- NONDEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES

[Senate Hearing 117-]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES
APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022

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U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
Washington, DC.

NONDEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES

[Clerk's note.--The subcommittee was unable to hold
hearings on nondepartmental witnesses. The statements and
letters of those submitting written testimony are as follows:]
Prepared Statement of the Alaska Native Health Board (ANHB)
This testimony is submitted on behalf of the Alaska Native Health
Board (ANHB). Thank you Chairperson Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski,
and Members of the Subcommittee for the opportunity to share our
funding priorities for the FY 2022 federal budget, particularly our
request for $12.759 billion for the Indian Health Service (IHS). ANHB
is the statewide voice on Alaska Native health issues and is the
advocacy organization for the Alaska Tribal Health System, which is
comprised of Tribal health programs that serve all of the 229 Tribes
and over 177,000 Alaska Native and American Indian (AN/AI) people
throughout the state. As the statewide Tribal health advocacy
organization, ANHB helps Alaska's Tribes and Tribal programs (T/THOs)
achieve effective consultation and communication with state and federal
agencies on matters of concern.
The historic funding provided to the IHS in the last year has saved
countless lives. We are thankful to have been able to work with
Congress and the IHS, recognizing the important trust and treaty
obligations to our Tribes and their citizens, to implement the response
to this deadly pandemic. Those dollars have been critical to ensuring
that our providers and communities have had the means to serve our
People and fight this pandemic. It is critical that we use this crisis
as an opportunity to make real, sustained investments in the Indian
health system. As we have seen with the remarkable distribution of the
COVID-19 vaccine in Indian Country, when given adequate resources and
when Tribal sovereignty is honored, Tribal communities can rise to the
challenge. It is now time to take the lessons learned from the COVID-19
pandemic--both positive and negative--to renew the Indian health
system. The annual appropriations process is essential to consolidating
and sustaining the gains and progress mad over the last year. We must
continue to ensure the federal government's trust and treaty
obligations by funding critical programs and services receive
adequately to fulfill their intended purpose, therefore ANHB provides
recommendations below for your consideration for FY 2022 appropriations
for the IHS.
Provide Full Funding for the Indian Health Service. As we consider
how to ensure the Indian health system can meet the need of health care
in Indian Country going forward, the IHS and its Tribal partners under
the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA)
must have full funding to deliver critical and adequate care. The
COVID-19 pandemic bore open the decades of underfunding our system has
received, and Congress recognized this through its increased funding to
IHS and Tribes during the pandemic. The FY 2022 Federal Budget must
continue to recognize this need by working toward full funding of the
IHS and Tribal programs.
The IHS Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup has calculated this
need at $48 billion for full funding. While this represents a dramatic
increase in funding, it is imperative that Congress address the true
needs of the Indian health system. In FY 2022, the Workgroup requests
$12.759 billion for IHS. ANHB supports their full request and
reiterates the top 5 priorities for program expansion as follows:

1) Hospitals and Clinics: $4.2 billion
2) Purchased/Referred Care: $2 billion
3) Mental Health: $715 million
4) Alcohol and substance Abuse: $778.5 million
5) Dental Services: $649.7 million

Support for Advance Appropriations for IHS. For many years, Tribes
have requested that IHS receive advance appropriations, similar to the
Veterans Health Administration. In recent years, it has unfortunately
become the norm that IHS does not receive its full annual appropriation
until several months (sometimes longer) after the start of the fiscal
year, and this has been exacerbated by government shutdowns, when no
funding was provided for weeks on end. AN/AI patients should not have
to delay their health care due to unrelated political disagreements in
Washington, D.C. Funding delays make it impossible for IHS and Tribal
health programs to plan and manage their annual budgets. As you know,
health systems cannot practically operate on a day to day or week to
week basis without knowing the future financial situation of programs.
Full advance appropriations for the IHS would promote greater stability
in services, medical personnel recruitment and retention, and
facilities management. We thank the leadership of this Subcommittee for
supporting this important change in previous Congresses. We were also
grateful to see President Biden support IHS advance appropriations in
his FY 2022 budget request to Congress which was released on May 28,
2021. ANHB urges the Committee to take the necessary steps in the FY
2022 appropriations bill to move IHS to an advance appropriation for FY
2023 and beyond.
Mandatory Funding for Contract Support Costs and 105(l) Lease
Payments. We appreciate the Subcommittee's commitment to ensuring that
Contract Support Costs (CSC) and 105(l) lease costs are fully funded by
including an indefinite discretionary appropriation in FY 2021 for both
of these accounts. However, these line items continue to take up a
larger and larger percentage of the IHS discretionary budget, thereby
leaving little room to expand other services given tight discretionary
appropriations caps. We strongly agree with the Subcommittee conclusion
in the explanatory statement for the Further Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2020 regarding 105(l) costs which stated, in part:
``that payments for 105(1) leases [ . . . ] appear to create an
entitlement to compensation for 105(1) leases that is typically not
funded through discretionary appropriations . . . ''
Therefore, we support the President's proposal and ask you to enact
mandatory appropriations for CSC and 105(l) lease costs. Doing so, will
ensure that other areas of the IHS budget are held harmless by these
costs and true increases in critical services line items can move
forward. This will enhance care for AN/AI patients and reduce health
disparities.
Sanitation Facilities Construction.--During the pandemic, we were
told to socially distance and wash our hands to keep COVID-19 from
spreading, but for thousands of homes in Alaska Native villages,
without access to clean running water or sewer, this was impossible.
Roughly 20 percent of rural Alaska Native homes still lack in-home
piped water, across 32 communities. This creates significant health
risks for our communities. With a backlog of almost $3 billion
(approximately $1.7 billion of that in Alaska), the IHS Sanitation
Deficiency list cannot keep pace with need. We urge Congress to
prioritize Sanitation Facilities Construction funding in FY 2022 and
any infrastructure packaging moving through Congress. Furthermore, cost
caps and ineligible cost contributions imposed by the IHS decrease
project priority and limit the amount of funding going to those
projects or eliminate them from funding all together. IHS should
eliminate cost caps that would prevent piped water and sewer for these
communities. We recommend the Subcommittee review our recent testimony
to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on Water Infrastructure Needs
for Native Communities.
Fully Fund the Village Built Clinic Lease Program.--Village health
clinics supported by the IHS Village Built Clinic (VBC) Lease Program
have a long and unique history in Alaska, and provide the only local
source of health care in many rural areas. VBC leases, which are vital
to the provision of services by Community Health Aides/Practitioners,
who provide primary health care services and coordinate patient care
through referral relationships with midlevel providers, physicians, and
regional hospitals, remain severely underfunded. We ask that Congress
fully fund all VBC leases in FY 2022 and thereafter.
Support Expansion of the IHS Joint Venture Program.--The IHS Joint
Venture (JV) program provides Tribes with a critical opportunity to
build new facilities and enhance health services. The program is a
joint venture where T/THOs build or acquire a facility with their own
or other non-IHS funds, and IHS commits to fund the additional staffing
and operations costs associated with the new or expanded facility. It
has been a cost-effective mechanism to address facilities shortages,
because the IHS Facilities Construction Priority List continues to have
limited funds. However, in the recent round of JV applications which
typically funds finalist applicants, half of top 10 scoring applicants
went unfunded. Three of these unfunded projects were in Alaska. We
request that the Committee direct IHS to fund all the remaining high-
scoring applicants for JV construction projects.
There also remains a significant flaw in the program that leaves
Tribal facilities without necessary maintenance and replacement funds.
The Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) requires the Tribe lease
the facility to IHS for 20 years at no cost. The JV facility is only
eligible to receive a share of IHS's perennially insufficient
Maintenance and Improvement (M&I) funding, but is not eligible for a
lease under section 105(l) of ISDEAA.\1\ This leads to the anomaly that
non-JV facilities can be fully funded under 105(l), receiving either
fair market rental or the cost elements set out in the regulations,
while JV facilities are stuck with only insufficient M&I funds. We
request that Congress amend the IHCIA to correct this issue.
Tribal IT Modernization.--Just as IHS has begun its health
information technology (HIT) modernization, T/THOs are well underway
implementing their own HIT modernization. While this Committee has
supported the IHS efforts by appropriating funds for its modernization,
T/THOs have had to absorb these costs with their own resources. The
process that IHS has begun is simply not working for those T/THOs that
have initiated their own HIT modernization. The current state of IHS
HIT modernization is where T/THOs were three to five years ago, when
these programs implemented their own commercial electronic health
record (EHR) solutions. The state of the IHS HIT modernization has been
inefficient and slow. Tribes cannot afford to wait for the IHS HIT
modernization process to catch up to where Tribal programs are
currently. This issue has been exacerbated in the wake of the COVID-19
pandemic when EHRs and telehealth services have become critical to
continued health care delivery. Just as IHS is working on its HIT
modernization, T/THOs are working to improve their systems as well to
meet the changing and growing demands of HIT.
This Congressional investment in IHS modernization could
potentially result in recurring Tribal shares and become contractible
through ISDEAA agreements. This is inherently unfair to T/THOs that
have already invested their own funding to modernize HIT. This is
compounded by the fact that IHS has retained all of the funding
provided by Congress for its HIT modernization at IHS-HQ to cover the
costs of their process to replace RPMS.
We recommend that the Committee direct IHS to consult with Tribes
on how funding provided by Congress can support T/THO modernization
efforts and how Tribal shares related to HIT will be defined and funded
under IHS' modernization efforts. Further, we recommend the committee
include language which would allow IHS to reimburse T/THOs for costs
previously incurred to implement their own HIT modernizations.
Extend Self-Governance Options to Other Health and Human Services
Agencies and Programs.--We have long advocated for extension of Tribal
self-determination and self-governance for programs outside of the IHS.
T/THOs have demonstrated how successful programs can be run when they
are responsive and culturally attentive under the administration of
Tribes. We urge the Subcommittee to work with other relevant committees
to support and fund pilot programs to allow Tribes to self-determine
other Health and Human Services programs which serve their communities.
The success of these self-governance initiatives is never truer
than when the Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI) is
considered. Consistent with this aim, Congress should authorize SDPI
participants the option of receiving their federal funds through either
a grant (as currently used) or self-governance funding mechanisms under
ISDEAA. SDPI has also not had a funding increase since FY 2004 and
recent short-term reauthorizations have shown how destabilizing funding
uncertainty can be. Therefore, we recommend permanent reauthorization
for SDPI at a minimum base of $250 million per year with annual
inflationary increases. We urge you to work with your Congressional
colleagues to ensure that SDPI receives a funding increase of at least
$250 million per year.
Increase Funds to Behavioral Health and Reduce Dependence on
Competitive Grants. Over the last year, in response to the incredible
behavioral health needs seen due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress has
made historic investments in behavioral and mental health funding for
Indian Country. The increases we have seen must continue not only to
address the increased need from the pandemic era, but to address the
existing need which was underfunded in previous appropriations. As part
of this, we encourage the Committee to fund the above Mental Health
budget request of $715 million and the Alcohol and Substance Abuse
request for $778.15 million. We also urge the Committee to direct the
IHS to move any behavioral or mental health funding being deliver via
grants to Tribal compacts and contracts, such as the Substance Abuse
and Suicide Prevention program (SASP), Domestic Violence Prevention
Program (DVPP), and Zero Suicide Initiative.
In addition to the critical funding needs for behavioral health
outlined above, we also support moving away from competitive grants for
federal funding mechanisms more generally. The federal trust
responsibility does not require that we jump through hoops and onerous
applications to see that services are provided to our People. Grants
unfairly pit Tribes against Tribes, when all are deserving of critical
resources. Therefore, we agree with other Tribal leaders and continue
to support broad based funding for our health systems across all
federal agencies.
Plan for the Future with Dedicated Funding for Preventative Health
Services.--COVID-19 has highlighted the tremendous need and tremendous
gap in public health funding that currently exists. Like other
governments, Tribes have the responsibility to provide public health
services for their people. Yet the federal government provides few
resources to Tribal communities for this purpose. AN/AIs experience
health disparities for a variety of health conditions such as such as
obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other largely preventable
chronic conditions. Treating these chronic health conditions imposes
unnecessary challenges on Tribal health systems and IHS. We support
long-term, sustained, full investment in Tribal public health
infrastructure so that Tribal communities have the resources available
to respond quickly when the next crisis hits.
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\1\ 25 U.S.C. Sec. 5324(l); 25 C.F.R. Part 900, Subpart H.
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Prepared Statement of The Alliance for the Great Lakes
The Alliance for the Great Lakes is a nonpartisan nonprofit working
across the Great Lakes region to protect and restore the Great Lakes.
Founded in 1970, we have worked for 50 years on programs to ensure
public access to clean, safe and affordable drinking water; protect
water quality; stop the establishment and spread of harmful invasive
aquatic species, including invasive carp; reduce plastic pollution; and
advocate for increased drinking and wastewater infrastructure funding
and programs to ensure that water remains affordable for all Americans.
Our membership and supporters are located throughout the eight states
in the Great Lakes region and each year we mobilize more than 15,000
volunteers to take action to ensure that our shorelines and beaches are
healthy, safe and clean.
The Great Lakes are not only a national treasure but are a globally
significant resource containing 20 percent of the world's available
freshwater supply. The Lakes provide some 30 million Americans with
drinking water and are vital to communities in Illinois, Indiana,
Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The
Great Lakes not only provide water, but they also support jobs,
commerce, agriculture, transportation, and tourism for millions of
Americans. Protecting the health of the Great Lakes is integral to the
environmental and economic health of the region.
But the Great Lakes face continued threats from the harmful legacy
of decades of pollution that threaten our communities with cancer---
causing contaminants, drinking water restrictions, and fish consumption
advisories. Action is needed at all levels of government to address
these threats, as well as emerging issues associated with climate
change.
The FY 2022 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies
Appropriations bill under this Subcommittee's jurisdiction funds an
array of programs and projects in the Environmental Protection Agency
and the Department of the Interior that are critical to the restoration
and protection of the Great Lakes. As a member of the Healing Our
Waters Coalition we have previously provided the Subcommittee with
funding recommendations for several programs and we reiterate the need
for robust funding for these programs. Our written testimony, however,
will highlight just two of the programs under your consideration that
are funded within the Environmental Protection Agency: the Great Lakes
Restoration Initiative and water infrastructure funding.
great lakes restoration initiative
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) is an Environmental
Protection Agency funded grant program that supports state, federal,
tribal and local efforts to protect and restore the Great Lakes. GLRI
funding is allocated by a 16-member federal interagency task force and
regional working group to address water quality issues associated with
pollution and legacy contaminants; habitat loss/degradation and
invasive species consistent with a five-year action plan containing
measurable goals and objectives.
Since its inception in 2010, $2.7 billion has been provided to fund
more than 5,400 projects. These projects are benefiting Great Lakes
communities throughout the region, and we are seeing impressive
results:

--Four Areas of Concern--essentially areas with toxic legacy
pollution--have been cleaned up and delisted since the GLRI
began and the management actions necessary to delist 10
additional Area of Concerns have also been completed. This is
striking as in the previous two decades before the GLRI funding
began, only one Area of Concern had been cleaned up. Areas of
Concern threaten coastal communities around the Lakes and a
recent estimate is that there remains nearly $1 billion in work
associated with cleaning up this toxic legacy pollution in the
remaining sites where it is located. Additional GLRI funding is
needed to continue tackling this legacy pollution issue.
--91 beneficial use impairments (BUIs) were addressed in Illinois,
Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and
Wisconsin, more than nine times the total number of BUIs
removed in the preceding 22 years.
--Farmers have implemented nutrient management actions on nearly 2
million acres of rural lands through 2017 to reduce erosion and
farm runoff that contributes to detrimental water quality
impacts, including harmful algal blooms.

