The Duwamish Indians have had
their land confiscated by the United States government and then by
the city of Seattle (which is named after a Duwamish chief), and
their status as a federally-recognized tribe rescinded by the Bush
administration, but the tribe is determined to keep fighting (HCN,
6/10/02: Duwamish? Duwamish who?). The 560-member tribe
has just bought the first piece of land it has ever
“owned” — a half acre near the Port of Seattle
— and is raising money to build a traditional longhouse and
cultural center there.
New Mexico will get its
money, and Los Alamos National Lab will no longer be termed an
“imminent and substantial endangerment” to the people who
live at or visit the lab (HCN, 11/24/03: Little Man vs. Fat Boy).
Two years ago, the state ordered the lab to clean itself up to
state standards; since then, the lab has refused and the U.S.
Department of Energy has withheld $43 million in cleanup funding.
But at the end of March, the state of New Mexico and the Energy
Department — thanks to the negotiating efforts of Sen. Pete
Domenici, R, and former Energy Secretary, Gov. Bill Richardson, D,
— announced they’ve agreed on a compromise cleanup at
the nuclear weapons lab.
As part of his
campaign to keep at least a little bit of the Land of
Enchantment out of the hands of the energy industry, Gov.
Richardson has also been cleaning house at the New Mexico Oil
Conservation Division, which oversees oil and gas
development in the state. In March, he asked OCD Director Lori
Wrotenbery to step down, citing too-close ties to the oil-and-gas
industry (HCN, 3/29/04: New Mexicans take a stand against oil and
gas).
Nevada’s Walker Lake,
where rising salt levels threaten to doom the fish, will
get an emergency infusion of water this year (HCN,
8/19/02: Can the tide turn for Walker Lake?). Gov. Kenny Guinn, R,
ordered that 13,588 acre-feet of water be diverted from a state
wildlife refuge to the lake. Meanwhile, confidential negotiations
continue between a passel of state, local and Indian agencies to
formulate a long-term plan to address the lake’s problems.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Follow-up.
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