    [Senate Hearing 116-14]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                             S. Hrg. 116-14

         45th ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATIVE AMERICAN PROGRAMS ACT AND THE
                ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ADMINISTRATION FOR NATIVE
                                   AMERICANS

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                          COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                         ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                               FEBRUARY 27, 2019

                                   __________

             Printed for the use of the Committee on Indian Affairs

     [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                        U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    36-242 PDF                  WASHINGTON : 2019

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office,
    http://bookstore.gpo.gov. For more information, contact the GPO Customer Contact Center,
    U.S. Government Publishing Office. Phone 202-512-1800, or 866-512-1800 (toll-free).E-mail,
    gpo@custhelp.com.

                          COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS

                      JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota, Chairman
                      TOM UDALL, New Mexico, Vice Chairman
    JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming               MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
    LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska               JON TESTER, Montana,
    JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma             BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
    STEVE DAINES, Montana                CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
    MARTHA McSALLY, Arizona              TINA SMITH, Minnesota
    JERRY MORAN, Kansas
         T. Michael Andrews, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
           Jennifer Romero, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page
    Hearing held on February 27, 2019................................     1
    Statement of Senator Cortez Masto................................    38
    Statement of Senator Hoeven......................................     1
    Statement of Senator Tester......................................    36
    Statement of Senator Udall.......................................     2

                                   Witnesses

    Hovland, Hon. Jeannie, Commissioner, Administration for Native
      Americans, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
      Department of Health and Human Services........................     3
        Prepared statement...........................................     5
    James, Hon. Joe, Chairman, Yurok Tribe...........................    14
        Prepared statement...........................................    16
    Socobasin, Hon. Joseph M., Councilmember/Former Chief,
      Passamaquoddy Tribe............................................     8
        Prepared statement...........................................     9
    Vallo, Hon. Brian, Governor, Pueblo of Acoma.....................    10
        Prepared statement...........................................    11

                                    Appendix

    Crabbe, Kamana`opono M., Ph.D,, Ka Pouhana/CEO, Office of
      Hawaiian Affairs, prepared statement...........................    45
    Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to Hon.
      Jeannie Hovland................................................    46

                        45th ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATIVE
                         AMERICAN PROGRAMS ACT AND THE
            ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ADMINISTRATION FOR NATIVE AMERICANS

                                  ----------

                          WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019

                                           U.S. Senate,
                                   Committee on Indian Affairs,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:40 p.m. in room
    628, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. John Hoeven,
    Chairman of the Committee, presiding.

                OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN HOEVEN,
                     U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH DAKOTA

        The Chairman. Good afternoon. We will call the hearing to
    order.
        Today the Committee will hold its first oversight hearing
    of the 116th Congress. The hearing is on the 45th anniversary
    of the Native American Programs Act and the establishment of
    the Administration for Native Americans.
        In 1964, in his State of the Union address, President
    Lyndon B. Johnson declared a war on poverty in the United
    States. The President's direction led to the passage of the
    Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. This Act was later amended to
    include the Native American Programs Act of 1974, establishing
    the Administration for Native Americans.
        This year, we will recognize the 45th anniversary of the
    Native American Programs Act of 1974, which was signed into law
    on January 4, 1975. The purpose of the Act is to promote
    economic self-sufficiency for American Indians, Alaska Natives,
    Native Hawaiians and other Native populations throughout the
    Pacific region. The Native American Programs Act established
    the Administrative for Native Americans, ANA, within the
    Department of Health and Human Services. This agency provides
    three types of grants to enhance the economic and cultural
    well-being of these populations.
        According to the ANA report to Congress, these grants have
    assisted Native communities in overcoming challenges in
    economic development and cultural loss. Of the grantees who
    were evaluated in the fiscal year 2015 report, 58 new or
    sustained partnerships were produced for social and economic
    development strategies.
        In economic development projects, 12,507 voucher hours were
    provided during the social and economic development strategies,
    social development projects. Two hundred fifty-seven Native
    youth were involved in the implementation of environmental
    regulatory enhancement projects. Two hundred twenty-nine Native
    language instructors received training.
        The Native American Programs Act also created the
    commissioner position to oversee the ANA and co-chair of the
    Intra-Departmental Council on Native American Affairs within
    the Department of Health and Human Services. The council is co-
    chaired by the commissioner with the Indian Health Services
    Director.
        The Senate confirmed Ms. Jeannie Hovland to serve as the
    seventh commissioner on June 21st, 2018. We will hear from her
    and other witnesses on how the process has served Native
    American communities. They put a lot of acronyms in my remarks.
    I should have spent more time last night going through all
    those acronyms. They are very good at them. Anyway, to
    understand how these programs have served Native communities
    and what further progress or improvements should be made.
        Before we turn to the witnesses, I would like to ask Vice
    Chairman Udall for his opening statement. Vice Chairman Udall?

                     STATEMENT OF HON. TOM UDALL,
                      U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW MEXICO

        Senator Udall. Thank you, Chairman Hoeven. I appreciate
    your scheduling today's hearing to discuss the Native American
    Programs Act.
        I would first like to welcome Acoma Pueblo's newly-elected
    governor, Brian Vallo. Great to have you here today, Governor.
    As the former director of the Indian Arts and Research Center,
    Governor Vallo knows the importance of cultural preservation
    and local capacity building. He is uniquely positioned to
    further advance the Acoma Pueblo's plan to revitalize the Keres
    language. Governor, thank you so much for being here today to
    discuss the Pueblos' experience with the ANA Language Grants.
        The NAPA plays an important role in supporting community-
    driven projects designed to grow local economies, strengthen
    Native languages and bolster the environmental protection
    efforts of tribal governments. Since its enactment in 1974,
    NAPA has sought to promote self-sufficiency and cultural
    preservation for Native communities. The Administration for
    Native Americans at HHS fulfills this mission by providing
    grants for community-based projects as well as training and
    technical assistance.
        ANA grants are unique in that they empower Native
    communities to develop projects that meet the specific needs of
    their community. Other Federal grants take a top-down approach
    in which Native communities must tailor their projects to meet
    nationwide funding criteria. This Committee has played a
    central role in pushing forward important improvements and
    expansions to the original Act.
        In 1990, our colleague, Senator McCain, led efforts to pass
    the Indian Environmental Regulatory Enhancement Act, which
    authorized ANA grants to improve the capability of tribal
    governments to regulate environmental quality. At that time, my
    uncle Mo Udall was the chairman of the House Committee on
    Interior and Insular Affairs. Mo worked with Senator McCain to
    ensure the bill passed the House, which it ultimately did
    overwhelmingly.
        This was a time where bipartisan legislation addressing the
    environmental needs of tribes and our Nation wasn't all that
    uncommon. I hope we can continue to build on that legacy and
    the tradition of bipartisan cooperation that is so central to
    this Committee, to carry those efforts forward.
        More recently, in 2006, I worked on a bipartisan basis with
    the entire New Mexico house delegation to further expand NAPA's
    grant work with the Esther Martinez Native Languages Act.
    Native languages remain a priority for me. In my home State of
    New Mexico, 23 tribes speak 7 major Native languages that are
    not only crucial to the communities that speak them but also
    are important to our State's multi-faceted identity.
        It is fitting for today's hearing and my work on Native
    languages that the Committee's most recent efforts to refine
    NAPA happened just this month, when it unanimously supported my
    bill, the Esther Martinez Native Language Programs
    Reauthorization Act. I look forward to moving the Esther
    Martinez Reauthorization through the full Senate, and I hope
    today's hearing will highlight how tribes have leveraged ANA
    programs to meet project goals and improve overall community
    health and wellness.
        I want to especially thank the Honorable Jeannie Hovland
    for getting in your testimony. You have made it well before the
    48 hours, and we really appreciate that, and thank the chairman
    and thank the panel for joining us today.
        The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chairman.
        Do we have any other opening statements? Okay, if not, we
    will proceed with our witnesses. Thank you for being here. We
    will start with Jeannie Hovland, Commissioner, Administration
    for Native Americans, Administration for Children and Families,
    Department of Health and Human Services. Then we will proceed
    to the Honorable Joseph Socobasin--thanks for being here --
    council member and former Chief Passamaquoddy Tribe, Indian
    Township. The Honorable Brian Vallo, Governor, Pueblo of Acoma,
    Pueblo, New Mexico. Thank you for being here.
        And the Honorable Joe James, did I get that right?
        [Laughter.]
        The Chairman. I am teasing a little bit. Chairman of the
    Yurok Tribe, Klamath, California. Thanks to all of you for
    being here. We appreciate it very much, and Commissioner,
    please proceed.

    STATEMENT OF HON. JEANNIE HOVLAND, COMMISSIONER, ADMINISTRATION
                         FOR NATIVE AMERICANS,
            ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, U.S.
                DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

        Ms. Hovland. Thank you. Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman
    Udall, and members of this Committee, my name is Jeannie
    Hovland and I am the Commissioner of the Administration for
    Native Americans. It is an honor to speak to you today about
    ANA's efforts to promote social and economic development in
    Native American communities.
        Forty-five years ago, Congress passed the Native American
    Programs Act, which established the Administration for Native
    Americans. ANA statute defines Native Americans broadly, not
    just to include federally-recognized tribes, but also to
    include State-recognized tribes, Native American nonprofits,
    and Native Hawaiian and Native Pacific Islander communities.
    ANA's mission and underlying goal is to improve self-
    sufficiency and promote cultural preservation for Native
    Americans. We provide competitive discretionary grants,
    training, and technical assistance to grantees.
        Our grant funding opportunities are very popular and highly
    competitive within Native American communities. In fiscal year
    2018, ANA received 266 applications and made 63 new awards in
    our six project areas. Our current grant portfolio includes 187
    projects across the Unites States and territories. Among those
    projects are programs that target environmental regulatory
    enhancement, asset building, social and economic development
    strategies, language preservation and maintenance efforts, and
    youth leadership education and development initiatives.
        HHS believes that language revitalization is essential for
    continuing Native American culture and strengthening self-
    determination. For just over a decade, we have funded a wide
    variety of three-year Esther Martinez Initiative projects. Of
    particular note, the Keres Children's Learning Center on the
    Cochiti Pueblo in New Mexico has established the Indigenous
    Montessori Institute, which brings together the Montessori
    method and indigenous community values, resources, and systems
    to redefine educational systems. This project's goal is to
    strengthen the community's daily use of Keres and stimulate
    cross-generational Keres fluency.
        While there have been modifications to the NAPA statute
    over the years, the core grant program remains and is
    implemented through the Social and Economic Development
    Strategies, or SEDS program. SEDS projects represent two-thirds
    of our grant portfolio.
        I would like to share a variety of SEDS project examples.
    In Arizona, the Navajo Nation is one of the largest food
    deserts in the United States, with only 13 grocery stores on a
    land area the size of the South Carolina. ANA's grantee, the
    Tolani Lake Enterprises, Inc., uses grant funding to empower
    and educate community members to revitalize their traditional
    food systems and improve food security. At the end of their
    first year, they exceeded their workshop participation goal
    with 812 community members attending. They have leveraged
    partnerships with neighboring farms, community member's
    gardens, and the Dine College to enhance the funds provided by
    ANA.
        In Alaska, the Native Village of Ekwok determined that its
    most pressing issue was collection of its solid waste and
    prevention of illegal trash dumpsites. Using ANA funding, the
    village has been able to provide Ekwok residents with garbage
    collection services and eliminate all illegal dumpsites.
        Another area that our grantees focus on is workforce
    development. There is a strong desire in our Native communities
    to ``grow our own'' professionals to help raise the
    socioeconomic status of the community and solve staffing
    shortages and employee retention problems.
        For example, Aaniiih Nakoda College in Harlem, Montana,
    focuses on education in the health care professions. The
    college provides a holistic, culturally-based approach to
    education. Through an ANA grant, 33 participants received their
    nurse's aide certificate and one received a registered nursing
    degree. Currently, 28 participants work in the health care
    field, with more students graduating in May.
        To know how effective ANA projects are, each year ANA
    visits two-thirds of the projects that are nearing completion
    in order to capture the outcomes achieved. In fiscal year 2016,
    ANA looked back on five years of impact visit reports to
    conduct a data review of 295 grantees funded between fiscal
    years 2011 and 2015. Through our review, we found that SEDS-
    visited projects generated over $1.1 million in revenue; 129
    new businesses were created; over 2,000 Native Americans were
    employed; and more than 55,000 youth and 17,000 elders were
    involved in SEDS activities.
        Since ANA funding only augments a small portion of Native
    communities' needed resources, I have made it a priority to
    work with Federal counterparts and nongovernment partners to
    help projects remain sustainable. One of my other high
    priorities is serving vulnerable populations such as elders,
    youth, veterans, and potential victims or survivors of human
    trafficking.
        Forty-five years after Congress passed NAPA, we have
    experienced great success in helping Native Americans achieve
    healthier outcomes with higher standards of living. I look
    forward to continuing to work with Congress to further advance
    these goals.
        I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
    Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Hovland follows:]

           Prepared Statement of Hon. Jeannie Hovland, Commissioner,
     Administration for Native Americans, Administration for Children and
                                Families, U.S.
                    Department of Health and Human Services
    Introduction
        Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall, and esteemed members of the
    Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, my name is Jeannie Hovland and I am
    the Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans (ANA). ANA
    is an office within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
    at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is an honor to
    address this Committee again, this time with a focus on ANA's efforts
    to promote social and economic development in Native American
    communities. I appreciate your interest in ANA and the long-standing
    support of this Committee.
        Forty-five years ago, Congress passed the Native American Programs
    Act of 1974 (NAPA), which established the Administration for Native
    Americans. ANA is unusual among many federal offices because our
    statute defines Native Americans broadly, not just to include federally
    recognized tribes, but also to include state recognized tribes, Native
    American nonprofits, and Native Hawaiian and Native Pacific Islander
    communities.
    NAPA Authorized Grant Programs
        The mission of HHS is to enhance and protect the health and well-
    being of all Americans. Within those broad parameters, ANA's mission
    and underlying goal is to improve self-sufficiency and promote cultural
    preservation for Native Americans. We provide competitive discretionary
    grants, training, and technical assistance to tribes, tribal
    organizations, non-profits, and Native American communities, including
    American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific
    Islanders. We support three program areas authorized under NAPA: Native
    American Languages, Environmental Regulatory Enhancement, and Social
    and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS).
        Our grant funding opportunities are very popular and highly
    competitive within Native American communities. In fiscal year (FY)
    2018, ANA received 266 applications and made 63 new awards in our six
    project areas. Our current grant portfolio includes 187 projects across
    the Unites States and the Pacific territories. Among those 187 projects
    are programs that target environmental regulatory enhancement projects,
    asset building, social and economic development strategies, language
    preservation and maintenance efforts, and youth leadership education
    and development initiatives.
    Language
        In my August testimony, I spoke to the importance of language
    preservation. HHS believes that language revitalization is essential
    for continuing Native American culture and strengthening self-
    determination. Native American values and traditions are embedded in
    Native languages. These values and traditions are a source of
    resilience and cultural cohesion that connects us with past and future
    generations.
        The Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act of
    2006 amended NAPA to specifically target grants for language immersion
    and restoration programs. These two methods show promise in creating
    fluent speakers who, in turn, continue to revitalize, preserve, and
    maintain native languages.
        For just over a decade, we have funded a wide variety of three-year
    Esther Martinez Initiative (EMI) projects. We continually refine our
    application and project reporting processes to elicit stronger
    applications and better ways to document grantees' progress in meeting
    their project objectives.
        Of particular note, the Keres Children's Learning Center on the
    Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico has established the Indigenous Montessori
    Institute, which brings together the Montessori Method and Indigenous
    community values, resources, and systems to redefine educational
    systems. This project's goal is to strengthen the community's daily use
    of Keres across historical, traditional, contemporary, household, and
    formal contexts and stimulate cross-generational Keres fluency.
        As I have witnessed first-hand in my travels, successful efforts to
    advance the social and economic conditions of Native Americans are
    grounded in a unifying sense of culture and belonging.
    Social and Economic Development Strategies
        While there have been modifications to the NAPA statute over the
    years, the core grant program remains and is implemented through the
    SEDS program. SEDS also represents the core mission of ACF, which is to
    promote the economic and social well-being of children, families,
    individuals, and communities. SEDS projects represent two-thirds of our
    grant portfolio. I would like to share a variety of project examples
    that are funded within this broad category and are a remarkable
    testament to the program's support of Native communities' self-
    identified needs and initiatives.
        In Arizona, the Navajo Nation is one of the largest food deserts
    \1\ in the United States with only 13 grocery stores on a land area the
    size of the State of South Carolina. ANA's grantee, the Tolani Lake
    Enterprises, Inc., uses grant funding to empower and educate community
    members to revitalize their traditional food systems, improve food
    security, and create a community-based program that could be replicated
    by other tribes. At the end of their first year, they exceeded their
    workshop participation goal with 812 community members attending. Also,
    the project has twenty-four youth working with Navajo elders to
    translate the program's curriculum into their Navajo language. They
    have leveraged partnerships with neighboring farms, community member's
    gardens, and the Dine College to enhance the funds provided by ANA.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ According to HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
    (CDC), food deserts are areas that lack access to affordable fruits,
    vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, and other foods that make up a
    full and healthy diet. Many Americans living in rural, minority, or
    low-income areas are subjected to food deserts and may be unable to
    access affordable, healthy foods, leaving their diets lacking essential
    nutrients. The CDC definition can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/
    healthcommunication/toolstemplates/entertainmented/tips/
    FoodDesert.html.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts recently completed a
    project that demonstrates how tribes are able to use ANA funding to
    build their legal infrastructure. Specifically, they incorporated a
    traditional peacemaking dispute-resolution process into their existing
    court system. Through their SEDS grant, 18 peacemakers were trained,
    and the Tribal Council added peacemaking to the Tribe's human resources
    policies to provide an alternative to automatic employee termination.
    Peacemaking was also added to the juvenile codes as an alternative to
    court proceedings. Peacemakers have remarked that it was empowering to
    develop and implement this project, as it allowed them to reincorporate
    traditional adjudication methods into tribal law. As a result, the
    Mashpee Wampanoag have expanded opportunities for conflict resolution
    that are firmly rooted in their cultural values.
        Lack of physical infrastructure continues to be a challenge in many
    tribal communities. Because of the flexibility of SEDS, ANA is able to
    fund projects for planning, designing, and securing staff and equipment
    for projects that address infrastructure needs. One such funded project
    is the Pathway to Enhanced and Secured Information Technology (IT)--
    Fiber Optic Infrastructure for the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town in
    Oklahoma. This project successfully installed a communications tower
    and fiber backbone infrastructure with connections to two tribal
    buildings, and increased Internet speeds for the community. The project
    saves the tribe at least $1,500 per month on Internet service
    provider's fees. Ultimately, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town will implement a
    fully equipped and operational IT infrastructure to ensure the
    efficient administration of the tribal government, which is made up of
    15 tribal programs staffed by over 100 employees and serves 957 tribal
    members.
        In Alaska, the Native Village of Ekwok determined that its most
    pressing issue was collection of its solid waste and prevention of
    illegal trash dumpsites. Using ANA funding, the Native Village has been
    able to provide 35 residents in Ekwok with garbage collection services
    and 31 households are paying garbage collection fees. The number of
    illegal dumpsites is now zero. In addition, two Village ordinances were
    developed to regulate and enforce solid waste management.
        Another area that our grantees focus on is workforce development.
    Not only does economic development promote tribal empowerment and
    strengthen tribal self-governance, there is a strong desire in native
    communities to ``grow our own'' professionals to help raise the socio-
    economic status of the community and solve staffing shortages and
    employee retention problems. This approach also builds continuity and
    infuses cultural awareness in the services provided to community
    members.
        For example, Aaniiih Nakoda College in Harlem, Montana, focuses on
    education in the health care professions. The college provides a
    holistic, culturally based approach to education, which distinguishes
    it from other programs and directly contributes to their students'
    success. They uphold the highest standards of quality and equity, while
    providing programs at an affordable cost. Through an ANA grant, 33
    participants received their nurse's aide certificate and one received a
    registered nursing degree. Currently, 28 participants work in the
    health-care field, with more students graduating in May.
        The Waianae Coast of Hawai'i has the highest rates of teacher
    turnover, new teacher and non-resident placements, and unqualified
    teachers in the State of Hawaii. These are factors that negatively
    affect student learning and academic development in the state. To
    address these issues, the Institute of Native Pacific Education and
    Culture plans to utilize their ANA funding to pilot and evaluate a
    ``grow our own'' teacher model. This program will recruit, educate,
    place, and retain 100 Native Hawaiian community members who are seeking
    a teaching degree focused on early childhood education or kindergarten
    through 12th grade, and are dedicated to teaching and contributing to
    the educational and economic growth of the Native Hawaiian population
    on the Waianae Coast.
    Grant Program Outcomes
        To know how effective ANA projects are, each year ANA visits two-
    thirds of the projects that are nearing completion in order to capture
    the outcomes achieved. In FY 2016, ANA looked back on five years of
    impact visit reports to conduct a data review of 295 grantees funded
    between FY 2011 and 2015. During this period, 122 federally recognized
    tribes were awarded at least one ANA grant. One hundred and two Native
    American organizations, Native nonprofits, and Pacific Islander groups
    and 25 schools and education centers also received funding.
        Through our review, we found that:

