National Park Service – Turtle Talk

Massachusetts Federal Court Orders Restoration of National Park Service Materials Censored by Interior Department

June 13, 2026Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the order is National Parks Conservation Association v. Dept. of the Interior (D. Mass.):

DCT Order.pdf Download

Excerpts:

NPS Director Chuck Sams to Deliver Rennard Strickland Lecture

October 23, 2024Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Blurb:

Join the University of Oregon’s Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center (ENR) and cross-campus partners including the department of Native American and Indigenous Studies, the Native American Law Students Association, and the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics for the 18th Annual Rennard Strickland Lecture.

This year’s lecture will feature Mr. Charles F. “Chuck” Sams III (Cayuse and Walla Walla), the Director of the National Park Service, with his talk, “Fulfilling a Covenant: Stewardship of America’s Best Idea — The intersection of Indigenous Knowledge and the 1916 Organic Act.”

A free and public virtual event, the Rennard Strickland Lecture will take place from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM PST on Thursday, October 24, 2024. More details, including the link to register for the webinar, are below and available on the event webpage.

David Treuer in the Atlantic

April 16, 2021Singel

Treuer’s article is titled, Return the National Parks to the Tribes: The jewels of America’s landscape should belong to America’s original peoples.

Here.

Ninth Circuit Decides Sturgeon Hovercraft Matter on Remand from SCOTUS

October 3, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in Sturgeon v. Masica. An excerpt:

John Sturgeon would like to use his hovercraft in a national preserve to reach moose hunting grounds. The State of Alaska is fine with that; the federal government is not. Sturgeon’s case turns on which entity—state or federal—gets to decide the matter. On remand from the Supreme Court, we again conclude that the federal government properly exercised its authority to regulate hovercraft use on the rivers within conservation system units in Alaska.

Briefs:

Alaska Brief

Enviro Groups Brief

Federal Brief

Mentasta Traditional Village et al Brief

Sturgeon Brief

DOI Seeks Supervisory Attorney-Advisor for National Park Branch

June 17, 2016Sarah M Donnelly

Link to USAJobs posting here. Closes Monday, June 27, 2016.

Interior Attorney-Advisor Vacancies with National Park Service

April 26, 2016Sarah M Donnelly

Link to USAJobs announcement SOL-2016-0031 here.

Provides legal counsel and services primarily related to cultural and natural resource management including NAGPRA.

Link to USAJobs announcement SOL-2016-0037 here.

Provides legal counsel and services focused primarily on the Commercial Services Program.

NPS Reopens Comment Period for Proposed Rule

August 12, 2015Sarah M Donnelly1 Comment

The National Park Service has a proposed rule that would allow members of federally-recognized tribes traditionally associated with specific national parks to gather and remove plant materials from those national parks so long as the tribe and the federal government create an agreement that regulates the practice.

Originally the deadline for comments was July 20, 2015, but today the NPS extended that deadline to midnight September 28, 2015.

Comments for “NPS RIN 1024-AD84” can be submitted online or to the following mailing address:

Joe Watkins, Office of Tribal Relations and American Cultures
National Park Service
1201 I St NW
Washington DC 20005