For every $1 the GLRI invested through 2016 to clean up toxic hot
spots in Areas of Concern, control invasive species, restore wildlife
habitat, protect wetlands, and reduce harmful algae it is estimated
that the investment will produce more than $3 in additional economic
activity regionwide through 2036. Accordingly, the GLRI is revitalizing
our waterfronts and leading a resurgence in water--based outdoor
recreation and increasing tourism across the region. Still, as noted
above, much more work needs to be done. Toxic pollutants, invasive
species, deteriorating habitats, and unsafe waters threaten the region,
endangering human and wildlife health, lowering property values, and
hurting the region's economy.
The FY 2022 President's Budget proposes to fund GLRI at $340
million, an increase of $10 million over last year's enacted level. We
are pleased to see this proposed increase as it supports the protection
and restoration of the Great Lakes and recognizes the strong track
record of program success. However, the proposed funding level in the
President's Budget falls short of the authorized level for this program
and we request that the Subcommittee appropriate $375 million, an
increase of $35 million over the budget request, for this effort. This
funding level is consistent with the congressional project
reauthorization in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act (P.L.
116-294, Jan. 5, 2021) which authorizes $375 million in funding for FY
2022. In addition to supporting states, tribes and local communities,
GLRI funding also supports US Treaty obligations under the Boundary
Waters Treaty of 1909 between the US and Canada and its Great Lakes
Water Quality Agreement. The additional funding in FY 2022 will allow
the GLRI program to accelerate the ability to clean up the most
polluted sites and delist more Areas of Concern, reduce phosphorus
loads entering the lakes, and control and prevent the spread of
invasive species such as invasive carp.
investing in water infrastructure
Another important area under the Subcommittee's jurisdiction is
funding for water infrastructure. We are pleased that the President's
Budget includes a $589 million increase for several water
infrastructure programs funded within the Environmental Protection
Agency, including the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, the Drinking
Water State Revolving Fund and several other programs that support
water infrastructure repair and replacement and build climate
resilience.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that nationwide
approximately $743 billion is needed over the next twenty years to
repair, replace and upgrade water infrastructure. In the Great Lakes
alone it is estimated that the eight states need $188 billion to
upgrade aging water infrastructure. Furthermore, the Congressional
Budget Office estimates that federal funding for water and wastewater
utilities has decreased fourfold since 1980, leaving state and local
governments to pick up the tab. These costs are becoming increasingly
difficult for communities to afford and the passing on of
infrastructure repair costs to consumers has created an affordability
crisis for many across the country, with wastewater prices more than
doubling over the last twenty years.
Based upon the need for water infrastructure repairs, replacements
and upgrades nationally and in the Great Lakes region, the Alliance
believes that we need at least $10 billion annually for each of the
Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds. Although this
need far outstrips available annual funding, we are encouraged and
pleased to see the FY 2022 President's Budget propose increases for
these programs which are a necessary first step toward addressing the
myriad of issues plaguing water infrastructure utilities and local
communities. Accordingly, we encourage you to appropriate funds for
these programs at least at the President's Budget request if not more
for FY 2022. We also encourage the Congress to set aside funds for
grants to low-income communities and communities of color which
continue to experience disproportionate impacts of degraded water
infrastructure.
We appreciate the Subcommittee's consideration of our views and its
work and funding support over many years for programs that protect and
restore the Great Lakes. As the source of drinking water for 30 million
Americans and as a significant driver in the regional economy of eight
states, investments in programs that protect and restore the Great
Lakes are critical to ensure the economic and environmental health of
this important resource.

[This statement was submitted by Don Jodrey, Director of Federal
Relations.]
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Prepared Statement of the Alliance to Save Energy and Partners
We the undersigned write to request an increase in the
Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR budget to at least $80
million annually. ENERGY STAR is a highly successful public--private
partnership that delivers tremendous impact in addressing climate
change and generating consumer energy savings on a shoestring budget of
under $40 million. Despite its bipartisan reputation as a cost-
effective and high-impact program, it has nonetheless seen declining
funding in recent years.
Our request to effectively double ENERGY STAR's funding to $80
million reflects the urgency to address climate change to avoid far
bigger public costs, and to help consumers and businesses save money.
In 2019 alone, the program saved American consumers and businesses more
than $39 billion in avoided energy costs. Additionally, thousands of
businesses, utilities, states, and local governments depend on ENERGY
STAR as a national framework for energy efficiency progress, relying on
it in their product designs, energy management programs, building
efficiency initiatives, and manufacturing practices. Moreover, the
production of ENERGY STAR products supports 800,000 jobs in our
economy, aligning with President Biden's American Jobs Plan.
Meanwhile, doubling down on ENERGY STAR will help the nation
collectively achieve proposed greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction
goals of 50% by 2030. The emissions impact cannot be overstated: In
2019, ENERGY STAR accounted for nearly 390 million metric tons of
emissions reductions--equivalent to roughly 5% of U.S. GHG emissions.
Since the program began in 1992, it has accounted for more than 4
billion metric tons of GHG reductions, equivalent to removing 870
million cars from the road.
ENERGY STAR is a substantive tool in reducing carbon emissions,
achieving energy savings for consumers, and in creating jobs. If we are
to meet the current challenges before us and increase our efforts to
mitigate climate change, increasing the ENERGY STAR budget is
essential. We look forward to discussing this proposal further.

Sincerely,

2G Energy Inc.
A.O. Smith
Acuity Brands, Inc.
Advanced Energy Economy
Alliance to Save Energy
Alturus
American Association of Blacks in Energy
American Institute of Architects
American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
American Society of Interior Designers
Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education
Association of Energy Engineers
Baker Hughes
Building Performance Association
California Energy Commission
Carrier Corporation
Chelan Public Utility District
Combined Heat and Power Alliance
Copper Development Association
Covestro LLC
Curtis Power Solutions
DBS Power and Energy
DT Energy Consultants
DuPont
Dynamic Energy Strategies
E4TheFuture
Efficiency Canada
Enginuity Power Systems
Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI)
Flex Energy Solutions
Google
Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital
Heat is Power Association
HFT Inc.
Illuminating Engineering Society
Institute for Market Transformation (IMT)
Intel
International Code Council
International Copper Association
Johnson Controls
Kanin Energy
Kelly Generator & Equipment Inc.
Knauf Insulation
Kraft Energy Systems
Lima Company
Lutron
Martin Energy Group
Metrus Energy
Midwest Cogeneration Association
Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance
National Association of College and University Business Officers
National Association of Energy Service Companies
National Association of State Energy Officials
National Council for Workforce Education
National Grid
Natural Resources Defense Council
New York Power Authority
North American Insulation Manufacturers Association
Northeast-Western Energy Systems
PG&E Corporation
Polyisocyanurate Insulation Manufacturers Association
Puget Sound Energy
Schneider Electric
Seattle City Light
Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association
Siemens
Signify North America Corporation
Snohomish County Public Utility District
Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance
Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP)
Sterling Energy Group LLC
Trane Technologies
U.S. Green Building Council
Uplight
Willdan
Window and Door Manufacturers Association (WMDA)

______

Prepared Statement of the American Alliance of Museums
Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for allowing me to submit this testimony. My
name is Laura L. Lott and I am the President and CEO of the American
Alliance of Museums (AAM). We urge your support for $201 million in
Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 funding for the National Endowment for the Arts
(NEA), $201 million in funding for the National Endowment for the
Humanities (NEH), as well as sufficient funding for the Smithsonian
Institution. We also request your support for the Historic Preservation
Fund, including at least $60 million for State Historic Preservation
Offices (SHPOs), $24 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices
(THPOs), and $26 million for competitive grants to preserve the sites
and stories of the Civil Rights Movement. We request funding of $20
million for the Save America's Treasures program and $9 million for
Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization grants. We support funding for the
Semiquincentennial competitive grant program.
Before detailing these funding priorities for the museum field, I
want to express my appreciation for the increases enacted in FY 2021.
The additional funds for the NEH, NEA, and historic preservation
activities will enhance museums' work to enrich their communities and
preserve our many heritages. The Subcommittee's choice to make these
investments in FY 2021 speaks volumes about its commitment to our
nation's cultural institutions. We also are grateful for the
supplemental grant funding of $75 million (CARES Act) and $135 million
(American Rescue Plan) for each endowment to help cultural
organizations, including museums, cope with and respond to the
devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Representing more than 35,000 museum professionals and volunteers,
institutions--including aquariums, art museums, botanic gardens,
children's museums, cultural museums, historic sites, history museums,
maritime museums, military museums, natural history museums,
planetariums, presidential libraries, railway museums, science and
technology centers, and zoos--and corporate partners serving the museum
field, AAM stands for the broad range of the museum community.
Museums are essential in their communities for many reasons:

--Museums are economic engines and job creators. According to Museums
as Economic Engines: A National Report, U.S. museums (pre-
pandemic) support more than 726,000 jobs and contribute $50
billion to the U.S. economy per year. The economic activity of
museums generates more than $12 billion in tax revenue, one-
third of which goes to state and local governments. For
example, the total financial impact that museums have on the
economy in the state of Oregon is $585 million, including
supporting 9,740 jobs. For Alaska it is a $280 million impact
supporting 3,240 jobs. This impact is not limited to cities:
more than 25% of museums are in rural areas. The import of
these data is not the numbers alone--but the larger point that
museums give back tremendously to their communities in numerous
ways--including economically. The federal funding for NEA, NEH,
and the other programs does not stay in Washington, DC, it goes
back to communities across the nation. And it is leveraged many
times over by private philanthropy and state and local
investments.
--Museums are key education providers. Museums spend more than $2
billion yearly on education activities; the typical museum
devotes 75% of its education budget to K-12 students, and
museums receive approximately 55 million visits each year from
students in school groups. Museums help teach the state and
local curriculum in subjects ranging from art and science to
history, civics, and government. Museums have long served as a
vital resource to homeschool learners. It is not surprising
that in a public opinion survey, 97% of respondents agreed that
museums were educational assets in their communities. The
results were statistically identical regardless of political
persuasion or community size.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent
federal agency created by Congress in 1965. Grants are awarded to
nonprofit educational institutions, including museums, for educational
programming, infrastructure and the care of collections. NEH supports
museums as institutions of lifelong learning and exploration, and as
keepers of our cultural, historical, and scientific heritages that can
foster critical dialogues on challenging issues.
In March 2020, NEH received $75 million in supplemental grant
funding through the $2.2 trillion CARES Act. The agency immediately
distributed $30 million to the 56 state and jurisdictional humanities
councils to support local cultural nonprofits and educational
programming. In June 2020, NEH awarded $40.3 million in CARES Act
economic stabilization grants to more than three hundred institutions,
including museums, spanning all 50 states. NEH received more than 2,300
eligible applications from cultural organizations, requesting more than
$370 million in funding. Approximately 14 percent of the applicants
received grants.
In FY 2020, in addition to the money distributed through NEH CARES
Grants, the NEH awarded 650 grants totaling more than $56.1 million to
institutions across the U.S., including museums. All of NEH's divisions
and offices support museums:

--The Office of Challenge Grants offers matching grants to support
much needed capacity building and infrastructure projects at
museums.
--The Division of Public Programs offers grants that bring the ideas
and insights of the humanities to life in museums and other
spaces by supporting exhibitions, community conversations, and
place-based history. Additionally, Positions in the Public
Humanities supplements provide professional development
opportunities for new museum professionals.
--The Division of Preservation and Access provides funding to museums
for efforts to preserve and provide access to our nation's rich
cultural heritage. For more than a decade, NEH has supported
important sustainability work on energy efficiency projects in
collections care.
--The Division of Education Programs supports programs that bring
educators to museums for intensive summer training programs on
humanities topics.
--The Office of Digital Humanities offers grants to support
innovations in technology at museums, universities, and other
institutions.
--The Division of Research supports scholarly research that many
museums use to inform exhibitions and public programming.

Humanities councils in every state and U.S. territory sponsor
family literacy programs, speakers' bureaus, cultural heritage tourism,
exhibitions, and live performances. Many councils also offer grants to
local cultural organizations, including museums.
In preparation for the U.S. Semiquincentennial in 2026, NEH's new
``A More Perfect Union'' initiative provides funding opportunities
across the agency's seven grantmaking divisions for humanities projects
that promote a deeper understanding of American history and culture and
that advance civic education and knowledge of our core principles of
government.
Here are just two examples of how NEH funding was used to support
museums' work in your communities:

--The High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon, in 2020 received a $191,920
Sustaining Humanities and Connecting Community grant to retain
staff and enable the museum's core humanities team to create
new virtual programming that will expand public access to the
Museum's significant humanities resources, expertise, and
collection and deepen understanding of the diverse experiences
and perspectives that make up the history of the High Desert
region with a particular focus on Indigenous cultures and
perspectives.
--The Sheldon Museum and Cultural Center in Haines, Alaska, in 2020
received a $350,000 grant for sustainable environmental
controls throughout the museum critical for the museum's
collection preservation.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) makes art accessible to
all and provides leadership in arts education. Established in 1965, NEA
supports great art in every congressional district. Its grants to
museums help them exhibit, preserve, and interpret visual material
through exhibitions, residencies, publications, commissions, public art
works, conservation, documentation, services to the field, and public
programs.
Congress appropriated $75 million to the NEA through the CARES Act
to preserve jobs and help support organizations forced to close
operations due to the spread of COVID-19. Forty percent of this funding
was awarded directly to state and regional arts agencies to distribute
through their funding programs. On July 1, the NEA announced that 855
organizations, including museums--and organizations located in every
state--would receive a total of $44.5 million in nonmatching funds to
support staff salaries, fees for artists or contractual personnel, and
facilities costs.
Since 2010, the NEA has collaborated with Blue Star Families and
the U.S. Department of Defense on Blue Star Museums, which provides
free museum admission to active duty military and their families all
summer long. In 2019, more than 2,000 museums in all 50 states
participated, reaching on average more than 900,000 military members
and their families.
The federal role of the NEA is uniquely valuable; receiving a grant
from the NEA confers prestige on supported projects, strengthening
museums' ability to attract matching funds from other public and
private funders. On average, each dollar awarded by the NEA leverages
up to nine dollars from other sources. No other funder--public or
private--funds the arts in every state and the U.S. territories. Forty
percent of NEA's grant funds are distributed to state arts agencies for
re-granting.
Here are two examples of how NEA funding was used to support
museums' work in your communities:

--The Four Rivers Cultural Center and Museum in Ontario, Oregon, in
2020 was awarded a $55,000 grant to support folklife fieldwork
and public programs in eastern Oregon and western Idaho. A
folklorist will coordinate fieldwork, presentations, and
podcasts exploring the cultural heritage of the Columbia River
Basin, which stretches from eastern Oregon to western Idaho.
Working in partnership with the Oregon Folklife Network, Oregon
Arts Commission, Idaho Commission on the Arts, and the Western
Folklife Center, the folklorist will produce local programs,
exhibits, and an annual tri-state folklife festival.
--The Anchorage Museum in Alaska in 2021 was awarded a $100,000 grant
to support public art installations, architectural design fees,
and creation of a new Indigenous font. The project will
increase visual representation of Dena'ina culture in the built
environment of Anchorage. In partnership with the Municipality
of Anchorage, Indigenous-Led design firm SALT, and Alaska
Pacific University's Office of Research and Community
Engagement, local artists and designers will collaborate with
residents to develop temporary and permanent public art
installations that utilize local materials and establish a more
culturally inclusive and representative architectural identity
in downtown Anchorage.

In addition to these direct grants, NEA's Arts and Artifacts
Indemnity program also allows museums to apply for federal indemnity on
major exhibitions, saving them as much as $30 million in insurance
costs every year and making many more exhibitions available to the
public--all at virtually no cost to the American taxpayer.
The Smithsonian Institution comprises some of the most visited
museums in the world. The National Museum of African American History
and Culture has captivated audiences from around the globe,
underscoring the power of our national museums to educate and inspire.
We support funding increases that would allow these world-class museums
to undertake critical collections care, make needed technology
upgrades, conduct cutting edge research of every type, and increase
access for all.
The Historic Preservation Fund is the funding source of
preservation awards to states, tribes, local governments, and
nonprofits. State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices carry out
the historic preservation work of the federal government on state and
tribal lands. Historic preservation programs are not only essential to
protecting our many heritages; they also serve as economic development
engines and job creators. We urge you to provide $60 million for SHPOs
and $24 million for THPOs. We applaud recent funding increases for the
Save America's Treasures program, and urge you to provide $20 million
in FY 2022 funding. Since 1999, there have been more than 4,000
requests for funding totaling more than $1.54 billion. More than
$315,700,000 has been awarded to 1,300-plus projects. These projects
protected some of America's most iconic and endangered artifacts,
including the American flag that inspired the Star Spangled Banner. We
also applaud the investment in competitive grants to preserve the sites
and stories of the Civil Rights Movement and support FY 2022 funding of
$26 million for these grants. In addition, we support funding for the
Semiquincentennial competitive grant program.
I hope that my testimony helped make it clear why these priorities
are of critical importance to the nation and how they provide a
worthwhile return on investment to the American taxpayer.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony.
______

Prepared Statement of the American Bar Association (ABA)
Dear Chair Shaheen, Ranking Member Moran, Chair Cartwright, and Ranking
Member Aderholt:

On behalf of the American Bar Association (ABA), the largest
voluntary association of lawyers and legal professionals in the world,
I write to express our concerns over inadequate funding of tribal
criminal justice that has contributed to staggering rates of violent
crime and victimization on many Indian reservations. This is not a new
problem.
The underfunding of the tribal justice systems has been well-
documented in report after report for over two decades.\1\ Most
recently, in 2020, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) submitted a
Report to Congress on Spending, Staffing, and Estimated Funding Costs
for Public Safety and Justice Programs in Indian Country estimating
that $1.2 billion was needed for tribal courts to provide a minimum
base level of service to all federally recognized tribal nations in
2018. A recent Supreme Court decision leaves no doubt that even this
level of funding, which was never achieved, will not be sufficient to
meet current needs.
In July 2020, the United States Supreme Court recognized the
inherent tribal jurisdiction over Native American sovereign lands in
Oklahoma. In its decision in McGirt v Oklahoma, the Court recognized
that simply because a State encroaches onto sovereign Indian Lands,
that does not give the State authority to exercise jurisdiction to
prosecute state law crimes in contravention of treaty provisions.
As a result, tribal and federal courts and law enforcement must now
devote substantial resources to criminal cases that had been heard in
state court prior to the decision in McGirt. On March 11, 2021, the
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals confirmed that both the Cherokee
Nation and Chickasaw Nation reservations are intact based on McGirt,
and the state courts within each of the reservation counties have
started releasing defendants to be retried before tribal and or federal
courts. (The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has not yet ruled on
cases involving the Seminole Nation and the Choctaw Nation.)
Consequently, several thousand cases will now be redirected to tribal
courts in Oklahoma, creating an even greater need for funding to ensure
adequate numbers of judges, support staff, facilities, and equipment to
address these long overdue proceedings. The need will, of course, be
much greater if McGirt impacts treaties outside of Oklahoma.
The American Bar Association has long affirmed that tribal justice
systems are the primary and most appropriate institutions for
maintaining order in tribal communities. We have repeatedly urged the
United States government ``to support quality and accessible justice by
ensuring adequate, stable, long-term funding for tribal justice
systems''.\2\ Despite urgent pleas by tribes, tribal courts, and
concerned organizations representing myriad disciplines for the U.S.
government to appropriate the funds that are needed to provide the more
than 350 tribal justice systems with the resources they need to do this
important work, there is a critical funding shortfall that needs to be
recognized and rectified as we enter the FY 2022 budget cycle.
We appreciate the recent attention given to the needs of Native
Americans in the COVID 19 relief bill. However, the funds included in
that legislation do not begin to address the funding needed to support
the specific responsibilities of Tribal Courts. The funding of Tribal
Courts is an area of long-standing neglect and requires immediate
attention.
Therefore, we urge you to address this important funding priority
this year and we stand ready to assist you in whatever way we can.