       SEDS-visited projects generated $1,183,480 in revenue;

       129 new businesses were created;

       2,326 Native Americans were employed;

       89 percent of all revenue generated from all project types
            came from SEDS projects;

       85 percent of all new businesses created by all project
            types were from SEDS projects;

       69 percent of the SEDS projects focused on social topics,
            with cultural preservation activities being the most popular
            subcategory;

       31 percent of SEDS projects focused on economic development;
            and

       54,189 youth and 17,169 elders were involved in SEDS
            activities.

        We take pride in the fact that so many projects reach our elders
    and youth. These two populations are held in such high esteem in Native
    traditional ways, and it is through intergenerational connections that
    Native cultures, traditions, and languages can continue to be passed
    on.
        Vital to the positive outcome and success of ANA projects is the
    training and technical assistance offered. ANA has four regional
    training and technical assistance (TA) centers offering, at no cost,
    project and planning development training, pre-application training,
    and post award training. The centers can also review applications that
    are 75 percent complete and offer guidance to help improve the
    proposal. Trainings are provided in-person and virtually throughout our
    service area. In order to help increase the chance for success,
    technical assistance remains available throughout the life of the
    grant.
        I am committed to reaching out to communities that have never
    received ANA funding, or have not received ANA funding in many years.
    Our TA centers are conducting extensive outreach and finding innovative
    ways to help communities that cannot afford to travel to our training
    sessions. ANA has been offering more trainings in rural locations,
    including through virtual, web-enabled settings. This helps to level
    the playing field for lower-capacity applicants.
        Since ANA funding only augments a small portion of Native
    communities' needed resources, I have been working with my federal
    counterparts and nongovernment partners to help projects remain
    sustainable after their grant sunsets.
        My highest priorities for collaboration are in economic development
    and serving vulnerable populations such as elders, youth, veterans, and
    potential victims or survivors of human trafficking. I have met with
    the Department of the Interior, the Small Business Administration, the
    Department of Agriculture's Rural Development, the Federal Reserve Bank
    of San Francisco, and the Center for Indian Country Development at the
    Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. I have met several times with the
    Department of Veterans Affairs and with Native veterans groups in New
    Mexico and South Dakota to identify needs and opportunities to partner.
    I am working closely with HHS' Administration for Community Living.
    Finally, I am working with ACF's Office on Trafficking in Persons to
    increase their outreach to Native communities.
    Conclusion
        As we look to the future of NAPA, this Administration is eager to
    partner with this Committee and Congress as a whole on reauthorization.
    With the important work being done by our Native language preservation
    program, we are seeking an opportunity to transmit grant products to
    the National Museum of the American Indian in order to increase the
    practical availability of products such as curricula, training
    materials, and dictionaries to other Native communities.
        Forty-five years after Congress passed NAPA, we have experienced
    great success in helping Native Americans achieve healthier outcomes
    with higher standards of living. I look forward to continuing our
    partnership in advancing these shared goals. Thank you for inviting me
    to speak with you again. I would be happy to answer any questions you
    may have.

        The Chairman. Thank you, Commissioner. I have to tell you
    that the Vice Chairman was extolling your virtues because you
    are a former staffer for John Thune. Correct?
        Ms. Hovland. That is correct, yes.
        The Chairman. That is great. Thanks for being here today
    and for your work. We appreciate it very much.
        Ms. Hovland. I am glad to be here, thank you.
        The Chairman. All right, Councilman Socobasin, again,
    thanks for being here, and please proceed.

      STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEPH M. SOCOBASIN, COUNCILMEMBER/FORMER
                       CHIEF, PASSAMAQUODDY TRIBE

        Mr. Socobasin. Thank you.
        Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chair Udall, members of the
    Committee, my name is Joseph Socobasin. I am a member of the
    Passamaquoddy Tribal Council, and I am also a former Chief for
    the Passamaquoddy Tribe of Indian Township. Thank you for
    inviting me here today to provide testimony regarding the 45th
    Anniversary of the Native American Programs Act and the
    establishment of the Administration for Native Americans.
        The Passamaquoddy Tribe consists of 3,600 tribal members
    residing in three distinct self-governing Passamaquoddy
    communities. We are known as the People of the Dawn. Two
    communities are located in Maine, one is at Indian Township,
    the reservation I am from, or Megoknegook, and the other is
    Pleasant Point, or Sipayik. The third is located in St.
    Andrews, New Brunswick.
        Each community is separated by geography and a border, but
    the people continue to maintain political, social and kinship
    ties. Throughout the history of the Passamaquoddy people, we
    have lived off the land. One of our indigenous food gathering
    methods included harvesting the sweet sap of the sugar maple.
        In 2013, the Passamaquoddy Tribe created an economic
    development project to tap into this traditional, renewable
    natural resource; maple syrup. Owning more than 65,000 acres of
    forested land in northern Maine, and over 100,000 acres across
    the State of Maine, and the predominant tree species being
    sugar maple, provided us with an abundant renewable resource to
    harvest.
        In September of 2013, the Passamaquoddy Tribe was awarded
    our first ANA Grant for $1.5 million over a period of three
    years. With this funding, we created Passamaquoddy Maple, which
    is 100 percent tribally-owned and has allowed us to hire and
    train tribal members to properly install, maintain and operate
    modern maple equipment.
        Because of this initial grant, we have been able to obtain
    three additional grants that has allowed us to expand and
    improve our production and marketing for Passamaquoddy Maple.
    We received a grant through the Northern Border Commission for
    $250,000. This was used to build our sugar house.
        The USDA Rural Business Economic Development grant was
    awarded as well, and we used this for bottling and marketing of
    our maple syrup. The last grant we received was our second ANA
    grant, which enabled us to take our product to market and also
    to develop our website.
        The ANA funding and technical assistance has been critical
    to the development and success of the Passamaquoddy Tribe's
    economic endeavors. The technical assistance has provided a
    stable foundation of sustainable business that has allowed us
    to bring our indigenous product to a competitive market.
        Passamaquoddy Maple is organically certified and has
    expanded beyond maple syrup with a line of sugars and candies.
    All our products can be viewed online at our website,
    passamaquoddymaple.com.
        As a recipient of an ANA grant, we are grateful for the
    opportunity to offer testimony and our support.
        Woliwon, or thank you. I would be happy to answer any
    questions you have.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Socobasin follows:]

     Prepared Statement of Hon. Joseph M. Socobasin, Councilmember/Former
                           Chief, Passamaquoddy Tribe
        Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, my name is Joseph
    Socobasin. I am a member of the Tribal Council and Former Chief of the
    Passamaquoddy Tribe of Indian Township. Thank you for inviting me here
    today to provide testimony regarding the 45th Anniversary of the Native
    American Programs Act and the establishment of the Administration for
    Native Americans.
        The Passamaquoddy Tribe consists of 3,600 tribal members residing
    in three distinct self-governing Passamaquoddy communities. We are
    known as ``People of Dawn''. Two communities are in Maine, Indian
    Township and Pleasant Point, and the third is located at St. Andrews,
    N.B. Each community is separated by geography, but the people continue
    to maintain political, social and kinship ties. Throughout the history
    of the Passamaquoddy people, we have lived off the land. One of our
    Indigenous food gathering methods included harvesting the sweet sap
    from the Sugar Maple.
        In 2013 the Passamaquoddy Tribe created an economic development
    project to tap into this traditional natural resource; maple syrup.
    Owning more than 65,000 acres of forested land in Northern Maine, and
    the predominant tree species being sugar maple, provides us with an
    abundant renewable resource to harvest.
        In September 2013, the Passamaquoddy Tribe was awarded our first
    ANA Grant for 1.5 million over a period of three years. With this
    funding, it allowed us to hire and train tribal members to properly
    install, maintain and operate modern maple equipment. Because of the
    initial grant, we have been able to obtain three additional grants that
    has allowed us to expand and improve our production and marketing for
    Passamaquoddy Maple.
        The ANA funding and technical assistance has been critical to the
    development and success of the Passamaquodddy Tribes economic
    endeavors. Technical assistance has provided a stable foundation of a
    sustainable business that has allowed us to bring our indigenous
    product to a competitive market. Passamaquoddy Maple is organically
    certified and has expanded beyond maple syrup with a line of sugars and
    candies. All our products can be viewed online at our website
    Passamaquoddymaple.com. As a recipient of an ANA grant, we are grateful
    for the opportunity to offer testimony and our support. Woliwon
        Respectfully submitted.

        The Chairman. Thank you, Councilman.
        Governor Vallo?

        STATEMENT OF HON. BRIAN VALLO, GOVERNOR, PUEBLO OF ACOMA

        Mr. Vallo. [Greeting in Native tongue.]
        Good afternoon, Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall and
    members of the Committee. Thank you for this opportunity this
    afternoon to provide testimony on behalf of the 45th
    anniversary of the ANA grant program.
        We have submitted a written testimony for the record. What
    I will do this afternoon is provide highlights of this
    testimony that speak to the Pueblo's ongoing commitment to work
    directly with ANA and other agencies and partners to ensure
    that the Acoma language is protected and preserved for future
    Acoma generations.
        I am [phrase in Native tongue]. The literal translation of
    my Acoma name is Black Mesa. And I had the opportunity this
    year to be appointed by the [phrase in Native tongue] clan
    system to serve as Governor of the Pueblo. Since 1996, my
    pueblo has been engaged with ANA in the development of a
    language retention program.
        This is the seed that we planted together with ANA to
    ensure that our language and the appropriate and culturally-
    relevant programming associated with creating our internal
    strategy for the preservation of our language was, that that
    actually happened. That seed that was planted has grown into
    what we refer to as a sheltering tree that has allowed our
    pueblo the opportunity to engage in an ongoing program of
    language preservation and revitalization.
        Just last evening at our community gathering in Acoma
    Pueblo, the first of our gatherings this year, where the
    community comes together to learn of issues that are being
    addressed by the tribal leadership, and this is our tribal
    council, myself and our tribal administration, we had the
    opportunity to convey and inform our community of the workings
    within our tribal government. Historically, these meetings
    would have been conducted in our language. Today, we are
    fortunate that some of us who are Native speakers have the
    opportunity to convey this information, just as our ancestors
    did, in the same formal settings.
        It was made clear last evening at our meeting that the
    community remains committed, remains concerned and has directed
    us as leaders, as their leaders, to ensure that we do
    everything possible, that our language retention efforts since
    1996, that have manifested to what they are today, continue. So
    we will look to the ANA and we will look to the Federal
    Government for continued support in this effort.
        It is so vital to all of us in this room who come from
    these indigenous communities to restore our languages and to
    ensure that our own indigenous tongue and the associated
    cultures of our respective tribal communities are protected and
    are secure for the future of our respective tribes.
        So I thank the ANA and I thank this Committee and the
    agencies who have offered support of this effort to not only
    the Pueblo of Acoma but other tribes throughout the Country,
    and who have made the commitment to join us in this effort
    which is so critical and so vital to the continuance of
    indigenous peoples in this Country.
        Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Vallo follows:]

