On December 4, 2016 the Army Corps of Engineers denied the easement through Lake Oahe for the Dakota Access Pipeline. This decision will halt construction of the controversial pipeline and explore other environmental options, a victory for protesters against the pipeline being so close to the source of drinking water for the Standing Rock Sioux and the pipeline’s route through sacred lands, according to The New York Times.

“We wholeheartedly support the decision of the administration and commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing,” Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II said in a press release. “The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and all of Indian Country will be forever grateful to the Obama Administration for this historic decision.”

Protesters have been camped out for months along the northern tip of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, swelling to almost 2,000 in number. This past weekend, hundreds of veterans from the organization Veterans for Standing Rock flocked to the protest site to help aid those already there.

“We want to offer them a moment of peace and, if we can, take a little bit of pressure off,” Ashleigh Jennifer Parker, a Coast Guard veteran and spokeswoman for Veterans Stand for Standing Rock, said in an interview with USATODAY.

Although the protesters have said they are in it for the long haul, citing some inconsistencies and vague arrangements regarding the Army Corps of Engineers’ statement.

“I think this is just a rest,” Charlotte Bad Cob, 30, of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, said in an interview with Reuters.. “With a new government it could turn and we could be at it again.”

However future circumstances may turn out, Archambault II views this as a huge victory for the Standing Rock Sioux.

“We want to thank everyone who played a role in advocating for this cause,” Archambault II said. “We thank the millions of people around the globe who expressed support for our cause. We thank the thousands of people who came to the camps to support us, and the tens of thousands who donated time, talent, and money to our efforts to stand against this pipeline in the name of protecting our water. We especially thank all of the other tribal nations and jurisdictions who stood in solidarity with us, and we stand ready to stand with you if and when your people are in need.”