An Arizona-based coalition is calling on the Department of the Interior to expand the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in addition to returning the Darby Wells town site to the Tohono O'odham Nation and expanding the Hia-Ced O'odham cemetery.

Lorraine Marquez Eiler, a Hia-Ced O'odham elder, board president and co-founder of the International Sonoran Desert Alliance, explained the proposal would transfer a parcel of land managed by the Bureau of Land Management near Ajo to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a part of the Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge. Eiler noted Darby Wells and the cemetery have great meaning to her and Native stakeholders.

"We do need a place where we can have our wakes, our ceremonies," Eiler stressed. "Even though we do, do it at Darby Wells which is on BLM land, it would be much better that we have our own place and of course any land that would come forth whether it's purchased or donated, or in whatever manner comes to us. It would go to the Tohono O'odham Nation."

Eiler has noticed more camping taking place in the area, leading to subsequent degradation which she argued takes away from the essence of the sacred land. She added expanding Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and returning the sites to the Tohono O'odham Nation will bring a conservation focus to the fragile desert environment.

Aaron Cooper, executive director of the International Sonoran Desert Alliance, said those who live around Ajo value having access to the Sonoran Desert, which means ensuring protection for cultural, ecological and recreational assets is paramount. Cooper added his organization has been empowering communities like Ajo he said are interested in "leveraging," those assets for economic gains but also want to care for them responsibly.

He emphasized now is the time for the Biden administration to act to boost recovery efforts of the threatened Sonoran Desert.

"A lot of different things can happen on BLM land, but that is maybe not the best way to approach this particular track of land," Cooper contended. "Given all the fragility and the importance of the natural resources and endangered species, and some of the irreplaceable culture resources, too."

Cooper explained the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is required to protect species from extinction, restore habitats and foster biological diversity. It would also have the power to limit vehicles to established roads and restrict access to certain areas.

The issues would be discussed as part of a public process to transfer Bureau of Land Management lands to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The group is collecting signatures for its petition.


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Conservation groups are rejoicing over the decision Friday by the Biden administration to reject a proposed mining road in Alaska.

The 211-mile Ambler Road would have sliced through the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, severing the migration route for a Western Arctic Caribou herd.

Alex Johnson, interior Alaska director for the National Parks Conservation Association, said it was important for the feds to take a stand in Alaska so mining interests do not start eyeing other national parks.

"This is a very expensive, destructive and just highly speculative project that does not in any way support our clean energy goals as a country," Johnson contended. "And ultimately would permanently threaten the health and well-being of local communities and the tribes."

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski slammed the decision, warning it could limit jobs and tax revenues for Alaska by preventing exploration for minerals she said are important to national security, like copper, cobalt, gallium and germanium.

Jayme Dittmar, a photographer and filmmaker from Fairbanks, said the road would have been very disruptive to the 66 Native American villages along the proposed route.

"That'd be 168 trucks passing through close vicinity to the villages," Dittmar pointed out. "There would be hundreds of bridges built. It would dismantle a subsistence livelihood that's been in place for thousands and thousands of years."

The road was seen as a negative for tourism to the Brooks Range area. According to the Alaska Travel Industry Association, Californians make up 9% of visitors to Alaska.

Arizona conservation groups and sportsmen alike say they're pleased the Bureau of Land Management will now recognize conservation as an integral part of public lands management.

The agency's new rule puts protecting the environment on par with other land-use priorities.

Scott Garlid, executive director of the Arizona Wildlife Federation, said historically the BLM has done what he termed a "pretty good job," not only managing about 12 million acres of public lands in Arizona, but also protecting natural resources.

"They've got a tough job," Garlid acknowledged. "I think this rule helps make their job a little bit easier because it gives them some tools to balance those different demands on the 12 million acres that they manage."

Garlid predicted the rule will raise what he terms "harder-to-quantify conservation values" to the same level of importance as more extractive land uses like oil and gas exploration and mining. He thinks most Arizonans will recognize the new rule as a positive. A solid majority of Arizona voters across party lines say they are conservationists and use public lands for recreation.

To Garlid, the rule makes it clear the BLM is recognizing certain parts of federal lands, in Arizona and around the West, have been degraded. He contended restoration leases will be a good tool, allowing the BLM to lease acres to groups specifically to improve the conditions on a given landscape. He noted opponents of the new rule might see the leases as a way to "lock up" land but he argued it is not true.

"One example could be a nonprofit, like the Arizona Wildlife Federation," Garlid pointed out. "We could get a conservation lease from the Bureau of Land Management to do riparian restoration work, or work to remove invasive species along a creek bank."

According to the BLM, while a restoration or mitigation lease is in place, casual uses of the leased lands like recreation, hunting, fishing and research activities would generally continue.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

State and federal agencies are collaborating to increase the use of prescribed fires in the Northwest.

Prescribed fire is the controlled use of burns to minimize the larger risks of wildfires and smoke. It is seen as an increasingly important strategy as wildfire seasons pose greater threats to the Northwest.

Casey Sixkiller, Northwest regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said authorities want to work together to maintain forest habitats.

"Prescribed burn is one of the best tools we have for making our forests more resilient against catastrophic wildfires and they help to manage and target hazardous fuels and make for healthier forests," Sixkiller explained.

Sixkiller pointed out the EPA is involved because wildfire smoke poses risks to people's health. The collaboration is between federal agencies, departments in Oregon and Washington, and tribal governments.

Sixkiller noted the collaboration needed a formal agreement to move forward.

"That is what we've been able to do here with this agreement," Sixkiller emphasized. "To get federal land managers and states and us all in the same room, making sure that we're all on the same page about what success looks like."

Sixkiller added the collaboration has another advantage: It helps drive engagement with communities potentially in the path of prescribed burns.

"They have the confidence that the effort that's gone into planning that activity has been thought out from soup to nuts," Sixkiller acknowledged. "And that they have a seat at the table and are being engaged and their concerns are being addressed as we go forward with that activity."


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