       Prepared Statement of Hon. Brian Vallo, Governor, Pueblo of Acoma
        Thank you Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall, and members of the
    Committee for the opportunity to provide testimony on the unique role
    that Administration for Native Americans (ANA) grants and programs fill
    in Indian Country. My name is Brian Vallo and I am the Governor of
    Acoma Pueblo, located in northwestern New Mexico. Since 1996, our
    Pueblo has worked with the ANA to develop and implement short-term and
    multi-year grants that support language and cultural revitalization
    projects in our community. The manifold benefits of these grants cannot
    be overstated. We have seen first-hand how the seed from an ANA grant
    can grow into a sheltering tree for the entire community. My testimony
    describes Acoma Pueblo's positive experience with the ANA grant process
    and makes several recommendations for ways to strengthen it even
    further.
    I. Administration for Native Americans
        Since its establishment in 1974 pursuant to the Native American
    Programs Act, the ANA has served as a valuable resource in helping
    Native communities achieve their goals in self-sufficiency and cultural
    preservation. The ANA provides discretionary grant funding for
    community-based projects, as well as training and technical assistance
    (T/TA). The beauty of ANA grants lies in the control that is given to
    tribal applicants in identifying an area of need within their community
    and developing a plan of action to address it with federal funding. The
    singular focus on community-based and community-driven projects that
    promote the exercise of self-determination and cultural flourishing
    makes the ANA unique within the federal family.
    II. Acoma Pueblo's Experience in Leveraging ANA Resources for Vital
            Language and Culture Programming
        The Seed--Acoma Language Retention Program. Acoma has over a decade
    of experience working with the ANA. Our first award was a planning
    grant in 1996 to establish a community-based language initiative known
    as the Acoma Language Retention Program. The Program was not intended
    to be nor was it implemented as an academic study of the Keres
    language. Instead, the Program's focus was on re-strengthening the link
    between the Keres language and Acoma cultural practices through an
    ambitious plan for language revitalization aimed at younger generations
    in the community. The community identified the widening disconnect
    between the number of knowledgeable Keres speakers, particularly among
    Acoma youth, and the level of engagement with our traditional cultural
    practices as a critical issue. ANA provided financial support enabling
    our Pueblo to establish its first language program tasked with finding
    solutions to this issue.
        Prior to the ANA grant, our Keres language had only been utilized
    as part of a limited federal bilingual education program at the local
    Bureau of Indian Education school between the 1970s and 1980s. When
    federal bilingual funding began to wane by the late 1980s, this program
    came to an end. The result was a gap of almost 15 years in the formal
    instruction of the Keres language. The ANA short-term planning grant
    enabled us to chart out a new framework for our language and cultural
    revitalization goals. We used ANA funds to compile data on the status
    of the language (i.e., language use in the community among different
    age groups) to identify the segments of the population most in need of
    Keres language learning support.
        The ANA was available to us as a resource throughout the grant
    development and implementation process. Critically, they limited their
    assistance to the technical aspects of the grant, such as data analysis
    and reporting final outcomes. It was left to Acoma to decide what was
    appropriate in carrying out the Program's goals. ANA operates on the
    understanding that tribal grantees have a specific vision for their
    communities and know what will work best for them. It does not dictate
    how federal funds should be used. Instead ANA grants are founded on and
    seek to advance the expression of our sovereignty by focusing on
    project outcomes and facilitating the realization of grantees' self-
    determination goals. While other federal funding sources include self-
    determination as one of many factors to be considered in a grant
    application and implementation process, the ANA is one of the rare
    federal partners that makes it the determinative factor in a grant
    award.
        The Growth--Keres Language Immersion Programs. Our ANA Grant
    activities were always meant to be fully accessible to all Acoma
    members. We did not want these to be limited to a classroom setting or
    only a segment of the population. To that end, the development and
    implementation of summer Keres language immersion programs for Acoma
    youth were designed to bring them together with Acoma elders and Keres-
    speaking adults who led activities in our villages, in our ancestral
    home of Haak'u and in and surrounding locations on our reservation. The
    high visibility of these Keres language initiatives was important in
    fostering intergenerational cultural ties, language usage, and
    community engagement and support.
        As the activities funded by the ANA grant developed, their
    popularity within the community continued to grow. Our first attempt to
    pilot a two week summer immersion program brought Acoma youth, adults,
    and elders together to learn about Keres-based cultural practices. The
    program was so well attended that we subsequently offered a four week
    and later a six week immersion experience! As a result of these
    programs we saw more children and youth participating in cultural
    practices and actively engaging in community life. We also saw
    increased intergenerational engagement, which is critical to passing on
    the traditional knowledge that only our elders and fluent Keres
    speakers possess.
        The first generation of children to participate in the immersion
    programs in the 1990s are now adults and parents themselves. Many have
    become key participants in the socio-cultural traditions of the Pueblo.
    Those of us from the community have observed how those children have
    grown up and been shaped by the availability of Keres cultural
    programming. Now, the children of that first generation of
    beneficiaries have the opportunity to participate in Keres language
    classes, both in the community and in some local schools, are following
    in the footsteps of their parents and relatives in being integrated
    into the cultural practices and linguistic tradition of our community.
    We have been made stronger from the inside because of it. The benefits
    of that original ANA short-term planning grant continue to translate
    into long-term positive gains for our community.
        The Branches--Expansion and Leveraged Funding. After our community-
    based programs were firmly established, we began to expand the sphere
    of Keres cultural teaching into the classroom setting. The Tribal
    Council guided the carefully designed vision as it was implemented in
    our local school system in the early 2000s. We first expanded to the
    local BIE school, then to a local public high school and elementary
    school, and finally to a parochial pre-kindergarten program. The phased
    expansion of our vision was only made possible because of ANA support.
    ANA grants allowed us to train Acoma language teachers, develop
    curricula, and implement the program in diverse settings. Throughout
    this process, we maintained fidelity to our original vision of
    strengthening the community by renewing the link between the Keres
    language and Acoma cultural practices.
        As a result of our expansion into public schools, Acoma found
    itself on the forefront, along with several other key Pueblos, in
    pushing local school districts to enter into Memorandums of
    Understanding regarding the implementation of Keres language immersion
    programs. Acoma wanted to ensure that the Pueblo maintained control of
    its programs and full ownership of the materials developed for and used
    in the programs. We also wanted to be sure that the programs were
    taught only by Acoma teachers and served all interested Acoma students
    so that they could stay firmly rooted in their Pueblo identities and
    language as they matriculated from elementary to middle school and on
    to high school.
        We encountered challenges along the way. For example, one challenge
    stemmed from the mistaken view that immersion programs discriminated
    against other students because they targeted only students who were
    from our community. With strong support from a State Education
    superintendent, we made it clear that the offering of such programs
    aligns with our status as sovereign pueblos and tribal nations with
    inherent powers of self-governance over our members, including the
    authority to govern how matters of cultural sensitivity and language
    are taught to our children and youth.
        Another challenge arose from the fact that many of our Acoma elders
    and Keres-speaking adults lacked formal teaching degrees, which created
    administrative issues for public schools under the No Child Left Behind
    Act. Acoma once again stood at the fore in advocating for an
    alternative pathway for teacher certification so that our children
    could have access to appropriate instructors in their Keres classrooms.
    As the result of a collaborative multi-year effort with other New
    Mexico tribes, New Mexico adopted an alternative certification for
    speakers of Native languages teaching Native languages in public
    schools in 2003. Alternative certifications are only issued by the New
    Mexico Public Education Department on the recommendation of a Pueblo or
    tribal nation. Pueblos and tribal nations in the State thus maintain
    control over which instructors are deemed qualified to teach their
    indigenous language, as well as how such lessons and programs are
    carried out.
        Further, because of our proven track with management and
    implementing other related ANA grants, we have been able to leverage
    non-federal funds to further our long-term goals. We have leveraged
    private funds and state funds to pilot early childhood education and
    other summer language and culture programs. Our successful management
    of these funding sources eventually led the Tribal Council to commit
    internal tribal resources to this effort. We have had support from all
    levels of government, as well as the private sector, in carrying out
    our vision of a strong and vibrant Keres language community at Acoma
    Pueblo.
        The Sheltering Tree--Intergenerational Engagement with Keres-Based
    Cultural Practices. The expanded access to and engagement with Keres-
    based cultural practices would not have been possible but for the
    support of the ANA. Beginning with the seed of the short-term ANA
    planning grant in 1996, our Acoma Language Retention Program has
    offered an impressive array of programs and initiatives that have
    provided manifold benefits to our members. We have seen increases in
    the participation of Acoma youth in traditional practices;
    intergenerational engagement within the community; respect for and
    understanding of Pueblo sovereignty and traditions in public schools;
    and the resiliency of our Acoma youth, adults, and elders. Each of
    these achievements is rooted in and nurtured by the ongoing
    revitalization of our community oriented Keres-based cultural
    practices.
        We have also been able to share the strength and beauty of our
    community with others pursuant to an ANA Social and Economic
    Development Strategies (SEDS) grant for the planning and development of
    the Sky City Cultural Center and Haaku Museum. Acoma Sky City is the
    heart of our community. We have lived at our mesa-top home for at least
    1000 years, making it the oldest continuously inhabited community in
    the United States. Acoma religious, cultural, and social life revolves
    around Sky City, both on a daily basis and during festival times. ANA
    funding has been instrumental in preserving this cultural resource for
    present and future generations.
    III. Recommendations Related to ANA Programs
        While our experience with the ANA grant application and
    implementation process has been generally positive, we believe that are
    always ways to improve the process going forward. For example, it is
    our understanding that internal agency is working towards streamlining
    the application process. We support this effort. Ensuring that the
    application is as simple and efficient as possible would remove
    needless administrative burdens that might otherwise create barriers to
    access for tribal applicants. Acoma Pueblo is lucky to have experienced
    grant writers on staff. Other pueblos, tribal nations, and Native
    communities are not so fortunate. Streamlining the application process
    is critical to applicants with limited administrative and financial
    resources.
        We also hope that the ANA will continue to provide training and
    technical assistance on the intricacies of the grant development,
    implementation, and outcome reporting process. This ties into our
    initial recommendation on efficient application processes. For tribal
    applicants of all internal capacities ANA training and technical
    assistance is important to the effective management of federal grants
    and appropriately reporting outcomes for accountability. The ANA
    provided key technical support during the lifecycle of each of our
    grants. Today, we are in the last year of a multi-year grant to
    complete an online Keres dictionary project and ANA technical
    assistance has assisted us in tracking progress towards that grant's
    goals.
        We recognize that many tribal applicants do not have the internal
    capacity to support full immersion programs. We encourage the ANA to
    provide early technical assistance in helping applicants navigate the
    myriad pathways that they can choose from in developing a language and
    cultural revitalization program that is best suited to their
    community's needs and capabilities. Meeting applicants where they stand
    is essential to long-term project success.
        We also firmly believe that every community, regardless of its
    current capabilities or the status of its programs, can achieve
    significant gains in language and cultural revitalization over time. We
    urge the ANA to maintain diversity in the range of grant periods that
    are available to applicants. Grant cycles of six months to six years
    enable applicants to develop projects according to the natural ebbs and
    flows of their community. We urge the ANA to preserve this flexibility.
        Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this important
    oversight hearing on establishment of the Administration for Native
    Americans and its role in Indian Country today. On behalf of the Pueblo
    of Acoma, we thank you for your dedicated work on behalf of all
    pueblos, tribal nations, and Native communities, particularly in the
    advancement of our self-determination. We hope to have the opportunity
    to show you first-hand the strides we are making in integrating the
    Keres language into our daily and ceremonial life during a future visit
    to the Pueblo of Acoma. Da'wa'eh; Thank you.

        The Chairman. Thank you, Governor Vallo.
        Now, Chairman James, if you would proceed with your
    testimony.

    STATEMENT OF HON. JOE JAMES, CHAIRMAN, YUROK TRIBE; ACCOMPANIED
                   BY TIANA WILLIAMS-CLAUSSEN, LEAD
                               BIOLOGIST

        Mr. James. [Greeting in Native tongue] Joe James. My name
    is Joe James, I come from the Village of Sregon, located on the
    Lower Klamath River.
        Good afternoon, Chairman and distinguished Committee
    members. As I mentioned, my name is Joseph ``Joe'' James,
    Chairman of the Yurok Tribe. The Yurok Tribe appreciates the
    opportunity to share our story about California condor recovery
    in the Yurok ancestral territory. The tribe looks forward to
    continuing the work of the Senate Committee on Indian affairs
    with the action of restoring the Yurok homeland, including
    securing passage for the forthcoming Senate bill of the Yurok
    Lands Act, H.R. 1312, which was introduced in the United States
    House of Representatives on February 19th, 2019.
        The Yurok Land Act supports many of the Yurok restoration
    activities, including condor reintroduction. We appreciate our
    staff, our Yurok tribal citizens and biologists, Tiana Williams
    and our team, for their vision through leadership in this case.
    We are joined by her, her mother and child, representing the
    future of this work.
        For background purposes, the contents of this work, the
    California condor has not flown over Yurok sites in a hundred
    years, a great loss to us, due to its critical cultural
    importance. The condor helps us bring promise to the world. Due
    to environmental damage, influx of new materials toxic to the
    birds, reducing their worldwide population to 22 birds. Captive
    breeding and reintroduction has raised the numbers to over 450
    in the Yurok Tribe, once a part of the successful in bringing
    more birds home. The Yurok wildlife program was established in
    2008, with funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services,
    with condor as its flagship species. Our aim was to establish a
    release facility in northern California in the Yurok ancestral
    territory on Bald Hills Road.
        Funded by our ANA environmental regulatory enhancement
    grant, we are using the Redwood National Park facility to
    create a management and operations center, and as co-leads in
    the environmental assessment with the Key West Fish and
    Wildlife Service. The current ANA 2019-2021 grant will provide
    the final critical infrastructure needed for the successful
    recovery of the condor that provides cultural, social,
    environmental and economic benefits to our tribal communities.
    More in-depth information is provided in the submitted written
    comments.
        Studies indicate the Yurok ancestral territory has capacity
    to provide excellent habitat and human-caused damage has been
    largely rectified under current environmental policies. Low
    human populations are to minimize or decrease the risk of
    negative human interactions. And our climate is likely to
    remain roughly on 100-year projections for maintaining habitat
    viable.
        An LOU has been signed with multiple Federal and State
    regulatory partners. We are undergoing an environmental
    assessment process under NEPA to plan the release of the birds
    in the fall of 2019. The tribe is a co-lead in the NEPA
    process, which provides the tribe an important role in the
    project management and decision-making process.
        Condor reintroduction meets the goals of the Yurok tribal
    constitution, the Yurok land management plan and the integrated
    resource management plan, as well as protections proposed under
    the Yurok Lands Act, which will substantially increase the
    tribe's capacity to manage the condors.
        We offer the following recommendations for this grant.
    Provide funding to attend in-person grant development
    trainings, conduct a request for proposal overhaul, developed
    and require viewing of an application and available resource
    webinar, allow more time for applications to be completed,
    encourage Federal agency partners in promoting tribal self-
    governance and annual funding agreements, and secure annual
    funding for these types of activities. ANA has and can continue
    to be a major component of the Yurok Tribe's success.
        In closing, we appreciate this opportunity to testify on
    the benefits of ANA's support, specifically with culture and
    government leaders, elders and our youth who will be the first
    generation to grow up with condors to fly for a hundred years.
    Again, on behalf of the Yurok Tribal Council, the Yurok Tribal
    Government and the people of the Yurok Tribe, we thank the
    Committee and the ANA's program that has been so vital and
    critical to the Yurok Tribe.
        [Phrase in Native tongue.]
        [The prepared statement of Mr. James follows:]

          Prepared Statement of Hon. Joe James, Chairman, Yurok Tribe
    Introduction
        Good afternoon Chairman and distinguished Committee members. The
    Yurok Tribe is grateful for the opportunity to share our work toward
    California condor recovery to Yurok lands. The Tribe looks forward to
    continuing to work with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on
    actions restoring the Yurok homeland, including securing passage of the
    Yurok Lands Act, which was introduced into the United States House of
    Representatives on February 21st, 2019. The Yurok Lands Act will
    support a myriad of Yurok restoration activities, including condor
    reintroduction.
        I also want to thank the Yurok Tribal Chairman, Joe James, for
    allowing me to share my personal experience with the condor
    reintroduction program. I am Tiana Williams-Claussen, a lead biologist
    for the Yurok Tribe Wildlife Program, and a Yurok tribal member. My
    family comes from the village of Wehl-kwew, near the town of Klamath,
    CA, the current headquarters of the Yurok Tribal government in far
    northern California. I received my Bachelor's degree in Biochemical
    Sciences from Harvard University, and am currently pursuing a graduate
    degree in Natural Resources with an emphasis in Wildlife Management
    from Humboldt State University. I was the first employee of the Yurok
    Tribe Wildlife Program, which was instituted in June of 2008 with
    funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Tribal Wildlife
    Grant Program. I began my career with the Yurok Tribe as an employee of
    the Environmental Program, and also spent a year as an employee of the
    Tribal Office of Self-Governance, which proved excellent experience in
    the partnership building required for the condor reintroduction
    program.
    Traditional Ecological Knowledge and the Importance of the California
            Condor
    Importance of Condor to the Yurok Lifeway
        Prey-go-neesh (California condor (Gymnogyps californianus)
    (condor)) was one of the first people of the world, and one of the most
    powerful beings in Yurok cosmology. He is a sacred spirit, a scavenger
    who never partakes of killing or violence. Instead he takes directly
    and transforms it back into life, the purest form of renewal. This,
    combined with his ability to fly the highest, equipped him as the
    messenger to carry Yurok prayers to the heavens to be received by the
    creator. As such, he figures prominently in the Yurok concept of world
    renewal, the Yurok reason for being, and is integral to our world
    renewal ceremonies, our highest ceremonies. The Yurok people have been
    critically affected by the overall loss of condor across the landscape,
    as he has not soared the skies over Yurok Ancestral Territory (YAT) in
    over a century.
        While the Yurok people carry on without condor, our ceremonies are
    impacted by not having him to gift us his feathers, critical for use in
    important regalia, and by not having him in our skies to carry our
    prayers. Interviews with Yurok culture bearers emphasize that Yurok are
    a part of the system, integral to it, and inseparable from it; thus the
    inability to engage with traditional ecological community members like
    the condor limits our capacity to be Yurok.

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Yurok youth in particular suffer from the loss of condor. Each
    species plays a significant role, provides a specific example, and
    teaches us how to live well in this world. The world is not complete
    when one winks out. The importance of the condor's role cannot be
    overemphasized. It is difficult to teach about a species that has not
    been seen in over a century, and belongs more to the realm of myth than
    reality for youth. The language of world renewal, and the traditional
    way of thinking that it conveys, is at risk when that connection is
    lost. The resulting loss of culture degrades societal cohesion and the
    support it provides. A strong foundation in culture is necessary as a
    buffer against the social ills that plague many tribal peoples by
    providing a center to which they can anchor. Because of condors' grave
    importance to the Yurok people, Yurok elders have designated the condor
    as the single most important terrestrial species to restore to YAT. To
    quote a prominent ceremonial leader, ``The return of the condor means
    restoring balance for us.''
        The Yurok people understand the deep connections between the
    environment and the wildlife that relies on it. Because of their role
    as an apex species, condors are indicators of ecosystem health,
    especially when that health is falteringCondors best thrive in areas
    free of contaminants, with a complex mosaic of habitat, and well
    supported megafauna populations. Similarly, Yurok people thrive under
    such circumstances. When the Yurok take care of their environment and
    the species that rely on it, they are in turn taking care of their own
    people, in a cycle of reciprocity that has maintained the Yurok people
    since time immemorial. In a very real way, restoring condor habitat and
    returning condor to Yurok skies is a clear restoration of the Yurok
    people, homeland, ecological systems, culture, and lifeway.
    Importance of the Condor Within the Broader Ecological Context
        The California condor also holds a critical role in California's
    natural ecosystems. Historically, condors played an important role as
    scavenger. Recent studies have shown that in many ecosystems, vultures,
    a class of birds that includes condors, undertake nearly a quarter of
    the removal of carcasses from natural landscapes. Lacking this
    ecosystem service, some countries have had to increase government
    funded carcass removal to stem increases in mammalian scavengers like
    feral dogs, which often conflict with humans and spread disease. Clean-
    up actions no longer performed by vultures, coupled with increased
    health care costs, have led to increased government expenditures in the
    tens of billions of dollars.

