And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 10:54:23 -0500 To: Recipient List Suppressed:; From: Native Americas Journal <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: ALASKA NATIVES AND SUBSISTENCE RIGHTS The following article is provided by Native Americas, published by the Akwe:kon Press at Cornell University. For more information on how to stay informed of emerging trends that impact Native peoples throughout the hemisphere visit our website at http://nativeamericas.aip.cornell.edu ALASKA NATIVES AND SUBSISTENCE RIGHTS BY TIM BRISTOL/NATIVE AMERICAS Despite years of waiting and several unfulfilled promises, it appears that Alaska Natives and rural residents will finally gain full protection of their subsistence rights this fall. Proposed regulations outlining expansion of federal fish and game management to about 60 percent of Alaska's waterways were published for public review in early January. At a press conference outlining the draft regulations, Department of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit said the federal government would assume management of fish resources on a majority of Alaska's rivers and lakes by Oct. 1, 1999. The State of Alaska can still stave off this expansion of federal power by amending its constitution. Opinion polls have consistently indicated Alaska residents want the chance to vote on a constitutional amendment which would bring state subsistence management laws in line with federal law. So far, Alaska's lawmakers are ignoring the polls. The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act requires that fish and game resources on federally owned lands be managed for a "rural preference." If, for example, hunter demand for moose on a certain parcel of federal land exceeds the bag limits established by biologists, urban-area hunters would have their hunting privileges curtailed first. This preferential treatment for rural residents has infuriated Alaska's urban-dwelling hunters, but for Alaska Natives, a majority of whom still live in rural areas, the rural priority guaranteed by ANILCA is of vital importance to their way of life. Alaska Native leaders praised Babbit's announcement. Their positive comments were a far cry from the fury expressed a few short months ago, when Babbit brokered a deal with Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens to stall federal takeover for another year. Originally, the federal government planned to expand its subsistence management jurisdiction, Dec. 1, 1998. But in exchange for waiting one more year, Babbit received an $11 million funding guarantee from Stevens, the chairman of the powerful Congressional Appropriations Committee. The delay sparked a boiling point for Alaska Natives, who have watched a 1994 Supreme Court decision supporting a rural preference on federal waterways management stalled by a series of "moratoriums." "Secretary Babbit has breached his promises and his trust responsibilities to the Alaska Native community. It's an unforgivable act," said Native American Rights Fund attorney Heather Kendall-Miller in response to the 1998 delay decision. Julie Kitka, head of the Alaska Federation of Natives, went so far as to call for Babbit's resignation-a bold step considering Babbit is generally regarded as a supporter of Alaska Natives. It was under Babbit's watch that 226 Alaska Native groups gained federal tribal recognition. Conspicuous in its absence was criticism of Alaska's Congressional delegation-particularly Stevens, the person probably most responsible for stalling the subsistence takeover. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Stevens holds the purse strings for many federal agencies, including Babbit's Interior Department. Oftentimes agencies, programs, even people, have been stripped of funding by Stevens. Babbit may have decided obtaining cash in exchange for ten months of delays was a good deal. The fate of fisheries management in Alaska is now back in the hands of the Alaska State Legislature. As another legislative session begins, there is little impetus to amend the state constitution to allow for rural priority. Out in the bush, where subsistence is a way of life, not a political football, Alaska Natives continue to hunt and fish and trap. And wait. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
