Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren made his third annual state address in Shiprock on Tuesday, outlining his administration’s accomplishments amid ongoing efforts to remove him from office before his term expires this year.
During his hourlong speech, Nygren first touted energy investments from solar to coal, particularly the Four Corners Power Plant in San Juan County, New Mexico. The tribe has been leasing it to Arizona Public Service.
“We are so, so close to making sure that that stays open to 2038 because those are hundreds and hundreds of jobs,” said Nygren. “Those are millions and millions of dollars of revenue that the Navajo Nation receives. That’s coal that some of you haul and get for free from some of our chapters.”
He also focused on progress for broadband, forest carbon offsets, uranium mine cleanup as well as the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement still awaiting to be ratified by Congress. If passed, this historic $5 billion bill would resolve claims for the Navajo, Hopi and San Juan Southern Paiute.
“We need your help. We look forward to working with our Republicans, our Democrats,” added Nygren. “You never know, President Trump might be listening. … How many of you want to get water rights in Arizona? I do.”
Trump’s first vetoes of his second term included rejecting a pair of bipartisan bills. One measure sought to build a drinking water pipeline in Colorado, while another would’ve given the Miccosukee Tribe more control over its lands in Florida. Both proposals were brought forth by so-called political rivals.
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![The Long family [clockwise from top left] Joni Lapahie, Dáilan Long, Jona Lapahie, Emma Long and Emery Long.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ac75967/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4032x2246+0+389/resize/280x156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8c%2F3e%2Fcb7758794c59b588da1f9a3323b8%2Flong-family-household-burnham-nm-gp-202602.jpg)
Coal has long been the economic bedrock of the Navajo Nation, which owns deposits in Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico. Now, the tribe is asking the Trump administration to dramatically expand the life — and size — of an operational coal mine that could uproot the lives of some Navajo families. And their longtime homes — literally. -
So instead of Santa hand-delivering stockings of coal along with his team of reindeer, it’s NTEC — or the Navajo Transitional Energy Company — with its diesel-powered trucks trekking across the sprawling 27,000-square-mile reservation. -
Coal is perhaps most closely associated with Appalachian states like West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky — or Wyoming, the nation’s leading producer of the fossil fuel. But the coal-mining business was once thriving in northern Arizona as well, atop the Colorado Plateau. -
CRIT leaders say a new plan to share the Colorado River is being rushed by the Bureau of Reclamation. -
Bertram Tsavadawa is a member of the Hopi Tribe and offers tours of the reservation through his company, Ancient Pathways Tours; he’s been doing that for nearly 25 years.
![The Long family [clockwise from top left] Joni Lapahie, Dáilan Long, Jona Lapahie, Emma Long and Emery Long.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8f96e94/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4032x2246+0+389/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8c%2F3e%2Fcb7758794c59b588da1f9a3323b8%2Flong-family-household-burnham-nm-gp-202602.jpg)
