Argumentative Essay On Yucca Mountain

115-miles south of Moab is a land revered by generations of climbers, hikers, and adventurers. It’s a land known as the Bears Ears, a series of buttes that constitute jeep trails, sacred archeological sites, unique sandstone formations, and the cherished climbing walls of Indian Creek. Not only loved by outdoorsman, the Bears Ears is also an important area to the Navajo, Ute, and Pueblo Native American tribes. Excavations here have revealed rock art, pottery, and cliff dwellings, documenting over a millennium of human habitation. The Bears Ears are loved but unprotected, and they are at a pivotal crossroads.

•     Waste from nuclear energy stays radioactive for thousands of years. Great care has to be taken in storing this waste safely.

For years, the State of Nevada has found the Yucca Mountain project unacceptable because of the obvious logical and scientific issues that make the site itself unsafe. Additional support for their argument is that other than being far from the nuclear waste, the repository cannot really separate itself and its dangers from the environment and humans. Even though Nevada started with just being upset about the state having the political finger pointed at them to hold the whole nation’s nuclear waste but now their argument is stronger (Adams, 2010). Not only is Yucca Mountains’ size not big enough for the entire countries nuclear waste, but geologic factors could make the waste

West Virginia is known as the "mountain state." It consists of many beautiful lakes, rivers, streams, and quite a few tourist attractions, such as Babcock. Not only that, but West Virginia is made up of several different biomes. West Virginia is also made up of forests, as well.

Traditionally the Western Shoshone Nation’s ancestral land covers an area spanning from southern California, clear through Nevada, and barely touching southern Idaho. Within this scope of land is the previously mentioned Yucca Mountain, but also Mount Tenabo, a mountain in the Cortez Range of Northern Nevada, which is currently subject to mining. This large area of land is know as the Great Basin, where the habitat is dependent on the rain and snow melt water which comes off the high mountains, feeding the creeks which keep the living, living. Mount Tenabo is one such mountain; however it also holds a place in Shoshone creation stories, and is the site of ancient burials causing it to be of great importance to the entire nation of the Western Shoshone. The people of the Western Shoshone Nation still use the mountain to gather medical plants from these sacred places of their ancestors, and hold ceremonies.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe currently fights to save its only water source from natural gas and oil contamination. This troubling current event has a somewhat forgotten historical analogue where very similar themes presented themselves. The Kinzua Dam Controversy, which took place in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, resulted in the displacement of over 600 Seneca Indian families and the acquisition of a large tract of traditional Seneca Land for dam building. Additionally, the acquisition of Seneca land represented a breach of “The Treaty with the Six Nations of 1794,” which explicated prevented such action by the US Government. The dam and its construction, which primarily benefitted Pittsburg, inspired a heated discourse concerning the ethics of native relocation.

People are climbing on the Lakota tribe’s sacred tower. Devils Tower is in the Black Hills in Wyoming and is the first National Monument in the U.S. (Leonard). It rises 1,267 feet above the surrounding and is 5,114 feet above sea level (Devils Tower National Monument). Despite its significance to the Native Americans, particularly the Lakota tribe, many people visit this National Monument. Some visitors also climb the Tower. The Lakota tribe members have been living in the Black Hills for many years and perform many ceremonies at the Tower. Like many sacred places in Native American tribes, they have a myth about how the Tower came to be. According to James LaPointe, three girls wandered off while they were marching along the Black Hills to gather fruits. Hungry bears chased the girls when something said “Paha akili,” and the ground began to rise. The girls were saved as the ground grew to be the Tower and the

However, stories aren’t the only important aspects of Apachean mythology. Like many other Native American tribes around the U.S., the Apache often incorporate natural landmarks into their sacred lives. For the Mescalero tribe, the Sierra Blanca, Guadalupe, Three Sisters and Oscura mountains are all sacred sites. According to the Our Culture page on the Mescalero Apache Tribe website, “These four mountains represent the direction of everyday life for our Apache people. Our grandparents would often speak of the place called White Mountain. It was there that the creator gave us life and it is a special place. It was on White Mountain, according to legend, that White Painted Woman gave birth to two sons, Child of Water and Killer of Enemies.

We traveled 14 miles to Chimney Rock and it was amazing. This rock is the most famous of all landmarks of the westward migration. Some say it looks like a tall factory chimney. This is what is most written about in pioneers journals. Many put “the most remarkable object that I ever saw” in their journals. It looked like a tall factory chimney or a chimney from a burnt house. Charles described it as a Limbless trunk of a gigantic. Indians called it the “Tepee” or the “Wigwam”. After we pass the Rock, we travel for another 75 miles to reach Fort Laramie. Fort Laramie stood alone the main trail to Oregon and California. Fort Laramie is a emigrant resting place to trappers, traders, missionaries, and many more. The building was built by the Laramie

“A single knoll rise out of the plain in Oklahoma, north and west of the Wichita Range” (Momaday 27). The old landmark known by the Kiowas as Rainy Mountain. Kiowas are a traditional Native American Tribe, their history, culture and beliefs all hold great meaning.

Stone mountain has remained a very influential monument of Georgia; a gem of what may say to the state’s tourism and a landmark of American history throughout the ages. Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee , and Jefferson Davis on top of their valuable steeds represent the Confederate nation and its tie with Stone mountain as they are carved meticulously in the world’s largest exposed granite; however, the peaceful serenity of the lake and nature that envelops the mountain and its visitors remained a very important ceremonial location for native americans. The complete history of Stone Mountain is interwoven into the treads of historical events that have occurred throughout and even before the great nation , United States of America, was formed. Currently, it’s one of the most famous attractions in Georgia known for the breathtaking view of metropolitan Atlanta at the peak of the mountain. It is clear as rich as the beauty of stone mountain is,undeniably, it has a strong historical importance to American history and exquisite backround.

Eagle Rock, located near Mount Shasta in the McCloud River canyon, is sacred to the Wintu tribe. It has been dishonored with graffiti and carvings. Photo from

South Dakota was one of the states that provided a great amount of uranium to be used during the 50’s, 60’s and the Cold War era. The demand of uranium increased and the constructions of mines were also increased. One of the areas that needed uranium was the military to be used in weapons ammunition and vehicles. Most of these mines were abandoned and the contamination spread around the nearby land and waters. “An earlier study of Forest Service land, on which the old mines from the 1950s and 1960s are located, found levels of arsenic, uranium and other contaminants in concentrations higher than what occurs naturally” (Walker, 2007). Some of these waste was carry down by rain precipitation to areas away from the mine. Indian reservations were affected by the mine contamination and

Last but not least, the Anasazi is also important to the history of American Indians before the European invasion. By 750, the Anasazi built the house that it was raised earth before and it this included the famous "rock Palace”, which was Important places of worship. The Anasazi settled in the Grand Canyon of Colorado in the sixth Century. However, they suddenly abandoned their homes and moved to other areas and never returned.

Most of the down trees decomposed, while a few became petrified. The logs that became buried in the stream bed sediment, had their cell walls filled with silica, from ground water dissolving the ash of nearby volcanoes, creating crystallized