221 



Page 5 



Pueblo of Laguna Testimony 



House Sub-coitvmittee on Native American Affairs 



Re: Indian Fish and Wildlife Management/ Enhancement 



March 1, 1993 



In an effort to begin to address some of our problems, I would 

 like to respectfully present some recommendations for the Sub- 

 committees consideration. 



1. Direct the Bureau of Indian Affairs to fulfill their trust 

 responsibility in fishery and wildlife management and direct 

 more dollars for this effort. 



2. Direct the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to make available 

 a set amount of the Pittman-Robertson/Dingell-Johnson 

 Administrative Funds and the Reverted Funds for Tribal 

 fishery and wildlife programs and projects. 



3. Work with Congress to amend the Pittman-Robertson/Dingell- 

 Johnson/Wallop-Breaux Acts to allow full tribal 

 participation in funding of fishery and wildlife projects. 



4 . Work with Congress and the Tribes to draft and introduce a 

 Native American Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Act that will 

 legislatively mandate and guarantee Tribal Governments full 

 participation in management of fisheries and wildlife 

 resources including adequate funding to rectify the budget 

 shortfalls. 



5. Consider the option of having the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service be the primary agency to provide technical 

 assistance to Tribes. As you know, the U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Services' mission is 100 percent fishery and 

 wildlife management oriented. Consequently, one hundred 

 percent of their funding and effort is allocated for that 

 purpose. On the other hand, we find the BIA's mission to be 

 "complex" in that it deals with a multitude of programs 

 including education, economic development, roads, law 

 enforcement, social services, forestry, range, water rights, 

 and archaeology, to name a few. These individual programs 

 must compete with one another for funding and unfortunately, 

 fishery and wildlife resource management programs are 

 usually under-funded. In our tribal situation, we have 

 received no direct BIA funding. 



6. Provide financial assistance to establish a new reservoir 

 for water-based recreation with emphasis on sport fishing 

 and to restore our valuable wetlands at Mesita and New 

 Laguna Reservoirs. 



7. Seriously consider funding, on an annual basis, our Pueblo 

 of Laguna Wildlife Conservation Program, as requested. 



68-141 - 93 - 8 



