has survived a section 7 consultation for spotted owl management with a no jeopardy ruling.

Essentially, we're the only legal timber-producing group in the West that has passed the spotted owl litmus test. We have tripled the size of our elk herd in the last 10 years through a very aggressive management program. We in short have had some wonderful success stories in the area of wildlife management. But it is all keyed on our availability of resources to get the job done.

That's why we're so excited about this potential legislation, because it has the potential for empowering both the BIA and the Federal Government to be advocates for Indian people in this area. I mean, we take our hat off to nobody in terms of our accomplishments in this area. But it does take resources.

Senator SIMON. I thank you both.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. I thank you very much.

As I indicated in my opening remarks, we will have to stand in recess, hopefully we will be back at 10:30 a.m. The committee will stand in recess.

[Recess.]

The CHAIRMAN. May we resume our hearings?

And now may I call upon the councilwoman from the Yurok Tribe of California, Sue Masten.

STATEMENT OF SUE MASTEN, COUNCIL MEMBER, YUROK

INTERIM COUNCIL, YUROK TRIBE OF CALIFORNIA

Ms. MASTEN. Good morning.

I'm the representative for the National Congress of American Indians Natural Resource chair, but I also sit on the Klamath Fisheries Management Council as the vice chair, and I'm the California Indian representative on the Salmon Advisory Subpanel to the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, as well as sitting on the Yurok Interim Council. And I am the council's natural resource representative.

I would like to express our council's appreciation for the opportunity to appear before the committee to share some of our most immediate concerns about our tribe's most precious resources. I would like to remind you that we are located on the second largest river in California, and management of Klamath stocks affects the area from mid-Oregon to San Francisco. We're also on the lower 43 miles of the Klamath River.

We have provided the committee with a detailed statement concerning not only the proposed legislation, but also how that legislation can be better tailored to meet the unique needs of the Yurok Tribe in the aftermath of the Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act. The Council also is familiar with the specific comments of the Northwest Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. We agree with those comments, and in addition have made additional points in our written statement.

In my oral testimony this morning, I would like to highlight some of the ways that this legislation could help our tribe receive a

No. 1, protection of natural resources, our natural runs. First and foremost, we consider the natural salmon runs in the Klamath River to be our tribe's most precious natural resource. While natural populations in other rivers of the Northwest may have declined past the point of no return, in normal years the Klamath River system still supports a predominantly natural run of fall salmon. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to the Yurok Tribe that the act do everything possible to protect these natural stocks. The draft bill in its current form does not address supporting natural

runs.

No. 2, the Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act and natural resources. When Congress partitioned the former Unified Hoopa Valley Reservation into separate Yurok and Hoopa Reservations, it considered the salmon resource of the Yurok Reservation to be roughly equivalent in value to the extensive timber resources of the Hoopa Valley Reservation.

Unfortunately, for most of the 50 years before the Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act, and for only 1 year since, those resources have been largely unavailable to the tribe because of the Commerce Department's refusal to allow enough Klamath River salmon to escape ocean harvest to meet both minimum spawning and escapement and tribal needs.

Each year the tribes and the BIA have told the Pacific Fisheries Management Council how many fish the in-river tribal fisheries will harvest. But the Pacific Fisheries Management Council has proceeded to regulate the ocean harvest in a way that minimizes the impact of restrictions on the ocean harvest, and forces undue restrictions of even tribal ceremonial and subsistence harvests to protect spawning and escapement.

Now the trollers have filed a lawsuit against the Secretaries of Commerce and Interior to prevent them from protecting our tribe's fishery resources. The suit falsely claims that the tribe has borne little or no share of the burden of conserving our fishery resources. In fact, it is the tribes that have been forced to bear almost the entire burden year after year. Even before the trollers lawsuit, this was a controversial issue. Now it is even more so.

However, unlike the trollers, the tribe cannot simply go somewhere else to fish, or choose another way to make a living. Thus, there simply is no alternative but to require other agencies to defer to the Secretary's determination of the Yurok Tribe's needs.

No. 3, tribal participation in management agreements. In the past, Federal agencies have entered into resource related agreements with other governments and governmental entities that have profound impacts upon tribal natural resources. However, these agreements do not have meaningful tribal consultation or consent. The Yurok Tribe strongly believes that no such agreement should be entered into without full consultation and consent of the affected tribes.

No. 4, adequate funding. Authorizing technical assistance is appropriate. But without adequate funding to see these programs through to their completion, it doesn't go very far. Resource restoration and protection programs often take considerable time to implement. Without a firm multi-year commitment to fund those programs, they are almost certain to fail.

No. 5, integrated resource management. Fish and wildlife resources know no artificial boundaries. Therefore the most effective management programs are integrated resource management. Although such programs may be more complicated and difficult to implement in short run, and in the long run they offer the best hope for the effective preservation and enhancement of the natural resources upon which the tribes depend today, and will depend on in the future.

We certainly appreciate the opportunity to address you today, and look forward to working with you in the future.

[Prepared statement of Ms. Masten appears in appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Ms. Masten.

Just for the record, how long has it been since a sufficient number of fish have been permitted to escape into the river in order to meet your minimal tribal subsistence needs?

Ms. MASTEN. Well, in most years, we have not met those needs. But more recently, in the past 3 years, not only have we not met our subsistence needs, but also we have not met the escapement needs of the system. So management of that area has been very poor.

The CHAIRMAN. And your cries for help have not been answered? Ms. MASTEN. Well, and it's not due to the tribe's not managing properly. It's due to mismanagement in the ocean and stock abundance has been under-predicted in most years. And they just have an unreliable way of estimating what the 3 year old population is going to be.

So you get an overharvest in the ocean occurring, and you get as low as half of our natural spawners is what we're trying to protect, and we're supposed to be managing for a floor of 35,000-yes, 35,000. And we've been hitting around 12,000, which is not enough to support that system.

The CHAIRMAN. And it is your view that this bill will help that situation?

Ms. MASTEN. I'm looking forward, because as you know, on the north coast, California is a little behind in management of, comanagement of the resource. We're looking forward that this bill will assist us in getting the state to come along in a more cooperative management of the resource. So we're hoping that it's going to be a solution to the problem.

The CHAIRMAN. We hope so, too. Thank you very much.

And now may I call upon the Director of Fisheries of the Quinault Indian Nation, Mr. Harp.

STATEMENT OF JIM HARP, FISHERIES MANAGER, QUINAULT INDIAN RESERVATION

Mr. HARP. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee.

I am pleased to appear before the committee to express the support of the Quinault Nation for the development of an Indian Fish and Wildlife Resource Management Act. I am Jim Harp, Fisheries Director and an elected member of the tribal government of the

Fish and wildlife are a vital part of our heritage, and have always been central to our cultures, religions and economies. Legislation to establish a firm foundation for management is essential to preserve and protect the rights of future generations to utilize these resources.

We are encouraged that Congress is seeking tribal views on how the United States could improve the administration of its trust responsibilities toward Indian tribes. We are aware that the natural resources committee of the House of Representatives has initiated efforts to determine the necessity and scope for legislative action concerning management of fish, wildlife and plant resources of concern to Indian tribes.

We urge that the House and Senate work in concert with Indian tribes to develop a single piece of legislation that will correct management problems that can be enacted into law and can be implemented in practice.

I would like to premise our statement with a few remarks that may help provide perspective and understanding of our views. Under the Treaty of Olympia, the United States assume a trust responsibility to protect our rights to hunt, fish and gather. Yet, only after lengthy and costly litigation affirming our rights has the United States been willing to provide the financial resources necessary to provide proper management of the resources which comprise our heritage.

In effect, the United States has historically taken the posture that our treaty has no meaning unless and until the courts say they do. Such abominable attitudes have led to the depletion of important resources, erosion of sovereignty, reduction in management effectiveness, and diminishment of the legacy that we leave our children.

We believe that the focus of the committee's efforts should be to focus on a few fundamental cornerstones to establish the foundation for future initiatives in fish and wildlife management. The first cornerstone is the affirmation of the commitment of the United States to support, strengthen and enhance tribal management capabilities, sovereignty and primacy in establishing management direction on reservations. Support should be provided for development and effective enforcement of tribal fish and wildlife codes and regulations to apply to all persons on all lands within reservation boundaries.

The second cornerstone is to recognize the rights and responsibilities of tribal governments to participate in decisions involving offreservation resource management issues, at least on a par with States.

The third cornerstone is to establish principles, standards and guidelines for the administration of the trust responsibility of the United States for management of fish and wildlife resources of importance to Indian tribes. This cornerstone should include adequate funding and training programs needed to improve tribal management skills and capacities.

Specific comments on provisions of the draft legislation, coded LOŪ93.151, which are of concern to the Quinault Nation along with recommendations for amendments are attached for consideration by the committee.

It is our hope that an Indian Fish and Wildlife Resource Management Act can be enacted to resolve problems that have long plagued effective management of these effective resources. I wish to express our appreciation to the committee for its exceptional interest and foresight in developing this legislative proposal.

The Quinault Indian Nation stands ready to work with the committee in developing reasoned and responsible approaches toward improving the management of our natural resource heritage. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on this important topic. [Prepared statement of Mr. Harp appears in appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Harp, your suggestion that we keep in focus the three cornerstones as we address the matter of trust responsibility and treaty responsibilities is not only well taken, it has our full support. Because of that, we have this draft legislation before

us.

I can assure you that your recommendations, which you have attached to the bill through your statement, will be very seriously considered.

Mr. HARP. Thank you.

The CHAIRMAN. I would like to thank all of you for your participation this morning, and for your contribution. We thank you.

Our next witness is the most distinguished president of the Navajo Nation, Peterson Zah. President Zah will be accompanied by Gloria Notah, manager of the Wildlife Department of Fish and Wildlife, Navajo Nation.

President Zah, as always, it is a great honor and pleasure to have you with us.

President ZAH. Same way here.

The CHAIRMAN. We also have on this panel Michael Pablo, chairman of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation of Montana; Clay Bravo, assistant director of Hualapai Wildlife Management Department of Arizona; Robert Neuman of Washington, DC, representing the White Mountain Apache Tribal Council of Arizona.

May I now call upon President Zah.

STATEMENT OF PETERSON ZAH, PRESIDENT, NAVAJO NATION, ACCOMPANIED BY GLORIA NOTAH, MANAGER, WILDLIFE, DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE, NAVAJO NATION

President ZAH. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, staff, we too appreciate the concerns that you have for the Indian people and their ability to manage their own affairs on Indian land. We commend you and the committee for drafting this legislation, and I wanted to assure you that generally we support the legislation.

However, we do have some concerns that we would like to indicate, hoping that it would considered as part of the legislation.

The Navajo Nation, perhaps one Indian tribe in the United States, has their own fish and wildlife department. And it's run by the tribal government. I think we're the only one of its kind in the Southwest. We now have under that department 30 professional staff who oversee the Nation's vast land and species resources. The