DEATH OF AN ECO WARRIOR

LEROY JACKSON TRANSFORMED HIMSELF FROM A PHOENIX STREET WINO INTO A CHARISMATIC NAVAJO ENVIRONMENTALIST. HIS FRIENDS THINK HE WAS MURDERED FOR HIS EFFORTS.

Comments (0) By Michael Kiefer Thursday, Jan 6 1994

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Despite that it may not match the poetic hyperbole, Jackson's work has indeed borne fruit since his untimely death. Whereas Din‚ C.A.R.E. was an all-volunteer organization whose members paid most of their expenses out of pocket, they have since accumulated $70,000 to $80,000 in grants, according to their spokesperson Lori Goodman. BIA called the sawmill to task for its financial troubles. In a letter dated October 25, T.R. Tippeconnic, acting area director of BIA in Gallup, New Mexico, wrote, "Before the Bureau of Indian Affairs will be able to approve any additional timber contracts with NFPI, I believe that NFPI should provide a more thorough and reasonable workout statement."

Earl Tulley kept Jackson's early October appointment with Interior Department officials in Washington, D.C., and met with lawyers not only from Interior, but from BIA and the Fish and Wildlife department, as well. He asked them if BIA's request to suspend the Endangered Species Act on Indian reservations was likely and viable.

"The Endangered Species Act comes as a whole and everybody has to abide by it," the Fish and Wildlife lawyer told Tulley, and as Tulley sees it, "I think those are the words Leroy wanted to hear.