Communication problems between the state and tribes shouldn’t cost time and money in transportation projects, according to UNM Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering Giovanni C. Migliaccio. So he is leading a team to write a guidebook to navigate thorny disputes over cultural and sovereignty issues that entangle and delay needed projects for tribal and state governments.
Photo: Giovanni C. Migliaccio
Migliaccio said that disagreements between the New Mexico Transportation Department and the Navajo Nation over the widening of U.S. 491 exemplify how misunderstandings can become serious disagreements. A series of stories in the Albuquerque Journal outlines how in 2003, the New Mexico legislature appropriated $125 million to widen the highway that connects Gallup to Shiprock, on the reservation. But lawmakers didn’t calculate the four percent sales tax the Navajo Nation planned to impose on the project contractors.
The NM Department of Transportation requested that the Navajo Nation waive the fee. The Navajo Nation Tribal Council refused, and the project was stuck for five years while the groups argued. The issue was finally resolved in a partial compromise, and in May 2008, ground was broken for the widening.
“In the intervening time, the estimated project cost shot up to $260 million, so the widening will not cover the entire distance between the two communities,” Migliaccio said.
He said that disputes over taxation authority are one but one issue that derails projects. The guidebook identifies potential conflict areas and defines steps to alleviate them. The guidebook, he said, identifies practical strategies for aiding communication, coordination and cooperation when dealing with five major categories of issues, including protecting and preserving the environment and addresses sensitive tribal matters, monetary issues, sovereignty issues, land ownership issues and cultural competency.
Migliaccio is working with his graduate student Rebecca Martinez; the Alliance for Transportation Research Institute; Dexter Albert, cofounder of Intrinsic Consulting; and Terry Holley and Mike Quintana from PAIKI, a private company. They presented their initial findings to the Transportation Committee of the National Congress of American Indians, at the Inter Tribal Transportation Association Annual Conference and at the National Tribal Transportation Conference.
In addition, results will be presented in January at the 88th Annual meeting of the National Transportation Research Board in Washington D.C. and at the 46th Paving and Transportation Conference in Albuquerque.
Migliaccio said that next spring his team will invite representations from state transportation agencies and tribes to participate in a consensus process for suggesting solutions. He expects the guidebook to be complete in fall 2009.
“With more than 500 federally recognized tribes, and a growing number of city, county, regional and state transportation agencies, the potential for conflict and the need for solutions will only increase,” he said.
Funding for the project is from the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences.