Dear Katy, It's absolutely deplorable: Western-state Republicans are once again attempting to rip sovereign tribal land away from Native Americans in Utah and give it to the fossil fuel industry.1 After failed attempts in 2016 to strip lands from the Ute tribe, which more than 150,000 CREDO members opposed, Rep. Rob Bishop and Sen. Orrin Hatch are pushing hard for Congress to pass legislation once again to hand over Native reservation land to extractive industries during the lame-duck session just before Democrats take control of the House. Their bill is not only a huge giveaway to the fossil fuel industry, it would also be the first Native American land grab in over 100 years. We must demand that Congress prevent this bill from ever getting a vote in Congress. Tell Congress: Stop the Native American land grab in Utah. Click here to sign the petition. This legislation is just the latest attempt by Rep. Bishop and other enemies of Native and public lands to undermine sovereign land and water rights. In 2016, Rep. Bishop introduced legislation that would have stripped away protections for 100,000 acres of Ute tribal lands to allow for oil drilling and uranium mining and would have prevented then-President Obama from designating 18 million acres of unprotected land at Bears Ears a national monument.2 And it's no surprise why: After becoming chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Bishop got a massive payout to his campaign, receiving hundreds of thousands in contributions from the energy, agribusiness and oil and gas industries.3 In addition to stealing indigenous tribal lands, this Republican bill, dubbed the Emery County Public Land Management Act, would neglect to protect more than 1 million acres of public lands, transfer public lands to the state of Utah and allow for destructive, motorized recreational use. And according to the Grand Canyon Trust, "Native American tribes were totally excluded from deliberations" and "countless important rock art panels and other cultural sites are left available for oil and gas drilling, and that's just unacceptable."4 We stopped Republican efforts to steal Native lands before, and we can do it again. We must act now before the end of the congressional session to demand that Congress stop this modern-day Native American land grab. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/land_grab_2018?t=7&akid=30720%2E12967895%2EVyukXk Thanks for everything you do. Josh Nelson, Co-Director CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: - The Ute Indian Tribe PAC, "FACT SHEET: Exposing Congressman Bishop's Misinformation on the Uncompahgre Reservation," Oct. 9, 2018.
- Dan Zukowski, "Federal Bill Seeks First Native American Land Grab in 100 Years," EcoWatch, Sept. 20, 2016.
- Emma Baccellieri, "For campaign cash, many lawmakers use a big map; Rob Bishop nears 93 percent out-of-state," Open Secrets, July 8, 2016
- Grand Canyon Trust, "The Grand Canyon Trust opposes the Emery County Public Land Management Act of 2018," June 28, 2018.
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