Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Politics

Native American tribe plans protests, considers suing Biden admin over oil-leasing crackdown

by June 11, 2023
June 11, 2023
Native American tribe plans protests, considers suing Biden admin over oil-leasing crackdown

EXCLUSIVE: The president of the Navajo Nation told Fox News Digital that he has ordered the tribe’s attorney general to weigh legal action following the Biden administration’s oil-leasing ban impacting Navajo citizens.

Buu Nygren, the president of the Navajo Nation, a federally recognized tribe in the U.S. southwest, said that the Navajo Justice Department was considering pursuing litigation after Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s recent order, and he plans to protest her upcoming visit to the reservation on Sunday. Last week, Haaland banned oil, gas and mineral leasing within 10 miles of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico for 20 years, an action strongly opposed by nearby Navajo communities.

‘To totally disregard those local communities — it’s unfair,’ Nygren told Fox News Digital in an interview Saturday. ‘There’s no need to celebrate putting people into poverty, to celebrate undermining the Navajo Nation’s sovereignty, undermining everything that comes into working with tribes, in this case, Navajo Nation.’

‘I tasked the attorney general to look into all our options, because I want to be doing justice for the local community,’ he continued. ‘As president, I’ve already told my attorney general to look into all the options. So, we’re going to be moving forward with that as well.’

Nygren and other Navajo leaders, in addition to locals, have argued that the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) action banning leasing will harm low-income Navajo citizens who depend on revenue from leasing their allotments within ten miles of Chaco Canyon mainly to fossil fuel companies. 

The allotments date back to the 1900s, when the federal government awarded them to Navajo citizens as a consolation when the tribe’s territory was downsized.

‘Since I’ve entered the legislative body for my Navajo people, I’ve listened to a lot of constituents out in that area and, you know, it’s just emotional distress, psychologically as well, that they’ve talked about this — it really disturbs me to know how much more of a hardship that these folks are going to be experiencing out there,’ Brenda Jesus, who chairs the Navajo Nation Council’s Resources & Development Committee, told Fox News Digital earlier this week.

Jesus led a delegation of Navajo tribal leaders who met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week, making their case against the DOI’s ban. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., who chairs a House panel on Indian affairs, said the action represented a ‘taking’ of tribal lands and vowed congressional action following her meeting with the delegation.

Overall, there are currently 53 Indian allotments located in the 10-mile buffer zone around Chaco Canyon, generating $6.2 million per year in royalties for an estimated 5,462 allottees, according to Navajo Nation data. In addition, there are 418 unleased allotments in the zone that are associated with 16,615 allottees. 

According to the Western Energy Alliance, an industry group that represents oil and gas producers in the area, Navajo members will lose an estimated $194 million as a result of Haaland’s actions.

‘You can’t pound your chest on going after people in poverty,’ Nygren told Fox News Digital. ‘I don’t know who would want to celebrate that. Personally, I think that’s, I don’t know, you got to not have a heart if you’re going to put people that are already impoverished in third-world-country conditions and barely have enough to pay for gas, food, laundry, the daily necessities — to put them into an even tougher situation.’

‘To me, I don’t know how anybody could sleep with that thought,’ he said. ‘Come to Navajo. It’s tough. Everybody’s struggling, everybody’s trying to make a dollar, literally.’

Haaland is expected to visit Chaco Canyon on Sunday to celebrate the action. Nygren said that Navajo citizens are planning to peacefully protest the event and that he has even faced calls to block the interior secretary’s access to Navajo roads.

‘You shouldn’t celebrate beating up people in poverty,’ Nygren said.

Nygren also noted that the Biden administration failed to offer any economic proposal to account for the income losses the Chaco land withdrawal would create for Navajo allottees. 

In addition, Nygren criticized Haaland for not properly consulting the Navajo Nation and the communities near Chaco Canyon that would be most impacted by the action. The tribe previously endorsed a five-mile buffer zone to protect the site while ensuring future drilling on oil-rich allotments, but has said that Haaland never considered the compromise.

‘For her to go all over the country and the world to talk about tribal sovereignty and tribal communities and this and that. But then when it comes down to it, to put tribal sovereignty into question. Actions speak louder than words, in my opinion,’ he said. 

While DOI stated Friday that the action won’t impact existing leases or production on them, opponents of the ten-mile buffer zone said it would indirectly make Indian-owned allotments worthless. Because drilling on the Navajo allotments requires horizontal crossings that pass through federal land impacted by the ban, the action effectively ends all drilling in the area, they argued.

Thomas Catenacci is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Trump to make first public speech since federal indictment over classified docs
next post
Biden speaks at White House Pride event: ‘Bravest and most inspiring people I’ve ever known’

You may also like

AOC says GOP reviving ‘legacy of slavery’ by...

February 9, 2023

Iranian woman strips down in anti-hijab protest following...

November 3, 2024

Communists Play Smash Mouth: Pelosi Announces Democrats Are...

November 15, 2022

Judicial Watch Uncovers HHS Records Revealing a Propaganda...

October 5, 2022

How a DOGE review can actually improve the...

April 28, 2025

Fauci says Biden’s bid for second term is...

June 30, 2024

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu issues bold prediction about...

February 6, 2023

Biden Threatens to Veto Proposed Senate Resolution to...

November 16, 2022

Biden tells reporter at Japan G7 summit to...

May 21, 2023

‘Coming for us’: Expert sounds alarm on CCP’s...

June 5, 2025

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Senate shuts down Kaine’s attempt to check Trump’s war powers

      June 28, 2025
    • 3 Stock Setups for the Second Half of 2025

      June 28, 2025
    • Trump touts administration’s progress on peace deals, says world leaders ‘respect our country again’

      June 27, 2025
    • Venezuelan opposition member details harrowing 400-day captivity at UN

      June 27, 2025
    • Anxious Republicans turn to Trump amid divisions over ‘big, beautiful bill’

      June 27, 2025
    • JD Vance poised to clinch victory for Trump’s landmark bill as GOP finalizes strategy

      June 27, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,329)
    • Investing (2,081)
    • Politics (15,842)
    • Stocks (3,176)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved