The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) made headlines in early 2024 as many major American museums closed exhibits and entire wings in order to comply with new regulations governing the possession and display of Native American cultural artifacts and funerary objects. But the recent regulatory changes have the potential to affect more than museum displays—they may give reservation residents a stronger say in what the government does on their land.

In Geographies of Land Ownership Change in the Rural United States: Challenges, Methods, and Possibilities, Lindsay Shade (Community and Leadership Development, University of Kentucky) and Levi Van Sant (Integrative Studies, George Mason University) outline the challenges and potential solutions to researching geographies of land ownership in rural United States. Their research draws on their experiences with a participatory action research project, the Appalachian Land Study.

Event announcement. Join Dana Fritz, Hixson-Lied Professor of Art, Art History and Design, for an important reflection on how humans make, shape, and understand landscapes. Like a virtual fieldtrip to the Nebraska Sandhills, but through the lens of the most thoughtful and introspective of guides, visual artist Fritz will discuss and share photographs from her new book, “Field Guide to a Hybrid Landscape.” The book examines, in provocative ways, the unique hand-planted forest of the Bessey Ranger District and now includes some of the last images captured before the 2022 wildfires near Halsey. Event on February 21, 2024, at 4pm at the University of Nebraska College of Law.

Event details for a May 2024 spring prairie walk through the tallgrass hosted by the Project and Theo Michaels. RSVP required.

Event announcement. Join Dana Fritz, Hixson-Lied Professor of Art, Art History and Design, for an important reflection on how humans make, shape, and understand landscapes. Like a virtual fieldtrip to the Nebraska Sandhills, but through the lens of the most thoughtful and introspective of guides, visual artist Fritz will discuss and share photographs from her new book, “Field Guide to a Hybrid Landscape.” The book examines, in provocative ways, the unique hand-planted forest of the Bessey Ranger District and now includes some of the last images captured before the 2022 wildfires near Halsey. Event on February 21, 2024, at 4pm at the University of Nebraska College of Law.

In Barrier Island Reconfiguration Leads to Rapid Erosion and Relocation of a Rural Alaska Community, authors Richard M. Buzard, Christopher V. Maio, Roberta J.T. Glenn (all of University of Alaska Fairbanks, Department of Geosciences), Nicole E.M. Kinsman (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), Li H. Erikson (Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center), Benjamin M. Jones (University of Alaska Fairbanks, Institute of Northern Engineering), Scott Anderson (Native Village of Port Heiden), and Jacquelyn R. Overbeck (Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys) provide a unique analysis of modern coastal erosion in a rural Alaskan village.

Summary of Mark Haggarty, Kathryn Bills Walsh, and Kelly Pohl’s evaluation of New Mexico’s Land Grant Public Fund which supports the state's schools, infrastructure, and other services.

Call for Proposals - Law & Rurality Workshop - Hosted Virtually Fall 2023

This event summary reflects on the first event in our Land & Water program series, with Dr. Bessire sharing his work on the personal and emotional dimensions of aquifer depletion in southwestern Kansas.