Sincerely,

Patricia Lee Refo, President
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ U.S. Civil Rights Commission 1991 Report The Indian Civil
Rights Act: A Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights;
the U. S. Civil Rights Commission 2003 Report A Quiet Crisis: Federal
Funding and Unmet Needs in Indian Country; the Indian Law and Order
Commission 2013 report A Roadmap for Making Native America Safer:
Report to the President & Congress of the United States; the U.S.
Department of Justice, Attorney General's Advisory Committee on
American Indian/Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence 2014 Report
Ending Violence So Children Can Thrive; and the U. S. Civil Rights
Commission 2018 report Broken Promises: Continuing Federal Funding
Shortfall for Native Americans.
\2\ The ABA has adopted extensive policy supporting tribal court
funding, accessible at: https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/
administrative/crsj/native-american-concerns.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

______

Prepared Statement of the American Bar Association (ABA)
Dear Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, Chair Pingree, and
Ranking Member Joyce:

Sincerely,

Prepared Statement of the American Geophysical Union
The American Geophysical Union (AGU), a non-profit, non-partisan
scientific society, appreciates the opportunity to submit testimony
regarding the fiscal year 2022 (FY22) budget request for the United
States Geological Survey (USGS). AGU, on behalf of its worldwide
community of 130,000 in the Earth and space sciences, respectfully
requests that the 117th Congress appropriate $1.75 billion for the
USGS. We understand this is a substantial increase and firmly believe
the agency needs to reach this funding level to be ready to respond to
twenty first -century challenges with twenty first-century science and
technology.
The USGS is uniquely positioned to provide informed responses to
many of our nation's greatest challenges. For example, the USGS plays a
crucial role in assessing water quality and quantity, reducing risks
from natural hazards, assessing mineral and energy resources, and
managing our nation's ecosystems. Through its offices across the
country, the USGS provides high-quality research and data to
policymakers, emergency responders, natural resource managers, civil
and environmental engineers, educators and the public. A few examples
of the USGS's valuable work are provided below, as well as obstacles to
its success.
predicting and observing natural hazards
The USGS works to reduce risks from floods, wildfires, earthquakes,
tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and other natural hazards
that jeopardize human lives and cost billions of dollars in damages
each year--earthquakes alone are estimated to cost the U.S. $6.1
billion annually.\1\ For example, the USGS conducts hazard analyses,
using seismic networks, to formulate earthquake probabilities that are
used by local officials to establish building codes. The USGS also
monitors volcanoes and provides warnings about impending eruptions that
are used by aviation officials to prevent planes from flying into
volcanic ash clouds. Data from the USGS network of stream gages are
used by the National Weather Service to issue flood and drought
warnings. Moreover, the USGS and its federal partners monitor seasonal
wildfires and provide maps of current fire locations and the potential
spread of fires that are used by local officials and firefighters. In
short, in domestic and global events, emergency managers and public
officials rely on the USGS to inform them of risks and hazards posed to
human and natural systems.
mapping and assessing mineral and energy resources
The USGS assessments of mineral and energy resources--including
rare earth elements, coal, oil, unconventional natural gas, and
geothermal sources--are essential for making decisions about the
nation's energy and technology future. The USGS identifies the location
and quantity of domestic mineral and energy resources and assesses the
economic and environmental effects of resource extraction and use. The
USGS also maps domestic supplies of rare earth elements to be used in
new energy technologies, helping to reduce dependence on foreign
sources of such minerals. In addition, the USGS is the sole federal
source of information on mineral potential, production and consumption
of around 100 selected mineral commodities for approximately 180
countries.\2\
maintaining and evaluating public health
The USGS helps to maintain public health at the local, state and
national level by monitoring changes in ecosystem and environmental
health and evaluating human susceptibility to contaminants, pathogens
and environmental disease. The agency assesses negative health effects
caused by the dispersion of contaminants after natural and man-made
disasters, such as hurricanes and oil spills. For example, after
Hurricane Sandy, the USGS provided soil, water and sediment information
to public health agencies to help them protect citizens from toxic
contaminants. This unique perspective into the intersection between the
physical environment, living environment and humans allows the USGS to
provide valuable insights into public health concerns.
monitoring and evaluating water availability and quality
The USGS collects information on water availability and quality to
inform the public and decision makers about the status and history of
freshwater resources. Around the country, the USGS operates more than
10,000 stream gages, which are fixed structures that measure the amount
of water flowing through a body of water over time.\3\ These stream
gages produce vital data for water management, energy development,
infrastructure design, flood mapping and forecasting, water quality
monitoring, ecosystem management and recreational safety approaches.
developing and providing mapping for the nation
The USGS utilizes unique technologies that enable the nationwide
collection of accurate terrain information used by businesses, water
managers and emergency responders, among others. Leveraging funds from
the private sector and other federal agencies, the agency's 3D
Elevation Program (3DEP) provides modernized, high-resolution
topographic maps and open--access elevation data to support cutting
edge resource management and energy projects ranging from flood--
inundation maps to precision farming and renewable energy project
development.
collecting and assessing data
Research and data collected by the USGS is vital to predicting the
impacts of land use and climate change on water resources, wildfires
and ecosystems. For nearly 50 years, Landsat satellites--co-managed by
USGS and NASA--have collected the largest archive of remotely sensed
land data in the world, allowing for access to current and historical
images that are used to assess the impact of natural disasters on
communities and the environment and monitor global agriculture
production. Landsat imagery, which has been available to the public at
no cost since 2008, provided an estimated $3.45 billion in benefits to
its users in 2017 alone.\4\ The consistency of data sets like those
provided by Landsat is vital for advances in science, more efficient
natural resource management and profitable applications of data in
commerce and industry.
engaging the next generation of scientists
The USGS offers various programs and tools to help educate students
and prepare them for careers in science. For example, the Youth and
Education in Science (YES) office coordinates internal funding and
internship programs, such as graduate internships, tools for the
classroom for K-12 teachers and work--transition programs for young
adults with cognitive disabilities. USGS programs, such as the
Cooperative Research Units (CRU), also offer a career pathway to the
Department of Interior for underrepresented undergraduate students in
38 states by providing them mentoring and hands-on experience. Since
2015, over 670 students have graduated through the program.
supporting and informing land management
The USGS plays a critical role in informing sound management of
natural resources on federal and state lands. The USGS conducts
research and monitoring of fish, wildlife, and vegetation--data that
informs management decisions by other Department of Interior bureaus
regarding protected species and land use. Ecosystems research is also
used to control invasive species and wildlife diseases that would
otherwise cause billions of dollars in economic losses. The USGS
provides information for resource managers as they develop strategies
for restoration and long-term use of the nation's natural resources in
the face of environmental change.
science support
The past several fiscal years have proved extremely damaging to the
underlying operations that support the work of USGS employees and
without which the USGS cannot fully function. For example, USGS Science
Support staff provide human resources, communications and publishing,
and scientific oversight in support of the research conducted by USGS.
Yet, Science Support funding has been decreased, even as funding for
USGS mission areas has increased, albeit slightly. This disparity in
funding has had ripple effects by aggravating backlogs in the posting
of available jobs, the hiring of new scientists, and the dissemination
of data and findings to stakeholders. For the USGS to effectively
perform and function into the future, Science Support must see funding
increases that align with those requested Survey-wide.
scientific integrity
Strong scientific integrity policies are critical for the USGS to
be able to advance national security, a strong economy, public health,
food security and the many other functions the agency performs. Science
that is communicated to the public improves and informs myriad aspects
of everyday life, from earthquake hazard mapping to hurricane
forecasting to assessments of water quality and quantity. These types
of scientific information must be publicly available and free from
political interference to ensure that they are best able to help
farmers, industry, health workers and the public.
conclusion
As we face unprecedented societal challenges, such as increasing
demand for limited energy resources, vulnerability to natural hazards
and the need for clean water, it is vital that USGS receive substantial
funding increases so that they can continue to provide support for the
nation's economic, environmental and national security.
AGU respectfully requests that Congress appropriate $1.75 billion
for the USGS in FY22. We appreciate the opportunity to submit this
testimony to the Subcommittee and thank you for your consideration of
our request.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Jaiswal, K., Bausch, D., Rozelle, J., Holub, J., and McGowan,
S., April 2017, Hazus Estimated Annualized Earthquake Losses for the
United States: FEMA P-366, https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/
documents/132305.
\2\ See Program History of USGS's Mineral Resources Program,
https://www.usgs.gov/energy-and-minerals/mineral-resources-program/
about/program-history.
\3\ Eberts, S.M., Woodside, M.D., Landers, M.N., and Wagner, C.R.,
2018, Monitoring the pulse of our Nation's rivers and streams--The U.S.
Geological Survey stream gaging network: U.S. Geological Survey Fact
Sheet 2018-3081, 2 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20183081.
\4\ Straub, C.L., Koontz, S.R., and Loomis, J.B., 2019, Economic
valuation of Landsat imagery: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report
2019-1112, 13 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20191112.

[This statement was submitted by Michael Villafranca, Senior
Specialist, Science Policy & Government Relations.]
______

Prepared Statement of the American Hiking Society
summary of requests
Forest Service:

--Capital Improvement and Maintenance (CMTL), Trails at $29.35M,
including $11.5M for National Scenic and Historic Trails;
--$56.8M to fund Recreation, Heritage & Wilderness;
--$100M to fund Legacy Roads & Trails as a separate line item
Bureau of Land Management:
--Trails Line Item, including at least $10.5M for National Scenic and
Historic Trails; National Conservation Lands at $65.131M;
--$10.5M to fund National Conservation Lands-National Scenic Historic
Trails, sub-activity Recreation Resources Management, including
$3.15M to operate Historic Trail Interpretive Centers;
--Restore BLM FTE staffing levels, including for trail management and
maintenance
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

