Letters: Questions on land purchase

I was raised in today’s world/society and have found to be nestled in the “Generation X” society, and not in the “Baby Boomer” or “Millennial” societies.

I sit as a surveying engineer and see things from outside the box. This will serve as a reminder to our elders they can sleep restful at night worry free, knowing an individual(s) can bear down on these current issues by asking the right and simple question. As the Navajo Nation, we have to remember to question our 23rd Navajo Nation Council delegates any time the Office of the President and Vice President and a group of unaware delegates hurry and spend an obscene amount of money for land, especially when it is located in the middle of two mountain ranges (beginning at the Sangre Se Cristo Mountain Range that runs south into New Mexico), and known to be one of the coldest places in the wintertime.

We Diné people must not allow for history to repeat itself like what took place in 1988 when then-Chairman Peter McDonald was found guilty of receiving kickbacks for a land purchase, which was for his own personal gain. The 750,000-acre Big Boquillas Ranch in Northern Arizona sold for $86 million with a kickback of $4 million to Peter MacDonald. I hope that we have learned our lesson and not seeped into another “kickback scam” or towards any future major land-buying purchases like this one in South-central Colorado.

Why can’t an audit be put in place, as to know and show the exact dollar figure and that no kickbacks schemes are present? What are we doing with it, or what have we done with it? As these are questions from a couple of Council delegates (Hon. Tom Chee and Hon. Amber Crotty) questioning the Big Bo Ranch land purchase. Will it be allowed to us Navajos who find a need in the land? What does the OPVP office say as they were the spearhead of this land purchase, and was it Karis Begay or Marie Cohen wheeling and dealing for the president, or for our best interest? Were they all in this together? Or misinforming each other?

Remember, we can’t forget history, my Diné people, as this will be followed closely by us thought to be naive Navajos, soon to forget. But we will be there for our people, informing them. The Wolf Springs Ranch is a 16,379-acre ranch in south-central Colorado (seven hours northeast from Window Rock).

Question: Was it appraised before the transaction, or are we putting the cart before the horse? And while our Navajo Nation Speaker LoRenzo Bates claims he had no idea about it, or was “unaware,” Bates has a proven track record of failure where he served in his past as chief executive officer. It only took him three years to lead the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry, a Navajo Nation tribal enterprise, into financial ruin and into the “red” by not showing any profit, when that was his only job. So in 2001, the NAPI Board had to fire him because of the bad situation he put NAPI in, all while he refused to resign.

Now, 47 years later, has NAPI ever shown a profit? Today, LoRenzo Bates sits as Navajo Nation speaker of the house only because Council Delegate Honorable Alton Shepherd gave the position to him. Speaker Bates was neither elected-in nor voted-in by the 23rd Council. We, as Navajo public, need to ask why Bates was invited to tour the land (Wolf Springs Ranch) to be purchased when the transaction was complete (based on a timeline of unawareness — July 2017 to the present).

Why do our Council delegates put so much faith in a man that put NAPI in a situation to where he needed to be fired? Following that, NAPI had to borrow $7.8 million from the tribe just to operate and make payroll. We know the speaker must be asleep at the wheel, but our delegates, too? A simple case of where the blind is leading the blind. And I have to ask, why did NAPI farm also tour the land purchase? We, as a nation, should know NAPI’s organic crop was a costly disaster that cost millions of dollars in early 2017 during the planting season. The NAPI Board should know about that, as they already have enough problems maintaining what they already have. Or, will they plow it under or cover up (the fields) again? Having the speaker say that he was unaware of this multi-million dollar deal? A $23 million Wolf Springs Ranch in Westcliffe, Colorado? Maybe it needed to be handed to him?

To hear the land wasn’t appraised until after the purchase is also unacceptable, from a land surveyor’s standpoint. And the Diné people have every right to ask questions of where their funds are being spent. And not at a moment’s notice, either. The Land Acquisition Trust Fund was designed from the Permanent Trust Fund for a reason and needs to be transparent across the board while protecting the people’s interest/money in safekeeping. And if Navajo Nation is annexing these lands, why are we paying taxes on them when it can be transferred into Navajo Nation trust land status? Please, put that into the 2017 Navajo Nation land purchase policy and Pprocedures or rules and regulations.

