Gov. Katie Hobbs announced on Friday that a longstanding tribal land dispute, nearly three decades in the making, is finally getting settled. It’ll transfer thousands of acres of state land into trust for the Hopi Tribe.
The Arizona State Land Department, which manages more than 9 million acres of state trust lands, will get paid nearly $4 million by the tribe to take almost 21,000 acres from Coconino County — south of I-40 near Winslow — into trust.
That’s roughly $185 per acre.
In all, the Hopi Tribe will eventually spend more than $20 million to consolidate about 110,000 acres worth of checkerboarded properties in Coconino and Navajo counties that border tribal lands.
By taking those lands into trust, the Hopi Tribe, which is surrounded by the sprawling 17-million-acre Navajo Nation, shall expand its 1.5-million-acre-reservation in northeastern Arizona. This agreement follows the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Settlement Act that ended hostilities between the two tribes in 1996.
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A professor at Northern Arizona University teamed up with Navajo communities to test water quality in remote wells. The map is meant to help tribal members still struggling with the effects of past uranium mining. -
Cataloging information from the Confluence may also be used to potentially deter future commercial development by industries like hydropower — while the Trump administration is eyeing energy projects on tribal lands. -
The federal agency’s action — published Tuesday — contends that its decision is intended to “encourage energy production” in the midst of Trump’s self-declared national energy emergency. -
From receiving a coveted James Beard Award to taping an episode of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” with Flavortown restaurateur and TV host Guy Fieri, the Fry Bread House has turned into a beloved local culinary staple over the last three decades. -
Appointed by George W. Bush, Judge Richard Leon in D.C. ruled last week that granting an injunction is “unwarranted” — writing he expects the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will “follow through on its guarantees of consultation.”