--Refuge Visitor Services at least $79.973M
National Park Service:
--Rivers, Trails, & Conservation Assistance (RTCA) program at $15M;
--Park Service Operations for the National Trails System maintained
at a minimum of $21M;
--Volunteers in Parks programs at a minimum of $8M, including
dedicated funding to the National Trails System;
--Visitor Services sub-activity, Youth Partnership Programs at a
minimum of $10.95M, including an acknowledgment of the benefits
for trails;
--Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) Program, at a min
$125M
US Geological Survey:
--$1.5M to fully fund the National Digital Trail Project (NDTP)
introduction
Founded in 1976, American Hiking Society is the only national
nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering all to enjoy, share, and
preserve the hiking experience. We envision a world where everyone
feels welcome in the American hiking community and has permanent access
to meaningful hiking, including urban, frontcountry, and backcountry
opportunities. Our efforts ensure funding for hiking trails, the
preservation of natural areas, and expansion of access to and inclusion
in outdoor recreation.
importance of trail funding for public land access
At a time when trail usage is at an all-time high with both new and
returning users turning to the outdoors during the COVID-19
pandemic,\1\ support for trails and public lands are more important
than ever. Trails are the gateway to fishing, hunting, wildlife
viewing, camping, climbing, and more. A failure to maintain and manage
our nation's trails limits access for all communities, stymies economic
growth, and reduces opportunities for healthy outdoor recreation.
Access to open spaces for recreation has been shown by many studies
to improve physical and mental health and to increase quality of
life.\2\ Additionally, outdoor access is crucial for children,
impacting their physical and mental development, socialization skills,
and a lifelong appreciation of nature.\3\ Trails bring those health
benefits to all by providing individuals of diverse backgrounds access
to our public lands for all types of outdoor recreation.
Outdoor recreation has a massive positive impact on our nation's
economy and trails generate much of that impact. According to the
Outdoor Industry Association, trail--centered activities directly
generate over $594 billion \4\ and nearly 3.5 million jobs \5\
annually. On federally--managed land, outdoor recreation contributes
more than $64.6 billion to the national economy and supports more than
623,000 jobs annually.\6\
Citizen volunteers and nonprofit trail organizations perform a
large share of the maintenance on our nation's trails, in partnership
with government agencies and with the support of private donations.
Since our founding in 1976, American Hiking Society has mobilized
558,708 trail volunteers to construct and maintain 41,146 miles of
trails on federal and state public lands at a value of over $108
million in labor.\7\ This ongoing public ``sweat equity'' investment
has led to an increased recognition of the importance of adequate
federal funding for our public lands and trails in order to maintain
quality visitor experiences.
We encourage the Committee to adopt the following funding requests
so the federal government can continue to leverage private
contributions and benefit from volunteer labor as well as provide
inexpensive, healthy outdoor recreation options for your constituents
and all Americans.
Forest Service Recommendation:
National Forest trails benefit everyone and receive increasing
public use each year. Collectively, the National Forests provide
157,000 miles of trails for activities ranging from hiking, biking,
horseback riding, off-highway vehicle usage, groomed winter trails for
cross-country skiing and snowmobiling, and access points for ``river
trails.'' Even with enactment of the Great American Outdoors Act, this
trail system is increasingly stressed and annual maintenance cannot
keep pace with the growing demand due to inadequate funding. Roughly
120,000 of the 159,000 miles of trails are in need of some form of
maintenance or repair.\8\
Fund Capital Improvement and Maintenance (CMTL), Trails budget at
$29.35M, including $11.5M for National Scenic and Historic Trails.--As
trails use continues to increase along with annual maintenance needs,
funding at $29.35M will restore the highest funding levels since at
least 2005.
Within CMTL, Trails Increase Support for the National Wilderness
Stewardship Alliance Trail Stewardship Partner Funding.--Volunteer
groups and non-profit partners perform a large amount of agency trail
work. The Forest Service has a successful Trail Stewardship Partner
Funding challenge-cost-share program that uses nonprofit partnerships
to leverage federal funding by 3 to 5:1. We encourage expanded support
of this program within the CMTL, Trails line item. This funding can
also significantly increase conservation corps work on trail systems.
$56.8M to fund Recreation, Heritage & Wilderness.--The National
Forests and Grasslands provide a great diversity of outdoor
recreational opportunities, connecting the American public with nature
in an unmatched variety of settings and activities. Funding at $56.8M
will restore funding to 2013 levels (minus estimated cost-share
amounts), the highest since at least FY2005.
$100M to fund Legacy Roads & Trails as a separate line item.--For
FY2022, Legacy Roads & Trails should be reinstated as a separate line
item in the USFS budget, with $100M distinctly designated for
urgently--needed road and trail repair, maintenance and storm--
proofing, fish passage barrier removal, and road decommissioning,
especially in areas where Forest Service roads may be contributing to
water quality problems in streams and water bodies that support
threatened, endangered or sensitive species or community water sources.
Bureau of Land Management Recommendation:
The BLM manages 13,468 miles of trails over 245 million acres -more
land than any other federal land management agency. Most of the
country's BLM--managed public land is located in 12 Western States,
including Alaska, and contains a diversity of landscapes that often
provide the public less structured but nonetheless diverse recreational
opportunities. BLM recreational resources and visitor services support
strong local economies. More than 120 urban centers and thousands of
rural towns (comprising 64 million people) are located within 25 miles
of BLM lands.
Trails Line Item, including at least $10.5M for National Scenic and
Historic Trails, with robust funding for BLM trails.--The BLM has no
specific account in its budget for funding national trails or trails in
general. Designating a trails line item in the BLM budget will address
fragmentation of funding allocations across sub-activity accounts and
create consistent, predictable, and better--managed funding for trails.
Fund National Conservation Lands at $65.131M.--National
Conservation Lands funds enhance recreational access, conserve the
Nation's heritage, and manage these nationally--recognized resources.
We urge the committee to consider the additional demands for which BLM
is responsible--and the increasing popularity of these lands--and
provide a sharp increase in base funding for the National Conservation
Lands,restoring program funding to its FY2006 level. Such an increase
is needed to properly administer the system's expansion by 18 million
acres since 2000, and will permit increased inventory, monitoring and
protection of cultural resources, enhance proper management of all
resources and provide a quality visitor experience. This should also
include robust funding for National Scenic and Historic Trails, as
recommended below.
$10.5M to fund National Conservation Lands-National Scenic Historic
Trails, sub-activity Recreation Resources Management, including $3.15M
to operate Historic Trail Interpretive Centers.--At a minimum, include
language that directs the Bureau to include unit-level allocations
within major sub-activities for each of the scenic and historic
trails--as the Bureau has done for the national monuments, wilderness,
and conservation areas. The Bureau's lack of a unified budget account
for National Trails or a trails line item prevents the agency from
efficiently planning, implementing, reporting, and taking advantage of
cost-saving partnerships and volunteer contributions.
Restore BLM FTE staffing levels, including for trail management and
maintenance.--Across the board staffing shortages have significantly
negatively impacted BLM's ability to complete its mission, including
management and maintenance.
Fish and Wildlife Service Recommendation:
Refuge Visitor Services provides funding for trail maintenance
across FWS--managed land. Located in every U.S. state and territory,
and within an hour's drive of nearly every major U.S. city, National
Wildlife Refuges provide incredible opportunities for outdoor
recreation, including hiking, hunting, fishing, birding, boating and
nature photography across 2,500 miles of trails. More than 37,000 jobs
are reliant on refugees. Funding at a level of $74.227M will provide
for trail maintenance across the land and water trails, refuges,
wetlands, and hatcheries, including eleven National Scenic and Historic
Trails and forty-four National Recreation Trails.
Funding for Refuge Visitor Services at least $79.973M.--Funding at
$79.973M will restore funding to 2010 levels, the highest since at
least FY2006.
National Park Service Recommendation:
National Parks, and the world-class experiences their 18,844 miles
of trails provide, are one of the most unifying forces in America.
Well-maintained trails improve the quality of visitor experiences and
enhance visitor safety.
Funding for the Rivers, Trails, & Conservation Assistance (RTCA)
program at $15M.--The RTCA program brings the expertise of over a
century of land management to the greater recreation community. When a
community asks for assistance with a project, National Park Service
staff provide free critical tools for success, on-location
facilitation, and planning expertise, which draw from project
experiences across the country and adapt best practices to a
community's specific needs. Funding at $15M will ensure these trail
planning services are made available to communities in all regions of
the nation.
Funding for Park Service Operations for the National Trails System
maintained at a minimum of $21M.--The NPS has administrative
responsibility for 23 National Scenic and Historic Trails established
by Congress. Funding at $21M within the Park Service Operations account
for the National Trails System is essential for keeping these popular
trails accessible. The request will help the work of trail organization
partners of the Park Service to build, maintain, and interpret these
trails.
Restore funding for Volunteers in Parks programs at a minimum of
$8M, including dedicated funding to the National Trails System.--
Volunteers in Parks leverages private donations with public funding to
maximize trail maintenance resources. Dedicating funding to the
National Trails System will obviate competition with large NPS parks
for access to critical volunteer support in the form of trail
maintenance crews and administrative management of individual trails.
Restore funding for Visitor Services sub-activity, Youth
Partnership Programs at a minimum of $10.95M, including an
acknowledgment of the benefits for trails.--The Youth Partnership
Program in part funds the Public Land Corps program, which provides
education and work opportunities for youth aged 16-30. The NPS utilizes
non-profit youth--serving organizations to perform critical natural and
cultural resource conservation projects at NPS sites, ranging from
masonry apprenticeships on historic structures to Tribal land
improvements; to engaging other youth through coordination of
culturally--based workshops and outdoor recreation clubs.
Robust funding for Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP)
Program, at a min $125M in 2022.--Robust funding for LWCF programs
reflect the nation's outdoor recreation priorities. Maintain robust
funding for ORLP, which expands close-to-home access for underserved
communities at a minimum maintaining the FY21 $125M appropriation.
us geological survey
$1.5M to fully fund the National Digital Trail Project (NDTP) of
USGS.--The USGS National Digital Trails project supports the Department
of Interior's vision to ``Increase access to outdoor recreation
opportunities for all Americans . . . '' Full funding at $1.5M will
allow the USGS to provide critical information and research for our
nation's trails, including a web--based interactive decision support
tool (TRAILS) to improve connectivity between existing trails and trail
systems, a nationwide digital trails database in the public domain, and
a mobile application to provide trail maintenance information to land
management agencies.
conclusion
The nearly 1,000,000 square miles that comprise U.S. public lands
are our most treasured natural, historic, and cultural resource.
Whether you're a hiker enjoying the 193,500 miles of trail, a member of
the indigenous populations for whom these lands are their ancestral
homes, or one of the 145 million outdoor recreation users, our public
lands are of incalculable value to hundreds of millions of Americans.
As we all strive together to protect these lands and trails and make
them accessible and welcoming to all communities for generations to
come, Congress must do its part to ensure adequate funding.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Rails to Trails Conservancy, Using Trails and Outdoor Spaces
Safely in the Wake of COVID-19 https://www.railstotrails.org/trailblog/
2020/march/24/using-trails-and-outdoor-spaces-safely-in-the-wake-of-
covid-19/ (last visited April 13, 2021). See also Outdoor Industry
Association, 2021 Special Report: New Outdoor Participant (Covid and
Beyond), https://outdoorindustry.org/resource/2021-special-report-new-
outdoor-participant-covid-beyond/ (last visited April 13, 2021).
\2\ American Hiking Society, Health Benefits of Hiking, https://
americanhiking.org/resources/health-benefits-of-hiking/ (last
visitedApr. 9, 2021). See also Harvard Medical School, Exercising to
Relax, Updated July 13, 2018, https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-
healthy/exercising-to-relax.
\3\ Harvard Health Publishing, 6 reasons children need to play
outside, May 22, 2018, https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/6-reasons-
children-need-to-play-outside-2018052213880.
\4\ OUTDOOR INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION, OUTDOOR RECREATION ECONOMY 18
(2017), available at https://outdoorindustry.org/wp-content/uploads/
2017/04/OIA_RecEconomy_FINAL_Single.pdf. Trail centered activities
generated $594,311,835,880 from retail spending, salaries, and federal
and state taxes.
\5\ Id. Trail centered activities create 3,476,845 jobs.
\6\ OUTDOOR INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION, OUTDOOR RECREATION ECONOMY 15
(2017), available at https://outdoorindustry.org/wp-content/uploads/
2017/04/OIA_RecEconomy_
FINAL_Single.pdf; ``Forest Service Makes it Easier for Visitors to
Enjoy National Forests and Grasslands.'' U.S. Forest Service, https://
www.fs.fed.us/news/releases/forest-service-makes-it-easier-visitors-
enjoy-national-forests-and-grasslands.
\7\ American Hiking Society, https://americanhiking.org/ (last
visited Apr. 9, 2021).
\8\ https://www.fs.usda.gov/news/releases/usda-forest-service-
announces-challenge-increase-focus-problems-facing-nations

[This statement was submitted by Kathryn Van Waes, Executive
Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium
(AIHEC)
request summary
On behalf of the nation's Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs),
which are the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), we
are pleased to present our Fiscal Year 2022 (FY 2022) appropriations
recommendations for the 29 colleges funded under Titles I and II of the
Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act (TCU Act);
the two Tribally chartered career and technical postsecondary
institutions funded under Title V of the TCU Act; the two Bureau of
Indian Education (BIE) postsecondary institutions; and the Institute of
American Indian Arts (IAIA). The BIE administers these programs, with
the exception of IAIA, which is funded in its own account. We
respectfully recommend the following funding levels:
department of the interior
--$93,257,409 to fund institutional operations under Title I
($75,447,409) and Title II ($17,000,000), along with TCU
Endowments ($109,000) and technical assistance ($701,000), of
the TCU Act. This funding would provide the Congressionally
authorized amount of $9,937*/Indian student for first time
since the enactment of the TCU Act more than 40 years ago
(*$8,000 per Indian student adjusted for inflation). This
request also provides an additional $100,000 for needed
technical assistance, which has been level-funded for 15 years
despite growing numbers of developing TCUs and increased
demands for accountability and student success.
--$15,000,000 for Title V of the TCU Act, which provides partial
institutional operations funding for two Tribally chartered
postsecondary career and technical institutions.
--$11,000,000 for the Institute of American Indian Arts.
--$28,000,000 for Haskell Indian Nations University and Southwestern
Indian Polytechnic Institute, the BIE's two postsecondary
institutions.
--$35,000,000 for TCU Construction & Facilities Improvement.
opportunity and innovation in indian country
The nation's 37 TCUs operate more than 75 campuses and sites in 16
states. TCU geographic boundaries encompass 80 percent of American
Indian reservations and federal Indian trust lands. American Indian and
Alaska Native (AI/AN) TCU students represent more than 230 federally
recognized Tribes and hail from more than 30 states. Nearly 80 percent
of these students receive federal financial aid and nearly half are
first generation students. In total, TCUs serve more than 160,000 AI/
ANs and other rural residents each year through a wide variety of
academic and community--based programs. TCUs are public institutions,
chartered by federally recognized Indian Tribes or the federal
government. No TCU is chartered by any other entity, and although
several financially challenged institutions may desire to be Tribal
colleges, the criteria and standards are unambiguous, with Tribal
control being the central pillar. Further, all TCUs receiving federal
funding have full and sustained accreditation by independent regional
accreditation agencies and, like all U.S. institutions of higher
education, must regularly undergo stringent performance reviews to
retain their accreditation status. Each TCU is directly accountable to
its Tribal community/communities, and each one is committed to
improving the lives of its students through higher education and to
moving AI/ANs to 3. Our collective vision is strong sovereign Tribal
nations through excellence in Tribal higher education. To achieve this
vision, TCUs have become workforce and job creation engines, public
libraries, Tribal archives, small business incubators, and community
computer labs. They operate Native language learning centers and
immersion programs, community gardens, economic development centers,
childcare centers, and applied research hubs for everything from
natural resources to food sovereignty and community behavioral health.
Despite the hope and opportunity that higher education brings to
Tribal communities, as well as the trust responsibility and binding
treaty obligations, the federal government has never fully funded TCU
institutional operations authorized under the TCU Act (*$9,937 per
Indian student = $8,000 per Indian student adjusted for inflation). But
TCUs are resilient and resourceful, and we are proud to lead the nation
in many areas, including preparing an AI/AN workforce of nurses, land
managers, and teachers for Tribal--serving schools. For example, half
of all AI/AN special education teachers in Montana are graduates of
Salish Kootenai College. TCUs prepare professionals in high--demand
fields, including agriculture and natural resources management,
information technology, and building trades. By teaching the job skills
most in demand on our reservations, TCUs are laying a foundation for
Tribal economic growth, which is the only way to move Tribes and Tribal
members to self-sufficiency. Yet, we know that workforce development is
not enough. We must do more to accelerate the move to self-
sufficiency--we must move beyond simple workforce training. We must
create new industries and new businesses and build a new culture of
innovation. Our job creation initiative is focusing initially on
advanced manufacturing through a partnership with the U.S. Department
of Energy, National Laboratories, TCUs, and industry. Already, we are
seeing results with new TCU-Tribal-industry partnerships, new
contracting opportunities, and new jobs for our students and graduates.
Tribal Colleges continually seek to instill a sense of hope and
identity within AI/AN youth, who will one day lead our Tribal nations.
Unacceptably, the high school dropout rate for AI/AN students remains
around 50 percent. TCUs work with local schools to create a bridge for
AI/AN students as early as elementary school, encouraging them to stay
focused on achievable goals, finish high school, and go on to the local
TCU. TCUs offer dual credit courses for high school students, provide
math teachers for local high schools to improve course delivery, and
host weekend academies, after school programs, and summer camps for
middle and high school students. TCUs also offer GED/HiSET training and
testing and have 2+2 partnerships to bridge programs with regional
universities. All are solid steps to bolster future prospects for AI/AN
youth and break the cycle of generational poverty.
covid-19 pandemic impact on tcus
Despite facing serious financial, Internet connectivity and
equipment, and faculty professional development challenges that are far
worse than other schools and colleges in the U.S. and having student
(and faculty) populations at greater health risk than other groups in
the U.S., the nation's 37 TCUs have worked diligently to respond to the
covid-19 pandemic in a comprehensive manner, addressing both the needs
of students and community. As place--based, community--anchoring
institutions, TCUs had no choice but to continue to serve Tribal
nations to the best of their abilities. Most TCUs have not closed at
any point during the pandemic, and those that ceased operations did so
only for a few weeks. As TCUs work to mitigate the devastating impacts
of the pandemic in Tribal communities, TCUs are also facing drastic
changes in enrollment with a future impact on federal funding formulas.
Academic Year (AY) 2021-22 Challenges.--As the uncertainty and
economic decline resulting from the covid-19 pandemic extend into the
foreseeable future, the losses facing TCUs are growing. Most TCUs start
their fiscal year on July 1. As TCUs plan for FY 2022 (AY 2021-22),
they face:

--Reduction in support from chartering Tribal governments due to
Tribal enterprise revenue losses and the need for Tribes to
divert scarce resources to address critical covid-19 response
issues (e.g. Tribal health budget increases, growing Tribal
member safety net expenses). Past Tribal TCU payments in 2018-
19: $33,331,078; payments in 2017-18: $31,049,542.
--Declines in enrollment as students drop out or fail to return;
because they lack Internet connectivity and cannot participate
in online classes, or because they need to increase work hours
(if jobs are available) to help support families in economic
crisis. TCU fall 2019 enrollment: 15,114; TCU fall 2020
enrollment: 14,844.
--Inability of most TCUs to conduct summer classes in 2020, due to
the need for intensive faculty development in online learning,
advising, and assessment to maintain regional accreditation and
need to complete extensive course and management redesign for
the fall semester due to increased online teaching. Four TCUs
were unable to offer classes during summer 2020, while other
TCUs reduced course offering, resulting in a size able loss of
revenue from tuition and fees. Typical summer tuition and fees:
2018-19: $1,692,995.
--Students facing growing financial challenges are unable to fully
pay tuition and fees. This results in TCUs providing tuition
waivers and writing off more tuition payments than in previous
years. TCUs--as place-based, open door institutions--write off
a significant amount of tuition each year because they want
students to benefit from the opportunity of higher education.
Annual TCU tuition write-off: 2019-20: $4,405,422; 2018-19:
$4,000,595; 2017-18: $2,906,650.
tcu infrastructure needs: broadband, facilities, and operations &
maintenance neglected for 40 years
For TCUs to realize our goals of strengthening our Tribes as
sovereign nations and building a 21st century Native workforce, TCUs
must have the facilities and infrastructure capable of educating and
training students in a safe environment. It simply cannot be done on
the scale needed in classrooms with leaking roofs and exposed and
substandard electrical wiring; outdated computer labs; students
sleeping in cars and trucks because there are no dorms; and the
slowest--yet most expensive--Internet access of any institution of
higher education in the country. Yet, that is what TCUs are asked to
do.
We thank the House and Senate Interior Appropriations Committees
for working together in FY 2021 to provide $15 million for TCU
facilities--related funding. We are working with the BIE on the design
and administration of these funds to strategically address the most
urgent needs of the TCUs. In order to build on the committee's initial
investment, we recommend further investments in the following areas:
TCU Facilities Study.--We recommend the Subcommittee provide
funding for a comprehensive and unbiased TCU Facilities Study, to
include all 37 TCUs, to survey the condition of existing facilities,
examine facilities--related health and safety concerns, and identify
current and long-term infrastructure needs (25 U.S.C. 1812). Originally
authorized over 40 years ago in the TCU Act, an in-depth study will
provide a thorough inventory of facilities--related needs.
TCU Construction and Facilities Improvement.--The results of the
proposed TCU facilities study will likely expand on the needs
identified in a 2018 AIHEC survey of 22 TCUs, which revealed a list of
chronic facility--related needs, including student and faculty housing,
classrooms, libraries, and laboratories. The 22 TCUs self-reported
estimated needs of $332.5 million in deferred maintenance and
rehabilitation costs and $558 million to complete existing master
plans. Extrapolating this to all 37 TCUs, the total reported need is
$500 million for deferred maintenance and rehabilitation, and $837
million for complete master plans. Again, we thank the subcommittee for
providing provided $15 million for TCU construction and respectfully
request $35 million ($1 million per TCU) be allocated in FY 2022 to
continue addressing urgent construction and facilities related needs.
TCU Operations and Maintenance Account.--In order to properly
manage, fully use, and extend the lifespan TCU facilities, AIHEC
recommends the Subcommittee provide funding for a TCU Facilities
Operations and Maintenance Account. Currently, BIE K-12 schools receive
operations and maintenance funding to address safety and health
concerns, perform routine maintenance to optimize the lifecycle of
facility--related systems, and protect land and property value. As
outlined throughout this document, TCUs are creatively addressing a
myriad list of needs with limited, thinly stretched budgets. The
creation of a dedicated TCU Operations and Maintenance Account would
allow TCUs to fully use current BIE TCU operational funding for
``academic, educational, and administrative purposes'' as outlined in
the TCU Act, while building more parity within the BIE K-20 system.
Through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES)
Act and Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act
(CRRSAA), TCUs received critical funding to address immediate needs
related to the transition to distance learning and student support.
TCUs were able to provide emergency grants, equipment, and tuition
assistance to students to help them stay enrolled in classes. However,
TCUs are unable to use relief funding to address many longstanding
infrastructure related needs--such as construction. (Note: American
Rescue Plan Act funds have not been administered). It is imperative
that annual discretionary funding continue to invest in TCUs to address
these longstanding needs.
challenges: indian student count and growth isc formula and non-
beneficiaries
As noted earlier, TCU operations funding remains insufficient, and
our budgets are further disadvantaged; because, unlike other
institutions of higher education, most TCUs receive operations funding
based on the number of Indian students served, with ``Indian student''
defined as a member of a federally recognized Tribe or a biological
child of an enrolled Tribal member. Yet, approximately 15 percent of
TCU enrollments are non-Indian students. Many TCUs seek operating funds
from their respective state legislatures for non-Indian state-resident
students (``non-beneficiary students''), but success has been
inconsistent. Given their locations, often hundreds of miles from
another postsecondary institution, TCUs are open to all students,
Indian and non-Indian, because we know that postsecondary education is
the catalyst to a better economic future in rural America.
growth of tcus
Since the enactment of the TCU Act more than 40 years ago, TCUs
have never received the modest Congressionally authorized funding level
($9,937 per Indian student, $8,000 adjusted for inflation). Yet, we are
so close: an increase of $17 million over the FY 2021 level is all that
we need to fully fund TCUs for the first time ever. In the context of
other federal programs, our request is quite modest. For example, the
only other minority serving institution that receives operating funding
from the federal government, Howard University, received $205,788,000
for undergraduate programs in FY 2019, or about $23,000 student, along
with $3 million for its endowment. We ask only for $9,937 per student
for the Title I TCUs.
Over the past 10 years, this Subcommittee has worked diligently to
provide the extra resources needed to enable all TCUs to be funded on
an academic year schedule. We are extremely grateful for this. The
benefit to TCUs of being able to plan an annual budget and start the
academic year with operating funding has been tremendous. Yet, during
the time it took to provide this funding, four new TCUs became eligible
to receive funding under Title I of the TCU Act: College of the
Muscogee Nation (Okmulgee, OK), Red Lake Nation College (Red Lake, MN),
Tohono O'odham Community College (Sells, AZ), and White Earth Tribal
and Community College (Mahnomen, MN). Unfortunately, Title I funding
has not kept pace with inflation, much less received increases
sufficient to support new TCUs. For example, between FY 2014-2018,
funding for the 28 Title I TCUs was flat despite the growing need for
higher education across Indian Country. As we move forward, we are
worried about TCU operating funding: at least three new TCUs could join
the pool soon (Alaska Pacific University, California Tribal College,
and San Carlos Apache College). The addition of these TCUs is important
for Indian Country, but only if support is available to ensure that
they can operate effectively.
conclusion
TCUs provide quality higher education to thousands of AI/ANs and
other rural residents and provide essential community programs and
services to those who might otherwise not have access to such
opportunities. The modest federal investment in TCUs has paid great
dividends in terms of employment, education, and economic development
and has significantly reduced social, health care, and law enforcement
costs. The global pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges and
created new challenges for TCUs as they plan for an uncertain future.
More than even, TCUs need your ongoing support. We appreciate the
Subcommittee's past support of the nation's TCUs and your thoughtful
consideration of our FY 2022 appropriations requests.

[This statement was submitted by Carrie L. Billy, President & CEO.]
______

Prepared Statement of the American Institute of Biological Sciences
The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) appreciates
the opportunity to provide testimony in support of appropriations for
the Smithsonian Institution, United States Geological Survey (USGS),
United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) for fiscal year (FY) 2022. We encourage
Congress to provide additional funding to the Smithsonian Institution
in FY 2022, including at least $60 million to the National Museum of
Natural History to support scientific and curatorial work. We urge
Congress to provide the USGS with $1.75 billion in FY 2022, with at
least $310 million for its Ecosystems Mission Area. We further request
that Science Support in USFWS be provided at least $35 million in FY
2022. Lastly, we request that Congress provide EPA Science and
Technology with at least $900 million in FY 2022.
The unprecedented loss of biological diversity and the associated
negative impacts on human health and well-being are of significant
concern. As human population grows and people increasingly come into
contact with new environments and species migrating into new habitats,
the risk of new diseases, such as zoonotic pandemics, is of growing
concern. Biological diversity, however, offers a buffer against the
spread of pathogens and contributes to environmental sustainability and
increases our resilience to natural disasters. Robust federal
investments in scientific research and monitoring that improves our
understanding of biological diversity and ecosystem function must be a
priority as we emerge from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The agencies
funded by this appropriations bill are centrally involved in
conducting, supporting, and using this scientific research for public
benefit.
AIBS is a scientific association advancing the biological sciences
to promote an increased understanding of all life. Our mission is to
promote the use of scientific information to inform decision making and
advance biology for the benefit of science and society.
smithsonian institution
Scientific collections and the professionals and scientists who
collect, care for, and study these resources are a vital component of
our nation's research infrastructure and bioeconomy. Collections are a
critical resource for advancing the knowledge needed to address current
global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and
pandemics.
The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History
(NMNH) is a valuable federal partner in the curation of and research on
scientific specimens. Scientists at the NMNH care for 146 million
scientific specimens and ensure the strategic growth of this
internationally recognized scientific research institution. To increase
the availability of these scientific resources to researchers,
educators, other federal agencies, and the public, NMNH is working on a
multi-year effort to digitize its collections and make the data
available online. That effort will substantially increase the use of
these collections by researchers, educators and students, and
policymakers. NMNH is also working to strengthen curatorial and
research staffing and to backfill positions left open by retirements
and budget constraints. The current staffing level is insufficient to
provide optimal care for the collections. Future curatorial and
collections management staffing levels may be further jeopardized given
prior funding cuts at science agencies, such as the USGS that, until
recently, supported staff positions at NMNH.
The budget for NMNH has not seen adequate increases in recent
years. We urge Congress to provide NMNH with at least $60 million in FY
2022 to allow the museum to undertake critical collections care, make
needed technology upgrades, and conduct cutting edge research.
u.s. geological survey
The USGS provides unbiased, independent research, data, and
assessments that are needed by public and private sector decision--
makers. Data generated by the USGS save taxpayers money by enabling
more effective management of water and biological resources and
providing essential geospatial information that is needed for
commercial activity and natural resource management. The data collected
by the USGS are simply not available from other sources.
The Ecosystems Mission Area is the biological research arm of USGS
and is integral to the agency's other science mission areas. It
provides the science needed to achieve sustainable management and
conservation of natural resources and inform land and water
stewardship. The USGS conducts research on and monitors fish, wildlife,
and vegetation--data that informs management decisions by other
Interior bureaus. Biological science programs collect and analyze long-
term data not available from other agencies, universities, or the
private sector. The knowledge generated by the USGS are used by federal
and state natural resource managers to maintain healthy and diverse
ecosystems while balancing the needs of public use.
Examples of successful USGS Ecosystem initiatives include:

--Development of comprehensive geospatial data products that
characterize the risk of wildfires on all lands in the United
States. These products are used to allocate firefighting
resources and to plan wildfire fuel reduction projects.
--Development and evaluation of control measures and other management
interventions for invasive species, such as Asian carp and sea
lamprey, that cause billions of dollars in economic losses to
fisheries, hydropower, recreation, and many other industries.
--Development of the scientific understanding needed to combat the
spread of avian flu, white-nose syndrome, and other diseases
spread by wildlife in North America, including diseases that
can jump from wild populations to livestock, agricultural
systems, and humans.

The USGS also supports critical science needed to respond to a
number of national and global challenges. Examples of the important
work conducted by the USGS include:Q02
--The National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers.--This
program is responsible for developing the science and tools to
address the effects of climate change on land, water, wildlife,
fish, ecosystems, and communities. These centers play a vital
role in addressing the impacts of unique weather patterns on
ecosystem health across the country.
--The National Wildlife Health Center.--This USGS-wide program
investigates national and international wildlife health issues,
including the spread of zoonotic pathogens, such as the SARS-
CoV-2 virus. Zoonoses-diseases that spread from wildlife to
humans--can pose serious threats to human health and cause
significant disruptions to the economy.
--Cooperative Research Units (CRUs).--CRUs are located on 40
university campuses in 38 states. These research centers are a
cost-effective way for USGS to leverage research and technical
expertise affiliated with these universities to conduct
actionable research, provide technical assistance, and develop
scientific workforces through graduate education and mentoring
programs.
--Environmental Health Research.--The Toxic Substances Hydrology and
Contaminant Biology programs work collaboratively with other
USGS Mission Areas, and with many external collaborators to
study environmental contaminants and pathogens in the
environment and provide the critical science needed to help
Federal, State, and local government agencies, the private
sector, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholder
groups protect our health.
--Research on ecosystems of concern.--This research is a critical
component of efforts to restore important national resources,
such as the Everglades and the Chesapeake Bay. The Arctic
ecosystem research and monitoring program addresses the needs
of Native communities, and also promotes public health
throughout the U.S. by monitoring avian influenza, which can
spread to humans.
In summary, the USGS is uniquely positioned to provide a scientific
context for many of the nation's biological and environmental
challenges, including pandemics, water quality and use, energy
independence, and conservation of biodiversity. This array of research
expertise not only serves the core missions of the Department of the
Interior, but also contributes to management decisions made by other
agencies and private sector organizations. USGS science also enables
cost-effective decisions, as the agency's activities help to identify
the most efficient management actions. Increased investments in these
important research activities will yield dividends.
We urge Congress to provide significant increases in funding to the
Ecosystems Mission Area. In recent years, the budget for USGS has
stagnated. Failure to make critical investments in the research
conducted by the agency will hamper long-term data collection
initiatives, lead to critical data loss, and undermine the nation's
ability to address national challenges.
We request Congress fund USGS at $1.75 billion in FY 2022, with at
least $310 million for the Ecosystems mission area.
u.s. fish and wildlife service
Funding for the Science Support program within USFWS has remained
essentially flat at $17.3 million since FY 2018. This program provides
scientific information needed by USFWS, such as research on
conservation of priority species prior to Endangered Species Act
listing, the impacts of energy production on wildlife, and best
management practices for combating invasive species, and needs to be
robustly funded. We request that Science Support be provided at least
$35 million in FY 2022.
environmental protection agency
Funding for EPA Science and Technology supports valuable research
that identifies and mitigates environmental problems. EPA research
informs decisions made by public health and safety managers, natural
resource managers, businesses, and other stakeholders concerned about
air and water pollution, human health, and land management and
restoration. This program provides the scientific basis upon which EPA
monitoring and enforcement programs are built.
Despite the important role of EPA Science and Technology in the
federal government's ability to ensure that people have clean air and
water, funding for its programs in recent years has remained
significantly lower than the level enacted in FY 2010. The President
has proposed increasing EPA's overall budget by 21 percent in FY 2022.
This much needed increase will allow the agency to provide resources
for efforts to protect and restore our nation's natural resources.
Please provide at least $900 million in FY 2022 to support
scientific research at the EPA.
conclusion
We urge Congress to sustain its bipartisan support for science by
investing in our nation's scientific capacity. Thank you for your
thoughtful consideration of this request.

[This statement was submitted by Jyotsna Pandey, Public Policy
Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the American Lung Association
Summary of FY 2022 Appropriations Recommendations:

Clean Air Program overall--$573.2 million
Climate Protection Program--$115.9 million
Federal Support for Air Quality Management $171 million
Federal Vehicle Fuels Standards and Certifications Programs--
$110.2 million
Categorical Grants: State and Local Air Quality Management--
$321.5 million
Categorical Grants: Tribal Air Quality Management--$31 million
Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant Program--$150 million
Categorical Grant: Radon--$8.9 million
EPA Radon Program--$3.3 million
Compliance Monitoring--$132.4 million
Enforcement--$566.5 million
New Wildfire Smoke Protection Program--$15 million

Thank you for the opportunity to provide written testimony to
highlight the funding priorities of the American Lung Association
within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for fiscal year 2022.
The American Lung Association is the leading organization working to
save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through
education, advocacy and research. Between the toll of lung cancer, the
prevalence of asthma, the harms of unhealthy air and the COVID-19
pandemic, investments in the nation's lung health are critical. We
appreciate the robust increases for EPA provided in the President's
FY22 Budget and have updated a number of our requests to reflect the
President's request.
EPA programs save lives and improve lung health. The Agency is
responsible for setting and enforcing national air pollution standards;
supporting state, local and Tribal air quality monitoring and pollution
reduction efforts; educating the public on air toxics and air
pollution; issuing grants to retrofit dirty diesel buses and more. Air
pollution poses a threat to the health of all Americans, but there is
someone in every family at heightened risk of health harms from
breathing polluted air. There are nearly 37 million Americans living
with a chronic lung disease like asthma or chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD). Children, seniors, pregnant people and those
who work and play outside are also more likely to suffer health harms.
Additionally, people of color and those with low incomes face a greater
risk of exposure to air pollution due to communities being overlooked
for investment and enforcement in addition to longstanding racist
practices like redlining.
The President's recently announced budget included a more than 20%
increase for EPA. We strongly support this overall increase in
investment and ask the Committee to ensure increased funding for
programs that help promote clean air and enforce pollution cleanup.
Funds under EPA's Clean Air Program are used in part to assist states,
Tribes and local air pollution control agencies with implementing
comprehensive air quality management programs to meet the national air
quality standards. This program also includes testing and oversight to
ensure vehicles are emitting lawful amounts of pollution into the air
as well as efforts to reduce carbon pollution, methane, and other
climate pollutants to protect public health from the impacts of climate
change. Please provide $434.1 million for Environmental Programs and
Management and $139.1 million for Science and Technology. Within this
program area, the Lung Association specifically requests $115.9 million
for the Climate Protection Program; $171 million for Federal Support
for Air Quality Management; and $110.2 million for Federal Vehicle
Fuels Standards and Certifications Programs.
Accurately monitoring the air we breathe is the first step to
addressing air pollution. Unfortunately, state, local and Tribal air
agencies--who run most of the nation's air quality monitoring system--
have been perennially underfunded, and many areas are operating with
out-of-date monitors. According to a recent report from the Government
Accountability Office, there has actually been a 20% decrease in funds,
adjusted for inflation, since 2004.\1\ Grant dollars provided under
Section 103 and 105 of the Clean Air Act help fund air quality
monitoring work, which informs the public of risks to their health and
identifies areas in need of cleanup. We were pleased to see funds
included in the recently passed American Rescue Plan, but we know that
more is needed so that state, local and Tribal air agencies can add,
upgrade and maintain air monitors and improve engagement with the
public to protect health, as part of a multi-year, sustained investment
in these critical programs. Please provide $321.5 million for State and
Local Air Quality Management Categorical Grants and $31 million for
Tribal Air Quality Management Categorical Grants.
Additionally, EPA must be able to ensure compliance with national
air standards, which mean little if they are not enforced. Continued
investment in EPA's enforcement work is critical to ensure
accountability when it comes to protecting the public from dangerous
air pollution. EPA must have the ability and funding needed to reduce
non-compliance as well as enforce penalties for violations. EPA must
also be prepared to respond to civil enforcement actions authorized by
the Clean Air Act. Please provide $132.4 million for EPA's Compliance
Monitoring and $566.5 million for Enforcement. Enforcement funding
should include dedicated funding for environmental justice enforcement.
Included in enforcement funding should be dedicated funding for
environmental justice enforcement.
One of the programs within EPA that continues to receive bipartisan
support is the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) Program. Millions
of old, dirty diesel engines are in use today that pollute communities,
threaten workers and cause lung cancer. According to a 2019 EPA report,
the Committee's continued investments in this program have yielded up
to $30 in health benefits for every $1 spent.\2\ Immense opportunities
remain to reduce diesel emissions through the DERA program, and we urge
the Committee to appropriate $150 million in FY22. Additionally, we
urge the Committee to support the rapid transition to electric school
buses. When schools safely reopen, millions of children will ride a bus
to school every day, exposing them to pollution from these dirty diesel
engines. Investing in the transition to electric school buses will
provide a safer, healthier environment for children, who are among
those most at risk of health harm from breathing in pollution.
Radon is an odorless, colorless gas that seeps through the ground
as it shifts and is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the
United States. EPA's radon program and its State Indoor Radon Grants
are the only nationwide tools that help prevent exposure to radon.
States and Tribes depend on these programs to educate the public and
fight this deadly carcinogen. We recommend $3.3 million for EPA's Radon
Program (within that, $3.1 million be appropriated for Environmental
Program and Management and $158,000 for Science and Technology) and
$8.9 million for the State Indoor Radon Grants.
For the second year, we are requesting a new program to be housed
with EPA. Wildfires are no longer a rare occurrence, making wildfire
smoke an urgent and increasing threat to health. Currently there are
knowledge gaps, particularly on how wildfires affect the health of
those living in downwind states, and there is a lack of a focused
federal response to health impacts. EPA would be well equipped to
provide that federal response with additional resources. The Lung
Association requests a total of $15 million in funding to address these
impacts, including $5 million to establish Wildfire Smoke Health
Centers in Collaboration with US Forest Service Missoula Fire Sciences
Laboratory; $7 million for targeted research on wildfire smoke exposure
and policy; and $3 million for EPA to coordinate interagency science,
management and communication strategies for addressing wildfires.
Lastly, the American Lung Association also asks for your leadership
in opposing all policy riders that would weaken key lung health
protections, including those in the Clean Air Act. Policy riders have
no place in appropriations bills, and the Lung Association strongly
opposes attempts to include them, especially riders that would make it
harder to protect Americans from air pollution.
Investments in EPA programs are critical to protecting public
health. On behalf of the Lung Association, I thank you for your
consideration of these requests.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Government Accountability Office. (2020). Air Pollution:
Opportunities to Better Sustain and Modernize the National Air Quality
Monitoring System (GAO-21-38)
\2\ https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-07/documents/
420r19005.pdf

