Environment and Natural Resources in Indian Country

"Air Quality Program

Gila River Indian Community"

"Air Quality Program

In recent years, tribal governments in the US have passed
sophisticated laws and regulations to manage social and economic development in
their communities. Gila River Indian Community is the first tribe in the
country to develop a comprehensive plan that regulates air pollution within the
boundaries of its reservation. The plan is recognized by other governments and
gives the tribe control over all of the emission-causing activities that occur
within its territory. By designing its own air quality program, the community
can manage the activities that are important to tribal citizens while
preserving a healthy atmosphere."

"Bad River Recycling/Solid Waste
Department

Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe
of Chippewa Indians"

"Bad River Recycling/Solid Waste Department

For hundreds of years, the Bad River
Band lived in present-day Wisconsin, harvesting wild rice, hunting, and
fishing. Sadly, pollution began to threaten this sensitive ecosystem and the
Anishinabe identity. Waste was hazardous and abundant on their lands, despite
cultural creation and migration stories stressing environmental stewardship.
The band set about creating environmentally sound practices of managing and
disposing waste generated on the reservation, ending cycles of harm caused by
poor disposal practices. Now, through community-wide education, incentives, and
new waste management systems, the Bad River Band citizens have a clean, safe,
and green reservation environment."

"Cherokee Tribal Sanitation Program

Tribal Utilities Department, Eastern Band of Cherokee"

"Cherokee Tribal Sanitation Program

The
Eastern Band of Cherokee developed a waste management system that includes a
tribally owned transfer station, waste collection and recycling, bio-solids and
food composting, and an education component. This revenue-generating system has
enabled the band to shut down open dumps, reduce levels of illegal dumping, and
avoid the need for a tribal landfill. In addition to revenue from sales of
recycling and compost materials, the station also services two neighboring
counties lacking federally certified landfills. The tribe is helping to ensure
the program's future success by educating its youth about the need for
recycling."

"Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish
Commission

Confederated Tribes and Bands of the
Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Nez
Perce Tribe, and Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon"

"Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

In response to the failure of the
federal and state governments to protect salmon and salmon habitat in the
Columbia River Basin, the Yakama, Umatilla, Nez Perce, and Warm Springs Tribes
came together to create the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.
Through fisheries management, policy development, advocacy, litigation support,
habitat restoration, and fundraising, it is leading a comprehensive effort to
restore salmon for the benefit of its member tribes and all people of the
Pacific Northwest."

"Coyote Valley Tribal EPA

Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians"

"Coyote Valley Tribal EPA

Established
with the cooperation of the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Coyote
Valley Tribal EPA merges two important protection initiatives into a single,
mutually reinforcing effort. By empowering youth through training in
environmental protection, the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians not only
protects the reservation environment for future generations but also protects
the tribe’s most precious resource: the Coyote Valley Pomo youth themselves."

"Honoring
our Ancestors: Chippewa Flowage Joint Agency Management Plan

Lac
Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians"

"Honoring our Ancestors: Chippewa Flowage Joint Agency Management Plan

The
Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa righted half a century of
ineffective management of the Chippewa Flowage by signing a Joint Agency
Management Plan with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the US
Forest Service. This plan identifies not only the common interests that direct
the management of the Flowage, but also the legacy of loss resulting from the
flooding of Lac Courte Oreilles homelands and burial grounds."

"The Hopi Tribe Land Team

The Hopi Tribe"

"The Hopi Tribe Land Team

Reclaiming traditional lands has
been a primary concern of the Hopi Tribe for the last century. In 1996,
significant land purchases became possible under the terms of a settlement with
the US government, but the tribal government then faced the problem of
developing a plan for land reacquisition. Responding to this challenge, the
Hopi Tribe created the Hopi Land Team, which works to identify potential
purchases, evaluate their cultural and economic significance and potential, and
recommend purchases."

"Idaho Gray Wolf Recovery

Nez Perce Tribe"

"Idaho Gray Wolf Recovery

By developing a plan that includes monitoring,
outreach, species management/control, and research, the Nez Perce are leading
the statewide recovery of the endangered Gray Wolf. The Idaho Gray Wolf
Recovery Program has brought recognition to the tribe's ability to manage a
complex and controversial project. By asserting treaty rights as co-managers of
fish and wildlife resources, the tribe has forged solid working relationships
with federal and state governments."

