Religion, Faith and Spirituality

"The move by the Colorado River Indian Tribes in Arizona and California would give rights of nature to the water, marking a historic first."

"A U.S. appeals court has temporarily blocked the transfer of federal forest land in Arizona to a pair of international companies that plan to mine one of the largest copper deposits in North America. ... The land includes Oak Flat — an area used for centuries for religious ceremonies, prayer and gathering of medicinal plants by the San Carlos Apache people and other Native American tribes."

"A coalition of tribes and the Native American Rights Fund jumped Monday into the legal battle to protect the Chuckwalla National Monument in southern California that President Joe Biden created during his last month in office. Tribes led a long fight to see the monument established."

"The area around the immigrant detention center, deep in the Everglades, is threatened by a number of environmental hazards like hurricanes, intense heat and even wildfires."

"To offset Resolution Copper’s impacts on the hallowed ground of Oak Flat, the federal government will take possession of a rare old-growth mesquite forest. But it already approved exploratory drilling for another mine nearby."

"As record‑breaking heat scorches much of Europe — with triple‑digit temperatures, wildfires and deaths reported — the Vatican released a new liturgy Thursday for Mass reflecting concern for the environment, offering prayers, readings and hymns that highlight the church’s responsibility to protect the Earth."

"The saguaro cactus is the iconic plant of the Arizona borderlands, and in June and early July, its thorn-covered small fruit ripens. For members of the Tohono O’odham Nation, whose ancestors have lived in this hot desert for thousands of years, harvest time for the “bahidaj” is sacred."

"The Interior Department plans to remove or cover up all “inappropriate content” at national parks and sites by Sept. 17 and is asking the park visitors to report any “negative” information about past or living Americans, according to internal documents."

"As a youngster, Barry McCovey Jr. would sneak through metal gates and hide from security guards just to catch a steelhead trout in Blue Creek amid northwestern California redwoods. Since time immemorial, his ancestors from the Yurok Tribe had fished, hunted and gathered in this watershed flanked by coastal forests. But for more than 100 years, these lands were owned and managed by timber companies, severing the tribe’s access to its homelands."

"The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a request from some members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe to block a massive proposed copper mine that they say will destroy a holy site in Arizona known as Oak Flat."