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Causes Of Condors' Decline
        Yurok people understood the slow reproductive rate of condors. As a
    result, traditional knowledge held they were not to be harmed. However,
    the same did not hold true of colonizing Euro-Americans who prized
    large feather quills for use as gold dust containers, and collected
    over 300 condors between 1792 and 1976: including 41 for ``sport'' and
    177 for ``scientific'' collection. Additionally, new contaminants were
    introduced to the region's system. Strychnine laced carcasses were
    widely placed across the landscape targeting large mammalian predators,
    such as grizzly bears and wolves, and killed scavenging birds just as
    effectively. Poisoned bait put out for varmints also likely killed
    large numbers of condors incidentally.
        Also, lead ammunition was introduced to western North American by
    settlers. Highly malleable and dense, lead ammunition by design
    mushrooms and fragments upon impact with animal tissues. This action
    rapidly transfers the kinetic energy of projectiles into hydrostatic
    shock waves passing through tissue and organs, maximizing killing power
    for a quick and humane knockdown. As an unintended side effect, these
    fragments subsequently contaminate unrecovered game and gut piles left
    behind by hunters when field dressing game. Lead fragments as small as
    the head of a pin are sufficient to kill a condor. It was once believed
    that condors were particularly susceptible to lead toxicosis; however,
    recent studies show this to be incorrect. It is not that condors are
    more susceptible than other scavenging raptors, such as bald and golden
    eagles; rather, their wide ranging foraging patterns and focus on large
    carcasses causes them to more frequently encounter lead tainted
    carcasses. Their long-lived and slow breeding life-style means that
    even moderate increases in mortality rates create population level
    effects. Mortalities from lead toxicosis have resulted in a median
    lifespan of reintroduced condors of less than eight years, very short
    for a species which breeds at around seven or eight years of age and
    with a natural life-span estimated at more than 70 years. Lead
    toxicosis has undeniably contributed to their overall decline, and
    remains the leading cause of wild condor deaths today. Studies show
    that 26 percent of juvenile condor mortalities and 67 percent of adult
    condor mortalities have been due to lead toxicosis from ingestion of
    lead ammunition. When the population reached its low of 22, the
    decision was made to capture all of the birds left in the wild, in hope
    of initiating a captive breeding program and saving the species.
        In sum, the condor population declined rapidly after Euro-American
    settler contact. It was one of the first species listed under the 1973
    Endangered Species Act. The population reached its low of only 22
    individuals by 1982. Without intervention extinction looked inevitable.
    By 1987, the last 15 remaining wild hatched birds were taken into
    captivity and saved from mortality factors that were not yet fully
    understood, and a successful breeding population was established.
        Reintroduction Into the Wild: Successes and Challenges
        Successful breeding strategies developed and implemented by captive
    rearing facilities allowed the reproductive rate of one chick per pair
    every other year to be increased to two chicks each year. By the mid-
    1990s, captive reared birds were plentiful enough to begin releases
    back into the wild. Reintroductions have established condors in central
    and southern California, Arizona, and Baja Mexico. But recovery has not
    been without challenges. At this time, though nearly 500 condors have
    been introduced to the wild since reintroductions began, only around
    300 remain in the wild, with about as many living in captivity. This
    reflects a mortality rate of over 40 percent, which is high enough to
    prevent the current population to be self-sustaining. These mortalities
    have, however, provided crucial information regarding the sources of
    mortality and allowed program managers to begin addressing causes
    directly.
    Growing Human Effects--Exponential Population Growth and Climate Change
        The majority of recent mortalities have been linked to human
    causes, including death by lead contamination, collision with human
    infrastructure, micro-trash ingestion, and shootings by poachers.
    Considering that human population growth projections predict
    exponential expansion in southern and central California, the
    likelihood of increasing human conflict with condors seems inevitable.
    Conversely, the same human population projections did not assess
    northern California, with its sparsely populated status relative to
    central and southern California, as projected growth was expected to be
    so minimal as to be inconsequential. Further, based on expected climate
    change projections over the next 100 years, it has been hypothesized
    that many existing condor reintroduction sites may become climatically
    unsuitable for condors. Climate change assessments indicate that
    coastal northern California, and much of the larger Pacific Northwest,
    should have habitat and climate conditions that are suitable for
    supporting condors throughout the next century.
    Regional Positive Impacts of Condor Recovery
        Condors contribute significantly to economies in the areas they
    thrive, including the coastal Big Sur area near Ventana Wildlife
    Society's release site and in the Grand Canyon and Pinnacles National
    Parks. Tourism has increased by countless bird enthusiasts who list the
    chance to see a condor as their primary reason for their visits. A
    similar boost to tourism could be expected on the California north
    coast, with the complementary draw of Redwood National Park, home of
    the largest trees in the world, and the majestic condor with its 9.5-
    foot wingspan. Del Norte and Humboldt Counties suffer under economic
    disadvantage, relying heavily on tourism to support their economies.
    The Tribe sees the potential to grow tourism-based business related to
    condor viewing itself, such as birding tours and related ecotourism
    ventures, but also in terms of motels, restaurants, and all other
    businesses required to support an influx of new visitors.
        Condor reintroduction will also directly benefit tribal youth who
    are beginning careers in Natural Resources. The Condor Internship
    Program, to be initiated under the current Environmental Regulatory
    Enhancement grant, will focus on hiring Native American and indigenous
    students or recent graduates in Natural Resource fields in order to
    provide them hands on, real world experience, as well as a stipend to
    help them meet their career goals. The goal is to hire six tribal
    interns annually, rotating new tribal students in every six months to
    spread the opportunity to gain experience as far as possible.
        Furthermore, the Tribe has adopted a holistic approach to ecosystem
    management which takes into account ecosystem health, cultural needs,
    and economic growth. Over the last ten years, the Tribe has reacquired
    over 60,000 acres of forested land adjacent to the east side of the
    current reservation boundary. The Tribe has developed a land management
    plan with ambitious goals including creation of a salmon sanctuary and
    forest area for carbon sequestration. The condor has been included as a
    special status species in the plan, which calls for the land to be used
    to support condor habitat. The next step will be to secure passage of
    the Yurok Lands Act that will expand the Yurok Reservation to include
    the reacquired lands, enabling the Tribe to regulate and govern the
    land consistent with the land management plan.
        This coupled with Yurok's existing land and river management
    throughout the Reservation creates ideal habitat for condor, as well as
    other species. For example, restoration of natural prairies and oak
    woodlands will benefit a species like the condor, by promoting food
    resource species such as elk, deer, and bear. Because of condors'
    status as an apex species, these other species populations will thrive,
    which has the further benefit of providing an increase in food
    resources to the tribal membership, which is still a largely
    subsistence hunting and fishing population. As condors expand across
    their historical range, their positive impact on ecology, society, and
    the economy grows.
    Benefits to Condor of Reintroduction to California North Coast
        Based on Yurok elder's guidance, the Yurok Tribe sought funding to
    begin what would become a decade long journey toward condor recovery in
    YAT. In 2008, the Tribe received its first funding from the USFWS to
    begin analyses to determine if the Yurok homeland had healed
    sufficiently for condor to return home. This was the first step in
    creating the Yurok Tribe Wildlife Program (YTWP), for whom the condor
    was the flagship species, and from which a variety of wildlife
    management projects have grown.
    Habitat Requirements
        Initial assessments focusing on condor requirements, including
    sufficiency of roosting, nesting, and foraging needs indicated that the
    requisite habitat characteristics are abundant in Yurok Country.
    Roosting requires flight access and appropriate roost structures, which
    are plentiful in northern California. Traditional ecological knowledge
    described historical condor roost and nest sites, and conversations
    with local redwood canopy expert Steve Sillett indicated the likelihood
    of abundant large redwood cavities, like those used elsewhere as nests
    by condors, in Redwood National and State Parks lands (adjacent to
    Yurok Country). Redwood National Park maintains the Bald Hills, an
    extensive chain of forage supporting prairies. The Kneeland area in
    northern Humboldt County, where the last two documented condors in
    northern California were killed is also maintained, though largely for
    agriculture. Combined, these prairie chains provide extensive
    communities of wild ungulates and predators, in addition to domestic
    livestock which provide foraging opportunities for condors.
    Contaminants of Concern to Condor Reintroduction
        YTWP also conducted assessments for environmental contaminants in
    local avian scavengers that would utilize potential food resources that
    condors might be expected to exploit in the northern California region.
    Lead ammunition fragments ingested in animal tissues is the leading
    source of mortality in reintroduced condors and eggshell thinning in
    breeding reintroduced condors has been linked to organochlorine
    pesticide contamination, in this case DDT, in dead, stranded marine
    mammals.
        Lead levels were assessed under funding from the Tribal Wildlife
    Grant through avian scavenger surrogates, turkey vultures and common
    ravens. As expected, since lead ammunition was still in use in the
    sampling area, some individuals were found to have elevated lead
    levels, with a statistically significant increase occurring during
    hunting season. Nevertheless, levels found were lower than in any other
    region where similar surrogates were studied, indicating that northern
    California may face lower mortality rates than other reintroduction
    areas.

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        DDT, though banned in the 1970s, continues to persist in the
    environment. Being fat-binding, it bioaccumulates in fatty tissues of
    long-lived species, especially those with thick blubber layers such as
    California sea lions. Sea lion blubber has been sampled for DDT in
    sites ranging from the Southern California Bight, the site of
    intentional dumping of DDT waste products by Montrose Chemical
    Corporation in the past, to Washington State. In general, a south to
    north decreasing trend in contaminants has been observed, and which has
    held true off the coast of YAT in a study funded by the Tribal Wildlife
    Grant and the National Park Service (NPS). Condors observed to feed
    frequently on sea lions in the Big Sur area have observable eggshell
    thinning and mortality in some eggs. However, many do survive and it
    seems that levels of DDT encountered by these birds are just on the
    threshold of lethal effect for eggs. This provides hope that the levels
    measured in northern California, several magnitudes lower, may prove to
    have an even lesser effect on eggshells and egg survivorship.

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Partnerships Developed to Support Reintroduction
        To support condor recovery, the Yurok Tribe developed partnerships
    with federal, state, and private land managers. A Memorandum of
    Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Tribe, USFWS, NPS,
    California Department of Parks and Recreation, and Ventana Wildlife
    Society, establishing northern California as a future release location
    that would provide prime habitat, meet Condor Recovery Plan directives,
    and positively benefit the overall population. The MOU was expanded to
    include the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the
    California and Oregon Departments of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Zoo,
    Sequoia Park Zoo, Oakland Zoo, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and
    Pacific Power Company (utility companies), Green Diamond Resource
    Company (a major timber organization), and the Hells Canyon
    Preservation Council as stakeholders and partners in recovery.
        The Yurok Tribe is now poised to enter the final phase of
    preparation before condor releases. This includes completion of an
    Environmental Assessment under the National Environmental Protection
    Act (NEPA), for which the Yurok Tribe is serving as a co-lead along
    with the USFWS and NPS, and the construction of condor release and
    management facilities, as well as a staff base of operations, with the
    goal of releasing condors into YAT in the fall of 2019. When enacted,
    the Tribe's Lands Act would support this type of federal, tribal,
    state, and private partnerships by providing more congressional
    authorization for these types of innovative, efficient, and effective
    partnerships that the Tribe desires to replicate in other areas.
    Innovation in Planning and Implementation
        The Yurok condor reintroduction program is innovative in that it is
    the first such to be led by a tribe. The path forged by Yurok is paving
    the way for other tribes, like the Nez Perce who are pursuing condor
    reintroduction in their own territory in Idaho, in the Hells Canyon
    region. Not only did the Tribe take the lead in all habitat analyses,
    project development, fundraising, partnership building, and community
    outreach, they have since taken on a formal leadership position as co-
    leads in the NEPA process. Furthermore, this project is targeting an
    experimental, non-essential designation under Section of the 10(j) of
    the Endangered Species Act (ESA) . This does not mean that the condors
    are any less valuable than those at other sites in California, which
    maintain their fully protected status. Rather, loss of the population
    will not risk extinction of the species. Further, comprehensive
    management of genetic lineages will assure that no extremely
    genetically valuable birds will be risked at the new site until several
    releases have been undertaken and there is reasonable assurance that
    there are no unforeseen risks in the new area. The primary benefit of
    the 10(j) designation is that it allows for specific modification of
    conservation measures defined under the ESA to be retained as 4(d)
    rules. While the definition of ``take'' is relatively expansive, it
    provides important protections to listed species. However, not all
    examples of ``take'' may cause harm. Considering the relatively
    resilient nature of condors, the ascribed 10(j) designation developed
    for this release project effectively refines regulation to protect
    local industry partners like Green Diamond Resource Company, Pacific
    Power, and PG&E, while still protecting the species from egregious
    actions such as intentional take. PG&E has expressed their appreciation
    that the Tribe engaged them early, to reduce negative infrastructure
    and species interactions. As a partner in this project, PG&E has
    provided $170,000 to support the condor release site.
        The Yurok Tribe sees the benefit to protecting Yurok forestry
    practices, including timber harvest and land restoration, through 10(j)
    designations. Examples of the latter would be prairie restoration to
    expand foraging areas and tree thinning projects targeting old growth
    forest production which will actually improve the land for condors by
    providing future nesting habitat. In order to enable the 10(j)
    designation, the Tribe worked diligently with Green Diamond Resource
    Company to develop California legislation that allows consistency
    between state and federal laws such that the California Department of
    Fish and Wildlife may defer to the USFWS regarding the 10(j)
    designation with respect to this release site, which was passed into
    law. Ultimately, the goal is to reduce potential negative impacts on
    local stakeholders while still fully protecting the birds.
    Innovation Funded by the Administration for Native Americans,
            Environmental Regulatory Enhancement Grant
        The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) Environmental
    Regulatory Enhancement grant (ERE) has played an integral role in the
    Tribe's success, having first been granted to YTWP in 2010. The beauty
    of the ERE opportunity is in its uniqueness amongst federal grant
    opportunities. Most federal grants available to tribes have priorities
    that they identify as requirements for funding, and the applicant must
    adapt their own needs to that of the funding opportunity. The ERE grant
    approaches from the opposite direction. ERE asks the applicant to delve
    deep into tribal community need, as identified by the community itself,
    and to design a project specific to that need in a way that makes sense
    and will be most effective in that specific community. The application
    process is based on the foundation of community investment to assure
    the greatest likelihood of success of the project within the unique
    environment of that community, which in this case, involved both the
    tribal and broader community.
        This first ERE grant the Tribe received sought to bridge the gap
    between a typically ``environmentalist'' issue, condor conservation,
    and what might be conventionally considered a conservative concern,
    hunting and rights under the Second Amendment of the Constitution. The
    Tribe saw, and sought to address, a potential conflict in the
    intersection. YTWP staff engaged in this funding opportunity were all
    hunters and understood that the these issues were not at odds, but were
    instead an opportunity to develop a new partnership in condor
    conservation. The hunting community already has a long history of
    conservation leadership, for example, leading the way to banning the
    use of lead shot in harvesting waterfowl due to its detrimental effects
    on waterfowl populations.

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        With this understanding, YTWP established the ``Hunters as
    Stewards'' education and outreach project under ERE, aimed at sharing
    information about the impacts of the use of lead ammunition on condors
    and other raptors, the potential impact on human health and child
    development if ingested (this being of particular concern to the Tribe
    as a subsistence hunting community), and making the switch to non-lead
    alternatives. YTWP handed out ammunition at gun shows, hosted shooting
    events at which sportsmen could try the ammunition in their own rifles,
    became California Hunter Education teachers and taught new hunters
    about non-lead alternatives as a part of conservation ethics, engaged
    with regional ammunition retailers to ensure their accurate
    understanding of the issue, and created display pieces for general
    outreach showing the fragmentation potential of lead as compared to the
    most common alternative materials, copper and copper alloys.
        Yurok Tribe headquarters are situated in rural, conservative Del
    Norte County in the far north of California, where hunting is a way of
    life for many, providing a large audience. The Hunters as Stewards
    program, instituted under ANA, established outreach mechanisms, talking
    points, and invested YTWP as part of the accepted hunting community,
    and continues its advocacy today. As a part of the initial ERE project,
    before and after surveys indicated that, varying depending on the
    event, 85-95 percent of hunters engaged recognized the efficacy of non-
    lead ammunition, saw the benefit of making the switch voluntarily, and
    said that they planned to do so. Only 2 percent indicated that they
    still preferred lead, and the rest either did not answer or at worst
    indicated that they felt more informed about the topic. YTWP counts
    those who said they would make the switch as full partners in condor
    conservation, with positive impacts on all other species impacted by
    use of lead ammunition.
    Yurok ERE FY 2019-2021
    Goals of ERE FY 2019-2021--Building Capacity to Implement Condor
            Reintroduction
        The most recent ERE grant received by the Tribe for the FY 2019-
    2021 budget periods continues to support Yurok leadership in California
    condor recovery. ERE funding supports essential components of the
    recovery program, including:

            1) hiring of a lead condor field biologist;

            2) renovation of an existing NPS structure to construct a new
            Condor Management Operations Center (CMOC);

            3) creation of the Condor Internship Program (CIP) aimed at
            providing Native and Indigenous students career advancing
            experience in wildlife biology;

            4) development of all programmatic data collection and sharing
            protocols

            5) creation of condor management protocols;

            6) Creation of a roles and responsibilities Memorandum of
            Understanding with NPS and USFWS;

            7) creation of an innovative geospatially based condor threat
            identification system (CTIS)which will help us manage against
            risk factors before interactions even occur; and

            8) seven staff training workshops on radio and satellite
            tracking, handling, and treatment of condors in the field.

