Executive Director of the Eastern Navajo Land Commission Larry Rodgers speaks Tuesday afternoon to the Rotary Club of Los Alamos at Cottonwood on the Greens. Photo by Kateri Morris
From left, Executive Director of the Eastern Navajo Land Commission Larry Rodgers, his daughter Kateri Morris and son-in-law/Rotary President Oliver Morris. Photo by Bob Hull
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
Land owned by the Navajo Nation is described as a checkerboard; it is interspersed with federal, state and private land statuses. The Eastern Navajo Land Commission is helping to bring it more coherence by consolidating Navajo tribal land holdings to accommodate community and economic improvements.
Executive Director of the Eastern Navajo Land Commission Larry Rodgers spoke to the Rotary Club of Los Alamos during its regular meeting Tuesday afternoon about the commission’s work on the Navajo Exchange Legislative Initiative (NELI).
Included in his presentation was a prior draft of the piece of legislation when Ben Ray Lujàn was serving as a U.S. Representative, which explains the initiative’s objective. The draft bill states, “to consolidate and place in trust certain lands for the Navajo Nation as a part of the Navajo Indian Reservation, to accept conveyance of certain land and interests in land of the Navajo Nation, to preserve valid existing rights, to fulfill the obligations of the United States under certain Federal laws …”
Last spring, in his role as U.S. Senator, Lujàn sent word to the Navajo leadership that it was time to resume talks on the NELI project. Rodgers mentioned the new NELI measure could be introduced this fall.
Speaking to the Los Alamos Daily Post, Rodgers said the initiative strives to consolidate land and allow the Navajo people to do what is needed for development such as access to water, electricity and roads.
All these amenities are sorely needed. Rodgers said 30 percent of Navajo tribe residents don’t have electricity and 60 percent don’t have running water.
“The goal is to develop better access to land use … and better jurisdiction in terms of government services,” he said.
This includes basic services such policing – Rodgers said in some areas of the Navajo Nation there is no 911 service.
Despite the fact that this is a tremendous undertaking, Rodgers said he knows support is strong for the commission’s work, adding that awareness for the commission’s work is important.
“I think there is a great deal of support … I think a good deal of any skepticism comes from people who don’t know,” he said.
COVID-19 hampered efforts to interact with leadership in Washington and minimized avenues for awareness on this initiative, but Rodgers said speaking to organizations such as the Rotary Club helps.
The Eastern Navajo Land Commission is an entity created by the Navajo Nation comprised of five of the Nation’s Council delegates and one member selected by the Nation’s President. The commission is charged to represent the Nation on land matters affecting the Eastern Navajo Agency, which is an area of approximately 2.9 million acres administered by the Navajo Regional Director and the Agency Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
According to his biography, Rodgers graduated Stanford University with a degree in sociology. He worked with the Navajo Nation Government in different capacities under Community Development, Economic Development and Labor from 1977 to 1986.
Rodgers then served as the Regional Field Manager with the Council of Energy Resource Tribes in Denver from 1986 to 1987. He worked on a national health survey among 22 tribes. He also served as Administrator for the Utah Navajo Trust Fund from 1997 to 2001 and was involved in the decennial censuses for 1990 and 2000. Additionally, Rodgers co-founded the nonprofit Four Corners Enterprise Community in 1999 and started a consulting firm, LSR Innovations, LLC in 2002.
Rodgers has been the Executive Director of the Eastern Navajo Land Commission since 2005. He also is father-in-law to Rotary Club President Oliver Morris and father of Kateri Morris of UNM-LA.
Executive Director of the Eastern Navajo Land Commission Larry Rodgers speaking at the Rotary Club of Los Alamos meeting Tuesday afternoon at Cottonwood on the Greens. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com