145 



We do not need more funding for Bureau of Indian Affairs staff. 

 Instead, we need direct federal assistance to the tribe to help us 

 carry out our fish and wildlife management responsibilities. The 

 federal government's trust duty to protect and preserve the fish 

 and wildlife resources on which Indian treaty rights and sovereign 

 authority depend is not fulfilled until this assistance is 

 provided. 



The trust responsibility also requires more than financial 

 assistance to tribal governments. The trust responsibility is a 

 binding legal obligation on those federal agencies, such as the 

 Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and others, who 

 manage the fish and wildlife resources on which the tribe's treaty- 

 reserved rights and sovereign authority depend. This legislation 

 should lay out in clear terms the obligations these agencies have 

 to protect, manage and enhance the fish and wildlife resources that 

 are subject to legally protected Indian rights. 



Finally, the legislation should establish the fundamental nature 

 of the government-to-government relationship between the tribes, 

 on the one hand, and the federal and state governments on the 

 other. A commitment to support tribal participation in all fish 

 and wildlife management activities where tribal legally protected 

 interests are involved would help establish the status of tribes 



PAGE 4 



