motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Alaskan natives 
(People of Togiak v. United States) challenging the authority 
of the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service to delegate 
to the State the authority to regulate the taking of walrus. 
In its opinion explaining why it had denied the Government's 
motion, the Court expressed its view that the "native exemption" 
clause in the Act constituted a Congressionally-mandated 
permit allowing Alaskan natives to hunt non-depleted walrus 
in a non-wasteful manner for subsistence and native handicraft 
purposes and that inconsistent laws and regulations of the 
State attempting to limit taking by natives in that manner 
and for those purposes were pre-empted. On 29 January 1980, 
Judge Greene issued a final decision, supportive of the 
earlier Court opinion, in which he ordered and declared that 
Alaskan natives "have the right to hunt non-depleted Pacific 
walrus in a non-wasteful manner for the purposes specified 
in the Marine Mammal Protection Act", and enjoined the 
Department of the Interior "from delegating authority to 
Manage or regulate the taking of Pacific walrus to the State 
of Alaska as long as there is in effect any state law or 
official regulation of the State of Alaska relating to the 
taking or protection of walrus which has the substantial 
purpose and effect of limiting the rights of Native Alaskans 
to take walrus for subsistence and other purposes consistent 
with the Marine Mammal Protection Act." 
The State's walrus program which had been approved by 
the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service included 
limits in the form of quotas and other regulatory measures 
applicable to the taking of non-depleted walrus by native 
Alaskans and, as such, were not limited to insuring that the 
taking by natives was non-wasteful and for subsistence and 
handicraft purposes. Anticipating the likely impacts of 
Judge Greene's April 1979 statement concerning the native 
exemption clause, the State advised the Fish and Wildlife 
Service in June 1979 of its intent to return management of 
walrus to the Fish and Wildlife Service, effective 1 July, 
unless there were satisfactory resolution of issues relating 
to the waiver and the legal authority to regulate native 
taking. On 27 June, the Alaska Board of Game adopted emergency 
regulations that effectively terminated most of the State's 
walrus management and law enforcement activities. In response 
and in recognition of the fact that there was no longer a 
State management program in effect to govern taking of 
walrus under the waiver, the Director of the Fish and Wildlife 
Service, after consultation with the Commission, published 
notice on 2 August 1979 of his decision to disapprove Alaska's 
walrus regulations and suspend the waiver of the moratorium 