    Federal and Non-Federal Leveraged Partner Resources
        The aforementioned work is completed in partnership with a wide
    variety of entities. The renovation of the CMOC has come about from a
    strong partnership with Redwood National Park (RNP). The Yurok
    Reservation is the only Indian Reservation with National Park Land
    within its boundaries which has led to unique opportunities for co-
    management. The need for co-management is heightened as the RNP land in
    the Reservation includes one of the Tribe's most sacred ceremonial
    sites. (The Lands Act includes authorization for additional MOU
    opportunities between RNP and the Tribe).
        Another major deliverable of the Yurok Tribe's current ERE grant is
    to develop a Memorandum of Understanding with the RNP and USFWS
    establishing roles and responsibilities related to the proposed
    reintroduction program, so the partnership can flow seamlessly. The CIP
    will be created in conjunction with locally based Humboldt State
    University's Indians in Natural Resources, Sciences, and Engineering
    Program (INRSEP), with the aim of drawing in Native and Indigenous
    students in those fields, to either jump start their career, or to
    provide college credits. INRSEP has also promised to work as a conduit
    to other university tribal programs to extend the CIP's reach across
    the country. The CTIS will utilize the latest in geospatial tools, and
    be developed in conjunction with partner PG&E which is beginning to
    create a similar warning system at the existing condor release sites.
    All programmatic protocols are being created in coordination with
    existing condor recovery partners, which include the USFWS, NPS,
    Ventana Wildlife Society, and Peregrine Fund, all of whom are providing
    training, expert advice, or example documents, protocols, and
    schematics so the Tribe can benefit from their hard won expertise.
    How ERE Fits into the Journey of Condor Reintroduction in Yurok Country
        Since the very beginning, the ERE has provided critical and
    complementary funding to the overall goal of condor reintroduction, a
    significant piece of a large and complex puzzle. The Tribe has received
    funding from the USFWS to conduct habitat assessments, and to engage in
    the NEPA process. The NPS is providing staff resources, support
    infrastructure, and has drawn in the partnership of the National Park
    Foundation. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has provided additional
    funding to expand existing federal projects, for example contributing
    funds to develop an emergency response plan as one of the protocols
    necessary for successful implementation, and for continuing the Hunters
    as Stewards Program started under the ERE, as well as expanding
    outreach to the broader conservation community in general to bring
    regional support for the project.
        The Tribe has also received support from private industry, like
    Green Diamond Resource Company, and Pacific Gas and Electric, as well
    as from non-profits like the Oregon and Oakland Zoos which are entering
    into agreements to treat condors as necessary, along with the Sequoia
    Park Zoo which is building an entire quarantine and treatment area to
    provide in-house veterinary support only an hour and a half from the
    proposed release area.
    Metrics for Success
        Each component of the ERE is vital to the success of the Yurok
    Tribe's condor reintroduction goals. Successful creation or completion
    of each deliverable described above will be a tangible and long-lived
    benefit that will support condor recovery for the life of the program.
    Ultimately, implementation of condor releases is a final deliverable of
    this ERE grant, attainment of the dream that the Yurok Tribe has been
    working toward for more than a decade.
    Contribution to Goals of Federal Regulatory Statutes and Other Programs
        The work targeted for completion within the proposed activities of
    this ERE project does not stand in a vacuum, but builds upon needs
    dictated by the larger California condor conservation effort. Many
    goals formalized by other projects, programs, and agencies will also be
    met by the work performed under this project.
        The primary driver for this project is fulfillment of objectives
    and goals laid out directly in a letter from the USFWS to the Yurok
    Tribe related to condor recovery, and the Condor MOU. In the letter,
    USFWS states, ``It is likely that the establishment of a self-
    sustaining population of condors in the Pacific Northwest would
    substantively contribute to their recovery.'' They list activities
    which must be completed prior to release, including many YTWP has
    already put substantial time into, such as: garnering State Wildlife
    Agency support, coordination with California Condor Recovery Program
    partners, addressing threats (especially lead), and evaluation of
    habitat potential.
        Activities to be carried out in this project will meet four of the
    Department of the Interior (DOI) departmental goals and three primary
    USFWS mission goals. Yurok condor reintroduction targets a species
    protected under the ESA and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) (USFWS
    Goal 1.1), an imperiled species of international concern (USFWS Goals
    1.2 and 1.5). MBTA priorities include birds that ``1.) have high
    conservation need, 3.) act as a potential unifier for partnerships, and
    4.) have a high likelihood that factors affecting status can be
    realistically addressed,'' are applicable to this work. Meeting these
    goals also Provides Natural and Cultural Resource Protection and
    Experiences (DOI Mission Goal 1) by working to recover an endangered
    species; itself a cultural resource. It provides a recreational
    opportunity via reintroducing a much sought wildlife viewing
    opportunity (DOI Mission Goal 2). Condors are well known as a valuable
    umbrella species. The large spatial requirements for their life
    activities often require conservation of large extents of habitat
    (USFWS Goal 2.3). USFWS Goal 4.1 related to partnerships in natural
    resources with Indian Tribal Governments is clearly met by this project
    as well as DOI Mission Goal 3 (Advance Government to Government
    Relationships with Indian Nations--Meet our trust. responsibilities to
    American Indians). This project provides a scientific framework for
    deciding the potential for condor recovery in the target area (DOI
    Mission Goal 4.2--Provide Science for Sustainable Resource Use,
    Protection and Adaptive Management) (DOI Mission Goal 4.4--Develop a
    comprehensive science framework for Understanding the Earth).
        Several goals detailed in the Spotlight Species Action Plan 2010-
    2014 for California condor will be met by this project, or have been
    met by past ERE projects, including three ``Measures,'' two ``Field
    Restoration Activities,'' and three ``Outreach and Education Efforts.''
    These Measures, Field Restoration Activities and Outreach and Education
    Efforts relate to increasing reproduction rates at breeding facilities,
    increasing the wild population, increasing wild breeding attempts,
    preparing new release sites based on information garnered from existing
    sites, implementing new strategies to minimize contaminant related
    mortalities, and distributing information regarding condors and condor
    management to interested parties, including federal, state, and private
    land managers.
        The most recent USFWS goals met by this proposed work relate to the
    USFWS draft California Condor (#Gymnogyps californianus!) 5-Year
    Review: Summary and Evaluation. This review includes the goals put
    forth in the Spotlight Species Action Plan 2010-2014; the fulfillment
    of the goals discussed previously will also fulfill the goals of the 5-
    Year Review.
        The final USFWS condor related goal met by this work relates to the
    California condor Recovery Plan Action Status, for which ERE projects
    have contributed to 14 identified priorities related to developing
    release protocols; selecting for, preparing, and implementing release
    sites; distributing educational material; and providing information to
    both public and private land managers; and furthermore expanding these
    activities throughout the Pacific northwest.
        Not only does USFWS achieve working relationships in this capacity
    with the Tribe, but also with private conservation groups, zoos, state
    agencies, and other federal agencies. Successful regional
    reintroduction will help meet the USFWS criteria for recovery of the
    species by creating a thriving, disjunct population, as described in
    the California Condor Recovery Plan, so that the species can be down
    listed to threatened, and eventually delisted.
        Participation of RNP in this project as co-managers with the Tribe
    furthers the Department of the Interior and Yurok Klamath River Basin
    Co-management Agreement signed in spring of 2006. It calls for the
    Tribe and the Agency to co-manage resources, including endangered
    species. Participation by the Park fulfills their primary mission as
    stated in the Condor MOU, ``. . . shall promote and regulate the use of
    the Federal areas . . . which purpose is to conserve the scenery and
    the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to
    provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means
    as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future
    generations.'' The Yurok Lands Act includes a provision confirming the
    2006 MOU to ensure this meaningful partnership between the Tribe and
    DOI continues into the future.
        The California Condor Blue Ribbon Panel report indicated that new
    release sites should not be considered until lead ammunition exposure
    issues for condors is addressed (Walters et al. 2008). Lead ammunition
    has now been banned and full implementation is expected this year, far
    out enough that condors newly released into an unknown region are
    unlikely to expand across the landscape quickly enough to encounter it
    frequently prior to the ban taking effect. With this in mind, the
    report recommends that, ``. . . once this issue (lead) is resolved,
    additional release sites should be considered.''
        Participation in this project also fulfills mission goals of other
    partners, including Ventana Wildlife Society, Los Angeles Zoo, Oakland
    Zoo, Oregon Zoo, and the Sequoia Park Zoo. Continued participation by
    the Tribe in the California Condor Recovery Program fulfills a main
    objective of the Endangered Species Act. Participation in groups such
    as this allows for the unification of current scientific methodologies
    with traditional ecological knowledge through the relationship formed
    between tribes and the USFWS. Participation by tribes is directly
    addressed in Secretarial Order #3206 of the Endangered Species Act,
    Appendix, Section 3. ``The Services shall coordinate with affected
    Indian tribes in order to fulfill the Services' trust responsibilities
    and encourage meaningful tribal participation in the following programs
    under the Act, and shall: (E)(1) Solicit and utilize the expertise of
    affected Indian tribes by having tribal representation, as appropriate,
    on Recovery Teams when the species occurs on Indian lands (including
    tribally-owned fee lands), affects tribal trust resources, or affects
    the exercise of tribal rights'' (DOI 1997).
    Integration with Yurok Tribal Goals
        Reintroduction of condor in northern California, will meet several
    Constitution goals of the Yurok Tribe, a sovereign nation. Restoration
    of the Tribe's cultural landscape, including natural resources, and
    more specifically culturally significant species, promotes, maintains,
    and enhances the lifeway of the Yurok People and specifically fulfills
    both objectives four and six of the Yurok Constitution.
        Another primary Yurok Constitutional goal is reacquiring the
    Tribe's aboriginal territory, a slow process. While the Yurok
    Reservation is the second largest in California, over 90 percent of
    reservation land is held in fee, with only a little over 5,000 acres
    held in trust, and most of our aboriginal territory falls outside the
    reservation boundaries. Recently, the Tribe reacquired over 60,000
    acres of land on the east side of the reservation and is working to
    purchase more land within the reservation. As land is purchased, the
    Tribe develops lands management plans that incorporate the land and
    habitat restoration activities. The Yurok Lands Act plays a critical
    role in the ability of the Tribe to be successful in that it would
    extend the Yurok Reservation to include recently acquired lands, assist
    with jurisdictional issues on the reservation, authorize cooperative
    agreements with RNP and US Forest Service, and confirm the 2006
    cooperative agreement with the Department of Interior. Each component
    of the legislation is critical to empowering the Yurok Tribe and local
    federal land managers with the authorization and jurisdiction needed to
    take action to further these land management goals, and importantly,
    the condor program.
    Experience in Applying
        YTWP began the application process about one month previous to the
    due date, having spent the previous month refining the desired goal and
    objectives, and acquiring Technical Assistance which was readily
    available for reviewing the project. The application process for the
    ERE grant is typically one of the more technically difficult of tribal
    funding sources, in YTWP's opinion due to an unwieldy RFP, which is
    described more fully below in Suggestions for the ERE Process. The most
    recent submission upload process through Grants.gov was one of the
    smoothest in the history of YTWP applications to the ERE. Past
    iterations using Grants.gov have been riddled with upload issues and
    errors in the RFP providing misguidance on how to appropriately load
    attachments, which were clarified in this round. The versatility of
    data inputs was appreciated, as YTWP could either directly input a lot
    of the information requested, for example with the SF-424A, or upload
    in a variety of formats.
        YTWP's experience with revisions requested by ANA was similarly
    smooth, but, as is often the case, too short of notice. Typically, YTWP
    has received less than one work week to respond to requests for
    revisions to applications. Time is always tight in a grant funded
    program, as project deadlines are always on the horizon. Having such a
    short turnaround time often means one or more staff has to abandon all
    other projects to respond. Ultimately it results in a clarified project
    that better fits the needs of ANA and the Tribe, but often puts
    significant stress on the applicant.
    Suggestions for the ERE Process
        Fundamentally, the ERE funding opportunity has proven to be
    essential to the Yurok Tribe condor reintroduction efforts. It is,
    however, a rigorous application process, and a somewhat daunting one.
    On the one hand, the rigor of the application process is a benefit. The
    ANA grant opportunity, ERE included, is designed to ensure the
    applicant has considered all aspects of successful project
    implementation, including accurate identification of the problem to be
    addressed and an effective solution. Concrete objectives and actions to
    take must be developed to affect that solution. Sufficient capacity
    must be available or acquired to implement actions. Community and
    partnership support is also required to increase likelihood of success,
    and long-term benefits that will continue to positively impact the
    community over time. All sections are complementary, and the process is
    educational. One of the lead project development staff for YTWP swears
    that she has learned more about project design and management from ANA
    than from all other grant projects combined.
    Challenges in the ERE Application Process
        The RFP is long and convoluted. The multiple and complementary
    layers described above can be hard to interpret, and can result in a
    behemoth of an application as the applicant writes more and more to try
    and clarify apparently redundant requests for information. YTWP has not
    written an ERE application that was less than 140 pages, inclusive of
    attachments. As a tool to understand exactly what was being asked for,
    YTWP had to go through page by page and copy and paste different
    directions for different parts of the application from multiple sources
    into a Word document to bring all the bits together. Once that was
    done, it was clearer what was requested, but there still seemed to be
    some redundancy between sections.
        Also, there is an abundance of technical terms used to define
    various components within the grant structure. Long-Term Community
    Goals, Current Community Conditions, Project Goal, Project Objectives,
    Outcomes, Indicators, Means of Measurements, Outputs, Targets,
    Milestones, and Populations are all terms that interact in complex
    ways. The organizing Word document mentioned earlier helped in fitting
    these various terms together into the complex roadmap we used to
    formulate our proposal. Even with the roadmap we used, there was much
    debate about the specifics of these terms within our writing team.
    Eventually we settled on agreed upon definitions and came together to
    write the proposal as a four-person team. This is quite a burden for a
    small Program such as ours. For a one or two-person program, as many
    tribes have a proposal of this complex a structure may prove to be too
    much a burden to undertake.
        Finally, there is a wealth of technical assistance provided.
    However, if one is not familiar with resources available, it can be
    quite difficult to find them and connect them to the RFP. Additionally,
    the support documentation designed to help describe what the
    application is looking for is written as if for a SEDS grant, with
    goals and objectives that do not necessarily fit well into an ERE
    proposal, making it difficult to ascertain what would be considered
    strong goals and objectives.
    Suggestions for Making the ERE Application More Accessible
        Being 100 percent grant funded, YTWP could be considered
    experienced in grant writing, and yet, the ERE grant is still daunting.
    For younger tribal organizations, or for programs with a less
    experienced project lead, there are some ways that ERE grants could be
    made more accessible.

            1)  Provide funding to attend in-person grant development
            trainings. ANA provides a wealth of online learning
            opportunities, as well as excellent technical support through
            telecommunications. However, in-person help with project
            development can be impactful in a very different way, allowing
            the potential grantee to engage more fully with their technical
            aid and more fluidly converse. ANA does provide in-person
            training, but as regions are so large, it can be a full day's
            travel for some organizations to attend trainings. Speaking
            from YTWP's experience, being 100 percent grant funded YTWP has
            no funds to attend such trainings, and so never has. One
            potential way to improve tribes' ability to successfully apply
            would be to provide small travel grants to tribes wishing to
            attain in-person training. Such trainings would allow for
            program managers to learn about project planning, budgeting,
            realistic personnel needs, how to locate match and leverage
            funds, etc. These are lessons we learned through years of grant
            writing and management and could essentially be considered as
            capacity building grants as they would not only apply to ANA
            opportunities, but overall grant and program management.

            2)  Conduct a ``Request for Proposal'' overhaul. Having been
            applying for ERE grants for nearly a decade, YTWP staff can say
            that they can see the ways that the program has evolved due to
            changing federal priorities, program priorities, suggestions by
            tribal applicants, changes in application processes, and for a
            myriad of other reasons. This has all been done with good
            intentions, but there are vestigial tags left over from past
            iterations, and the RFP has become unwieldy. Not only is it
            long, but, especially in this last round, requirements or
            information about various application segments seemed scattered
            across the RFP and an entirely separate application toolkit and
            it became something of a hunt to find all the descriptions.
            There are many helpful aids, but without prior understanding of
            the system, a new applicant would not be able to easily find
            them. One potential solution is to hire a tribal consultant who
            has not been involved in the ANA application process to attempt
            to write an actual ``proposal'' and identify the difficulties
            or lack of clarity that they encounter. From that point, in
            coordination with current technical assistance and ANA staff,
            they could work to streamline and clarify the document. A panel
            could be created of successful and unsuccessful applicants to
            provide feedback on the process in a detailed and concrete way.

            3)  Develop and require viewing of an application and available
            resource webinar. Since the application is largely electronic,
            perhaps it would be possible to create an online process in
            which applicants must sign-up for and run through the webinar,
            accompanied by a streamlined, no more than 5-page guide on
            where to find aids to the application and where to find
            information on the various segments of the application
            according to page number. This may prove redundant for
            experienced applicants, but, then again, it may prove
            beneficial even to them. A complete template of the expected
            application proposal with full formatting would be extremely
            helpful such that applicants can clearly see where they may be
            missing pieces.

            4)  Create ERE specific examples. Nearly all examples given in
            the supporting information are for community initiatives that
            might better fit under SEDS opportunities. YTWP has often found
            that project needs do not follow the same sort of structure as
            the examples given, requiring ERE applicants to put
            significantly more effort into trying to come up with metrics
            with little relatable guidance.

            5)  Allow more time for applications to be completed. While ANA
            is clear that community scoping should be done prior to writing
            an application, many organizations like YTWP, which is usually
            working on a deficit in time and money due to the great needs
            of the Tribe, rarely have time to think about community input
            before the application period comes. An additional month could
            provide the opportunity to conduct more effectively targeted
            community outreach to better inform project development. YTWP
            has learned to conduct and collect community scoping whenever
            possible at this point, to guide overall program directions.
            But a tribal organization new to the process may not know how
            to adequately prepare.

