22 



Testimony of Wainwright Velarde 



House Subcommittee on Native American Affairs 



Oversight Hearing-Indian Fish and Wildlife Management & Enhancement 



February 18, 1993 



Page 3 



These numbers may appear small to those of you who are not familiar with our 

 Reservation or with northern New Mexico. For comparison, the Game and Fish 

 Department of the state of New Mexico has 7 law enforcement officers and 1 biologist for 

 the entire northwest quarter of the state outside of Indian lands. That area is about ten 

 times the size of the Jicarilla Apache Reservation. 



I mention these figures to show that our Tribe takes fish and wildlife management 

 very seriously, and we are willing to put the necessary resources into an effective program. 



Our Game and Fish Department is fully qualified to conduct surveys and monitoring 

 under the Threatened and Endangered Species Act. We review and comment on 

 environmental assessments prepared for timber sales and oil and gas development. We 

 have conducted radio telemetry studies to determine migration patterns of elk and mule 

 deer. Those studies have produced valuable data that was not known to the game and fish 

 departments of New Mexico or Colorado. 



It is also important for this subcommittee to know that our Game and Fish 

 Department has cooperated with other tribes, the neighboring states and the federal 

 government on issues arising from game and fish management. We were very active in 

 initiating and establishing the San Juan Interstate Wildlife Working Group. That group has 

 representatives from the Jicarilla Apache Tribe, the Southern Ute Tribe, the US Forest 

 Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the states of Colorado and New Mexico. 

 This group meets periodically to share information and coordinate management of 

 migratory big game herds that pass through each jurisdiction. 



The Jicarilla Apache Tribe has a proven record of conservative and scientifically- 

 based game management. For example, in 1987 our Game and Fish Department was 

 concerned about the declining populations of mule deer. The state of New Mexico was 

 permitting unlimited deer hunting in the areas surrounding our Reservation. We tried to 

 get the state to limit the number of deer hunting permits for state-controlled hunts in 

 surrounding lands. The state refused, because of the desire to continue getting revenue 

 from unlimited permits sales. The Tribe then took the drastic step of completely 

 prohibiting deer hunting within the Reservation for a three year period. This was a difficult 

 decision for the Tribal Council, because deer hunting is a very important part of our 

 culture. But the Council accepted the scientific evidence developed by our Game and 

 Fish Department. At the end of the three year ban, we restored deer hunting on a very 

 limited basis. As a direct result of our actions banning all deer hunting, the deer 

 populations improved significantly. In addition, in 1992 the state Game and Fish 

 department finally agreed to limit deer hunting on the lands surrounding our Reservation. 

 We are pleased that the state has finally agreed to the conservative management policies 

 for the deer herd first proposed and implemented by the Tribe. 



