Respect the Land. Respect Tribal Nations.
Friends,
These lands were not empty before Washington drew lines on a map.
They were homelands.
They were sacred places.
They were hunting grounds, fishing grounds, gathering places, sources of food and medicine, and places where generations carried language, ceremony, culture, and memory forward.
And today, Tribal Nations are telling Trump and Republicans in Congress what is at stake in the proposed repeal of the Roadless Rule.
Listen to them.
Under Trump, the federal government’s own record says the majority of Tribal governments consulted oppose the proposed Roadless Rule rescission, raising concerns about inherent rights, Tribal sovereignty, cultural survival, sacred sites, water quality, traditional gathering areas, subsistence resources, and the ecological health of ancestral homelands.
That is not a footnote.
That is the heart of this story.
Alana Peterson, vice chair of the tribal council for the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, described what generations of extraction have meant:
“The more recent system is extractive and damaging and not what’s good for us or for our future generations or the planet.” - Magic Canoe
Charles F. Sams III, the first Native American to lead the National Park Service, issued an equally stark warning:
“Removing the Roadless Rule would be an assault on that covenant.” - The Guardian
Scientists are warning about consequences, too.
“Introducing roads and human activities in areas that are otherwise undisturbed will increase wildfires where the risk is currently low.” - NY Times
And one forest advocate described the Roadless Rule as:
“the only thing preventing much of our wildest remaining national forests from industrial development.” Washington Post
For far too long, Indigenous people have watched governments make decisions about their ancestral lands and then ask for their voices afterward.
Sovereignty means those voices matter before the decision is made.
These lands carry generations of memory, ceremony, survival, and belonging, and decisions about their future cannot treat Tribal Nations as an afterthought.
Sovereignty means Tribal governments are governments, treaties are binding commitments, and consultation must mean more than listening after the outcome has already been decided.
What happens to these ancestral homelands will show whether those promises are being honored in practice, not merely repeated in words.
🪶 Take Action Now» Respect Tribal Sovereignty and demand the USDA keep the Roadless Rule protections in place.
Liberty, justice, and people power belong to those who show up, speak out, stand together, and hold our leaders accountable to the people they serve.
Laurie Woodward Garcia
(paid with hugs and kisses, not bought by special interests)
Leader, People Power United
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ALL TREATIES MUST BE KEPT!
I don't want to have the Roadless Rule reversed. Just another attempt by trump to turn America into more of a mess than he already has. Our National Parks should be untouchable and this treaty with the Tribal Nations should be let be. America will not be beautiful if Trump has his way. Money is his goal and these big corporations are willing to pay plenty and we may never know how much trump is profiting. I just wonder how much of this we can reverse IF we can get him out of OUR WHITE HOUSE once his term is finally over, or before if we are lucky!