"Minnesota 1837 Ceded Territory Conservation Code

Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe"

"Minnesota 1837 Ceded Territory Conservation Code

The Mille Lacs Band successfully developed a
conservation code that enables the tribe to exercise its treaty rights to hunt,
fish, and gather. The conservation code has endured challenges in district
courts, appeals courts, and the Supreme Court, which ruled in March 1999 that
Band citizens retain their rights to hunt, fish, and gather in east-central
Minnesota under band regulations. Crucially, good will between band members and
non-Indians has grown. The code demonstrates that tribes can successfully
develop, implement, and monitor important natural resource programs in
cooperation with non-Indian governments."

"Oneida Farms/Agriculture Center

Oneida Nation of Wisconsin"

"Oneida Farms/Agriculture Center

A long history of land loss and
forced migration diminished the Oneida Nation's ability to maintain its
agricultural traditions resulting in the disconnection of tribal citizens to
their customary practices and the land. More than two hundred years later, the nation
is recovering land and finding ways to restore its agricultural heritage
through the Oneida Nation Farms and related programs. By reacquiring land, the nation
is returning to cultural roots in a modern, sustainable way, while also
addressing important health concerns, and economic development."

"Treaty Rights/National Forest Memorandum of Understanding

Tribes of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission"

"Treaty Rights/National Forest Memorandum of Understanding

The Great Lakes Indian Fish and
Wildlife Commission negotiated a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the US
Forest Service. The memorandum recognizes and implements treaty guaranteed
hunting, fishing and gathering rights under tribal regulations and establishes
a consultation process for management decisions that affect treaty rights in
four National Forests located within areas ceded by the Chippewa."

"Trust Resource Management

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes"

"Trust Resource Management

The Confederated Salish and
Kootenai Tribes assumed the management of their natural resources. Consciously
avoiding haphazard takeovers of existing programs, the Tribes strategically
built the necessary infrastructure and expertise to enact a gradual assertion
of self-governance. Now, with the management of trust resources firmly under
their control, the Tribes understand that the ability to establish priorities,
set goals, and address the economic and cultural needs of their citizens
through effective and efficient management is indispensable to the fullest
possible exercise of tribal sovereignty."

"Umatilla
Basin Salmon Recovery Project

Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation"

"Umatilla Basin Salmon Recovery Project

The Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) initiated the Umatilla Salmon Recovery
Project to restore water and salmon to the Umatilla River while also protecting
the local economy. Remarkable both for its success bringing salmon back to a
river where it had been absent for seventy years and for avoiding endless
cycles of litigation frequently associated with natural resource and species
restoration conflicts, the project demonstrates the effectiveness of
cooperative problem-solving."

"Water Quality Standards

Pueblo of Sandia"

"Water Quality Standards

Responding to the severe contamination of the Rio
Grande River that threatens human health and ceremonial uses of the water, the
Pueblo of Sandia was sought and was awarded “treatment as state”
status. The pueblo developed and implemented approved water quality standards
that gave it control over local and regional water issues as well as management
of water quality improvement. The pueblo is acting to ensure the program's
future success; by having grade school students tour the river and test its
water quality as part of school science projects."

"Wildlife and Outdoor Recreation Program

White Mountain Apache Tribe"

"Excellence in Governance

The White Mountain Apache
Wildlife and Outdoor Recreation Program performs all wildlife
conservation/management activities for the tribe and operates a self-sustaining
business based on the tribe’s thriving recreation and tourism industry. The program’s
effective management techniques have allowed the White Mountain Apache to gain
control over their wildlife and recreation resources and to manage these resources
in accordance with Apache values."

"Wildlife
and Fisheries Management Program

Jicarilla
Apache Tribe"

"Excellence in Governance

Recognized by state game and fish agencies as
being one of the best of its kind, Jicarilla’s wildlife program includes a game
and fish code and a wildlife management fund for habitat enhancement projects.
The program restored the reservation’s mule deer population and trophy trout,
and established a commercial elk-hunting ranch that produces over $1 million
for the tribe annually. The Jicarilla Tribe's Wildlife and Fisheries Management
Program is regarded by both Indians and non-Indians as a model program."