Lisa Finley DeVille, Mandaree

Recent actions taken by the Trump Administration that weaken the Endangered Species Act should concern every one of us who depends on clean water, healthy land, and the survival of the wildlife we share this planet with. In the past year, the administration has moved quickly to undo long-standing protections that were put in place to keep species from disappearing and to ensure their habitats remain intact.

They brought back the “God Squad,” a federal committee that can override endangered species protections when industry wants it. They reversed conservation rules that helped restore damaged ecosystems. They proposed weakening habitat protections for species already struggling to survive. And they pushed thousands of oil and gas leases forward on public lands without full environmental review. Each of these decisions shifts the balance even further toward corporations and away from the health of our land, water, and communities.

For those of us living in the heart of the Bakken oil field, where industry is already right at our doorstep, these rollbacks show up in our air quality, in our drinking water, and in the wildlife and plants we’ve relied on for generations to nurture our ecosystems and as traditional foods and medicines. When habitats are destroyed, the species aren’t the only ones harmed. Our families and future generations will feel the impacts too.

The Endangered Species Act has always been a safety net that keeps our natural systems from collapsing. Weakening it puts everything at risk. I believe we have a responsibility to speak up when that safety net is being torn apart. Protecting the species and the lands we depend on is part of protecting ourselves.

We deserve policies rooted in science, respect, and long-term thinking and no shortcuts that benefit a few at the expense of everyone else. Our communities, and the species we share this land with, deserve better than this.

By now, we have all seen the reports of President Trump disparaging our Somali communities – specifically, those in Minnesota – by describing them in a way we won’t repeat in this letter. We believe our faith requires us to speak out when our friends and neighbors are cruelly attacked in such a manner.