PIERRE, SD (KELO-AM) Governor Dennis Daugaard (R) has met with South Dakota tribal leaders to talk about ways of avoiding problems with potential protests against the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Indian tribes have been some of the loudest voices against pipelines, including most recently Dakota Access in North Dakota near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Now that the Trump Administraton has given the green light to the Keystone XL, Daugaard is trying to nip potential problems in the bud.
"We are thinking about having some scenarios that we would walk through. What if this happened? What if that happened? And tribal leaders, and state leaders and local govenrment leaders can walk through how we would respond." explains Daugaard.
Dauagard says he also discussed with tribal leaders the expanded powers given to the state to handle violent or disruptive protests. After the 2017 State Legislature approved SB 176, Daugaard sent a letter to all nine tribes within South Dakota inviting them to the roundtable discussion.
Tribal leadership who were present included Yankton Sioux Tribe Chairman Robert Flying Hawk, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Chairman Harold Frazier, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Chairman Boyd Gourneau and Rosebud Sioux Tribe Vice-President Scott Herman.
Keystone XL's proposed route through South Dakota will essentially bisect the state to the west of the Missouri River.