The group responsible for monitoring environmental
issues on the Navajo Reservation, Diné CARE, has chosen
Christine Benally as its new director. Benally earned a doctorate
in environmental health from Colorado State University and has been
involved with Diné CARE, an acronym for Citizens Against
Ruining Our Environment, since 1991. The group’s first project was
to stop clearcutting by a tribally owned timber company, an
operation that is now on hold while tribal officials work on a
10-year forest management plan (HCN,10/31/94). Benally says she
plans to generate environmental enthusiasm among the tribe’s youth
by creating internship programs. “When I was young there were no
role models concerned with the environment,” she says. “Everybody’s
attitude was cut, cut, cut and dig, dig, dig.” On a recent tour of
reservation high schools, however, she says most students talked
about the need to protect the tribe’s natural resources. Diné
CARE’s most pressing concern, she adds, is reducing the emissions
from six coal-burning plants on the reservation. CARE President
Earl Tulley says Benally’s academic background is important because
she will be working with universities and governments. Eventually,
he says, the group will establish an environmental justice center
on the reservation. For more information, call Christine Benally at
505/860-7214.
” Bill
Taylor
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Navajo role model.
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