[This statement was submitted by Harold P. Wimmer, National
President and CEO.]
______

Prepared Statement of the American Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals
On behalf of our over 2 million supporters, the American Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) appreciates this
opportunity to submit testimony to the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies. Founded in
1866, the ASPCA is the first humane organization established in the
Americas and serves as the nation's leading voice for animal welfare.
We respectfully request that the Subcommittee consider the following
concerns when making FY2022 appropriations.
wild horse and burro management
In the nearly 50 years since Congress charged the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) with protecting our country's wild horses and burros,
Americans have witnessed the agency's Wild Horse and Burro Program
deteriorate into a continuous cycle of costly roundups and removals
with little regard for the prioritization of on-range management of the
herds. Our wild horses and burros should be revered as historical
icons, treated humanely, and managed responsibly on our public lands.
Fortunately, we are starting to see the agency slowly embrace a more
positive management framework, thanks to additional funding and strong
congressional directives to steer the program on track over the past
few years.
Implement humane, effective on-range and off-range management
programs.
Recognizing that the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Program is in dire
need of an overhaul, the ASPCA has partnered with a diverse group of
stakeholders to propose a non-lethal, humane, and long-term approach to
on-range management that would implement a sweeping fertility control
program on the range and eventually release the BLM from a continuous
cycle of round-ups, removals, and off-range holding. The proposal
contains four interdependent strategies that must be implemented
simultaneously to have a meaningful effect: 1) immediate and robust
application of proven safe and humane fertility control to manage the
on-range population; 2) shifting horses currently in off-range BLM
corrals to humane, cost-effective pasture facilities; 3) increasing
wild horse and burro adoptions; and 4) removals of horses from densely
populated herd management areas to reduce the population that must be
managed on-range, the need for which will decrease over time as the
program rebalances towards on-range management, with strict adherence
to the BLM's Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program.\1\ The FY2020
Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, P.L. 116-94, allocated an
additional $21 million for the program and included clear language
directing BLM to implement a comprehensive, on-range management program
that embraces the four principles of our proposal. The FY2021
Consolidated Appropriations Act, P.L 116-260, allocated an additional
$14 million for the program with similar directives. We appreciate the
Committee's support for a non-lethal, science-based wild horse and
burro management program which, if funded at appropriate levels, can
effectively rebalance the BLM's program and ensure that wild horses and
burros can be managed humanely in perpetuity.
It is evident that momentum is building in support of this
comprehensive, non-lethal solution--not only on Capitol Hill, but also
within the Department of Interior and the agency. We have been
encouraged by recent BLM statements that fertility control is a
critical component of any successful program and that such a program is
possible with additional funding, and incorporation of these important
technologies into Environmental Assessments used to guide management
decisions. The report that the BLM submitted to Congress in May
2020\2\--which Congress instructed the agency to produce in both the
FY19 and FY20 Interior Appropriations bill--details how a non-lethal
management program can be achieved, including through the use of
fertility control. We are also encouraged to see the agency pursue
research to find longer lasting vaccines, such as the oocyte growth
factor vaccine study in Nevada.\3\ These actions mark an important
departure from the agency's previous requests to use lethal management
tools--an unthinkable outcome for our treasured wild horses and burros.
The ASPCA requests that the Subcommittee continue its progress towards
a humane, non-lethal and effective wild horse and burro
management program and include the following report language in
its FY2022 Appropriations Bill:

Wild Horse and Burro Management.--The bill provides $152,596,000
for the Wild Horse and Burro program. These funds are in response to
the Department of Interior's Fiscal Year 2022 budget request and the
Bureau's May 15, 2020 proposal to institute a vigorous, non-lethal
population control strategy to address the current unsustainable
trajectory of on-range wild horse and burro population growth. The
Committees expect this strategy to continue and to include a robust
expansion of fertility control utilizing methods that are proven, safe,
effective, and humane. Such treatments and on-range gathers are to be
maximized, even if appropriate management levels are not immediately
achievable. As the Bureau works to substantially increase on-range
gathers for removal, the Committees encourage the Bureau to continue to
secure cheaper and longer-term off-range holding facilities and
pastures. The Committees further expect the Bureau to demonstrate its
ability to increase its capacity for gathers; procure additional short
and long term holding facilities; and to ensure that adequate staffing
requirements are met, both in the field and in a location that will
facilitate communication with policy makers. The Bureau shall continue
to abide by the Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program and the statutory
restrictions on sale without restriction, and the directives contained
in Fiscal Year 2020 and 2021 House and Senate Reports and Explanatory
Statements. The committee is deeply concerned with recent evidence
linking the Bureau of Land Management's Wild Horse and Burro Adoption
Incentive Program to wild horses going to slaughter for human
consumption and urges immediate suspension of the program pending a
thorough investigation. Finally, the Committees believe that the full
and successful implementation of the Bureau's strategy will be greatly
enhanced with a traditional congressional communications policy that
includes regular and timely briefings on the progress being made and
the challenges ahead.
Prohibit BLM and Forest Service funding for euthanasia or sale
without limitations of wild horses and burros as management methods.
Congress has repeatedly confirmed its opposition to the killing and
slaughter of our nation's wild horses and burros by prohibiting BLM
from spending funds to kill healthy wild horses and burros or from
selling them without limitations on sales. In the FY2020 Further
Consolidated Appropriations Act, Congress continued the prohibition on
lethal management methods for BLM wild horses and burros and, for the
very first time, extended the prohibition to cover wild horses and
burros managed by the U.S. Forest Service. This language was included
again in the FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act.
The ASPCA requests that the Subcommittee continue to include the
following language from Section 419 of P.L. 116-260:

Humane Transfer and Treatment of Animals
SEC. 419. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Secretary of the Interior, with respect to land administered by the
Bureau of Land Management, or the Secretary of Agriculture, with
respect to land administered by the Forest Service (referred to in this
section as the ``Secretary concerned''), may transfer excess wild
horses and burros that have been removed from land administered by the
Secretary concerned to other Federal, State, and local government
agencies for use as work animals.
(b) The Secretary concerned may make a transfer under subsection
(a) immediately on the request of a Federal, State, or local government
agency.
(c) An excess wild horse or burro transferred under subsection (a)
shall lose status as a wild free-roaming horse or burro (as defined in
section 2 of Public Law 92-195 (commonly known as the ``Wild Free-
Roaming Horses and Burros Act'') (16 U.S.C. 1332)).
(d) A Federal, State, or local government agency receiving an
excess wild horse or burro pursuant to subsection (a) shall not-(1)
destroy the horse or burro in a manner that results in the destruction
of the horse or burro into a commercial product; (2) sell or otherwise
transfer the horse or burro in a manner that results in the destruction
of the horse or burro for processing into a commercial product; or (3)
euthanize the horse or burro, except on the recommendation of a
licensed veterinarian in a case of severe injury, illness, or advanced
age.
(e) Amounts appropriated by this Act shall not be available for-(1)
the destruction of any healthy, unadopted, and wild horse or burro
under the jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned (including a
contractor); or (2) the sale of a wild horse or burro that results in
the destruction of the wild horse or burro for processing into a
commercial product.
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\1\ Bureau of Land Management, Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program
for Wild Horse and Burro Gathers, IM 2015-151: https://www.blm.gov/
policy/im-2015-151
\2\ Bureau of Land Management, Report to Congress: An Analysis of
Achieving a Sustainable Wild Horse and Burro Program, May 2020: https:/
/www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/WHB-Report-2020-NewCover-051920-
508.pdf
\3\ Bureau of Land Management, Nevada State Office, Oocyte Growth
Factor Vaccine Study, 2020: https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/
eplanning/planAndProjectSite.do?methodName=
renderDefaultPlanOrProjectSite&projectId=1502949

[This statement was submitted by Nancy Perry, Senior Vice
President, Government Relations.]
______

Prepared Statement of the American Urological Association
The American Urological Association (AUA) thanks the Subcommittee
on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related
Agencies for the opportunity to submit the following outside witness
testimony for the FY 2022 appropriations process. We respectfully
request that you consider our report language focused on research at
the National Institutes of Health (NIH) prioritizing ``Prostate Cancer
Disparities'' at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and ``Chronic
Urologic Diseases'' at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive
and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
The AUA is a globally engaged organization with more than 22,000
members practicing in more than 100 countries. Our members represent
the world's largest collection of expertise and insight into the
treatment of urologic disease. Of the total AUA membership, more than
15,000 are based in the United States and provide invaluable support to
the urologic community by fostering the highest standards of urologic
care through education, research and the formulation of health policy.
prioritizing research on prostate cancer disparities
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in American men
and more than 10 percent of men receive a prostate cancer diagnosis
during their lifetime. Moreover, prostate cancer disproportionately
impacts men of color. In fact, incidence of prostate cancer is almost
80 percent higher in Black men, and prostate cancer mortality among
Black men is more than double that of men in every other racial or
ethnic group. Given this disparate impact, the research and treatment
of prostate cancer is both an urgent health policy and health equity
priority. The NCI should increase funding to address these disparities
in the delivery of care and outcomes in Black men with clinically
localized prostate cancer through robust funding of new research
studies, as well as continued funding of ongoing research studies.
The NCI is currently supporting research to study the biological
and non-biological factors associated with aggressive prostate cancer
in African American men. The RESPOND (Research on Prostate Cancer in
African American Men: Defining the Roles of Genetics, Tumor Markers,
and Social Stress) Study aims to identify and address the underlying
causes of disparities in prostate cancer incidence and mortality. To
ensure this research effort will continue to expand our understanding
of disparities in prostate cancer and improve health equity for Black
men and their families, the NCI should provide an update on this study
in the NIH FY 2023 budget justification, including whether additional
funds and/or resources are needed to support this work.

FY 2022 Report Language Request
National Institutes of Health
National Cancer Institute

Prostate Cancer Disparities.--Nearly 250,000 men will be diagnosed
with and 34,000 men will die from prostate cancer in 2021. Incidence of
prostate cancer is almost 80% higher in non-Hispanic Black and prostate
cancer mortality among Black men is more than double that of men in
every other racial or ethnic group--representing a stark example of
health inequity in cancer outcomes. The Committee supports the National
Cancer Institute and National Institute on Minority Health and Health
Disparities' Research on Prostate Cancer in Men of African American
Ancestry: Defining the Roles of Genetics Tumor Markers, and Social
Stress (RESPOND) Study, intended to identify the underlying causes of
disparities in prostate cancer incidence and mortality. The Committee
requests an update on the study in the National Institute of Health's
2023 budget justification, including whether additional funds are
needed to speed or expand the impact of this important work.
increase funding for chronic urologic disease research
There continues to be a concerning prevalence of chronic urologic
disease, like prostatitis, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH),
cystitis, urinary tract infection, erectile dysfunction, urinary
incontinence, and overactive bladder among Americans. These conditions
continue to affect millions of individuals including children, adults,
men, women, all races, and all socioeconomic strata in the U.S.,
resulting in significant health care costs, and substantial disability
and impaired quality of life for these individuals. The Urologic
Diseases in America project funded by the NIDDK found that the 3 of the
top 5 most costly urologic conditions to treat in the U.S. are non-
cancerous functional urologic diseases including urinary tract
infections ($3.5 billion), kidney stones ($2.1 billion), BPH ($1.1
billion). Because many of the chronic urologic conditions are strongly
impacted by social determinants of health, resultant inequities in
access, treatment and outcomes are common for these conditions. We
appreciate the NIH's previous efforts to increase research funding and
resources in this area. However, we are concerned about insufficient
has been done to address these non-cancerous functional urologic health
conditions leading to poorer health outcomes for patients, increased
costs to the healthcare system and worsening inequities.
The NIDDK is equipped to support research to advance our ability to
combat chronic urologic conditions and improve urologic health;
however, more funding is necessary to move the needle. The NIDDK
received a disproportionate increase in funding compared to other
institutes at the NIH in fiscal year (FY) 2021. Congress stated in the
FY 2021 Labor-HHS report the committee intended to provide a 1.5
percent increase for all NIH institutes and centers in the FY 2021
Labor-HHS appropriations bill, however, the NIDDK received an increase
of less of one percent. The AUA is concerned about what this means for
NIDDK's ability to continue its existing research and undergo new
research initiatives, particularly as the institute supports COVID-19
related research relevant to its mission despite not receiving
emergency funds. To ensure that NIDDK has the capacity to support
urologic research consistent with their mission, the AUA recommends
increased funding for NIDDK. This will allow the institute to
coordinate research efforts to better understand these conditions and
improve patient outcomes.

FY 2022 Report Language Request
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Chronic Urologic Diseases.--There continues to be a concerning
prevalence of chronic urologic diseases among Americans and the
Committee applauds NIH efforts to increase research funding and
resources. Despite its prevalence and health impact, we are concerned
there is not enough research on these chronic conditions, such as
prostatitis, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), cystitis, urinary
tract infection, erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence, and
overactive bladder. To make progress in prevention and treatment of all
chronic urologic disease, the Committee recommends increased funding
for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases and encourages the Institute to strengthen and coordinate
research efforts to better understand these conditions, improve patient
outcomes and reduce healthcare inequalities.
______

Prepared Statement of the Americans for the Arts
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to submit this written
testimony to you today in support of federal funding for the National
Endowment for the Arts (NEA). We request that you match President
Biden's FY 2022 budget request of $201 million for the NEA.
Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for
advancing the arts and arts education in America. We have more than 60
years of service and are dedicated to representing and serving the more
than 4,500 local arts agencies in every state. Together we work to
ensure that every American has access to the transformative power of
the arts. I appreciate the opportunity to provide public comment on the
budget request for the NEA.
We were pleased to see the Administration's substantial and
necessary increase for the NEA. This is a welcome change from the
previous Administration's budgets--in four consecutive years--that
called for the elimination of the NEA. This new approach is consistent
with the recent bipartisan work from this committee, and Congress, in
consistently increasing funding for the NEA, and I know that I speak
for the arts and culture community in expressing our deep appreciation
to Congress in appropriating an additional $5.25 million in funds for
the NEA in FY 2021 over FY 2020 enacted levels.
Receiving consecutive years of gradual funding increases, the NEA's
investment in every congressional district in the country now
contributes to a $919.7 billion arts and culture industry in America
according to our U.S. Department of Commerce, representing 4.3 percent
of the annual GDP. The nation's arts and culture industry supports 5.2
million jobs and yields a $33 billion trade surplus for our country.\1\
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\1\ U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, https://www.bea.gov/news/
2021/arts-and-cultural-production-satellite-account-us-and-states.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Further, every NEA grant dollar leverages at least $9 in private
and other public funds, generating more than $500 million in matching
support. This leveraging power far surpasses the required non-federal
match of at least 1:1 and illustrates why federal support for the arts
is uniquely valuable. The federal investment in the arts helps power
the creative economy across the country.
Proportionally, the NEA's budget is just 0.0035 percent of the
federal budget. That amounts to 51 cents per capita. In fact, the NEA
budget has been losing its share of federal discretionary spending and
failing to keep pace with inflation since 1992 when the appropriation
was for $176 million, the last highwater mark for the agency. When
adjusted for inflation, the NEA's 1992 budget would today be a little
less than twice the current budget at $326 million.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Americans for the Arts, https://www.americansforthearts.org/
sites/default/files/NEA%202021%20FINAL_0.pdf.
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Regarding our request for FY 2022, we hope that the NEA will
receive funding at $201 million, the highest funding--level ever
appropriated by Congress for the agency.
We estimate that a $33.5 million increase, based on current NEA
programming would provide:

--An increase in the total amount for direct endowment grants by
about $18 million.
--An increase of $12 million to the NEA's state partnership
agreement.
--With the NEA estimation of a 9:1 return for each direct grant
dollar, this funding level increase would be expected to
leverage an additional $500 million in non-federal matching
support.
--$15 million in funding to advance racial equity, access, and
climate justice.

