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New federal report addresses road conditions on tribal lands

PHOENIX (AP) — The federal government has released a report that casts a critical light on the poor condition of roads on tribal lands nationwide. The General Accounting Office report released Monday says children are suffering from bad roads because they can't make it to school during bad weather. The agency sent a team to do site visits at 10 different school districts and three reservations, where they evaluated bus routes by riding with students to school. Reservation routes are often earth or gravel roads that become muddy and impassible after tribal areas are hit with adverse weather like heavy rainfall, strong winds, or snowfall. School officials say inclement weather compounded by already poor roads are a contributing factor to school absences of Native American youth on tribal lands. The report highlights funding constraints, overlapping jurisdictions and bad weather as leading challenges.