http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/07/native-american-town-new-mexico-struggling-recover-wildfire
They pray for rain these days across a drought-stricken American West. The very idea—a light shower, even an inch of rain—fills Walter Dasheno with dread.
Dasheno is the governor of the Santa Clara pueblo, a Native American community living just below a canyon of the same nam
According to their computer projections, a flood of that size could also wipe out the school, a day care center for the elderly, and about 300 homes. Dasheno knows the country needs rain after a season of drought and wildfires, but it's a direct danger to his people.It's been a year now since the Las Conchas fire blew through the Santa Clara canyon, burning up 80 percent of the tribe's remaining land, or about 24 square miles. At the time it was the worst fire in New Mexico's recorded history.Federal government agencies estimate it will cost $39 million to secure the canyon and make Santa Clara pueblo safe. So far the tribe has received only about $6 million, and less than $400,000 from the main recovery agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Dasheno worries time is running out."It was pretty intense to see how much water came down You could hear boulders crashing, trees cracking as they were being thrown about," she said. "But the smell was wonderful, everything smelled like pine."In the pueblo's Native American tradition, the canyon was sacred land. Its steep walls, rising to 11,500 feet, were once green with pine and juniper, were believed to harbor the crucial elements of life: clean water, trout and elk for sustenance, wood for homes or ritual objects.Nowadays it looks like the scene from a fresh disaster—trees stripped and blackened by fire, trout ponds clogged with debris and ash, cliff walls collapsing into the road, a forklift buried in a 10-foot mud slide. All that's missing is the yellow tape.
why do we not hear more about the real American's plight? i know there are many things going on now, and Cantor wanting to make sure he can pay for disaster help for is own state, you know that if left to him and his cronies, their demise, God forbid would probably not make it into their history books.
To the immense frustration of the tribe, however, the federal and state governments do not seem to be moving with a sense of urgency. Tribal leaders have lobbied the White House, Congress, and state officials to release funds. He's cajoled senators to visit. He's filed and refiled documents lost in the federal government bureaucracy. "It's like having to pull teeth," Dasheno said.
He's growing frustrated with FEMA, which was supposed to lead up the recovery effort. The tribe can't even get a hearing with the New Mexico governor, it seems. Dasheno said the tribe had issued five separate invitations to the governor, Susana Martinez, to visit the pueblo. Martinez visited on Tuesday.
Federal government officials argued that the funds are arriving on time—that the tribe was being overly impatient. They accused the tribe of failing to recognize losses caused by the Las Conchas fire in other parts of New Mexico.
Dasheno rejected those charges. "We understand the mechanism," he said. "But no community affected by wildfire and now flood should have to wait this long."
our Gov't, specifically congress thinks making sure their trumped up charges against the AG are more important, and don't forget the time they made to vote down the healthcare act 31 times but not one time for American's in dire need. despicable them
RESPONSE TO FRIEND ON NEWSVINE by me.
RESPONSE TO FRIEND ON NEWSVINE by me.
hi Steven i come to only one conclusion, congress holds the purse strings, congress right wing majority, congress has not lifted a finger to help anyone but those who can scratch their palms, so in conclusion the right doesn't want to spend the money even on those who pay taxes for this express reason, help when they need it. remember Cantor wanted to make sure he could get back disaster money before he would give it to Virginia, his home state looking for help after tornados and earthquakes. if he is re-elected they deserve what they get as well as those they force into that jackpot due to their selfishness.