NEA grants are remarkably far-reaching, and they touch many
communities which have fewer opportunities to experience the arts.
According to the NEA, the majority of direct grants go to small-and
medium-sized organizations, which often support projects for audiences
that otherwise might not have access to arts programming. In FY 2020:

--42% of NEA--supported activities take place in high-poverty
neighborhoods; and
--35% of NEA grants went to organizations that reach underserved
populations such as people with disabilities, people in
institutions, and veterans--such as those who receive care
through Creative Forces, which places creative arts therapies
at the core of patient-centered care at 11 military medical
facilities and a telehealth program for patients in rural and
remote areas.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ National Endowment for the Arts, https://www.arts.gov/sites/
default/files/Quick_Facts_February2020.pdf.
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NEA's funding to Local Arts Agencies (LAAs) is extremely vital to
their ability to serve their communities. LAAs collectively are
responsible for approximately $912 million in public and private
grantmaking annually. They are also the largest grantmaker to
individual artists. LAAs work directly for or with mayors, city
managers, county supervisors, and township managers as well corporate
CEOs, real estate developers, and social service providers in every
size community across the country. Additionally, LAAs have taken the
lead in equity--centered grantmaking in their cities, counties, and
rural and suburban areas. They have been entrusted with federal, state,
and local funds, including CDBG grants and CARES Act and American
Rescue Plan Act state and local block grant funds to support emergency
relief grants to arts and culture small businesses, nonprofit
institutions, individual gig artists, and entrepreneurs.
One recent issue LAAs have been focused on is addressing cultural
equity. I'd like to highlight some of those examples and would
encourage the NEA to continue supporting this important work by
directing additional resources to ensuring there is cultural equity in
the arts.

--The Belonging in Oakland Initiatives: Neighborhood Voices and the
Just City Cultural Fund; Oakland, CA-Neighborhood Voices is a
grant program that lifts up seldom--heard voices of Oakland's
neighborhoods by supporting the expression, recognition, and
understanding of the array of diverse communities that make
Oakland unique, vibrant, and resilient. This program is a by-
product of Belonging in Oakland--the City of Oakland's cultural
development plan that aims to promote cultural equity,
belonging, and well-being for all the communities of
Oakland.\4\
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\4\ https://city-of-oakland-california.forms.fm/neighborhood-
voices-belonging-in-oakland/forms/5263.
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--Unrestricted Support for Artists and Arts Organizations; Memphis,
TN-ArtsMemphis has served Memphis and Shelby County, TN, since
1963, investing more than $85M in organizations and artists.
Since 2016, ArtsMemphis has been advancing the redesign of
their cornerstone operating support grant program. Through
continual review and refinement, ArtsMemphis has shifted this
program to be more accessible, more inclusive, and more
representative of the community. Today, ArtsMemphis' operating
support grant funds 48 organizations with budgets ranging from
$30K to $15M. 41% of these organizations have a BIPOC leader
and 77% have audiences who are majority people of color. Out of
the 2.5 million arts experiences their grantees provided pre-
pandemic, 1.3 million engaged participants who were people of
color. In 2020, ArtsMemphis utilized a racial equity lens for
grant awards, providing an across-the-board increase to Black-
led organizations serving majority black audiences.\5\
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\5\ https://www.artsmemphis.org/grants.

We must continue to strongly support federal funding of the arts as
it fosters investment, spurs job--related growth, expands educational
opportunities, is essential to LAAs, and provides for the preservation
of our heritage.
Thank you for your consideration and support of $201 million for
the NEA in the FY 2022 budget, and, as always, we stand ready to assist
and remain focused on pursuing an increase for the NEA for the coming
fiscal year.

[This statement was submitted by General Nolen Bivens (U.S. Army
Ret.), President and CEO.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Animal Welfare Institute
The Animal Welfare Institute, a national animal welfare advocacy
nonprofit organization, asks the Subcommittee to provide adequate
funding levels for crucial wildlife programs and to include measures to
protect at--risk species.
bureau of land management (blm) and u.s. forest service--wild horses
and burros
The BLM, which oversees the vast majority of America's wild horses
and burros, continues to mismanage herds, relying on an endless cycle
of costly removals from public lands instead of implementing viable
solutions, such as immunocontraception to control fertility rates and
manage these federally protected animals on the range. In its May 2020
report to Congress, the BLM called for accelerated removals at a cost
of roughly $900 million in the first five years alone. The BLM cannot
continue on its current unsustainable trajectory. While the agency
spends upwards of $60 million annually on removals and holding, it
spends less than 1 percent of its WHB program budget on fertility
control. We ask the Committee to urge the agency to implement the use
of the proven and safe immunocontraceptive vaccines--specifically the
widely supported porcine zona pellucida (PZP) vaccine, as per the
National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recommendation. Moreover, we
strongly support the continued inclusion of provisions to ensure that
both BLM and U.S. Forest Service--managed wild equines cannot be
destroyed for commercial purposes in order to protect these animals
from slaughter, as well as language preventing the destruction of
healthy, unadopted wild horses and burros.
In recent years, the BLM has aggressively pursued attempts to
manage wild horses via a risky and invasive surgical procedure known as
``ovariectomy via colpotomy,'' which involves blindly locating the
ovaries and severing them using a rod--like tool while the animal
remains conscious. In its report on wild horse management, the NAS
explicitly warned the BLM against using this procedure due to the risks
of serious complications. Numerous lawmakers in the House and Senate
have criticized the BLM's plans to ovariectomize horses and national
polling shows overwhelming opposition to this procedure. We ask the
Committee to include language barring the use of federal funds to
conduct ovariectomies on wild horses and burros so that taxpayer
dollars can be directed towards cost-effective, safe, and humane
fertility control methods such as PZP. Finally, in light of the recent
New York Times expose detailing how wild horses adopted through the
BLM's Adoption Incentive Program are ending up in the slaughter
pipeline, we ask the Committee to include language calling for an
Office of Inspector General investigation into the program.
endangered species act implementation (fws)
We ask the committee to appropriate $592.1 million (across five
programs) to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for the purpose of
Endangered Species Act (ESA) implementation:

--$63.7 million for Listing
--$240.3 million for Recovery
--$149 million for Planning and Consultation
--$13.5 million for Conservation and Restoration
--$125.6 million for the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation
Fund (CESCF)

Implementation of the Endangered Species Act, our nation's most
effective law for species conservation, has been severely underfunded
for years. The Fish and Wildlife Service requires a budget of $592.1
million across five programs to begin to make up for lost ground and
put species on the path to recovery. Critically, this includes ensuring
every listed species receives a minimum of $50,000 per year for
recovery. This funding package will allow the ESA to be implemented in
the way Congress intended when it dedicated our country to protecting
the species and the habitats most in need.
The funding levels requested above would allow FWS to process its
entire listing backlog in less than four years; put adequate funds
toward recovery planning and actions for every listed species; maximize
the efficacy and efficiency of working with other federal agencies and
with states, counties, and private landowners; and implement early
conservation actions that keep species from ever reaching the brink of
extinction. Additionally, the CESCF serves as an essential source of
funding for states and private landowners, making it a crucial tool for
cooperative conservation.
trophy hunting (fws)
We urge you to include language prohibiting the use of funds by the
Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service for the issuance of any
permit authorizing import from any country of a sport--hunted trophy
from a threatened or endangered species until the Secretary has made a
finding, after public notice and comment pursuant to Section 553 of
Title 5 of the U.S. Code, of whether the country where the animal was
killed adequately provides for the conservation and monitoring for that
species, including a fully funded and implemented management plan for
that species. That management plan should be based on the best
available science that addresses existing threats to the species;
provide a justification for how sport hunting significantly benefits
the conservation of the species; formally coordinate with adjacent
countries to protect transboundary populations; and ensure that any
take is sustainable and does not contribute to the species' decline in
either the short-term or long-term according to current population
estimates.
African elephants and lions continue to face severe threats to
their survival, and Americans should not be allowed to import sport--
hunted trophies of threatened and endangered species in the absence of
scientific data about the impact of hunting on relevant populations.
Under the Trump administration, FWS tried to reverse the Obama-era bans
on importing African elephant and lion trophies. In March 2018, the
agency issued a memo announcing that decisions about whether to approve
importation of sport--hunted elephant and lion trophies would be made
on a ``case-by-case basis,'' replacing the former policy of having
rules that applied to each species within each country of origin. The
Subcommittee has previously expressed concern about this policy change.
FY21 House report language stated, ``The inability of the Service to
comply with the directive to brief the Committee within 60 days of
enactment indicates the Service does not have the necessary information
at hand to make these determinations,'' and the ongoing lack of
transparency from FWS indicates that this statement continues to be
true. We urge the Subcommittee to ensure that FWS upholds its mandate
to conserve wildlife by prohibiting the issuance of further trophy
import permits for threatened and endangered species until necessary
transparency and scientific rigor can be implemented.
trapping (fws, blm, nps)
We urge the committee to allocate $300,000 to the Department of the
Interior (specifically FWS, BLM, and NPS) to institute a three-year
pilot program that replaces the use of body--gripping traps (Conibears,
legholds, and snares) by agency personnel (including contractors) with
non-lethal methods and equipment, with the following exceptions:

--When the body--gripping trap is used to (i) control documented,
invasive species to achieve resource management objectives
where alternative methods have failed; or (ii) protect a
species that is listed as endangered or threatened under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
--Exception only applies when (i) such use of a body--gripping trap
is in accordance with applicable state and federal law; (ii)
prior to use of a body--gripping trap, all available and viable
nonlethal methods for such control or protection, respectively,
are attempted; and (iii) such attempts are documented in
writing, and such documentation is maintained at the
headquarters of the department that employs the individual
engaging in such attempt.

Furthermore, we encourage the inclusion of language directing the
Secretary to begin this pilot program within six months and to provide
a report to the Committee before the end of the fiscal year with
details of its implementation.
Body-gripping traps, such as snares, Conibear traps, and steel--jaw
leghold traps, are inhumane and inherently nonselective. The nontarget
animals caught in these traps include threatened and endangered
species, as well as family pets. These traps do not belong on public
lands where families enjoy spending time outdoors, and where anyone who
trips a trap can become a victim. Nonlethal methods are often highly
effective and DOI personnel would be serving both wildlife and outdoor
recreation interests by prioritizing their use.
Based on funding levels for other predator control programs,
$300,000 over three years would be a reasonable amount to fund a pilot
program replacing department use of body--gripping traps with nonlethal
methods. The FWS Endangered Species Conservation-Wolf Livestock Loss
Compensation and Prevention fund tends to give $50,000-$100,000 to each
recipient. The FWS Fish and Wildlife Coordination and Assistance fund
was appropriated $150,000 in FY16 (the most recent year with data) to
award grants to conservation and/or environmental projects. Wildlife
Services (Agriculture) gave Colorado State University a $50,028 grant
to study nonlethal management of coyote predation. This paints a
picture of $50,000-$150,000 per year for a small predator management
program, and a three-year program is advisable to obtain meaningful
results.

[This statement was submitted by Nancy Blaney, Director, Government
Affairs.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Honorable Senators:

On behalf of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC or
``Conservancy''), I submit this request to increase the annual
Operation of the National Park Service (ONPS) appropriation for the
Appalachian National Scenic Trail (ANST, A.T., or Trail), a unit of the
National Park Service (NPS) within the Interior, EPA, and Related
Agencies appropriations bill. The current level of ONPS appropriations
for the Trail, $1.6 million, is insufficient to fulfil the NPS
obligations under the National Trails System Act (NTSA), relevant NPS-
related statutes, and the cooperative agreement with ATC. We believe a
budget of $3.5 million is necessary to meet the needs of the Trail.
Particularly as our nation responds to the mounting impacts of
anthropogenic climate change, Congress must invest heavily in habitat
restoration, combating invasive species/the loss of biodiversity, and
maintaining the functionality and ecological services of our public
lands. In the A.T., continued underinvestment could be catastrophic. We
have been advocating within the NPS for a further increase request, but
recognize the central role the Congress serves in determining funding
for the federal government.
The Conservancy is the Sec. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
responsible for developing the Appalachian Trail and leading the
Trail's Cooperative Management System, which joins the federal
government, the governments of 14 states, 31 Maintaining Clubs (Clubs),
and local and non-profit partners in caring for our iconic long trail.
Our position with the Trail, which began 100 years ago this year,
outlining the vision of a continent--spanning footpath, remains
formalized under a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service
(NPS). Recognizing the needs of the Trail, President Trump requested an
increase in its ONPS allocation of $107,000, which Congress granted in
the Omnibus Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2021. Recognizing the
unit is struggling to meet obligations, the Committees on
Appropriations included in the explanatory statement for the Omnibus an
``encouragement'' for the NPS to submit an increased allocation. We
have yet to see the line-item specifics for President Biden's Fiscal
Year 2022 budget request.
The ANST runs 2,193 miles with approximately 4,500 miles of
boundaries encasing an approximately 300,000-acre conserved
``Corridor.'' The A.T. Corridor includes lands within the National Park
and National Forest Systems, as well as state and local units, with the
NPS directly responsible for approximately half of the acreage. The
Trail is the centerline of the largest contiguous stretch of public
land in the eastern United States. It is the longest park unit in the
National Park System. In terms of size, the ANST has more NPS--
administered acreage than Biscayne, Voyageurs, or Zion National Parks.
In terms of boundary mileage, it is second in the National Park System
only to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Its normal, estimated
visitation is 3 million, placing it 36th in vistiation within the
System--that is higher than Joshua Tree or Bryce Canyon National Parks,
or, more locally to the Capitol, Rock Creek Park. Although the NPS does
not attempt to consistently track vistation of our national trails, we
believe that visitation increased Trail-wide by 50% in 2020 to 4.5
million.
The ANST's length (spanning 12 of latitude in the temperate zone),
north-south alignment, changes of over 6,500 feet in elevation and the
numerous peaks and ridges it crosses along the Appalachian Mountain
chain creates its topographically diverse landscape, protecting very
high habitat diversity and connectivity while providing for a unique
recreation experience. It is an important landscape in the eastern U.S.
that offers large-scale continuity and important climate refugia,
increasingly vital attributes in the highly developed and increasingly
taxed eastern public land network. The ANST is one of (if not the most)
biodiverse units of the National Park System. While the ANST does not
have the physical infrastructure such as paved roads and water systems
that rank costly in terms of facility maintenance, the natural resource
management needs of the Trail are legion. Unlike facility assets,
opportunities within the NPS to fund natural resource programmatic work
are rare to materialize.
Currently, the NPS office that administers the Trail has 9.3
fulltime--equivalent employees (FTEs), approximately 40 Conservation--
related staffers at ATC, and 6,000 volunteers contributing annually a
total of 245,000 labor hours (equivalent to 118 employees). The $1.6
million ONPS allocation is, for the most part, consumed by staff salary
and benefits. The allocation is insufficient to allow for much project
work or to enable NPS staff to visit locations along the Trail. Under
the current park operations funding model, there are certain things
that are very difficult to fund except through a unit's ONPS
allocation, specifically: providing law enforcement (maintaining and
asserting the federal government's property rights as well as providing
public safety); processing environmental compliance documents (such as
required by NEPA) and; overseeing (if not funding) natural resource
protection work.
Between 2005 and 2020, the ANST Park Office ONPS base allocation
has grown at an average annual rate of 3.3 percent. When adjusted for
the effects of inflation, ONPS funding has grown at an annualized rate
of 1.4 percent. Among the 42 NPS units with annual visitation in the
one to three million range, the average ONPS allocation is $3.93 per
visitor, while the ANST is currently at 54 cents per visitor. Few units
are funded by their ONPS allocation alone; most, if not all, rely on
allocations distributed subsequent to Service--wide ``calls'' to
disburse non-unit specific funds Congress appropriates. By and large,
successive administrations have requested, and Congress has granted,
flat increases to the funding streams within the NPS that allow for
facility asset maintenance (i.e. Cyclic Maintenance, Repair--Rehab).
The same cannot be said for the Natural Resource Projects call (which,
it must be noted, funds projects, but not programs, meaning it cannot
fund FTE) and there is no call for law enforcement or for compliance,
which, like natural resource programmatic staff, must be funded through
an ONPS allocation.
The current, and reasonable needs of the unit are more than the
current cooperative management partners can support given the legal
division of responsibilities. Comparatively, NPS units with far smaller
acreage to manage and far less complex obligations and programs receive
relatively much larger base budgets, including the 16-acre Springfield
Armory with a base budget of $1.5 million; the 968-acre Appomattox
Court House with a base budget of $1.9 million; and the 16-acre Fort
Stanwix with base budget of $1.6 million.
Law Enforcement.--The law enforcement needs of the Trail are
significant considering the ANST spans 14 states and 88 counties. These
responsibilities can be broken down roughly into two categories:
individuals threatening safety (criminal) and encroachments (civil).
Both are commonly referred to as ``incidents'' and ``incident
response'' is the general term used to mean ``responding to potential
harm to the legal rights of the Trail and its users.'' Criminal
incidents on the Trail posing a significant threat to public safety
are, thankfully, rare. Much more common are civil incidents/
encroachments. ANST owns 2,083 fee tracts, containing 108,000 acres of
lands with over 1,200 miles of exterior boundary line which is
maintained and monitored by ATC staff and staff-coordinated volunteers.
Roughly 50 new encroachment violations are discovered each year, with
10% of those being severe in nature. Approximately 430 known (ATC-
Identified) ANST boundary violations have occurred over the past
decade, many of which still remain unresolved. Examples of severe and
ongoing encroachment issues include large--scale timber and resource
theft, widespread ATV use, construction of building, homes, pools and
patios, and waste dumping. It is the legal responsibility of the NPS to
address these encroachments, something unpracticable with its current
ANST law enforcement (LE) staffing of two FTEs.
ATC staff and volunteers routinely assist in responding to Trail
incidents. The current-and preferred-management of the Trail places the
Chief Ranger duty stationed at the Trail's administrative headquarters
in Harper's Ferry, WV and the one FTE split between the ANST and BLRI
(Blue Ridge Parkway NPS unit) in southern Virginia, serving that
region, and one FTE split between the ANST and GETT (Gettysburg
National Military Park) serving that immediate region. For the NPS-
managed Trail miles north of Harrisburg, the ANST relies on less formal
staff sharing. ATC advocates for replicating the staff--sharing model
across the mid-Atlantic and northern stretches of the Trail, stationing
six individuals, working 50% time on the ANST in Maine, New Hampshire/
Vermont/Massachusetts, Connecticut/New York, New Jersey/Pennsylvania,
Pennsylvania/Maryland, and West Virginia/Virginia. Increasing LE
staffing on the Trail will increase the NPS' ability to connect to
rural communities and to safeguard not only the increasingly manifest
desire of the public to recreate on our public lands, but the narrow
ribbon of conserved land providing critical species habitat and
providing for migration and climate adaptations in the densely
populated eastern U.S. More funding is also needed to train ATC staff
and volunteers as they support incident management as needed.
Resources Management.--The majority of the management of any
National Park System unit is the proper administration of natural and
cultural resources and minimizing impacts from visitors. The ANST
currently splits coordination for both these buckets between one FTE
when at least two, and preferably three FTE, are warranted. There is no
biologist on the NPS staff for the ANST. Regarding natural resources,
ATC staff and volunteers are responsible for all Trail-related
maintenance as well as the stewardship and restoration of the Trail
corridor lands as quality habitat for flora and fauna. Except for the
aforementioned FTE at the ANST, the majority of the funding for natural
resources management is provided by individual and charitable
foundation giving. Some of the natural resource work is funded through
competitive grants awarded by DOI Region One, but funding is extremely
limited and project-focused. Funding for natural resource work
supported by ONPS funding has diminished steadily in recent years.
Natural resources management for the ANST is multi-faceted.
Management of ``endangered plants and animals, invasive species,
climate change mitigation, and scientific research projects'' are all
Cooperative Agreement--identified responsibilities for the NPS to
``provide overall leadership'' for. ATC staff and volunteers are
required to ``coordinate [the] on-the-ground management activities
needed to protect occurrences of rare, threatened, and endangered
species, exemplary natural communities, historic properties, and other
natural, cultural, and aesthetic resources.'' In recent years, ATC has
led several natural resource management projects within the ANST
corridor, including Ash treatments to halt the spread of the invasive
Emerald Ash Borer in Massachusetts, Georgia, North Carolina and
Tennessee, red spruce restoration in North Carolina, Tennessee and
Virginia, habitat creation for the globally imperiled Northern
Metalmark Butterfly in Connecticut, and restoration of Atlantic Salmon
habitat in Maine. ATC staff hold professional licenses and degrees in
areas such as ecological restoration, pesticide application and hazard
tree arboriculture, serving as the primary experts for these services
on the ANST.
Compliance.--ANST staff depend on ATC staff to collect information
required for the completion of National Environmental Policy Act
compliance for all treadway and corridor related work. ATC staff are
generally responsible for the completion of impact assessments, field
monitoring and coordination with state Natural Heritage and wildlife
offices. Yet NEPA compliance is a process that can not be delegated in
full and ANST capacity is required to facilitate and oversee this
process as well as research permit evaluations and approvals.
The A.T. is uniquely situated to serve as a barometer for the air,
water, climate and biological diversity of the Appalachian Mountains
and much of the eastern United States, which is what makes it an
attractive place to explore scientific questions. The ANST has clearly
identified the need for sound scientific baselines and trend
information on environmental and resource conditions to inform adaptive
management and stewardship activities, however current capacity does
not allow the ANST to even entertain proposals from educational
institutions and research entities seeking permission to use the ANST
as a study area. Each year, requests for scientific analysis,
evaluation and monitoring within the A.T. corridor, submitted through
the NPS Research Permit and Reporting System, go unanswered and un-
permitted. Each of these unfilled research requests is a missed
opportunity for stronger science and informed A.T. management.
For compliance under section 106 of the NHPA, ANST NPS staff cannot
delegate its obligations to ATC. Additionally, closer coordination with
state and tribal offices of historic preservation will further the
ability of the ANST to address extant compliance demands as well as
build the capacity to perform government-to-government consultations
with the 34 identified Native nations with ancestral and/or reservation
lands along the Trail. NPS staff cannot delegate to ATC government-to-
government consultation responsibilities.
Thank you for considering our request.

