This week, in a 51-40 vote, the Senate confirmed Rep. Deb Haaland as the first Native American secretary of the interior, putting her at the helm of a federal agency that oversees natural resources, public land, and tribal affairs. “It is long past time that an American Indian serve as the secretary of the Interior,” […]
Federal Government Blocks Mining Plans Near Boundary Waters in Minnesota
Last week the Department of Interior and the Department of Agriculture declined to renew a lease for a copper-nickel mine near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness over concerns that the mine could contaminate the area’s network of lakes, streams, and wetlands.