Environmental

Washington v. Cayenne — WA SCt Petition for Review — Treaty Rights

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

This is a criminal case in Washington state with possible implications for any tribe with preserved treaty hunting and fishings. The crime was committed by Cayenne (allegedly, I suppose) off the reservation, involving a violation of state fishing laws (i.e., gillnetting). The trial court issued an order upon conviction that the tribal member could not use gillnets even on the reservation because of this off-reservation crime. The Washington Court of Appeals reversed that aspect of the punishment.

Now the State is petitioning the State Supreme Court for review.The State AG filed an amicus in support of the petition. Some of the arguments made by the AG are troubling in the least.

Here are the materials:

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News Article on Uranium Mining Impact at Navajo

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Telluride Watch:

Uranium Cuts a Tragic Path Through the Navajo Nation

Part I of a Series

By Amy Levek
Wednesday, January 2, 2008 5:26 PM MST

Three coyotes run through the sagebrush, stopping briefly to check us out. Head of the Uranium Education Project at Diné College Perry Charley and I are out in the windswept canyons of the Navajo Reservation, looking at the legacy of uranium mining and its sad and tragic intertwining with Navajo lives and livelihood.

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Quapaw v. Blue Tee & United States (Tar Creek Mine Superfund)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

The Quapaw Tribe brought suit against mining companies and the United States over the Tar Creek Superfund Site. The private defendants have been successful in having the tribe’s claims for medical monitoring of tribal members dismissed on the grounds that the tribe didn’t have authority under the parens patriae doctrine to bring those claims. Other claims are pending, as is the United States’ motion for summary judgment.

A description of the mine from the recent district court order is here:

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Suit Filed Against State re: Acid Mine in U.P.

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here’s the commentary from the activists. And here are some materials on the mine from the Great Lakes Natural Resource Center in Ann Arbor. Here’s our previous post on the subject.

We’ll post the complaint when we get it.

FERC Approves Wave Energy Project at Makah

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Thanks for Tom Schlosser at Morisett Schlosser for these docs: Here is the FERC announcement and the statements of commissioners Spitzer and Kelliher.

Tribal Walleye Stocking Program

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Soo Today:

Friday, December 21, 2007NEWS RELEASE

SAULT STE. MARIE
TRIBE OF
CHIPPEWA INDIANS

*************************
Tribal walleye stocking program going strong into 10th year

21 percent of walleye sampled were stocked fish; no sign of VHS in stocks

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI – Tom Gorenflo, Inter-Tribal Fisheries and Assessment Program (ITFAP) director, reported walleye fishing in the St. Marys river received another boost in 2007 as the ITFAP raised and stocked 337,000 two-inch walleye summer fingerlings at various locations in the river.

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Possible Future Circuit Split re: Bald & Golden Eagles Protection Act

Matthew L.M. Fletcher5 Comments

An interesting question is brewing in the Ninth and Tenth Circuits — whether the administration of the National Eagle Repository (created by the USFWS as a means to create an exception to the Bald and Golden Eagles Protection Act for American Indians) is unconstitutional as applied to American Indians.

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Rally in Opposition to MDEQ Approval of Sulfide Mining

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

In Marquette: Here are details.

For more info, see the Save the Wild UP website.

Michigan DEQ Approval of Upper Peninsula Sulfide Mine — Press Release

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

From MDEQ:

DEQ Announces Decision on Kennecott Mine

Contact: Robert McCann (517) 241-7397
Agency: Environmental Quality
December 14, 2007

The Department of Environmental Quality announced today its decision to approve a series of permits to the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company to conduct mining operations at the proposed Eagle Project Mine near Marquette. The department’s decision follows a period of extensive review by the DEQ of public comments and supporting information to determine whether Kennecott’s proposal met the strict standards contained within Michigan’s air quality, groundwater, and mining laws. The DEQ is required to make its decision based solely on whether a proposal meets those standards.

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Loophole in Proposed Federal Legislation re: Great Lakes Invasive Species

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From the Grand Rapids Press:

Loophole may let in more lake invaders

Posted by Jeff Alexander | Press News Service December 16, 2007 01:13AM

A loophole in proposed federal legislation designed to keep ocean freighters from importing more exotic species into the Great Lakes could sink the proposal, leaving the door open to continued invasions.

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