At Forest Lake Chapter, residents confront legacy and threat of extraction amid Trump’s new coal order
Navajo Times | Krista Allen
A dirt road runs through Kayenta Mine Complex where grass is growing on Dziłyíjiin, on Friday morning. The Kayenta Mine sits idle after closing down on Aug. 26, 2019.
TÓ ŁIZHIN, N.M.
The scars of coal still run deep across the Dził Yíjiin region.
Dził Yíjiin residents on May 30 convened for a hearing on President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order 14241, an initiative to revive coal development through loosened federal regulations and accelerated mineral extraction.
Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
A dragline carries tons of debris to the side as it digs for coal on Friday in Burnham, N.M.
For residents in this northeastern stretch of Diné Bikéyah, where decades of mining by Peabody Energy left water depleted, lungs scarred, and traditions dislocated, the federal policy struck a raw nerve.
“This hearing was not just a forum,” said Speaker Crystalyne Curley in a statement. “It was a long-overdue recognition of the voices that have too often been ignored.”
More than 50 community members delivered oral testimony. Another 169 submitted detailed surveys, a signal of both historic grievance and political engagement in a region long shaped by extraction.
To read the full article, please see the June 5, 2025, edition of the Navajo Times.
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