Chris Clements

Energy Fuels Resources says that it plans to stockpile and eventually process the uranium at its White Mesa mill facility in southeastern Utah, the last of its kind still operating in the U.S. A tribe located near the mill facility opposes the increase in uranium production due to concerns over air pollution.

The first conventional uranium mining done in the U.S. in eight years is underway at three mines in Utah and Arizona. Energy Fuels Resources says that it plans to stockpile and eventually process the uranium at its White Mesa mill facility in southeastern Utah, the last of its kind still operating in the U.S. Scott Clow is the environmental programs director for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, which is located near the White Mesa mill. Clow says he and the tribe oppose the increase in uranium production, citing the potential for a rise in air pollution for tribal residents living near the mill. He’s also concerned about the contamination of groundwater. Energy Fuels said high market prices for uranium combined with helpful government policies and the high demand for fuel for nuclear power plants also led to the decision to increase mining.

More than a week after an oil spill on agricultural land near Shiprock, New Mexico, some Navajo residents in the area say they have concerns about the pace and scale of the environmental cleanup.

A federal program tasked with surveying abandoned uranium mines used during the Cold War era held a meeting last week about mines located on the Navajo Nation. More than 3,400 defense-related uranium mines are scattered throughout the Four Corners region, the result of a prospecting rush beginning in the 1940s sponsored by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The meeting was held in Sanostee, New Mexico, a community that’s home to 12 such abandoned mines, many of which are located at the base of the Chuska Mountains near the Sanostee Wash. The Defense-Related Uranium Mine program, or DRUM, is a Department of Energy initiative started in 2017 to both survey abandoned mines and ensure they’re sealed off and inaccessible to the public. Some Sanostee residents who attended the meeting expressed concern about runoff from the mines and its effects on livestock that graze nearby, as well as potential health problems for residents, like cancer.

Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park is almost double the size of nearby Mesa Verde National Park, and includes dozens of archaeological sites, well-preserved cliff dwellings, pottery sherds and art on canyon walls. The park is a tribal enterprise encompassing the entirety of Mesa Verde’s backcountry and requires visitors to travel with a Ute Mountain Ute guide.

Founded in 2015, Dził Ditł’ooí School of Empowerment, Action and Perseverance (DEAP) is in Navajo, New Mexico, nestled in the Chuska Mountains. One of the school’s administrators says it was created out of a desire to Indigenize education for students by including traditional Navajo practices and spaces in the curriculum – especially after decades of cultural erasure due to the U.S. Indian boarding school system.

On Tuesday morning, Navajo sheep herders and Montezuma Land Conservancy will come together at a farm in Lewis to celebrate a threatened breed of sheep and its place in Diné culture. The Navajo-Churro sheep breed became endangered in the 1930s due to livestock reduction policies implemented by the U.S. government. Montezuma Land Conservancy offered for Navajo herders from Teec Nos Pos, Arizona to have their Churro sheep graze at a farm north of Cortez in exchange for education for the public on weaving and wool. Roy Kady is a member of the Navajo Nation and a weaver who’s contributing to the revitalization of the breed, which began in the 70s. He and his apprentice herders – most of them younger Navajo citizens living on the reservation, many in Teec Nos Pos – will be holding fiber and weaving demonstrations at Fozzie’s Farm. And last week, residents of Montezuma County attended a meeting in the Dolores Public Library on the need for more veterinarians for the area, including those who respond to after-hours emergencies.

On Wednesday morning, flags were lowered to half mast for the funeral service for a Cortez police officer who was killed in the line of duty last week. Hundreds of police vehicles formed the motorcade for Sgt. Michael Moran. The funeral was held at the Cortez Recreation Center and was not open to the public. And Montezuma Land Conservancy will hold a sheep celebration event at Fozzie’s Farm in Lewis, Colorado on Tuesday next week, in partnership with Navajo sheep herders. The event will include the butchering of a sheep in accordance with Diné cultural tradition, starting at around 8 a.m. At 10 a.m., Diné fiber artists will hold workshops and demonstrations. Herders in Teec Nos Pos loaned their sheep and goats to Fozzie’s Farm as part of a cultural exchange with Montezuma Land Conservancy, or MLC.

On Friday, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold visited Towaoc and met with officials from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe to discuss automatic voter registration for the state’s tribal communities. The Colorado Votes Act passed by the legislature earlier this year means some enrolled tribal members in Colorado will be automatically registered to vote. It’s the first instance of automatic voter registration for enrolled members of tribal nations in the U.S., and is part of a broader election reform package by the Secretary of State’s office. Griswold says that since she was elected in 2019, her office has been considering ways they could try to reverse the historical voter suppression of Native American people in Colorado. And the funeral for the Cortez police officer who was killed in the line of duty last week takes place on Wednesday morning.

Sgt. Michael Moran was shot near South Broadway in Cortez on Wednesday. The suspects fled in their vehicle but were quickly located. This is a developing story.