The Navajo Nation can spend LATF and PTF revenue on our veterans, housing, education and our elders, just to name a few. For a leader who ignores, or is dumbfounded when it comes to important issues on our Navajo Nation shows that perhaps he don’t respect and care for the Diné, is a doomed society. Wake up, speaker, and address these questions. I’m finally saying this due to the fact that the majority of the 175,000 Diné members out there are feeling the same way, and the small business owners that help the Navajo Nation with jobs. From our grandchildren to the working parent, to our elders within our Navajo Nation boundaries across this vast land, only when our voted-in Council delegates truly listen to the Diné people, will there be absolute Hozho.

Happy holidays and seasons greetings to all. God bless adoo Merry Keshmas dooleel.

Marvin P. Murphy
Fort Wingate, N.M.

Clock ticking on NGS; Nation needs to move forward

It’s officially now two years until closure of Navajo Generating Station, and the Navajo president and the Council need to seize this moment. With the U.S. Department of the Interior giving the final approval, a firm retirement date of December 2019 for the Navajo Generating Station is now set.

This is the most public indication of closure planning from the Interior and the Navajo Nation since the announcement of the agreement last July. It makes it official what we have known for a long time – that the era of coal operations at NGS and the mine on Black Mesa will soon be over, as coal is ending everywhere. Let’s make one thing clear: news of two years until closure of NGS does not mean that the Navajo Nation should still try to figure out new ownership at the 11th hour to keep the plant open. Nor does it mean that the Nation should still try to look for some form of big government bailout only to keep a zombie industry from its inevitable demise.

News of only two years until closure of NGS means that we need to seize this moment. There is much to be done to prepare for a successful transition away from coal. Regionally, the trend away from coal is seen in recent moves by PNM in New Mexico, APS and SRP in Arizona, NV Energy in Nevada, Xcel in Colorado, and all the utilities in California. What market really is there left for the Navajo Nation to sell energy produced from coal if everyone is jumping ship? The answer is none — most utilities and shareholders are now investing in renewable energy, not coal.

With the lease on NGS getting the final approval, the Navajo Nation is now well positioned to join that trend. Within the signed closure agreement on NGS, the Navajo Nation will have access rights to 500 megawatts of transmission over power lines built for the coal plant, providing significant opportunities for export of renewable energy generated on Navajo land. But clean energy investors won’t wait around forever. The clock is ticking to go full charge ahead on diversifying the Navajo Nation’s economy, investing in renewable energy, and creating sustainable economic development.

But it’s not just economic transition that we need to start planning for. We need to have a plan for the reclamation and the remediation of our land after decades of pollution. And those plans need to employ the Navajo and Hopi workers in the cleanup of the NGS site. There is also work to be done to discontinue the industrial use of the Navajo Aquifer and from the Colorado River, which has been depleted due to NGS and Kayenta coal mine operations, and on restoring our water rights.

Finally, the Kayenta mine needs to also have a strategy in place to cover costs for reclamation and restoration of the site. Enough with trying to look for a phantom new operator or searching for a bloated bailout for NGS, and enough with the talk of trying to buy yet another coal mine to keep NGS going.

The clock is now ticking toward shutdown of the plant by 2019. The Navajo Nation has much work to do to ensure a proper closure of the plant and restoration of our land and water and a smooth economic transition. Trying to keep coal on life support is really a waste of everyone’s time at this point. It’s time to right the wrongs of the past and make a clean start.

Percy Deal
Kykotsmovi, Ariz.

NHA is under the tribe

After reading “NHA: Work progressing on Slim home” published on Nov. 2, 2017, I would like to offer the Navajo people, reporters and Navajo Housing Authority employees what I hope is deemed helpful. The insight is gained from my professional experience. I am a retired federal employee who has worked more than 20 years for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

My dear life-long friends often encourage me to share some of my expertise in public housing, especially when they read news related to the NHA and spark a conversation with me. They are the reason I am writing to the Navajo Times.

In the article aforementioned, Cindy Yurth reported a statement made by public information officer Christian Bigwater. Ms. Yurth wrote, “NHA’s public information officer, Christian Bigwater, added that the NHA is under the federal government and not the tribe.” Ms. Yurth may have paraphrased what Bigwater said, so it is difficult to know whether he actually said this or it was misinterpreted and reported as such.

To say or report that “the NHA is under the federal government and not the tribe” is misleading. NHA is the Navajo Nation’s Tribally Designated Housing Entity. In fact, readers, NHA personnel and reporters may perform a Google search on the term “Tribally Designated Housing Entity” to learn how each tribe administers its housing program with federal dollars by designating an entity. The entity for the Navajo Nation is NHA.

