Drilling Halted at Pe' Sla. Lawsuits Filed. Tell Burgum: Stop Fast Tracking.
Our relatives locked themselves to drilling equipment at Pe' Sla last week. Drilling stopped. Two federal lawsuits are now filed. Lakota Law is preparing to file. The only thing the Forest Service is waiting on is pressure from you. Tell Secretary Burgum to suspend the Pe' Sla permit, and stop fast-tracking now.
On February 27, 2026, the U.S. Forest Service approved exploratory graphite drilling a half-mile from Pe' Sla, the ceremonial heart of Ȟe Sápa, the Black Hills, over the formal written objections of sovereign tribal governments, with no full environmental review, under a document falsely claiming there are "no known Native American or Alaska Native religious or cultural sites within the project area." Pe' Sla's federally recognized trust land sits immediately outside the box they drew.
Last week, relatives from the Oglala chapter of the International Indigenous Youth Council, NDN Collective, and allied organizations locked themselves to drilling machinery at two of the pads.Two federal lawsuits are now filed challenging the permit. NDN Collective, Black Hills Clean Water Alliance, and Earthworks filed April 2. Nine Sioux tribes (Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Lower Brule, Oglala, Santee, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, Spirit Lake, Standing Rock, and Yankton) filed April 29–30, adding claims that the Forest Service violated the National Historic Preservation Act by ignoring Pe' Sla entirely. Lakota Law, which helped lead the original 2012 campaign to purchase Pe' Sla at the behest of Dr. Sara Jumping Eagle, is preparing a distinct fourth legal action rooted in that history.
The Forest Service also violated a 2024 Memorandum of Understanding it signed with Great Sioux Nation tribes, committing to protect lands within a two-mile radius of Pe' Sla. The drill sites fall inside that radius.
Fifty miles from Pine Ridge, the Dewey-Burdock uranium project is being fast-tracked under the same administration. The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty appears in its review exactly zero times. The BLM public comment window closes May 14, 2026.
In the end, the only backstop on this runaway train is the consent of the governed. Use it.
Tell Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum:
1. Reverse the Pe’ Sla drilling permit — now
2. Remove Dewey-Burdock from the FAST-41 federal fast-track program
3. Suspend all extractive permits on treaty lands until full tribal consultation and a complete Environmental Impact Statement are done
The Black Hills are not for sale. Mni wiconi — water is life