"Recognized for their environmental stewardship rooted in ancestral practices, seven tribes in Virginia are seeking full membership in the Chesapeake Bay Program alongside its existing signatory partners"
"The Chesapeake Bay Program declined to grant tribal nations full membership and voting rights in its governing body at a meeting Friday, its principal staff committee instead saying officials could explore advisory roles and potential partnerships with tribes.
That decision came in response to a formal request by the Indigenous Conservation Council (ICC) on behalf of seven federally recognized tribal nations in Virginia to become signatories to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, joining six states, Washington, D.C., the Chesapeake Bay Commission and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That status would give the tribes a direct role in efforts to restore one of the world’s most significant estuaries.
Committee members ultimately agreed to send a letter to the ICC stating that the program’s executive council “has not been expressly directed to discuss changes to or expansion of Executive Council membership,” and that the existing mandate—to revise, not rewrite the 2014 agreement—places full membership “outside of our current charge.”"
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