            6)  Develop a pre-proposal. As part of an extended application
            process, a pre-proposal could be created to help focus
            interested tribes' project goals. This pre-proposal should
            contain a streamlined version of the full scope of the project,
            and should be required to be kept small, for example, less than
            10 pages. This could be used to separate applicants with
            sufficient planning from those who need to conduct additional
            preparation or scoping. The first group could continue on to a
            funding request, and the second could be directed to the
            technical assistance available to improve their project design
            and be better prepared to apply successfully in the next round.
            This would save an incredible amount of time and effort for
            both applicants and reviewers. Further, we have never had an
            ERE proposal accepted outright. There is always a need for
            additional revisions prior to being given acceptance. Reviewers
            could provide some direction up front as a result of what is
            presented in the pre-proposal to help direct efforts in the
            following lager proposal to aid applicants in honing their
            asks. A pre-proposal may not be feasible given the timeframe of
            Congressional allocations and the intense review process, but
            would be helpful if it were possible to create.

        Overall, the ERE application process has been educational and
    informative, and has helped grow the capacity of the Yurok Tribe
    Wildlife Program to conduct and implement project design. If ANA is
    successful in engaging more tribes in the application process, and
    tribes become more capable of managing an ANA grant, it is our hope
    that ANA funding would be expanded.
    Continuing Challenges for Yurok Condor Reintroduction
    Need for Consistent and Continuing Funding for Natural Resource
            Conservation
        Ultimately, the Yurok Tribe Condor Reintroduction Program will need
    additional support, and more consistent funding than competitive
    federal grants can currently provide. As proposed, the 10(j)
    experimental population will be run for 20 years before an assessment
    of success is made. YTWP estimates that the first year will require
    $600,000 in program support to be successfully implemented. Subsequent
    years are expected to require $400,000-$500,000 in program support,
    which will cover a foundational biologist base, interns, vehicles, new
    and replacement satellite and VHF radio transmitters, broadband support
    for data transmission in the remote backcountry, facilities maintenance
    and utilities, veterinary supplies as well as many other aspects of an
    active and growing program.
        The Yurok Tribe would like to engage with the United States Senate
    Committee on Indian Affairs regarding the potential to establish an
    annual support mechanism for projects like these through an Annual
    Funding Agreement. Such a support mechanism, time bound and result
    oriented, could act as a model for other tribal initiatives that have
    the potential to meet tribal, federal, and state environmental goals.
    Furthermore, we urge the Committee to continue their support of Indian
    Country environmental restoration, through Department of Interior
    Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and non-BIA Annual funding agreements,
    as well as through tribally oriented competitive funding opportunities
    through the USFWS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the
    Environmental Protection Agency. In truth, there are too few
    opportunities to support tribal natural resource management and too
    often when engaging with contacts for other funding opportunities we
    are directed to tribe specific programs. Such federal programs can be
    counted on one hand, and the Yurok Tribe has three federally-listed
    species, two species likely to be federally-listed within the next
    year, five state-listed species, and multiple species that are critical
    culturally and/or for subsistence uses. This need far outweighs
    available funding opportunities for work which, by its nature, is not
    fiscally self-sustaining. Tribal lands have suffered when removed from
    the care of the tribes charged with stewarding them; but still they
    remain in large part some of the most pristine and ecologically
    resilient systems in existence due to tribal paradigms of managing for
    future generations in perpetuity.
    NEPA Finalization
        The current NEPA process requires, under the Department of the
    Interior's own timeline, that a finding of no significant impact, or
    FONSI, be completed by the end of this June. To accomplish this,
    publication of the Environmental Assessment, inclusive of the 10(j)
    piece, must occur by April 1st to allow for adequate public comment.
    Recent turnover in the Secretary of the Interior's Office has made
    acquiring proper approvals for the 10(j) designation difficult to
    impossible. Any assistance that this committee might provide in
    acquiring the necessary approval from Interim Secretary Bernhardt by
    mid-March, would be greatly appreciated by the Tribe, our co-leads in
    the NEPA process, our public supporters, and the Yurok people.
    Conclusion
        Thank you again for the opportunity to provide testimony to the
    Committee regarding the great benefits provided by the ERE funding
    opportunity to the Yurok Tribe Condor Recovery Program. I am
    particularly blessed to be part of a restoration project that means so
    much to my community, in terms of environmental, cultural, and social
    restoration. I am honored to represent my elders and our youth as we
    work to continue the Tribe's long history of sustainable landscape
    management. It has been particularly meaningful to me to share with the
    Committee today in front of my mother, also a Tribe member dedicated to
    tribal restoration as a Senior Fisheries Biologist for the Tribe, and
    my child, who will be the first generation of Yurok children to grow up
    with condors in their sky in over one hundred years.

        Literature of Import or Referenced Herein:

        Burnett, L.J., K.J. Sorenson, J. Brandt, E.A. Sandhaus, D. Ciani,
    M. Clark, C. David, J. Theule, S. Kasielke, and R.W. Risebrough. 2013.
    Eggshell Thinning and Depressed Hatching Success of California Condors
    Reintroduced to Central California. The Condor 115:477-491.

        Condor MOU. 2014. Memorandum of understanding between, The U.S.
    Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, California Department
    of Parks and Recreation, Ventana Wildlife Society, and the Yurok Tribe
    on California condor conservation. Agreement date March 4th 2014.
    http://www.fws.gov/cno/es/CalCondor/PDF_files/Expansion-
    FinalMOUwYurok.pdf.

        Condor MOU. 2017. Memorandum of understanding among, the U.S. Fish
    and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management,
    U. S. Forest Service, Yurok Tribe, California Department of Fish and
    Wildlife, California Department of Parks and Recreation, Oregon
    Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Zoo, Sequoia Park Zoo, Ventana
    Wildlife Society, Hells Canyon Preservation Council, Oakland Zoo,
    Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Pacific Power Company, Green Diamond
    Resource Company on California Condor Conservation. Agreement executed
    December 5th 2016.

        DOI, Department of the Interior. 1997. Secretarial Order 3206:
    American Indian Tribal Rights, Federal-Tribal Trust Responsibilities,
    and the Endangered Species Act (June 5, 1997).

        DOI, U.S. Department of the Interior. 2014. Strategic plan for
    fiscal years 2011-2016. http://www.doi.gov/bpp/upload/DOI_FY2011-
    FY2016_StrategicPlan.pdf. Accessed 27 Aug 2014.

        Finkelstein, M.E., D.F. Doak, D. George, J. Burnett, J. Brandt, M.
    Church, J. Grantham, and D.R. Smith. 2012. Lead poisoning and the
    deceptive recovery of the critically endangered California condor.
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. U. S. A. 1-6. http://
    dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1203141109.

        Fry, D.M., and J. Maurer. 2003. Assessment of Lead Contamination
    Sources Exposing California Condors; Species Conservation and Recovery
    Report 2003-02. California Department of Fish and Game, Sacramento, CA.

        Kelly TR, B.A. Rideout, J. Grantham, J. Brandt, L.J. Burnett, K.J.
    Sorenson, et al. (2015) Two decades of cumulative impacts to
    survivorship of endangered California condors in California. Biological
    Conservation 191:391-399

        Mee, A. and L.S. Hall, Editors. 2007. California Condors in the
    21st Century. The Nuttall Ornithological Club, Cambridge, Massachusetts
    and The American Ornithological Union, Washington D.C. 279 pp.

        Rideout, B.A., I. Stalis, R. Papendick, A. Pessier, B. Puschner,
    M.E. Finkelstein, D.R. Smith, M. Johnson, M. Mace, R. Stroud, J.
    Brandt, J. Burnett, C. Parish, J. Petterson, C. Witte, C. Stringfield,
    K. Orr, J. Zuba, M. Wallace, and J. Grantham. 2012. Patterns of
    mortality in free-ranging California condors (Gymnogyps californianus).
    Journal of Wildlife Diseases 48:95-112.

        Snyder, NFR and H.A. Snyder. 2000. The California Condor: A Saga of
    Natural History and Conservation. Academic Press, London, UK. 410 pp.

        Snyder, NFR and H.A. Snyder. 2005. Introduction to the California
    Condor. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles,
    California. 271 pp.

        USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1996. California Condor
    Recovery Plan, Third Revision. Portland, Oregon. 62 pp.

        USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2005. Fish and Wildlife
    Service strategic plan. http://www.fws.gov/planning/
    usfwstrategicplanv3.pdf. Accessed 27 Aug 2014

        USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2009. Spotlight species
    action plan: California Condor. Region 8 Office, Sacramento, CA. 11pp.

        USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2012a. Migratory bird
    program. Focal species strategy. http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/
    CurrentBirdIssues/Management/FocalSpecies.html. Accessed 27 Aug 2014.

        USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2012b. California Condor
    (Gymnogyps californianus) 5 Year Review: Summary and Evaluation.
    California Condor Recovery Program Partners, Hopper Mountain National
    Wildlife Refuge Complex, and USFWS Region 8. August, 2012.

        USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2014a. Letter to partner
    organizations related to condor recovery in the Pacific Northwest.
    Received January 21, 2014.

        USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2014b. Attachment to letter
    to partner organizations related to condor recovery in the Pacific
    Northwest. Received January 21, 2014.

        Walters, J., S.R. Derrickson, D.M. Fry, S.M. Haig, J.M. Marzluff,
    and J.M. Wundrle, Jr. 2008. Status of the California condor and efforts
    to achieve its recovery. Report submitted to the American
    Ornithologists Union and Audubon California. 57 pp.

        Watson, R.T., M. Fuller, M. Pokras, and G. Hunt, Editors. 2008.
    Ingestion of Lead from Spent Ammunition: Implications for Wildlife and
    Humans. The Peregrine Fund, Boise, Idaho. 383 pp.

        West, C.J., J.D. Wolfe, A. Wiegardt, and T. Williams-Classen. 2017.
    Feasibility of California Condor recovery in northern California, USA:
    Contaminants in surrogate Turkey Vultures and Common Ravens. The Condor
    119:720-731.

        Yurok Tribe, 1993. Constitution of the Yurok Tribe. Ratified
    November 19, 1993. 22 pp.

        The Chairman. Thank you, Chairman. We will proceed with
    five-minute rounds of questioning. I would like to start with
    Ms. Hovland.
        Commissioner Hovland, according to the fiscal year 2015
    annual report to Congress on outcome of evaluations of
    Administration for Native American Programs, 67 percent of
    projects visited met or exceeded their effectiveness
    expectations. In addition, 79 percent had a positive or
    significant positive impact on the grantee's community.
        From projects on which the ANA cannot conduct a site visit
    or that cannot meet the effectiveness expectations, how are you
    refining your process to ensure that the grantees are making
    good progress? So, good stats, but for those that aren't in the
    good stat column, what do you do?
        Ms. Hovland. Thank you, Chairman, that is an excellent
    question. At ANA, we want to be part of the success that
    happens with our projects. We offer, at no cost, technical
    assistance throughout the life of the grant. We also have a
    project specialist who is assigned to each of the grants that
    we have, that grantees can reach at any time. Again, if we need
    to come in and offer technical assistance or training, we offer
    to do that.
        But the majority of our projects at least meet the minimum,
    if not exceed, the outcomes that they projected.
        The Chairman. How about, for example, economic development
    projects? Do you track jobs? What kinds of things do you track
    to get an assessment of the impact?
        Ms. Hovland. Thank you, Chairman. We do track jobs. I was
    able to report that we looked back on those five years and the
    fiscal years 2011 through 2015 and mention how many Natives
    were employed. We do have an evaluation team that can go
    through and pull data and get specifics. Yes, we can find that
    information.
        The Chairman. Okay. Are there improvements to the
    legislation to NAPA that you would like to see from Congress,
    or are there things that would help?
        Ms. Hovland. Thank you, Chairman. Yes, there are a few
    items that we have looked at that we think would be beneficial.
    One is, NAPA requires that whenever ANA makes any
    administrative or programmatic changes, even if it is minor,
    that we give public notice. In order to comply, we issue a
    notice of public comment through the Federal Register, which
    typically, as you know, is a three to four month process, and
    it delays our issuing of funding opportunities.
        I have heard, since I have been here, since June, that our
    applicants really want that 90-day window to be able to apply
    for the grants and have a good application put forth. When we
    have to issue the public comment, it delays the funding
    opportunities from being published, and then we typically have
    to narrow the window that we are able to keep the applications
    open to either 60 days, and sometimes down to 45 days.
        We do feel there already is a mechanism in place for tribes
    and Pacific Islanders to provide their comment whenever we make
    changes to our annual consultation.
        Also, NAPA requires, as the language is worded, us to
    provide the impact. At ANA, we fund grants with a definitive
    beginning and end. Typically they are three-year grants. We
    have no way to go back in and evaluate the impact, once the
    grant has ended.
        We are able to measure the outcomes throughout the process
    of the grant and at the end of the grant. We would like to see
    that change from impact to outcomes, which we are able to
    measure and we are measuring.
        Under NAPA, it asks for Native language grantees that want
    to give their resources that they develop with their grants, to
    ANA if they choose to, and they can store it and digitize and
    catalog it and make it available to the public if the grantee
    agrees to. We have been able to store that in-house. But now
    with several more grantees, we are getting to the point where
    we are going to need a partner.
        We would like to look at the possibility of partnering with
    NMAI, the National Museum for American Indians. I met with them
    to see if we could utilize their facility and store, digitize,
    and catalog the materials that we have. It would be more
    accessible to the tribes when they come to Washington, D.C.
    That is the other area that we have looked at that would be
    beneficial.
        The Chairman. Thank you.
        Councilman Socobasin, your part of the Country is famous
    for maple syrup. I was intrigued, when you were talking about
    that, I can see why it would be a tremendous business
    enterprise.
        How do you go about harvesting from the trees? You used to
    see in the movie or the cartoon where they would pound a nail
    in the tree and hang a bucket on it to get at the sap. I am
    sure it is more sophisticated now. How does that whole process
    work now? Just give us some sense of the scope of that
    business, like people employed and the revenue. Obviously, you
    are very famous for maple syrup.
        Mr. Socobasin. We have moved past the days of hanging a
    bucket from the tree.
        [Laughter.]
        The Chairman. Now, Tester does that in Montana, still, just
    so you know. He is a farmer, and that is how he does it.
        [Laughter.]
        Mr. Socobasin. We have a collection system now so that you
    don't have to go out and empty each bucket. There are lines
    that are hooked to each of the taps. This year, we will have
    about 15,000 taps. So that would be a lot of buckets to empty,
    and it would take a lot of time.
        With the equipment we have in place now, along with a
    vacuum, which creates constant pressure, so that you maximize
    the flow throughout the day, when the sun hits the trees, the
    sap starts to flow. As it sets, it slows down or stops. That
    goes into a collection system. We have two tanks, 10,000
    gallons each. From that point, it goes into a reverse osmosis
    machine.
        So when the sap comes out, it takes about 40 gallons of sap
    to make one gallon of syrup. When we put it through the reverse
    osmosis machine, that ratio is about eight to one. So the
    processing time was greatly decreased because of that. It goes
    into the evaporator at that point, and becomes syrup. We throw
    it into barrels, haul it into town to our bottling facility.
        But our project has created six jobs. That is the bottling
    side, and also in the field, directly. But it has also created
    opportunity within our forestry program. Because each of these
    areas that we tap have to be prepared. So our forestry
    department hires guys to come in and clear these areas, leaving
    nothing behind but usually white birch and maple trees. That
    typically could be eight to ten guys when the weather is,
    usually through the spring, summer, is when they are prepping
    our next areas that we tap.
        The Chairman. Can you tap a tree every year? Or does it
    have to rest?
        Mr. Socobasin. You can. So one of the things, we are
    organically certified. In order to have that, the tree has to
    be a certain size. Then you have to move down eight inches and
    over eight inches the following year. So you can tap the tree
    from year to year, you just have to constantly move your tap.
        The Chairman. Thank you.
        Vice Chairman Udall, I know you knew all that, but I
    thought it was kind of interesting.
        Senator Udall. [Presiding.] I thought it was fascinating,
    too. The success on these ANA grants is very impressive.
        Earlier this month, this Committee convened a listening
    session to hear more about Indian Country's priorities for
    Native language revitalization. A lot of folks mentioned the
    need to develop pathways for more teachers and community
    members to get involved.
        Governor Vallo, I understand that Acoma used part of its
    ANA grant to support a Kares language summer institute, which
    offered training opportunities for both teachers and community
    members. Why did Acoma feel it was important to offer
    opportunities to all community members, not just language
    teachers, when designing the institute?
        Mr. Vallo. Thank you for the question, Vice Chairman.
        The institute was designed to expand the opportunities for
    teaching and learning. This is all in alignment with this
    ongoing development of our language program. Initially, the
    intent was to train teachers who would work in the classroom
    setting within the community school and also the public school
    system.
        What we learned is that because there was such great
    interest by community members and families that the training
    would be extended to include our own community members. We see
    that today, that those individuals who are trained, using the
    same training programs and curriculum developed by our language
    retention program staff, that that information is now used in
    the home. It is used within family settings and extended family
    settings, while also being implemented in our local school
    systems.
        So the intent has expanded beyond the formal training which
    was identified in the very early years for teachers in the
    school systems only. So we are really grateful that there has
    been an expressed interest by the community to obtain this
    training. We see that there is a much greater impact than on
    who the beneficiaries are, which are our children and other
    tribal members. But also this interest by the community to be
    teachers and stewards of the language.
        Senator Udall. Great, thank you very much for that answer.
        Chairman James, you mentioned the reintroduction. Yes, sir.
        Mr. James. Mr. Vice Chairman, if I may. May I ask to be
    allowed to have Ms. Tiana Williams-Claussen, our Yurok lead
    wildlife biologist, accompany me at the table in case there are
    questions about the condor program that I may not be able to
    answer?
        Senator Udall. That would be great. Ask Tiana Williams-
    Claussen to come forward. That young baby you hear cooing back
    there is her baby, Morgan, who traveled all the way across the
    Country from California and I understand made a very good trip.
    She has been very good here today.
        I am going to actually ask about the condor, so we are glad
    to have you both here. The reintroduction of the California
    condor is really a remarkable story of species recovery made
    possible by cooperation among Federal agencies, the State of
    California and an extensive network of non-profit organizations
    to share research, expertise and resources. The Tribe also
    deserves to be recognized for its efforts in developing tribal
    capacity to undertake projects of this magnitude, by hiring and
    training tribal members for key positions.
        I understand that your tribal biologist, who we have just
    introduced, is here. We appreciate your being here and the
    remarkable job you have done on this recovery of the condor.
        How has the Yurok Tribe leveraged the ANA grant to
    complement these condor recovery efforts? What resource void
    has the ANA grant filled that contributed to its success?
        Mr. James. Thank you, Vice Chair. The Yurok Tribe has
    utilized a number of grants that we do at the Tribe. Leveraging
    is what we do with the grants that we receive. But specifically
    regarding the ANA, and Ms. Claussen is the point of contact. So
    I would like to share the hard work that she has started on
    behalf of the Tribe back in 2010. She can highlight the
    importance of how hard she has worked with the Tribe leveraging
    these ANA grant funds.
        Senator Udall. That would be great. Tiana, please proceed.
        Ms. Williams-Claussen. Sure. Again, I am Tiana Williams-
    Claussen. I am the lead biologist with the Yurok Tribe and a
    Yurok tribal member from the Village of Wehl-kewe. I am very
    happy to share my experience with you.
        The ANA opportunity fits into a rather complicated and
    large set of grants and funding opportunities from the tribal
    wildlife grants, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and other funding.
    We receive TSCA agreements from our local partner, Redwood
    National Park, to conduct some of the research that we need to
    do.
        But in particular for this ANA, which runs from 2019 to
    2021, we are receiving support from the local utility company,
    PG&E.
        Senator Udall. Pacific Gas and Electric.
        Ms. Williams-Claussen. I completely apologize there. We
    always say PG&E and then those acronyms get stuck in your head.
    They are actually providing for creating the release facility
    itself. Redwood National Park is providing a huge in-kind match
    by allowing us to use one of their buildings to create our
    operations center where all of our staff will be based. Our own
    TERO program, the Tribal Employee Rights Office, is providing
    staff training to Yurok members to renovate that building. So
    not only are we creating the new building, but we are also
    creating new capacity amongst our tribal members.
        Members of the California Condor Recovery Program are
    offering us trainings, like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
    Pinnacles National Park, L.A. Zoo. The Oregon Zoo, we just got
    back from a training in Portland, as well. All of this coming
    together, the Ventana Wildlife Society, to give us the capacity
    and training to be able to actually implement, hopefully within
    the next year, condor releases.
        Senator Udall. Thank you very much. It is really, as I
    said, a remarkable story of recovery.
        Senator Tester?

