USFWS Video on Importance of Eagles to American Indians

Here. From the description:

Reginald Dale Akeen pleaded guilty in December 2009 to a felony violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. He admitted he offered to sell a fan made of juvenile golden eagle feathers, also known as “black and whites,” to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service undercover agent and that he contacted an accomplice who agreed to sell a nine-feather black and white fan. As part of his plea agreement, Akeen agreed to speak on video about the significance of the feathers of eagles and other birds to Native Americans and about the fact that he broke the law.

Alaska SCT Remands Alaska Native Village Challenge to Bristol Bay Plan

Here.

Tribes and Environmental Groups File Lawsuit Against Navy Over Sonar Use

The AP Story via Koin Local 6 is here.

The complaint is here.

Update 1/30/12 – ICT Article here.

Ecuadorean Natives Prevail in Second Circuit against Chevron

Here is today’s opinion: Chevron v Naranjo.

The court’s syllabus:

Defendants-appellants – residents of the Ecuadorian Amazon and their American attorney – challenge a preliminary injunction issued by the district court that prohibited them from enforcing or preparing to enforce a potential Ecuadorian judgment against plaintiffappellee anywhere outside of the Republic of Ecuador. Because New York’s Uniform Foreign Country Money-Judgments Recognition Act, N.Y. C.P.L.R. §§ 5301-5309, does not authorize affirmative relief of this kind, but only recognizes a defense available when a would-be judgment-creditor first attempts enforcement in New York, we VACATE the injunction and REMAND to the district court with instructions to DISMISS the plaintiffappellee’s complaint.

And some news coverage from How Appealing.

This item explains the import of the decision:

If Chevron was still hoping for a ruling from New York’s federal courts that would make it impossible for Ecuadorean plaintiffs to collect their $18 billion judgment against the oil company, Thursday’s long-awaited opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit puts an end to that strategy. The appellate panel’s30-page opinion — which explains the court’s Sept. 2011 order lifting the worldwide injunction barring enforcement of the Ecuadorean judgment — gives Chevron the chance to argue once again that the Ecuadoreans can’t collect in New York, under the state’s Uniform Foreign Country Money-Judgments Recognition Act. But in no uncertain terms, the Second Circuit advised that even if Chevron eventually persuades a New York judge that the Ecuadoreans procured their judgment through fraud, that judge cannot bar enforcement of the judgment outside of the United States.

Tribal Comments on Wisconsin Mining Proposal

Related to Matthew’s Dec 13 post on tribal objections to proposed Wisconsin mining legislation, see this post here outlining tribal comments at a recent public hearing. Representatives from several Wisconsin tribes pointed out the failure to consult with tribes about legislation that could negatively impact their treaty rights, tribal lands/waters and culturally significant resources.

Federal Court Denies Injunction in Desert Eagle Delisting Challenge

Here are the materials in Center for Biological Diversity v. Salazar (D. Ariz.):

DCT Order Denying Injunction on Desert Eagle Delisting

San Carlos Apache Brief

Interior Brief

CBD Brief

Ninth Circuit Oral Argument Audio and Video in Karuk Tribe v. USFS (En Banc)

Here is the video, and here is the audio.

Here are the materials.

Ninth Circuit Oral Argument Audio in Save the Peaks Coalition v. USFS

Here.

Coquille Tribe’s Forest Management Seeks Balance

An excerpt from the Register-Guard:

Logging practices on the Coquille Tribe’s forest are drawing attention locally and nationally as the tribe’s foresters work to balance ecological concerns with timber production.

The tribe, working with the Bureau of Land Management on an experimental logging project, has been recognized for stewardship on its own 5,000-acre forest, and is being sought for collaborative management by Coos County commissioners.

and

Rules that govern management on BLM’s 2.2 million acres of Western Oregon forests have been swatted around by lawsuits in recent years, with environmentalists calling for less logging and the timber industry demanding more.

Last year, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar called for pilot projects from well-respected forestry researchers on ways to harvest timberland that leave bigger trees behind while giving managers a little more freedom in figuring out which trees to cut.

Powerful New Yorker Profile on Ecuadorean Indigenous Environmental Suit against Chevron

Here.

We posted on the multi-billion dollar judgment against Chevron in Ecuador here.