Christopher N Griffiths 
Indian Sacred Sites [PDF ebook] 
Balancing Protection Issues with Federal Management

In 2010, Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Office of Tribal Relations and the USDA’s Forest Service to engage in a dialogue with American Indians and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Tribal leaders to find out how the USDA can do a better job of accommodating and protecting AI/AN sacred sites while simultaneously pursuing the Forest Service’s multiple-use mission. Secretary Vilsack requested information about unintended consequences of land management decisions affecting sacred sites and AI/AN communities whose cultural survival is often deeply rooted in these sites. This book examines the effectiveness of existing laws and regulation in ensuring a consistent level of sacred site protection that is more acceptable to tribes.