                     STATEMENT OF HON. JON TESTER,
                       U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA

        Senator Tester. Thank you, Vice Chair Udall. I want to
    touch back on the maple syrup stuff for a second here. What is
    the name of your website?
        Mr. Socobasin. Passamaquoddymaple.com.
        Senator Tester. Do you ship to Montana?
        Mr. Socobasin. We do. We do, and if you order enough, there
    is no shipping cost.
        Senator Tester. No kidding?
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Tester. I like that. Free shipping on bulk orders.
    I like that.
        Commissioner Hovland, I want to thank you for being here
    today. There is no doubt that this has been an effective
    program for Indian Country, whether we are talking health care,
    language, once the money gets on the ground, you have been able
    to make a real difference in economic development.
        In talking to tribes, though, I find that this application
    process can be kind of difficult. My question is, have you had
    a chance to review the application process? Do you agree with
    that? And what can be done to simplify it?
        Ms. Hovland. Thank you, Senator. I have heard that through
    the years also. ANA is a fantastic office, but it does have a
    difficult application process. Prior to my arrival in June,
    early in 2018, ANA staff had looked at the application process
    and provided more tools to help it be a little more user-
    friendly. On the funding opportunities, which by the way are
    open right now until April 15th, there are examples in there
    that are helpful as well as a framework.
        So that is one way of addressing the process. Also, staff,
    prior to my arrival, developed a pre-application online tool
    kit, which also includes the template and additional examples.
    To make it more user-friendly.
        I have asked, and formed an internal work group, to review
    the application line by line thoroughly, to see if there are
    things that we can do to streamline it, and make it more user-
    friendly. I traveled to Minneapolis a few weeks ago to one of
    ANA's pre-application trainings and heard from many of the
    grant writers that came to that training. We are going to bring
    those comments back to our work group and continue to work to
    see if we can make it easier and streamline it.
        Senator Tester. I appreciate that. The goal is to increase
    economic opportunity out there. I don't think there is much
    argument here. The tribes that could use it the most are the
    tribes that are the poorest, and consequently the tribes that
    are the poorest probably don't have grant writers. And so I
    appreciate your taking a look at this to make sure that you
    make it as user-friendly as possible.
        Ms. Hovland. Absolutely.
        Senator Tester. Do you have at your fingertips what the
    budget was last year for this program?
        Ms. Hovland. Yes, Senator, it was $54.5 million, and that
    was a half a million dollar increase. We thank you and Congress
    for the increase.
        Senator Tester. We haven't got the President's budget yet,
    but I am sure you have been working on it. What are you going
    to ask for this year?
        Ms. Hovland. I am not able to comment on that until it is
    published.
        Senator Tester. Oh, come on, you can let us know. Slip it
    out, we won't tell anybody.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Tester. Well, look, your program is a good program.
        Ms. Hovland. It is.
        Senator Tester. We like results. It appears you get
    results.
        Ms. Hovland. Absolutely.
        Senator Tester. I don't know if I can name another program
    in Indian Country that gets results, just to be honest with
    you.
        So I hope that you fight for what you need, okay?
        Ms. Hovland. Absolutely. Thank you.
        Senator Tester. I also understand that you are leading an
    effort on the Intra-Departmental Council for Native American
    Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, and
    intend to make that council more active. Is that fairly
    accurate?
        Ms. Hovland. Yes, Senator, absolutely.
        Senator Tester. Well, I applaud your efforts. Communication
    is key if we are going to tackle big issues. One of those big
    issues is missing and murdered indigenous women.
        Ms. Hovland. Yes.
        Senator Tester. The Committee held a hearing on it at the
    request of myself and other members here. It was an interesting
    hearing. It was one of those ones where you were smiling when
    you walked out of the room. It is a problem, and it is a
    problem that is a crisis. Is this something that you intend to
    have the council look at in the upcoming year?
        Ms. Hovland. Thank you, Senator, for your interest in this
    very important topic. The Intra-Departmental Council on Native
    American Affairs, or ICNAA, is the vehicle for us to look at
    murdered and missing indigenous. It is so important, like you
    said, that we are talking with one another within HHS and not
    in silos. I am sure what you have discovered through your
    listening sessions and conversations is that when we are
    dealing with murdered and missing indigenous women, we also
    need to look at human trafficking, the opioid and substance
    abuse epidemic and how they cross-tie. That is where ICNAA is
    very important. As we are addressing one issue, we are
    addressing all of them.
        Yes, it is something that we will be discussing.
        Senator Tester. Okay. So to be a little more clear, because
    it is an issue that I hear about a lot, it is an issue that we
    hear a lot about here too. And by the way, it is one of those
    issues we didn't--it was probably still there, we certainly
    didn't hear much about it five or ten years ago. But we are
    hearing about it now.
        So I gather from your question that you will be utilizing
    the Council to do something positive in that realm.
        Ms. Hovland. Yes, that is correct.
        Senator Tester. Do you see anything else that Health and
    Human Services could do when it comes to missing and murdered
    indigenous women, over and above that Council?
        Ms. Hovland. That is an excellent question. As you heard
    the example of today, just how flexible our funding is,
    especially under the social and economic development strategy
    grant, this is a project that our Native communities could put
    together to address, to develop codes, however they choose to
    address it.
        Really, it is a grant that could be written under a SEDS
    program.
        Senator Tester. Do you need anything from us when it comes
    to this realm, missing and murdered indigenous women?
        Ms. Hovland. I appreciate your bringing attention to this
    and having listening sessions. I would be happy to meet with
    you or your staff to talk about ways that we can address it.
        Senator Tester. I do think one of your fortes is
    communication. As I said earlier, my comment is communication
    can solve a lot of problems in government, with marriages, you
    name it. I just really think that we have a lot of work to do,
    and the more folks who can throw in their skill sets to help
    solve this problem, the better chance we have at solving it.
    Not only at the Federal level, not only your office, but also
    at the tribal council level, FBI, U.S. Marshal, tribal law
    enforcement, you name it.
        Thank you all for being here. I appreciate it very much. I
    look forward to having some Maine maple syrup on my pancakes.
        [Laughter.]
        Ms. Hovland. Thank you, Senator.
        Senator Udall. Thank you so much, Senator Tester.

               STATEMENT OF HON. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO,
                        U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA

        Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. I also want to thank all
    of you for being here. I so appreciate the comments today.
        And I want to echo Senator Tester's comments with respect
    to missing and murdered indigenous women, and everything that
    we need to do to address this issue. So know it is a priority
    for me.
        But I also know, Commissioner Hovland, in your introduction
    today you also talked about combatting the crisis of human
    trafficking. So thank you. As you may know, last Congress,
    along with some of my colleagues here, I introduced the End
    Trafficking of Native Americans Act. We are going to
    reintroduce it again this Congress, to bring awareness and
    resources to combatting this horrific crime of human
    trafficking in Indian Country. I look forward to working with
    you with respect to that issue as well. Thank you.
        There is something else I want to jump back to on this idea
    of the grants that go out. It is an incredible program. I think
    it is fantastic. But we need to make sure that more Native
    Americans in Indian Country across the United States have
    access to these grants. My concern is just what I had heard
    earlier, sometimes it is challenging to even apply for these
    grants.
        I just came back from Nevada. We were at a statewide grants
    conference. Some of our Native American communities were there.
    This is the one thing I hear all the time. There are many
    territories and Native American communities actually missing
    out on this funding because they are challenged.
        So one of the things that I want to point out, because I so
    appreciate what you are doing, but I think more needs to be
    done. I think it was Chairman James in your comments, I think
    it was page 15, you literally talk about some of the concerns
    with ERE, the application process.
        The fact that your tribe is considered experienced in
    grant-writing and you have some ideas about how we can
    streamline it and this process, I would recommend, please take
    a look at that. I understand you provide technical assistance
    and training, but a lot of the tribes don't have access to
    that. They can't fly out for that. Unless you are bringing the
    training to them, they are not going to be able to access in-
    person training. Sometimes that helps for the grant-writing
    process.
        I know there are other things that are recommended here. To
    the extent that we can streamline it, tear down those barriers,
    and give them access, that is what I am looking for. So if you
    can work with us, we are happy to work with you in how you guys
    are addressing that, that would be wonderful.
        Ms. Hovland. Thank you. Yes, you have my commitment on
    that.
        Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. And there are imperious,
    first of all, let me just say your website is fantastic. I was
    just on the website, looking at all the grants. You are able to
    pull them up, you are seeing across the Country where the
    grants have been identified and who the recipients are. Is it
    right there, out of the--correct me if I am wrong--195 grant
    recipients are listed on your website. They have received the
    grants. And this is beginning in the year 2013 to the present,
    is that right? Or is it just year by year?
        Ms. Hovland. Thank you, Senator. are you asking about what
    is currently on our website?
        Senator Cortez Masto. Yes.
        Ms. Hovland. Some of them are three-year grants, some are
    five-year. So I would have to look back and get the exact
    information.
        Senator Cortez Masto. Here is my concern. If I read the
    website correctly, there is not one zero granting going into
    the State of Nevada. Not one Native American community in the
    State of Nevada has received a grant. I don't know if that is
    because they haven't applied or they were denied, or if it is
    difficult to apply for the grants.
        If you would work with my office, I would like to know what
    is going on. If anybody from Nevada has every applied, and if
    they have, were they denied? Why were they denied, or some of
    the challenges that are out there.
        I think one of the key things is making sure we are doing
    everything e can in Native communities across this Country to
    make them aware of these grants. What are you doing to make
    sure it gets out to the communities as the grants are
    available?
        Ms. Hovland. Thank you. Excellent questions. I appreciate
    that.
        First of all, at my request, I have asked our training and
    technical assistance centers, we have four, one in the east
    region, west region, Alaska and Hawaii. I asked them to
    identify, and they are in the process of doing this, all Native
    communities and tribes that have either never received an ANA
    grant or have not received one in several years, to reach out
    to them to identify why that is, and to start offering training
    in those areas.
        So it is in process. We did identify what you brought up
    was a barrier. There are not a lot of resources to travel. We
    are trying to get to those communities and we have offered some
    training. In Nevada, we received 50 applications since 2011,
    six of which were funded and the last grant ended in 2015. We
    had identified that Nevada was an area where we needed to
    really get out there, spread the word about ANA, and get more
    training out there.
        As a result, we held a project planning and development
    training in Reno in October.
        Senator Cortez Masto. Wonderful.
        Ms. Hovland. We recently held a preapplication training in
    Henderson. We are trying to identify those. I have asked that
    we identify those communities, and then we start reaching out
    and finding out what can we do better, so that you are applying
    for these, or if you have applied, what can we be doing better.
    It is a priority of mine.
        Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. And as you go out, please
    don't hesitate to talk with our office. Because we can get word
    out as well. We can make sure that there is a good turnout,
    people know about it in the State of Nevada, our tribal
    communities, and they are able to come out as well and
    participate in the training.
        Ms. Hovland. That is fantastic, thank you.
        Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you.
        Senator Udall. Thank you, Senator Cortez Masto, very much
    for that questioning. And thank you for working with her. I
    think one of the issues we do find sometimes when we have pots
    of money is, tribes have a hard time accessing them. If you
    could let us know if there is a problem there, I mean, we can
    try to work through with whatever issues there are.
        Commissioner, in November of 2018, HHS collaborated with 12
    other Federal agencies to produce the Fourth National Climate
    Assessment. The report found that climate change increasingly
    threatens Americans' health and well-being, particularly
    vulnerable populations and many Native populations. The report
    specifically found, and now I am quoting from it, climate
    change increasingly threatens indigenous communities'
    livelihoods, economies, health and cultural identities by
    disrupting interconnected social, physical and ecological
    systems. That is the end of the quote there.
        In your position as commissioner and co-chair of HHS'
    Interagency Council on Native Affairs, you are in a unique
    position to address this issue. What is HHS doing to respond to
    the public health impacts of climate change?
        Ms. Hovland. Thank you, Senator. I will have to follow up
    with you on the specifics that HHS is doing. I did host and
    Admiral Wyocki vice-chaired our first ICNAA meeting on Friday.
    We are planning to have more meetings. It will be an item that
    I follow-up on.
        I can tell you, and as you know, under ANA we had the
    Environmental Regulatory Enhancement Act, which really is great
    for our tribes to be able to write grants, which can provide
    the resources to write their tribal code, so they can develop
    and enforce environmental codes in their communities.
        Senator Udall. Great. Thank you. On this particular area,
    it seems like convening an interagency council on Native
    affairs, meeting to discuss the public health impacts of
    climate change on tribes, might make a real impact. So I would
    suggest you look into that.
        Chairman James, I understand that the California condor
    plays a central role in the Yurok Tribe's traditional dances
    and practice of traditional Yurok religion. Can you explain how
    re-introducing the condor, and I am happy, too, to have Tiana
    weigh in on this, reintroducing the condor will improve the
    Tribe's efforts to maintain and revitalize traditional Yurok
    culture and Yurok language?
        Mr. James. Thank you, Vice Chair. Condor plays a huge role
    in our ceremonies and our way of life, for our jump dance and
    our Deer Skin Dance back at home. We have been using the condor
    since time immemorial in our ceremonies. So it is vital and
    critical as we continue to move forward. We are still going to
    do that.
        To answer your question, through prayer and through song,
    from my heart, from myself as a Yurok tribal chairman, as a
    traditional ceremonial leader, I would like to sing a brief
    tune of what it means to us to carry on that message. What it
    is for us, it is balance. We are balancing the world, and we
    are using that condor that flies high above us to pack that
    medicine to take it up to the Creator. So it is creating and
    exciting that we are here today and talking about a grand
    opportunity. We mentioned leveraging. You are actually
    leveraging it with our traditional way of life and our
    partners. It is impacting. So I would like to share a quick
    tune to let you know from my heart and my spirit and where I am
    from.
        [Singing in Native tongue.]
        Mr. James. So again, imagine our baskets, our prayers going
    up in ceremony, that condor flying high above, packing that
    medicine, taking it up to the Creator. So it is vital and
    critical, and I thank you. It is an honor for me to be here
    with my staff, and again, we look forward to working with you,
    not just on this project, but many more that impact not just
    Indian Country. I wanted to share the impact that you are
    providing to the Yurok Tribe in Northern California on the
    Klamath River. [Phrase in Native tongue.]
        Senator Udall. Thank you so much for that inspiring song. I
    noticed when you were doing that that Tiana's baby, Morgan,
    just really settled down. So that was very impressive. Very
    impressive.
        The Chairman. [Presiding] I did, too.
        Senator Udall. Mr. Chairman, you did, too.
        Let me ask Governor Vallo and Council Member Socobasin,
    have your tribes seen similar complementary benefits from
    language revitalization and economic development efforts as a
    result of the ANA and what you have heard here today?
        Mr. Vallo. Thank you, Vice Chairman Udall. Yes, most
    definitely. We are very happy to say that the language
    revitalization initiative at Acoma has really rooted itself in
    Acoma, in very significant ways. So it not only has impacted
    and generated interest by community members and engaged them in
    an active revitalization initiative, but it has initiated a
    conversation. And it has initiated a very critical thought
    process internally about our inherent responsibility around
    language and culture, and preserving that language and culture.
        This conversation involves all generations. So we are
    realizing without any real effort that this discussion around
    language and cultural preservation is inter-generational.
    Everyone is taking ownership over this issue. When you consider
    Acoma being in its place for over 1,000 years, we are singing
    the same songs. When we have that opportunity to celebrate our
    culture through our own Native tongue, that says a lot for the
    resilience of our communities, but also this passion that we
    have to fulfill that inherent responsibility.
        I think that we have a much stronger understanding of that
    in this time. So the intergenerational engagement is happening,
    and it must be sustained if we are to continue to be successful
    at language revitalization moving forward. So yes, definite
    benefits. We have one Acoma woman who is now a Ph.D. who has
    dedicated her career and her scholarship to the study of
    indigenous languages, and is the scholar on the Keres language
    in New Mexico. So to that end, we also see a prayer realized,
    when our elders have always offered prayers on our behalf that
    we would embrace the western language and culture and use it to
    benefit our responsibility, or the fulfillment of our cultural
    responsibilities.
        Senator Udall. Thank you. Council Member Socobasin?
        Mr. Socobasin. We came here prepared to talk about maple
    syrup, but we do have a language grant as well. And actually,
    my time as chief was when that was first awarded.
        In our communities, as I mentioned earlier, we have 3,600
    tribal members. Of those, about 5 percent are fluent in our
    language. We are one of the tribes of first contact, so we are
    one of the few tribes in the east that still has our language.
    Part of that being I think we are so far north and it is so
    cold that all we have is us.
        But a big influence on the Wasaba language was the Catholic
    church. I was one of the first generations that, my first
    language was English. My wife, who is the same age as I, her
    first language was Passamaquoddy. And our story is very similar
    to what has been already said today. Our culture is connected
    and our language is very important to our ceremonies.
        Because of the ANA grant, we have been able to implement an
    immersion class into our schools, in the pre-school and
    kindergarten. Our goal is, we have a school on the reservation
    that goes up to the eighth grade. I hope within the next ten
    years that all their lessons are taught in Passamaquoddy.
        Senator Udall. Thank you very much, and thank you for your
    courtesies, Mr. Chairman. I think we covered some good ground
    today and we have realized the real benefits of this grant
    program. I appreciate very much the hard work of Jeannie
    Hovland.
        The Chairman. Absolutely. Thank you, Vice Chairman.
        Thanks again to all the witnesses. If there are no more
    questions for today, members can also submit follow-up
    questions for the record. The hearing record will be open for
    two weeks.
        Again, thanks to all of our witnesses for being here, and
    Commissioner Hovland, for your good work. We appreciate it so
    much. Thanks to all of you. We are adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 3:48 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]

