136 



of what its trust responsibility is, compared to these other organi- 

 zations that either ignore or just blatantly deny that there's any 

 trust responsibility at all. 



Mr. Faleomavaega. Well, you've certainly added a new perspec- 

 tive, also. I shouldn't say new, but that has been a constant theme 

 that you've got the problems of the rights of the tribes, and you 

 have the problem of the rights of the states. And then a whole host 

 of rights of the different federal agencies fighting among them- 

 selves as to who's got the right theme or the right policy affecting 

 the needs of Native Americans. 



I'm hopeful that, perhaps with the new Administration, there 

 will be a sense of consistency by way of policy affecting the needs 

 of Native Americans throughout the various agencies dealing with 

 environmental issues, dealing with the rights, the hunting and the 

 fishing and the wildlife, just as we've discussed this morning. 



So I appreciate your comment on that. 



Mr. Poynter? 



Mr. Poynter. Five. 



In all fairness to the Bureau, I feel the Bureau is trying to do 

 the best they can. 



I think maybe they could advocate for more funding for fish and 

 wildlife management on behalf of tribes. 



I echo what Mr. Schlender says about they have probably the 

 best understanding of trust responsibility. 



And, like Mr. Schlender, I feel that the other federal agencies 

 need to come up to speed with the Bureau's understanding of trust 

 responsibilities. 



There's inconsistencies in all the federal agencies. Talking to 

 tribal wildlife managers and planners across the country, tribal 

 members are looking forward to the potential of working with the 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the near future, since they're in 

 the process of developing their Native American policy. 



The people I've talked to feel that the Service are the experts in 

 fish and wildlife management, and probably the time is right to 

 begin working with them directly in co-management areas. 



I would personally like to see the different federal agencies work 

 more cooperatively and collectively together. 



You go to one agency, and although they have an Indian policy, 

 they have no money behind it; specifically, the EPA, you know. 



And there's a lot of areas where they could be working together, 

 you know, if they could all chip in here and there, they could get 

 things done, whereas just putting it on a shelf £uid sajdng, well, we 

 don't have adequate funding at this time, maybe in the future. 



But I feel that the time is right. Things have changed in the last 

 year. I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden fish and 

 wildlife issues are a high priority here in Washington with tribes, 

 or at least Congress is looking at it that way. 



In my book, thej^ve always been a priority, but because of the 

 IPS (Indian Priority System) that was in place at one time, those 

 concerns for fish and wildlife management weren't considered pri- 

 orities, because when the tribal chairman had to choose between a 

 health center for his people and a fish hatchery, there was no com- 

 parison. 



