New
Mexico - There is a war being waged by George W. Bush and the US
government that comes complete with racial profiling, divide-and-rule
tactics, media orchestration and a total disregard for the damage to
the environment and inhabitants of the land. This war is not taking
place in Afghanistan or Colombia, however, but on the homelands and
sacred sites of American Indians.
The 500-plus year war against America’s First Nations intensified
when Bush and Secretary of Interior Gale Norton initiated a series of
directives designed to reverse the environmentally protective policies
enacted by former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt.
Taking advantage of the present recession fears, “energy-crisis”
scares and anti-terrorism hysteria, Bush and his campaign supporters
hope to stampede the public and Congress into accepting legislation
that would facilitate hard-rock mining, oil drilling and the dumping of
toxic waste on Native territory.
“This is like going back to the James Watt era of public lands
management,” states Stephen D’Esposito, president of the Mineral Policy
Center (MPC), in a reference to the pro-industry Interior Secretary of
the Reagan Administration.
During the Clinton Administration, Babbitt’s leadership helped the
Indian nations of the Southwest make significant progress in their
struggle to maintain the sanctity and environmental integrity of their
traditional and sacred lands.
The Interior Department scored a major victory in September 2000
when it bought out the White Vulcan Pumice Mine in Arizona. The mine
threatened to desecrate the San Francisco Peaks, a region sacred to 13
tribes. The US Forest Service approved an additional 74,000 acres
surrounding the Peaks for a “mineral withdrawal” that would ban any new
mining claims for 20 years.
In November, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ordered a
9,360-acre mineral withdrawal in Indian Pass, in California’s Imperial
Valley - an area that has been inhabited by the native Quechan people
for 12,000 years.
The withdrawal, however, did not affect plans by Glamis Imperial
Corp. (a subsidiary of Canadian-owned Glamis Gold Ltd.) to open a gold
mine in Indian Pass. But a policy opinion signed by Babbitt ruled that
the BLM had the authority to deny Glamis’ permit under the amended
Federal Land Policy Management Act and the California Desert
Preservation Act. In January 2001, the BLM decided that the mine could
not operate in Indian Pass, as it would cause “undue impairment” to the
area that contains geographical features and trails vital to the
Quechan’s religion and culture.
But as Bush was sworn in, the environmentally friendly atmosphere
began to dissolve. The mining industry, which contributed perhaps as
much as $7 million to Bush’s campaign, vehemently opposed the new
hard-rock mining rules that went into place on Clinton’s last day in
office. The National Mining Association and Denver-based Newmont Mining
Corp. filed lawsuits to block the new rules. The industry particularly
objected to requirements that mining companies be required to post
bonds to ensure adequate cleanup after a mine has closed. Without such
bonds, taxpayers wind up paying the bills.
Interior Secretary Norton gutted the BLM’s new ability to deny
operating permits that would damage cultural or religious resources.
Babbitt’s denial of the Glamis Imperial project had set a historical
precedent by suggesting that the antiquated Mining Law of 1872 may not
constitute the “highest and best use” of the land.
“It was a good victory for us,” says Michael Jackson, Sr.,
president of the Quechan Tribal Council, “and also for other tribal
nations that face the same problem.”
But Norton and her solicitor, William Meyers, rewrote Babbitt’s
legal opinion, declaring that since there was no written regulatory
definition of “undue impairment,” the BLM cannot deny the Glamis permit
for that reason.
Norton “worked behind the scenes, in secret,” says Courtney Ann
Coyle, attorney for the Quechan Indian Nation. “Her policies have a
complete lack of consultation on issues concerning Indian Country.” In
February, the BLM initiated “validity exams” to determine whether
Glamis’ current claims offered sufficient potential for profit. If the
claims pass the test, the battle for the Quechan’s sacred land may be
decided in the courtroom.
Uranium on the Rebound?
During the waning months of the Clinton Administration, the Eastern
Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM), the Southwest Research and
Information Center (SRIC) and the Diné people of the Crownpoint and
Churchrock in northwestern New Mexico continued to block plans by Hydro
Resources Inc. (HRI) to construct four uranium mines and a processing
plant near their community. Residents feared the project could poison
their air and drinking water.
Coinciding with the Bush/Cheney team’s promotion of nuclear power
is legislation spearheaded by Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) that would
provide uranium mining companies with $30 million over a three-year
period. Wilson’s plan would help HRI kick-start its Crownpoint project
by providing its parent company (Dallas-based Uranium Resources, Inc.)
with a $10 million bailout.
Mitchell Capitan of ENDAUM says Wilson never met with local Diné
before announcing her corporate welfare package. Wilson’s proposed gift
to HRI has outraged residents in New Mexico. “I don’t know if I’ve ever
seen an issue galvanize a community like this,” says Chris Shuey of
SRIC.
The provision’s fate will be decided by a congressional committee
after an energy bill has been formulated. Meanwhile, former Diné
uranium miners still suffer from exposure to uranium ore. The sick
miners are still waiting to be compensated under the Radiation Exposure
Compensation Act. Many have been given IOUs by the government and told
that the funds have run out.
Bush and his cronies have brought new blood to an old war and
given the battleground new names - Indian Pass, Crownpoint and
Churchrock. The Bush White House wants a nuclear waste site at Yucca
Mountain, Nevada (traditional territory of the Western Shoshone),
uranium mining permits on Havasupai and Hualapai land in the Grand
Canyon and a coal strip mine near the sacred salt lake of the Zuni
people.
But it is also “a new day for tribal leaders” says Michael
Jackson, Sr. “We aren’t going to stand in the corner and accept it. We
have a fight on our hands.”
What You Can Do For more information contact the Mineral Policy Center [1612 K St., NW Suite 808, Washington DC 20006, (202) 887-1872] and SRIC [105 Stanford SE, PO Box 4524, Albuquerque, NM 87106, (505) 262-1862].
Brad Miller, a California-based rock-climber and writer, is the Journal’s roving correspondent.
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