                                A P P E N D I X

      Prepared Statement of Kamana`opono M. Crabbe, Ph.D, Ka Pouhana/CEO,
                           Office of Hawaiian Affairs
        Aloha e Honorable Chairman John Hoeven, Vice Chairman Tom Udall,
    and members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs:
        Mahalo for the opportunity to submit testimony regarding the
    Committee's February 27, 2019 Oversight Hearing on the ``45th
    Anniversary of the Native American Programs Act and the establishment
    of the Administration for Native Americans.'' The Office of Hawaiian
    Affairs (OHA) is a public trust and independent state agency
    established through the Hawai'i State Constitution to improve the lives
    of the indigenous people of Hawai`i (Native Hawaiians). OHA's enabling
    statute charges it to advocate on behalf of Native Hawaiians, and to
    assess policies and practices as they may affect Native Hawaiians. OHA
    is also named in various federal statutes as a recognized Native
    Hawaiian organization with standing to be consulted with on matters
    pertaining to Native Hawaiian rights and cultural resources. With that
    kuleana (responsibility) in mind, our agency is pleased to submit
    testimony for the record and urge Congress to act in reauthorizing the
    Administration for Native Americans (ANA) and the Native American
    Programs Act of 1974 (NAPA).
        Forty-five years ago, Congress established a network of federal
    assistance programs under the Secretary of Health and Human Services
    (HHS) ``to promote the goal of economic and social self-sufficiency for
    American Indians, Hawaiian Natives and Alaskan Natives'' \1\ through
    passage of NAPA. \2\ In the mid-1970s, a pivotal time in the Native
    Hawaiian cultural renaissance movement in Hawai`i, our community was
    just finding our voice and reclaiming our traditions after generations
    of suppressing our cultural identity. It was timely that Congress
    passed NAPA--dedicated to supporting the self-determination and
    economic development for Natives Americans across the United States,
    including American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. NAPA
    opened access to much needed funds, technical assistance, and in-
    service training for a broad range of public and private projects, as
    well as research, demonstration, and pilot programs.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ Headstart, Economic Opportunity, and Community Partnership Act
    of 1974, Pub. L. No. 93-644  11, 88 Stat. 2324 (1975).
        \2\ NAPA was signed into law as Section 11 of the Headstart,
    Economic Opportunity, and Community Partnership Act of 1974, Pub. L.
    No. 93-644 (1/4/75), and enacted as Title VIII of the Economic
    Opportunity Act of 1964, Pub. L. No. 88-452 (8/20/64).
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Since the initial passage of NAPA, Congress has periodically
    revisited the act to broaden and strengthen its provisions and to
    reinforce its mission. In 1987, Congress passed the Older Americans Act
    Amendments of 1987, \3\ which reauthorized NAPA and established several
    new programs to aid in promoting self-determination, including the
    Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund (NHRLF), which OHA helps to
    administer and oversee today. In 1992, Congress established ANA through
    the Older Americans Act Amendments of 1992, \4\ to carry out the
    important programs under NAPA and to advise the HHS Secretary on all
    matters affecting Native Americans that involve HHS. Also in 1992,
    Congress enacted the Native American Languages Act of 1992, \5\ which
    provided funds specifically to ensure the survival and continuing
    vitality of Native American Languages. And in 1997, Congress passed the
    Native American Programs Acts Amendments of 1998, \6\ which
    reauthorized NAPA through 2002. Unfortunately, this was the last time
    that NAPA was reauthorized.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \3\ Pub. L. No. 100-175 (11/30/87).
        \4\ Pub. L. No. 102-375 (9/30/92).
        \5\ Pub. L. No. 102-524 (10/26/92).
        \6\ Pub. L. No. 105-361 (11/10/98).
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Through the last four and a half decades, various Native Hawaiian
    groups have used NAPA grants to bolster our community's language
    proficiency, health care, agriculture, economic opportunities, and
    youth leadership. Grants created through NAPA have become a critical
    source of funding for Native Hawaiian organizations seeking to expand
    their impacts with new pilots and demonstration projects. In Fiscal
    Year 2017 alone, thirteen different Native Hawaiian projects received
    just under $3.9 million dollars in grants from ANA. \7\ Some of these
    groups initially began their work with smaller grants from OHA before
    continuing on to develop larger scale projects through ANA. Projects
    like `Aha Kane, a program promoting Native Hawaiian health through
    reinvigorating ancient and traditional cultural practices, were able to
    grow and further develop their capacity to make a difference in our
    communities through not only the funding provided by ANA, but also the
    technical assistance of ANA and its contracted program managers.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \7\ See ADMIN. FOR NATIVE AM., CURRENT GRANTEES (2017), https://
    www.acf.hhs.gov/ana/current-grantees [https://web.archive.org/web/
    20180129142724/https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ana/current-grantees].
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        ANA and OHA have fostered a strong working relationship related to
    the coordinated administration of NHRLF and other Native Hawaiian
    programs that have received both ANA and OHA grants. Further, ANA and
    OHA have begun to discuss the possibilities of further collaborating to
    support Native Hawaiian organizations through mentorships and
    coordinating grant program criteria to make both of our grant programs
    more effective in supporting Native Hawaiian organizations with their
    work. These opportunities look promising and we look forward to
    continuing to work with ANA Commissioner Hovland. During her short time
    as ANA Commissioner, she has demonstrated her strong support for
    empowering Native Hawaiians and we are encouraged by our shared vision
    for developing self-determination in the Native Hawaiian community.
        In light of the long and positive history that ANA has served in
    our community and the 45th anniversary of NAPA's initial passage,
    NAPA's reauthorization is long overdue. OHA strongly urges this
    Committee to offer legislation to reauthorize NAPA so that ANA can
    continue its work without this added uncertainty.
        OHA once again thanks the Committee for holding this oversight
    hearing on ANA and NAPA. This important topic needs to be addressed for
    the betterment of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian
    communities. I look forward to continuing to work with you on these
    issues and others affecting our Native people.
                                     ______

         Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to
                                Jeannie Hovland
        Question 1. Please provide the Committee with an overview of all
    actions HHS is taking to address the public health impacts of climate
    change, specifically, the particular threats climate change poses to
    Indigenous Peoples.
        Answer. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
    supports a broad portfolio of research and initiatives related to
    environmental health. Within the Administration for Children and
    Families (ACF), the Administration for Native Americans' (ANA)
    Environmental Regulatory Enhancement (ERE) grants provide resources for
    tribes and native communities to develop legal, technical, and
    organizational capacities for protecting their natural environments.
    Prospective applicants have the flexibility to tailor their grant
    applications based on the environmental needs of their community,
    consistent with the parameters of the funding opportunity announcement.

        Question 2. Please provide us with an update on the status of the
    Council's discussions (to raise the finding of the National Climate
    Assessment with the Intradepartmental Council on Native American
    Affairs).
        Answer. The next meeting of the Intradepartmental Council on Native
    American Affairs will take place in late May. The Committee's request
    to discuss the National Climate Assessment will be addressed at that
    time.

        Question 3. Please provide the Committee with an update on HHS'
    involvement in the draft White House Executive Order establishing a
    Presidential Committee on Climate Security.
        Answer. Neither ACF nor ANA have been involved in any negotiations
    about a prospective Executive Order concerning climate security issues.

        Question 4. Given the dire warning signs of climate change impacts
    on these communities, are these communities eligible to receive ERE
    grants for climate change adaption measures such as the development of
    climate change action plans?
        Answer. ANA ERE grants are used by tribes to develop a variety of
    resource management plans. Action plans with respect to climate change
    could fit within the scope of these types of projects. The ERE program
    is designed to support projects that plan, develop, and implement
    initiatives that improve the capability of an Indian tribe to regulate
    environmental quality pursuant to federal and tribal laws. The ERE
    program enhances the ability of tribal governments to provide effective
    stewardship over the land, water, and air that encompass their native
    communities.
        The ERE program supports the principle that projects must follow
    tribal cultural preservation and natural resource management priorities
    in order to achieve environmentally healthy and sustainable AI/AN
    communities. ANA is therefore interested in supporting projects that
    are locally designed and strengthen environmental regulatory programs
    in a manner consistent with the goals of American Indian and Alaska-
    Native communities.

        Question 5. The Yurok Tribe encountered several difficulties in
    applying for the ERE grant to implement their California Condor
    Reintroduction Program. Specifically the Tribe (1) found that the
    ``request for proposal'' (FRP) is unwieldy; (2) felt ANA gave them too
    short of a notice to make needed revision to their application; and (3)
    notices the ANA's applications included an abundance of technical terms
    that took a four person team hours to decipher. Is ANA addressing these
    challenges so that more Tribes are able to successfully navigate the
    grant application process?
        Answer. ANA understands that the application process can be
    challenging and we are making improvements. In particular, we have
    received feedback that the evaluation components included in our
    Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) can be difficult for new
    applicants to understand. ANA strives to find an appropriate balance
    between requesting sufficient information to demonstrate thorough
    planning and implementation readiness with the need for a fair and
    diverse competition.
        ANA rolled out a project framework in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, within
    the FOA's expected outcomes section, focusing on long-term community
    goals that are achievable and can produce measurable project outcomes.
    ANA's project framework incorporates long-term community goals, current
    community conditions, project goals, objectives, indicators, outcomes,
    and outputs. These components convert long-term community goals into
    specific project goals, define targets for project achievement, and
    provide structure to measure project outcomes. The ANA project
    framework is designed to demonstrate the logical relationship between
    all concepts.
        Program offices within ACF use a Paperwork Reduction Act-approved,
    standardized template for FOAs that includes required government-wide
    data elements. This standardization helps ensure transparency,
    consistency, and reduces the burden on prospective applicants and
    grantees. Grants are awarded to eligible entities who demonstrate the
    capacity to implement them effectively. Conversely, it may limit the
    ability of a particular program to tailor a FOA to the capacities of
    specific potential applicants.
        ANA worked with the ACF Office of Planning and Research Evaluation
    to update our terminology for performance evaluation of funded
    projects. As a result, the terminology used in our FY 2018 FOAs was
    more standardized and better aligned with our ACF partner offices.
    Moreover, each FOA includes an appendix of definitions for project
    framework and other terminology used in the FOA. Most of the terms are
    also HHS standardized interpretations based on 45 CFR Part 75, HHS's
    implementation of the OMB Uniform Guidance at 2 CFR 200.
        In addition, with respect to achieving long-term goals for ANA-
    funded communities, we decided to move from a deficit needs-based
    approach to a strengths-based approach. While this shift created some
    challenges for applicants, it produced stronger project proposals.
    However, ANA recognized a need to provide assistance and guidance based
    on the new FOA and subsequently updated our training and technical
    assistance (TTA) to include in-person workshops and online manuals. The
    manuals and workshop registrations are available on ANA's website and
    numerous announcements were sent out about these resources through
    ANA's listserv from the Office of the Commissioner and from our four
    regional TTA centers.
        In FY 2018, ANA reduced the application period to 60 days to ensure
    that our language awards were made one month earlier than in the past.
    This year, ANA allows a 90-day application period.
        The ``timeframe for revisions'' referred to by the Yurok tribe is
    part of ANA's negotiation period. Once an application is scored and is
    undergoing funding consideration, there may be additional information
    required before finalizing an award. During these negotiations, ANA
    contacts the applicants that have scored the highest and allows them
    the opportunity to revise specific elements of their application. The
    turnaround for this information is typically three days. Often the
    shortened timeframe is necessary to put funding in place prior to the
    end of the fiscal year. However, this is something ANA will look at
    internally to determine if the timeframe can be lengthened.
        ANA is committed to continuous improvement of our FOAs based on
    feedback from tribes and lessons learned from the previous funding
    opportunity cycle. As our FOAs become more standardized and familiar,
    the process and terms should become easier for applicants to
    understand.

        Question 6. Your written testimony states ANA received 266
    applications in FY2018 but only awarded 63 new grant awards in the
    Administration's six project areas. Please provide a breakdown of the
    number of applicants and new awards made for each of the six project
    areas.
        Answer. See table below.

        Question 6a. Please provide an estimate of the number of qualified
    applicants for each project area that ANA was not able to award grants
    to due to funding limitations.
        Answer. Below is a table of the applications received in 2018 and
    awards made by ANA.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 Social
                                                                Economic              SEDS     Environmental
                    Language--Esther  Language--Preservation  Development   SEDS-    Native      Regulatory    2018
                        Martinez           & Maintenance       Strategies  Alaska     Youth     Enhancement    TOTAL
                                                                 (SEDS)            Initiative
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Number of                16                   68                 99         6        61            16        266
     Applications
     Received
    Number of                15                   60                 80         5        55            16        231
     Applications
     Reviewed
    Number of New             8                   10                 27         3        11             4         63
     Awards
    Number of                12                   41                 53         4        34            14        158
     Qualified
     Applications
     scoring 70
     percent and
     above (z
     score, if
     available)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Secondary Benefits
        Question 7. ANA provides grants to three main program areas: Social
    and Economic Strategies, Native Languages, and Environmental Regulatory
    Enhancement. Tribes and organizations may receive an ANA grant for a
    project in one program area, which they use to accomplish goals in
    other program areas as well. Based on your review of ANA grantees, do
    many Tribes see multiple benefits from their NAPA projects?
        Answer. Yes. ANA most recently conducted a data review based on
    outcome evaluations conducted through site visits between 2011 and
    2015. The analysis of this data clearly shows that projects returned
    multiple benefits. For example, with the Social and Economic
    Development Strategies (SEDS) grants, an analysis of 128 projects
    primarily for social development, governance, and health family
    projects found that of 213 objectives, 71 addressed multiple themes
    with the greatest crossover being culture and education. Projects with
    educational objectives were also linked with environment objectives.
    Likewise, cultural objectives were linked with job training,
    agriculture, and education. For more information, please review the
    attached document: QuaNative on SEDS Social Projects 2011-2015.
        During beneficiary interviews with participants of ANA's language
    projects, evaluators asked respondents about the benefits experienced
    as a result of the project. As you can see from the ANA's QuaNative for
    Language Projects 2011-2015, there were a number of self-identified
    social benefits experienced as a result of the language projects.
    Community members identified more language in the community as a
    benefit, but they also identified cultural visibility and community
    connectedness as additional social benefits. Not only did families
    experience the expected cultural transference, they also noted
    intergenerational bonding, family and community bonding, and healing
    from historical trauma as a result of the language project.

                                      [all]