03.04.22

LIVESTREAMS NEXT WEEK: Tribal Co-Management of Federal Public Lands and the Klamath River Basin on Tuesday

Washington, D.C. – The Natural Resources Committee is holding two livestreamed events next week.

TUESDAY, MARCH 8

FULL COMMITTEE

The full Committee, led by Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), will hold an oversight hearing titled, Examining the History of Federal Lands and the Development of Tribal Co-Management.

Before the arrival of European colonists, Indigenous Peoples lived on and cared for the lands which now make up the United States since time immemorial. Centuries of racist tactics and policies, including the displacement and dispossession of rights to land and resources, pushed many Indigenous Peoples off their ancestral homelands, often to marginal and infertile lands.

Many Indigenous communities practice Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge (ITEK), which has been maintained through cultural, historical, and religious connections to their ancestral homelands. By incorporating ITEK and Indigenous perspectives into land management, federal land managers can be better stewards of our nation’s land and resources. Tribal co-management is the coordinated management between federal land managers and tribal governments. Through tribal co-management, the federal government can support ITEK while benefitting tribal communities and reaffirming trust obligations and tribal sovereignty.

For the first time in congressional history, the Committee will examine the U.S. government’s role in addressing tribal land dispossession and discuss how tribal co-management of lands can be an essential step in responding to the country’s history and moving forward.

Witness Panel I

  • The Honorable Charles “Chuck” Sams III, Director, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
  • The Honorable Carleton Bowekaty, Lieutenant Governor, Pueblo of Zuni, Co-Chair, Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition
  • Mr. Melvin J. Baker (Minority Witness), Chairman, Southern Ute Tribal Council

Witness Panel II

  • Dr. Doug Kiel, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Northwestern University
  • Ms. Aja DeCoteau, Executive Director, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
  • Mr. Kevin Washburn, N. William Hines Dean and Professor of Law, University of Iowa College of Law
  • Mr. Cody Desautel (Minority Witness), President, Intertribal Timber Council

When: 10:00 a.m. Eastern time

Watch Live: https://youtu.be/y_4BdlVPR6c

 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER, OCEANS, AND WILDLIFE

The Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, led by Chair Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), will hold an oversight hearing titled, Klamath River Basin Conditions and Opportunities.

The Klamath River Basin is a 12,000-square-mile area on the California-Oregon border that drains into the 263-mile Klamath River. The area is home to six federally recognized tribes. Drought conditions in the Klamath River Basin have contributed to historically low agricultural water deliveries and devastating impacts to tribes, fishing communities, and native fish and wildlife.

The hearing will provide an opportunity for Congress to hear about drought impacts and explore durable solutions to ecosystem and water supply challenges across the Klamath River Basin. Many of these solutions could be advanced by major new investments provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Witness Panel I

  • Mr. Steve Guertin, Deputy Director for Program Management and Policy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior

Accompanied by Mr. David Palumbo, Deputy Commissioner of Operations, Bureau of Reclamation

Witness Panel II

  • Ms. Amy Cordalis, Counsel, Yurok Tribe and Principal, Ridges to Riffles Conservation Fund
  • The Honorable Joe Davis, Chairman, Hoopa Valley Tribe
  • Mr. Robert Super, Vice Chairman, Karuk Tribe
  • Ms. Tricia Hill (Minority Witness), former President, Klamath Water Users Association
  • The Honorable Geri Byrne (Minority Witness), Chair, Board of Supervisors, Modoc County, California

When: 2:00 p.m. Eastern time

Watch Live: https://youtu.be/0YTzC-9cLuo

Press Contact

Media Contact: Lindsay Gressard

(202) 225-6065 or (202) 740-4715 mobile