Environment
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- By Native News Online Staff
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A wildfire that erupted over the weekend on the Navajo Nation near the New Mexico border has grown to more than 6,200 acres, according to the latest updates.
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- By Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
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Charles F. “Chuck” Sams III, the former director of the National Park Service, has been named by the University of Oregon School of Law as the first Oregon Tribes Scholar-in-Residence and Senior Fellow with the Native Environmental Sovereignty Project. The position is part of Oregon Law’s top-ranked Environmental and Natural Resources Law (ENR) Center.
A native of Pendleton, Oregon, Sams is Cayuse and Walla Walla and is an enrolled tribal citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. He brings more than 30 years of leadership in natural resource management, conservation, and sustainable stewardship. Currently, he serves on the Pacific Northwest Power and Conservation Council as Governor Tina Kotek’s appointee and Co-Chairs the Oregon Environmental Restoration Fund.
Sams made history under the Biden Administration as the first Indigenous Director of the National Park Service. In that role, he advanced agency-wide priorities focused on climate resilience, Tribal sovereignty, and the future of public lands nationwide.
“We are tremendously honored to have Chuck Sams join our community and advance our school’s commitment to the Oregon Tribes,” said Dean Jennifer Reynolds, who collaborated with the ENR Center and campus partners to bring Sams to Oregon Law.
In his new role, Sams will contribute across multiple areas: sharing expertise in and out of the classroom, mentoring students, guiding research on Tribal co-management of lands and resources, and building stronger partnerships with Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities throughout the Pacific Northwest.
“I am thrilled to have such a visionary thinker with national stature contributing to our innovative research,” said Mary C. Wood, Philip H. Knight Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the ENR Center.
One of Sams’ first engagements at Oregon Law will be co-presenting in the widely attended Oregon Law Perspectives webinar series. Alongside Professor of Practice Howard Arnett, he will lead a session titled “Treaties, Trust, and Tomorrow: Navigating the Legal Landscape of Native Lands” on August 8, 2025.
One of Sams' first endeavors is participating in the popular Oregon Law Perspectives webinar series, where, with Professor of Practice Howard Arnett, he will co-present "Treaties, Trust, and Tomorrow: Navigating the Legal Landscape of Native Lands" on August 8, 2025. Learn more about Oregon Law Perspectives.
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- By Native News Online Staff
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The Department of the Interior today announced a new step toward strengthening U.S. energy independence by proposing expanded access to Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve. A draft analysis released for public comment recommends adopting a new alternative from the 2020 management plan that would reopen up to 82% of the 23-million-acre reserve to oil and gas leasing and development—advancing the Trump administration’s goals of energy dominance and regulatory reform.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Forest Service released the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) and draft record of decision for the proposed Resolution Copper mine.
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- By Kaili Berg
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The U.S. Department of the Interior today announced the availability of more than $119 million in fiscal year 2025 grant funding to support the reclamation of abandoned coal mines across the country. These Abandoned Mine Land (AML) fee-based grants, authorized under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 and administered by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), will support 24 coal-producing states and two tribal programs in restoring former mine sites.
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- By Native News Online Staff
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The Osage Minerals Council proudly announces the final dismissal of the Hayes II litigation, ending nearly a decade-long legal battle that posed a serious threat to oil and gas production within the Osage Mineral Estate. Originally filed in 2016, the case challenged the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review of two mineral leases. On May 5, 2025, the Federal District Court issued a judgment officially dismissing the case.
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- By Native News Online Staff
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Leaders and environmental experts from the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa recently delivered testimony urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deny a key federal permit for Enbridge’s Line 5 reroute.
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- By Kaili Berg
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Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley announced on Friday that the 25th Navajo Nation Council will host a public hearing to gather input from community members and stakeholders regarding recent federal initiatives aimed at revitalizing the coal industry in the United States.
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- By Native News Online Staff
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On Wednesday, NDN Fund announced the successful closing of a loan with the Native Conservancy, an Indigenous-led land trust based in Alaska’s Copper River Delta. As the impact investment arm of NDN Collective, NDN Fund provides braided capital—combining financing with capacity and power-building support—to Indigenous-owned and led businesses working to strengthen their communities.
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- By Native News Online Staff