Podcast appearances and mentions of Anna V Smith

Washington’s Department of Natural Resources manages over 100,000 acres inside the border of the Yakama Nation. The lands are held in trust and managed to provide revenue for the state’s K-12 schools and prisons. A new investigation from High Country News and Grist found that nearly 2 million acres of state trust lands lie within the borders of 83 federally recognized Indian reservations. Anna V. Smith, associate editor of High Country News, joins us with more on the investigation.

Tribal governments have used the Endangered Species Act to litigate on behalf of imperiled, culturally important species like salmon and grizzly bears, but the law does not acknowledge tribal sovereignty and hunting rights. Anna V. Smith, associate editor of High Country News, joins us to talk about the complicated relationship between tribes and the 50-year-old law.

Attorney Molly Washington discusses the Native American vote with Amanda WhiteEagle and journalist, Anna V. Smith who covers indigenous affairs for High Country News. In 2020 WhiteEagle ran to represent District 92 in the Wisconsin State Assembly, in this interview she discusses the hurdles she faced and the lessons she learned. The three of them discuss the role the Native American vote played in the 2020 election and the significance of President Biden appointing Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) to act as the first Native American secretary to the interior.

Though tribal nations barely contribute to emissions, they disproportionately feel the negative effects of climate change. Once the impacts are felt on reservations, can tribal nations hold the United States to account? This episode of Borderscapes will explore the effect of climate change on tribal nations in the United States and take a look at the complex web of cultural and legal issues at play in this cross-border issue. Huge thanks to my guests Elizabeth Kronk Warner, Dean of the SJ Quinney Law School at the University of Utah and Anna Smith, Assistant Editor at High Country News, for their insightful contributions. The articles ‘Tribal nations demand response to climate relocation' and ‘How do tribal nations' treaties figure into climate change?' written by Anna V. Smith inspired me to research this topic further. The articles Environmental Justice: A Necessary Lens to Effectively View Environmental Threats to Indigenous Survival and Indigenous Adaptation in the Face of Climate Change by Elizabeth Kronk Warner proved essential further reading. Full citations can be found here. Image credit to Monina Loperena, a photographer with an interest in ethnographic studies, anthropology and world journalism. Produced by Amanda Coldwell

In this episode of West Obsessed, High Country News Editor-in-chief Brian Calvert examines the uncomfortable Western corners featured in our annual Travel Issue. Anna V. Smith, editorial fellow, returns to the old-growth forest of her youth and questions her prior assumptions about her home. Maya L. Kapoor, associate editor, talks about an encounter with a wild hawk in a not so wild place.