拉帕汉诺克部落回归河流

保护悬崖

约瑟夫·麦考利，切萨皮克研究员

4月1日, 2022, 内政部部长德布·哈兰德也加入了进来, the Rappahannock Tribe of 维吉尼亚州 celebrated a milestone in their centuries-long quest to return to their homeland along the river that bears their name. 在威廉·道奇·安格尔家族的慷慨十大赌博正规老平台下，M.D., 十大赌博正规老平台 purchased and donated 465 acres of waterfront property in what is now Richmond County, 维吉尼亚州, 致部落, 是谁恢复了它原来的名字Pissacoack. Additional funding was made possible by a grant from the National 鱼 and 野生动物 Foundation through Walmart’s Acres for America Program.

The property is located in the heart of an iconic formation of diatomaceous bluffs known locally as Fones Cliffs, famous for its outsized importance to bald eagles and other migratory birds and infamous for the battles to conserve it.

丰富的历史

The earliest written record of the Rappahannock Tribe and their occupation on the cliffs comes from the journals of English explorer John Smith, 他在书中描述了部落在1608年第一次有记录的保卫家园的行动. 当史密斯和他的船员向上游航行时, Rappahannock bowmen disguised in the marsh vegetation near the cliffs fired a volley of arrows toward Smith’s shallop, 预示着几百年后即将爆发的战争. 在17世纪余下的时间里, 部落被逼得离悬崖和河流越来越远. The indignities and oppression foisted on Indigenous people by colonial and state governments in 维吉尼亚州 are well documented. 直到最近，这种认识才在政府政策中生根发芽, 哪些国家最终会改变，承认部落主权，并对过去的做法做出补偿.

具有讽刺意味的是, it was Smith’s explorations and descriptions of the Chesapeake Bay and its inhabitants that first made 十大赌博正规老平台 aware of Fones Cliffs. An early component of 十大赌博正规老平台’s mission was and continues to be to support the National Park Service’s (NPS) Captain John Smith 切萨皮克国家历史步道. 全国第一条水上国家历史步道, 切萨皮克小径(简称), 沿着切萨皮克河的支流穿越史密斯的路线, 鼓励游客探索切萨皮克的魔力，了解它的多种文化. The resilience and tenacity of the Bay’s Indigenous communities remains a focus of the NPS’s continuing research, as partners collectively seek to incorporate traditional knowledge to address current and future ecological challenges. As noted by 十大赌博正规老平台’s President and Executive Director Joel Dunn in his remarks on April 1, “分离和失去的故事正在让位于一个充满韧性的新故事, 恢复和重连接.”

持续的威胁

拯救丰斯悬崖的战斗对部落来说有了新的意义, 十大赌博正规老平台 and many other conservation partners beginning in the mid-2000s and it continues today. The first alarms began to sound in 2007 when the owner of a 250-acre riverfront parcel received county approval for a 46-unit subdivision. 作为建议, 悬崖上有22块河边空地，下面有一个46滑的码头. 为保护这一遗产而进行的漫长谈判持续了数年, 同时，一个更大、可能更具破坏性的细分方案浮出水面.
In 2015, 弗吉尼亚特鲁公司, 总部设在纽约, 初步批准了一个大型度假村分区, 配有18洞高尔夫球场, 数以百计的公寓和独户住宅, 洛奇, 餐厅, 马厩等等. The wildlife habitat values to bald eagles and dozens of breeding species of migratory birds on this 968-acre property would have been devastated. Even more troublesome was the prospect that the unrecorded and un-researched history of the Rappahannock people’s use of this site would be lost forever.

虽然该县希望该项目能带来急需的就业机会和税收收入, 很明显，开发商缺乏兑现他们古怪承诺的能力. This realization was made painfully obvious in 2018 when the developers illegally cleared 13 acres to bare ground, 违反了州和县的法律. The resulting erosion caused trees at the top of the cliffs to fall and the cliff face to slough off into the Rappahannock River. The outcry from those who love and value the river and bay was heard clearly from 维吉尼亚州 to New York. 2019年，该公司宣布破产，此案仍未解决. 幸运的是，度假村的提议似乎已经被否决了, 该财产仍然不受保护，因此处于危险之中. 十大赌博正规老平台, The Conservation Fund (TCF) and other conservation partners are vigilantly tracking the bankruptcy proceedings such that a conservation outcome can be brought to bear.

