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The persistent takeaway: "The tribes' equal standing with other governments is a clear signal to resource developers that tribes are a regulator to which attention must be paid." Elsewhere, the two authors chart how the Navajo Nation, America's largest, bordering Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, deci- sively acted to control the geologically endowed 17.6 million acres of land where they live. In particular, the tribe of 300,000 banned future uranium mining over environmental concerns while—with 50% unemployment—it formed a holding company to acquire the Navajo coal mine from BHP Billiton in Q4 2013. Similarly impoverished, Montana's Crow Nation successfully reduced its dependence on the Absaloka mine, operated by Westmoreland Resources Inc., by lobbying Cloud Peak Energy to relocate off-reservation operations onto the tribal land. Following Q3 2013 approval, production is forecast at 15 million tons per year, alongside $85 million in royalties and 1,000 jobs. But Brossy and Kolerok's work, while almost entirely U.S. focused, also speaks to international issues including advocacy efforts by the London-based International Council of Mining and Minerals (ICMM) for social and environmental functions. U.S. rat- ification of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples containing Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) prin- ciples gets mention as well. Beyond these, also applicable in a global setting, is the role nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and environmental activist groups have in the equation—for both good and bad. And while companies, tribes, and environmentalists may not always concur on issues like ecological expertise, water and food access, among others, the paper noted them as "key touch points for alliance-building and negotiation." Then there are NGO obstructionists again, by no means a strictly U.S. phenomenon—and perhaps one of the defining issues of modern-day mining CSR. "Groups predicated on resistance are the most problematic for corporate-tribal communication and negotiation," said the authors. "They are the most complicated for companies and tribes." With the proliferation of fast-evolving social media networks and, more recently, handheld digital technology, information— including disruptive protests—can spread like wildfire. And min- ing companies, justly and unjustly, will likely continue paying the price the world over for many years. Indeed, despite its domestic focus, one of the paper's great understatements lies among its universal conclusion regarding indigenous groups: "Trust is a process that needs constant rein- forcement—particularly with communities who over the past few centuries have endured innumerable violations of treaty obliga- tions by governing authorities." JUNE 2014 • E&MJ; 129 www.e-mj.com C S R W AT C H The pe rs is te nt tak e a w a y : " T he t r ib es ' eq ua l s t a n ding with o t her go v e r n - m e n t s i s a c l e a r si gn al t o r e so u r c e d e v e lo pe rs th at t r ibe s ar e a r e g u l at o r to w h ic h atte nt io n m u s t b e paid. " EMJ_pg128-129_EMJ_pg128-129 6/3/14 12:20 PM Page 129