"The Department of Justice is redoubling its efforts to protect tribal communities from violations of environmental law, according to a top agency official.
The endeavor brings together DOJ’s environmental section, its Indian Resources Section, and its Office of Tribal Justice to reach out to tribal communities and learn what’s affecting them, including a series of recent tribal summits in states like New Mexico, Washington, and Minnesota, said Todd Kim, head of the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), in an interview.
Among the most pressing issues being discussed are climate change, which Kim said “can really have a dramatic effect on tribal communities, which can sometimes be uniquely vulnerable.” Other priorities include drought, wildfire, the loss of key cultural species, land loss, and the sustainability of tribal homelands, Kim told Bloomberg Law.
Another part of the effort focuses on murdered and missing Indigenous people, which the Justice Department recently said in a statement can coincide with an uptick in legal and illegal resource extraction on or near reservations."
Stephen Lee reports for Bloomberg Environment October 31, 2023.
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