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Testimony of James H. Schlender, Executive Administrator 

 of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and WDdlife Commission 



Mr. Chainnan and Members of the Committee. My name is James H. Schlender and 

 I am the Executive Administrator of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission 

 (GLIFWC). On Ijehalf of GUFWC's thirteen member tribes, I would like to thank you for 

 the opportunity to appear before you today regarding Indian fish and wildlife management 

 and enhancement issues. 



The purpose of my testimony today is twofold: 1) to provide the Committee with 

 information on the comprehensive natural resource management programs that GLIFWC 

 undertakes on behalf of its member tribes; and 2) to suggest some of the ways federal 

 legislation could help to preserve and strengthen these kinds of natural resource programs. 



I. GLIFWC'S MEMBERSHIP AND PURPOSE 



GLIFWC is comprised of 13 federally recognized tribes in Wisconsin, Minnesota and 

 Michigan (a list of our member tribes is attached as Appendix A to this testimony). Each 

 of our member tribes entered one or more treaties with the United States, under which the 

 tribes reserved off-reservation hunting, fishing and gathering rights in lands ceded to the 

 United States. These treaty rights have been recognized by the courts, including in the 

 multifaceted Lac Courte Oreilles litigation ("LCO" case), which is sometimes known as the 

 Voigt case. 



GLIFWC was established by the tribes to protect and regulate the use of their off- 

 reservation natural resources. Its purpose is to conserve and manage the fish, wildlife and 

 other resources subject to tribal off-reservation treaty rights, to facilitate the development 

 of institutions of tribal self-regulation and management of natural resources, and to protect 

 the habitats and ecosystems that support those resources from environmental degradation. 



The GLIFWC member tribes have delegated to GLIFWC a portion of their sovereign 

 authority involving the regulation and management of treaty-reserved, off-reservation 

 hunting, fishing and gathering rights. In carrying out this delegation of tribal authority, 

 GLIFWC formulates and undertakes a comprehensive natural resource management 

 program. This program is designed to ensure that these off-reservation rights are protected 

 and preserved for the benefit of present and future tribal members. 



GLIFWC is an intertribal organization which, in our view, provides to its member 

 tribes a high level of biological, management and other expertise. While it is often suggested 

 in other contexts that tribes are reluctant to work together, GLIFWC is proud to serve as 

 an organization of tribes, working together in a coordinated manner for the common goal 

 of protecting their off-reservation treaty rights. 



