Indigenous Women: Protect the Tongass National Forest in Alaska

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Indigenous Women Respond to U.S. Forest Service Plans to Gut Protections on The Tongass National Forest in Alaska

By Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International

osprey@wecaninternational.org

Censored News

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, California – With wildfires blazing in the Amazon Rainforest and across western states in the U.S.— and the climate crisis and environmental degradation ever escalating— efforts to repeal environmental protections continue to expand globally. Currently, the United States Forest Service (USFS) is intensifying plans to roll back long-standing protections against logging and road-building in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. Today, the USFS announced a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and moved one step closer to exempting the Tongass, known as the nation’s “climate forest,” from the hard-fought for National Roadless Rule.

Fed. Court Sets August Trial Date for Thunderhawk v. Morton County -- Standing Rock Civil Rights Lawsuit

Federal Court Sets August Trial Date for Standing Rock Civil Rights Lawsuit

 

Thunderhawk v. County of Morton, North Dakota

 

By Columbia Law School

Censored News

 

New York, September 25, 2020 — Judge Daniel M. Traynor (U.S. District Court for North Dakota) has set aside two weeks for trial starting August 16, 2021 for Thunderhawk v. County of Morton, a federal civil rights lawsuit challenging the five-month discriminatory closure of Highway 1806 at the height of the NoDAPL movement at Standing Rock.  The trial was set at a recent status conference before Magistrate Judge Charles S. Miller (U.S. District Court for North Dakota), at which swift discovery deadlines were also imposed.

 

"We are pleased that this case is moving forward so expeditiously," lead attorney Noah Smith-Drelich said. "We appreciate the commitment that Judge Traynor and Judge Miller have shown to ensuring that the plaintiffs in this case have their day in court without further delay."

 

Members of Congress, Tribes, State Governments call to shut down Dakota Access Pipeline

Photo by Ryan Vizzions Standing Rock NO DAPL

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, TRIBES, STATE GOVERNMENTS FORMALLY JOIN CALL TO SHUT DOWN DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE

Now, 24 members of Congress, 27 Tribes and Tribal organizations, and 19 state governments submit briefs supporting the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s fight against the pipeline

We’re thankful that so many members of congress, Tribes, and state governments are standing with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in saying no to DAPL. These leaders understand that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe deserve the right to reject a pipeline running through their lands -- Jan Hasselman, Staff Attorney, Earthjustice

By Earthjustice

Censored News

Sept. 23, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. —  Members of Congress, Tribes, and state governments today submitted briefs in support of shutting down the Dakota Access Pipeline to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The briefs come after a federal judge in July found that the pipeline violated federal law and ordered it shut down pending an environmental impact statement examining the impacts the DAPL would have on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The case is now on appeal before the D.C. Circuit, which has scheduled a hearing for Nov. 4.

The following is a statement from Jan Hasselman, Earthjustice staff attorney, who has been representing the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in their fight against DAPL:

“We’re thankful that so many members of congress, Tribes, and state governments are standing with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in saying no to DAPL. The decision on whether DAPL should keep running is ultimately a political one, and these leaders understand that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe deserve the right to reject a pipeline running through their lands.”
Brief submitted by Members of Congress
Brief submitted by the Tribes and Tribal organizations
Brief submitted by state governments

CONTACTS


Siham Zniber, Earthjustice

Listuguj Mi’gmaq battle Canada for Treaty lobster fishing rights

 

Listuguj Mi'gmaq Government
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On Sunday, September 20, the Listuguj Mi’gmaq Government (“LMG”) began its fall lobster fishery. The catch will be used to provide for the community’s needs, with most distributed to community members for food and the rest sold to finance fisheries operations and community initiatives to support economic recovery in the wake of COVID-19. Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), however, will issue a licence prohibiting the sale of lobster caught by the LMG this fall, restricting its use to food, social, and ceremonial purposes. This goes against the Supreme Court of Canada’s 1999 decision in Marshall, which confirmed that the Peace and Friendship Treaties of 1760-61 protect the right of Mi’gmaq communities to fish and sell fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood.

“Canada tells us repeatedly that they acknowledge our treaty right to sell fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood,” said Darcy Gray, Chief of the LMG. “But, as an institution, the DFO won’t change how it operatesto allow us to sell the lobster we catch every fall. Instead, they criminalize us for exercising our rights. That is systemic racism. It continues year after year.”