden o...
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2021
08
Oct
This Is a Great Day!
Banner image (c) Jonathan T. Bailey.
Bill Doelle, President & CEO
(October 8, 2021)—Friends, this is a great day. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments are restored!
As I watched the signing ceremony on YouTube, I was moved by so many things.
When Chair Brenda...
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2021
15
Jun
Haaland Report Recommends Monument Restorations
Dear Friends,
Once again, I want to share some of my recent reading matter.
Cover story photos: a man stands on his roof and stares at a raging forest fire in California; a family is ferried by boat from their flooded home in South Carolina; a woman contemplates her collapsed and shattered...
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2021
14
Apr
Biden “Poised to Act” on Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante
Dear Friends,
On Saturday, my wife and I flew back to Tucson from Philadelphia. On Monday, I committed to 4,000 pounds of carbon offsets each month in order to counterbalance our trips back to visit the grandkids. It was easy through Terrapass.
It’s not a perfect or even an ultimate solution...
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2021
06
Apr
GAO Releases Report on Improving Response to Crimes against Native American Cultural Resources
Dear Friends,
Being vaccinated opens opportunities. That’s why I'm in Newtown, Pennsylvania, typing this. It’s why I flew on an airplane, which is the only realistic option to visit my daughter and grandchildren.
And, as I've noted previously, it's my worries about the world my grandki...
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