The only time I am aware of NHA coming under the temporary management of U.S. HUD was in the mid-70s when NHA defaulted on the its annual contributions contract under the 1937 Housing Act before the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 was enacted.

The distinction may be moot to some, but I think it is important. When people say or report that the NHA is under the federal government as an absolute, accountability is harder to achieve, especially when the accountability rests at the local level with NHA and the Navajo Nation instead.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Nancy D. Todea
Shiprock, N.M.

We don’t want to be Moab

Prior to the Bears Ears National Monument, designated by President Obama using executive order from Hawaii less than one year ago, 92 percent of San Juan County was already under federal management/protection. Much of this land was “Wilderness Area,” which is the strictest form of land protection an area can have.

The executive order signed by President Trump did not change that. It restores the same protection that was on the land prior and does preserve multi-use of this area. The threats of drilling, development and state land grabs are just scare tactics to sway people. This area is extremely remote and filled with rugged terrain, making it very unlikely that building development and extraction will happen here. For that reason, you’ll note there has been no drilling nor building over the past 10-plus years in San Juan County, but specifically in the original BENM area.

National monuments limit local land use over time. There has never been a national monument that has allowed people to drive in and cut wood. Most do not allow any woodcutting.

This is how many people in the county heat their homes. Ninety percent of the Native Americans that are directly affected by this designation use this wood to heat their homes because many of the San Juan County Native Americans do not have electricity or cannot afford to use it. Wood has been a critical resource for heat, cooking and survival.

Grazing permits decrease over time or increase in price until people can’t maintain the grazing numbers needed to sustain their families. We don’t want to become another Moab, where businesses have signs that say, “Please don’t bathe in our sinks.”

Our county frequently suffers drought conditions and can barely sustain the population we have. We have also seen, thanks to Moab, what a tourist-based business does to a community and it is not a favorable economic plan to sustain family living. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the history of our nation that shows that monuments protect land. All recent research shows that monuments lead to increased visitation, which leads to increased desecration.

The National Park Service, as of 2014, had $278 million dollars in deferred maintenance (i.e., backlogged debt) just in the state of Utah. Nationally, the total backlog for the NPS was $11.4 billion dollars. By 2016, the total amount was $11.9 billion dollars. This is why, despite the BENM area already having the layers of government control needed to protect the area (prior to Obama’s executive order), it wasn’t done. The NPS is unable to maintain the national parks and monuments they currently manage, let alone staff a 1.35 million acre monument and protect it. Designating 1.35 million acres as a national monument does not improve their financial or staffing situation, but makes it worse.

The original monument designation that occurred less than one year ago included three fourths of the gravel pits in San Juan County. These supply 75 percent of the gravel needed for home development/improvement projects and road maintenance. These leases could not be renewed if they were to remain in the monument. There was also State School Lands and some private land included in the original designation. Those areas must be accessible. San Juan County’s garbage landfill was partly in the original monument. The poorly defined borders made San Juan County residents feel this was a land grab. The Antiquities Act simply states that designations need to be “the smallest area” possible.

In the original 1.35 million acres important “antiquities” were not scattered throughout that gigantic acreage. It is wiser to focus on a smaller manageable size to protect valuable resources. Antiquities Act designations are not designed to protect night skies, flora and fauna, and biking. These are some of the reasons San Juan County Native Americans and Anglos did not want a 1.35 million acre national monument vacation destination for the healthy and the wealthy. We always welcome tourists. We already have monuments and parks in our county, plenty of them.

The national parks and monuments include Monument Valley, Canyonlands, Lake Powell, Natural Bridges and Hovenweep. The state parks include Edge of the Cedars Museum and the Goosenecks of the San Juan River. San Juan County did not need a gigantic national monument to protect this land.

Residents have every intention of being good stewards and practicing conservation strategies. Those living closest to the land are invested in keeping it “pristine” as former Secretary Jewell described it when she came in 2016.

I hope this letter brings some new insight to this situation. The people of San Juan County are some of the nicest and most knowledgeable stewards you’ll ever meet and I’d encourage you to come visit and talk to them, instead of repeating propaganda without any facts. We would like to maintain our way of life as the country comes, but visitors are always welcome.

Dashelle Holliday
San Juan County, Utah

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