Here is “End the cold war on trust lands.“
David Voluck and Sarah Deer on Alaska’s Fight against Tribal Trust Lands
Here is “End the cold war on trust lands.“
Author: Matthew L.M. Fletcher
Interior Solicitor Job Posting
Another DOI Solicitor’s Office job, this one focused on assisting with the Cobell Land Buy Back Program.
Here.
Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s Opening Brief in Hydraulic Fracturing Suit
Here is the pleading in Southern Ute Indian Tribe v. Dept. of Interior (D. Colo.):
Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation Sues New Jersey over State Recognition
Here is the complaint in Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation v. Hoffman (D. N.J.):
WaPo: “As salmon vanish in the dry Pacific Northwest, so does Native heritage”
Here.
Federal Court Dismisses Claim against Utah Police for Shooting Indian Man
Here are the materials in Jones v. United States (Fed. Cl.):
NYTs: “Native Alaskans Study and Clean Up a Legacy of Pollution”
Here.
Mary Smith Speaking before the ABA House of Delegates
Michael Blumm on Federal Reserved Water Rights
Michael C. Blumm has posted “Reserved Water Rights as a Rule of Law” on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
The reserved water rights doctrine is — and always has been — a controversial doctrine in Western water law circles because it provides a federal trump over state systems of water allocation. First articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court over a century ago, states and their water rights holders have always resisted implementation of federal water rights because the federal government and its trustee Indian tribes often have different water priorities than the states, long committed to diversionary rights largely for irrigated agriculture.
In Idaho, opposition to federal water rights largely succeeded in defeating water for wilderness, national forests, national recreational areas, and other federal conservation lands in the decisions by state courts in the massive Snake River Basin Adjudication (SRBA). Now, in an Idaho Law Review article, two advocates for state water rights who helped defeat federal water rights in the SRBA proffer a theory that, if accepted by other Western states, would export their Idaho victories.
This response to their effort explains why their theory is flawed and should be rejected by Western state courts. Their argument was in fact not adopted by the Idaho Supreme Court, which employed other reasoning for rejecting federal reserved water rights. This essay maintains that, although Congress certainly has the power either to affirm or reject water rights for federal lands, the idea that water rights may be lost by mere congressional discussion of the doctrine followed by a decision not to take action cannot be interpreted as a rejection of a legal doctrine over a century old. There is no support for interpreting congressional inaction to reverse a long settled legal doctrine like federal reserved water rights — and the costs imposed on federal interests, especially in terms of instream flows, would be significant.
Navajo Nation DOJ Job Posting
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL POSITION
TAX AND FINANCE UNIT
NAVAJO NATION DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
The Navajo Nation Department of Justice is seeking an energetic and motivated Assistant Attorney General to manages a component “Tax and Finance Unit” The qualified applicant will provide legal advice and representation to various programs, departments and divisions of the Navajo Nation government, regarding a wide range of legal issues, including statutory and regulatory grounds for local authority, contract disputes and procurement issues, and intergovernmental relations. Emphasis will be in the area of Tax, Retirement, Insurance, Finance and Office of Management and Budget.
Current active state bar licensure in any state is required, with the expectation that within a year of hire, the applicant will obtain licensure in the Navajo Nation as well as one of the following states: Arizona, New Mexico or Utah. Preferred qualifications are current membership in good standing in the Arizona, New Mexico, or Utah State Bar Association and the Navajo Nation Bar Association.
Please direct applicant packets consisting of (1) Letter of Interest with current address, telephone numbers, and e-mail address; (2) Navajo Nation employment application; (3) resume; (4) recent legal writing sample; (5) copy of bar membership certificates; and (6) law school graduation documents to Navajo Nation Department of Justice, Attention: Kandis Martine, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Human Services and Government Unit, P.O. Box 2010, Window Rock, AZ 86515, and to the Navajo Nation Department of Personnel Management, P.O. Box 7080, Window Rock, Arizona, 86515.
Please visit http://www.dpm.navajo-nsn.gov/jobs.html to obtain a copy of the Navajo Nation employment application. This position number #202237 will soon be listed on the Navajo Nation’s Job Vacancy Announcement document. Applications are currently being accepted. For any questions, please contact Ethel B. Branch, Attorney General at 928/871-6345.
Turtle Talk 
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