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TESTIMONY BY CHAELE8 D.M. BROWER 



CHAIRMAN, NATIVE MIGRATORY BIRD WORKING GROUP 



ON 



POSSIBLE EFFECTS ON ALASKA NATIVES 



BY 



CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT IMPROVEMENT ACT 



The Honorable John Doolittle, Chairman House Subcommittee on 

 Water & Power Resources, Members of the Committee, Ladies 

 and Gentlemen. My name is Charles D.N. Brower, Chairman 

 Native Migratory Bird Working Group (Native Working Group) . 

 The Native Working Group is a coalition of Alaska Native 

 organizations that represent the interests of Alaska Natives 

 who rely heavily on subsistence uses of migratory birds. We 

 present this testimony after our careful and independent 

 review of the California's Cenral Valley Project Improvement 

 Act (CVPIA) . 



Mr. Chairman, I can speak with some degree of authority on 

 the issues of subsistence hunting of migratory birds. My 

 people have customarily and traditionally hunted and 

 harvested migratory birds for sustenance even before 

 Columbus got lost and accidentally found himself in North 

 America. In Alaska, record show that the subsistence 

 hunting and harvesting of migratory birds are very low 

 compared to the sports take throughout the United States. 

 For example, the subsistence take on geese is about 3% and 

 the sports take is 97%. The subsistence take of ducks in 

 less than 3% of the sports take. Mr. Chairman, the point I 

 am making is, the customs and the traditions of Alaska 

 Natives serve as the conservation measures for migratory 

 birds because we do not take any more than we need for 

 subsistence and, for the most part, we take them during 

 spring time and leave them alone during the nesting season. 

 We also do not shoot migratory birds for sport, period. 



We, in Alaska, are blessed with millions of acres of 

 prime habitat for migratory birds and Alaska is, for the 

 most part, where they pro-create the species. While, the 

 habitat conservation may not be much of a problem in Alaska, 

 our major concern continue to be the question of whether the 

 migratory birds, both from the pacific and central fiyways 

 have the quality wintering habitat they need in the lower 

 48. The species of most concern to us include the Brants, 

 the White-Fronts and Canadian Geese which make California 

 their wintering habitat. We understand that the current 

 wintering habitat, over the years, have been reduced to a 

 level where there is now considerable concentration of 

 migratory birds in small areas. What will happen if there 

 is reduction in the wintering habitat of the Migratory 

 Birds? How will the quality of wintering habitat be 