合作伙伴的成功扭转了局势

尽管奋力拯救悬崖，拉帕汉诺克部落还是找到了庆祝的理由. 2017年，多亏了刘女士的慷慨解囊. 维吉尼亚州华纳, 十大赌博正规老平台 facilitated the donation of one acre of land near the cliffs to serve as a staging area for the Tribe’s Return to the River program. This initiative trains tribal youth in traditional river knowledge and practices and conducts outreach and education for other communities interested in the Rappahannock River. 在2018年初, the Tribe finally achieved the long-sought goal of being formally recognized by the federal government, 建立部落主权和政府间关系. 这些胜利为随后部落保护的成功铺平了道路.

In 2018, 经过多年的争吵, 这处受到威胁的250英亩河滨地产被TCF买下，不久又卖给了美国.S. 鱼 and 野生动物 Service (USFWS) for inclusion into the Rappahannock River Valley National 野生动物 Refuge. 今天，部落和避难所称这个地方为它最初的名字Wecuppom. The entire Fones Cliffs formation has long been identified by USFWS as a high priority for conservation. In 2019, 部落收到了超过1家公司的报价,在丰斯悬崖的100英亩土地上卖给部落. 这么多年来, 有关土地使用的问题, 土地保护, 在悬崖上一直充满了分歧. 现在，终于有了一条由合作和善意铺就的保护之路. 然而, 这样规模的滨水地产很快就变成了现实, 在这个美丽而标志性的地方, 是昂贵的.

拉帕汉诺克部落首领安妮·理查森(左)与内政部部长德布·哈兰德. 威尔·帕森/切萨皮克湾项目.

十大赌博正规老平台 immediately began seeking funding to assist the Tribe in purchasing the property and joined forces with TCF toward that ultimate goal. 尽管丰斯悬崖有着令人难以置信的属性，但这并不奇怪, 以及拉帕汉诺克部落的巨大利益, 筹款很困难. 土地保护的资金竞争非常激烈，需求很大，供应不足. 似乎需要奇迹才能在土地所有者设定的最后期限前完成. 然后，在一只鹰的翅膀上，或者是一只苔原天鹅的翅膀上，一个被送到了部落.

2021年8月, 十大赌博正规老平台 was approached by The Wilderness Society and members of the family of William Dodge Angle, M.D., 为了保护拉帕汉诺克河的土地, 第一个项目已经“准备就绪”.” This was an acknowledgment that land deals can sometimes take years to pull all the loose ends together, 这家人很想立即产生影响. 当安格尔一家游览丰斯悬崖的时候, 看到几十只鹰, met Chief Anne Richardson and heard her share her vision of using the cliffs as a place to teach the world about the history and ways of her ancestors, 他们立即接受了眼前这个机会的重要性. 我们将永远感激他们的慷慨, 这个家族的遗产现在被永久地供奉在丰斯悬崖上.

有人说，成功会带来成功. 随着十大赌博正规老平台协会完成尽职调查的要求, 部落正在与其他潜在的资助者合作. In 2021, the Tribe was awarded a grant from the National 鱼 and 野生动物 Foundation through Walmart’s Acres for America Program. These grant funds were combined with Angle family funds to complete the purchase of 465 acres in February 2022, 在那里，皮萨萨科克的名字现在已经恢复了. 作为交易的一部分，USFWS获得了永久的保护地役权. 在4月1日的典礼上, 安妮酋长在声明中赞扬了部落祖先的坚韧和韧性, “这个圆圈现在已经完成了.”

The story of the Rappahannock Tribe and their association with these cliffs began thousands of years ago. 对部落来说，这个地方事关重大, 国家野生动物保护区, 老鹰和其他野生动物, 水质和切萨皮克，我们必须继续努力，最终保护它. 十大赌博正规老平台 is committed to standing with the Rappahannock Tribe as they continue to write the next chapters.