As part of a local Public Lands Day celebration, officials gathered at Freedom Park in Las Vegas to discuss the importance of preserving public lands. Nevada tribal leaders, elected officials, and activists are voicing concerns about the Trump Administration's desire to open more federal land for mining. They worry that the push for increased domestic mineral extraction will encroach upon tribal ancestral lands and national monuments.
Democrat Dina Titus, Nevada’s 1st Congressional District representative, said the president has already made it clear that the administration plans to sell off public lands.
“They are reducing the size of monuments like Bears Ears. We want to be sure they don't reduce any of the ones here in Nevada," Titus said to the crowd. "And the latest assault is the executive order by the president to put data centers on public lands.”
Warren Graham, the Chairman of the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe and the tribe’s Historic Preservation Officer, said it’s important that the federal government knows exactly how tribes view this land.
“Our homeland is three quarters of state of Nevada. So majority of the public lands is in rural Nevada," he said. "So that is my tribe's land and our home and it's home. And we still go out and gather and collect our traditional plants and animals.”
Graham says he’ll continue to monitor any potential plans that may impact the Western Shoshonee homelands that were acknowledged by the U.S. government in 1863.
