Wind River Reservation

A group of 16 young people from the Wind River Reservation spent a weekend in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks at the start of September. They were with Indigenous Youth Voices, a group focused on empowering young people through experimental education and building connections to ancestral and traditional culture.

Shelters are already at capacity. Now, climate-driven heat waves and wildfires are adding another layer of problems.

The Fish Creek Fire has been burning for nearly a month up on Togwotee Pass. It’s currently around 25,000 acres, moving through dry forest in mountainous terrain. A camp crew from the Wind River Reservation has been tackling the behind-the-scenes work needed to keep the operation running.

Highway 26/287 over Togwotee Pass temporarily re-opened on Friday morning. The road’s been closed for most of the week as crews have worked to keep the Fish Creek Fire from jumping the highway. Expect slow speeds and limited visibility.

According to recent reporting, shelters are at capacity, especially on reservations with underfunded infrastructure. And climate change is compounding the problem.

The Select Committee on Tribal Relations is working on a bill draft that would return improperly collected online sales taxes back to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes. The legislative committee discussed the issue at an interim meeting in Fort Washakie on Aug. 26.

Searching for an expert in topics like Native language preservation or the nuances of beadworking? A new in-the-works list from Wyoming Humanities aims to help build those sorts of bridges. Its goal is to connect those experts with educators and interested organizations, in order to create more informed programs, consultations and presentations.

The Federal Communications Commission launched a new missing and endangered persons code for its nationwide Emergency Alert System. It will allow law enforcement to send out messages about missing adults to the public through phones, TV and the radio. The code is part of efforts to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons crisis throughout the country.

The Wind River Development Fund received a $36 million grant to fund economic growth and strengthen Indigenous sovereignty on the Wind River Reservation.

Fire danger is continuing to rise throughout the state as summer progresses. Fire restrictions are in place across much of Wyoming, with recent bans in Yellowstone National Park and Devil’s Tower National Monument.