Indian Country

Sante Fe, New Mexico (AP) July 2011

Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration is postponing a summit with tribal leaders because officials are focusing on wildfires and the threat of flooding in burned areas, including tribal lands.

The governor’s spokesman, Scott Darnell, says it will be rescheduled in August or early September.

Darnell said the administration had considered a postponement of the summit since the start of the Las Conchas fire last month near Los Alamos. It’s the state’s largest wildfire and burned about 80 percent of the forested lands on Santa Clara Pueblo.

A fire in southern New Mexico burned Mescalero Apache tribal lands.

A 2009 state law requires the governor to meet with tribal leaders each year in a summit to address issues of mutual concern.