[This statement was submitted by Brendan Mysliwiec, Director of
Federal Policy and Legislation.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Assiniboine and Sioux Rural Water Supply
System
fort peck reservation rural water system ($3,358,000)
The Assiniboine and Sioux Rural Water Supply System (ASRWSS)
submits this testimony in support of $3,358,000 in funding for
continued Operations, Maintenance, and Replacement (OMR) of part of the
Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System as authorized by PL 106-382.
ASRWSS is the tribally chartered entity charged with the planning,
design, construction, operation, maintenance and replacement (OMR) of
the Assiniboine and Sioux Rural Water Supply System, which is the part
of the Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System on the Fort Peck Indian
Reservation. We are strong partners with Dry Prairie Rural Water System
(DPRWS), which operates the part of the Project that is off the
Reservation.
The most basic of governmental function is the delivery of clean,
safe, and reliable drinking water. We are honored to provide water and
service in northeastern Montana to an area of 7,750 square miles
connected by 3,200 miles of pipeline when completed in 2023. Completion
of all construction funding is expected in FY 2022. The project
provides safe, adequate, and reliable drinking water to an area larger
than New Jersey and just smaller than Massachusetts.
ASRWSS wants to thank the Subcommittee for the full funding of OMR
costs of the Water Project at $3.281 million in FY 2021.
As the Project works toward completion of construction, OMR needs
continue to increase. Thus, for FY 2022 we will need an additional
$77,000 for total level of funding at $3.358 million in appropriations
for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Construction account.
The funding increase of $77,000 is necessary to:

i) safely operate, maintain, repair and replace system features,
ii) employ the necessary level of qualified and certified staff
iii) purchase chemicals for treatment
iv) purchase power for pumping and treatment facilities.

The Congress (Energy and Water Subcommittee) will have appropriated
over $320 million to complete the project through FY 2022. The project
is 94% complete and full funding will be available to complete the
project in FY 2022. It is imperative, through Interior appropriations
(and a DPRWS non-federal cost share), that ASRWSS maintain the
investment of Congress in our infrastructure valued at $220 million and
held in trust by the United States.
The DPRWS cost share covers the OMR cost of their use common
facilities as agreed upon between ASRWSS, DPRWS and the Secretary in a
Water Service Agreement. DPRWS makes monthly payments on a timely
basis.
ASRWSS provided drinking water to more than 21,500 residents in
Northeast Montana in 2020. In 2002 over 24,000 residents will be
served. Ultimately, 31,000 residents will be served as the population
of the region continues to grow over the next several decades. The
population served at the end of 2016 was less than 10,000, and OMR
funding needs have been increasing accordingly. The project also serves
social and governmental agencies, including the BIA Agency Office,
schools, clinics, hospitals, Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge,
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic site, U.S.-Canadian border
stations, as well as the towns of Poplar, Wolf Point, Frazier,
Culbertson, Medicine Lake, Scobey, Nashua, Fort Kipp and Brockton.
The Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System was authorized by the
Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System Act of 2000, Pub. L. 106-382.
The enactment ensured a safe, adequate, and reliable municipal, rural
and industrial water supply for the residents of the Fort Peck Indian
Reservation and the residents of Roosevelt, Sheridan, Daniels, and
Valley Counties outside the Reservation. As noted in the President's
previous budget requests: ``Groundwater from shallow alluvial aquifers
. . . for the municipal systems . . . is generally poor with
concentrations of iron, manganese, sodium, sulfates, bicarbonates and
total dissolved solids above recommended standards.'' This project
provides a perpetual remedy to historic water quality issues that
impaired health and stunted economic growth.
The Project called for the construction of a single treatment plant
on the Missouri River near Wolf Point, Montana, that will distribute
water through 3,200 miles of pipeline to both the Reservation Tribal
system and through three completed interconnections to the Dry Prairie
system. A single water source on the Missouri River replaced nearly two
dozen individual community water sources and ensures a clean, plentiful
and safe water supply.
The Federal legislation authorizing the Fort Peck Reservation Rural
Water System requires that the OMR costs of ASRWSS, held in trust by
the United States, are fully funded. Interior appropriations to BIA are
the federal source of OMR funding. This is consistent with the federal
trust responsibility to the Tribes who were promised a permanent home
when the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes agreed to move to the
Reservation. A permanent home requires safe drinking water. The funding
request enables ASRWSS to deliver superior drinking water, meeting all
federal and state standards, to all the people, towns, and federal,
tribal, state, public and private agencies, and businesses.
Thus, the $3.358 million requested in FY 2022 for the OMR of this
vital infrastructure project is critical. The increased funding of
$77,000 over the FY 2021 level for the OM&R of the Project is needed as
the Project buildout increases the service population and requires
additional personnel, power, chemicals, repairs, replacements and
improvements to operate the water treatment plant and other facilities.
Again, we thank the Subcommittee for the continued support of OMR
funding for ASRWSS as authorized by PL 106-382.

[This statement was submitted by Bill Whitehead, Chairman.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck
Reservation
I am Floyd Azure, Chairman of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of
the Fort Peck Reservation. I would like to thank the Senate Interior
Appropriations Subcommittee for the opportunity to present testimony
concerning FY 2022 appropriations for the Indian Health Service (IHS),
the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA).
The Fort Peck Reservation is in northeast Montana, forty miles west
of the North Dakota border, and fifty miles south of the Canadian
border, with the Missouri River defining its southern border. The
Reservation encompasses over two million acres of land. We have
approximately 13,000 enrolled tribal members, with approximately 7,000
tribal members living on the Reservation. We have a total Reservation
population of approximately 12,000 people.
Congress has long recognized that the foundation for economic
development and prosperity in Indian country lay in community
stability, which begins with quality health care and infrastructure,
such as safe drinking water, roads, and public safety, and a clean
environment.
a. indian health service funding
We strongly support the Administration's $2.2 billion requested
increase for the Indian Health Service. The COVID-19 pandemic showed
the nation the chronic health care deficiencies in Indian country.
Native people acquired and died of this disease at some of the highest
rates in the nation. This is because we suffer from the comorbidities
at higher rates, we lack access to adequate health care, and we lack
basic community infrastructure.
As we are coming out of the pandemic, Indian country is preparing
for the next health crisis, a mental health crisis. Our people were
engaging in self-harming behaviors at drastic rates before the
pandemic. We fear that because our people have suffered tremendous
losses and have not been able to properly grieve, that this grief will
manifest itself in unhealthy behaviors. Congress must focus on mental/
behavioral health programs to ensure that we do not have another
epidemic to respond to.
b. bureau of indian affairs
We strongly support the Administration's requested $600 million
increase for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
1. Social Services and ICWA Funding
In particular, increased funding for our Tribal Social Services
program is critically needed. There has not been any increase in this
program for several years. Over 36% of the children in the foster care
system in Montana are Indian children--Indian people represent only 10%
of the State population. More than 100 Fort Peck children are in the
foster care system. We need a social worker in the Fort Peck Agency.
Montana is one of six states in the country to have instituted an
ICWA court. This court handles State ICWA cases in Yellowstone County
from the Fort Peck, Northern Cheyenne, and Crow Tribes. The team
approach of the ICWA Court in Montana fosters collaboration between
State and Tribal stakeholders, promotes meaningful State compliance
with the Indian Child Welfare Act, and improves outcomes for Indian
children and their families involved in the foster care system.
In this era where ICWA is under constant attack, in spite of it
providing needed protections for Indian children, families and Tribes,
the Committee should encourage the BIA to work collaboratively and
strategically with Tribes to expand ICWA courts across the country.
This kind of support and dedicated staff can only be done through
additional funding for the BIA Tribal Social Service and ICWA programs.
2. Tribal Court Funding
Relatedly, while we appreciate the increased funding for Tribal
courts that Congress has provided, it has not been enough. Tribal
Courts are the backbone of tribal sovereignty. Without sound tribal
courts, we could not be a community where people feel safe, where
business want to open and where our children and our most vulnerable
receive protection. The Fort Peck Tribal Court is one of the oldest in
the country and we are very proud of the work our judges, prosecutors,
defense attorneys and clerks do.
Currently, the Bureau of Indian Affairs only provides a fraction of
the funding to operate our Tribal Court. Our court is one of the few
Tribal Courts in the Country exercising expanded VAWA jurisdiction.
This work is important to making our Reservation a safe place for
women. However, this takes additional resources to retain properly
trained defense counsel, prosecutors and judges.
3. Law Enforcement
There is critical need for increased law enforcement funding
throughout Indian country. Our Police Chief estimates that 70%-80% of
criminal conduct has a drug component to it, with assaults and
burglaries arising out of drug use and addiction. We are dealing with
violent crimes, in particular violent crimes against women and
children. We need to emphasize community policing but to do this we
need more law enforcement personnel to live and work in our community.
The crime in our community is impacting the most vulnerable in our
community the most and it is time that we stop accepting this as
normal. It is not normal, it is tragic.
4. Housing
One of the reasons the Pandemic impacted our community so
significantly is that too many people on our Reservation are living in
overcrowded conditions. In many homes, there are three or families
living in 4-bedroom homes. Across Indian country it is estimated that
approximately 20% of all homes are overcrowded, it is much higher on
the Fort Peck Reservation. This overcrowding situation is contributing
to the social disfunction that our children experience. In many
instances, it is the grandparents who take in their adult children and
grandchildren. Sadly, these adult children are in the grips of
addiction, and other unhealthy behaviors, which their children can't
escape from as they are living with it every day. Moreover, when a
grandparent allows an active user to live in their home, they are
putting their own housing security at risk, because our Housing
Authority does not allow active users to live in a HUD home, and thus,
these elders can face eviction. In short, in order to have a healthy
community, we must have more housing. This includes not only more
housing for families, but also recovery housing so that people with
addictions are not forced to go homeless.
In addition to overcrowded housing on the Reservation, the housing
shortage also impacts our ability to recruit professionals, including
education, law enforcement, and especially health care workers. Thus,
we need housing that is not only directed to low-income families, but
also working families so that we can attract the professionals we need
to work in our schools, clinics, and police stations.
Importantly, housing funding must include the resources for
infrastructure to ensure any new housing has water, sewer, electricity,
and broadband access.
5. Bison Program Funding
Presently, the Indian Buffalo Management Act has been introduced
and is pending before Congress. This legislation will create a
permanent buffalo restoration and management program within the Bureau
of Indian Affairs, and authorize an appropriation of funds. While this
legislation is pending, we want to thank the Subcommittee for funding
that you provided for the Tribal Bison program for FY 2021. This
funding is critical to bringing traditional food and traditional
practices back to our communities.
The Fort Peck Tribes have implemented a robust bison restoration
program and now have partnered with the National Park Service to
conduct post quarantine assurance testing of NPS bison from Yellowstone
National Park. These efforts resulted in the restoration of over 600
bison to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. We have translocated some of
these bison to other Tribes for their herd development.
c. environmetnal protection agency
There is an important need to increase funding for tribal
environmental programs with the Environmental Protection Agency. This
in includes the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program, the
Solid Waste-Indian Lands Program, and the Tribal Clean Air Program.
None of these programs have received and increase in funding in several
years. It is important to support these programs with increased
funding.
Thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony.

[This statement was submitted by Floyd Azure, Chairman.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Association of Art Museum Directors
The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) is grateful to
Congress for increasing funding for the National Endowment for the Arts
(NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in FY 2021 as
well as for pandemic relief funding through various vehicles last year.
Given the continuing pandemic and the extreme stresses it has inflicted
on art museums, we ask for substantial increases for both agencies: we
support the Administration's request for $201 million for the NEA and
ask that the NEH receive an equal amount. The two agencies have
received identical funding levels since FY 2008.
We ask further that both Endowments be allowed to provide funding
for general operating support as well as for specific projects, and
that the requirement for matching funds be suspended. Finally, we
request that the Subcommittee recommend funding for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (FWS) necessary to staff and train personnel in order
to avoid placing any impediments on American art museums that are
importing works of art containing ivory for the purposes of accession
into their collections.
In March 2020, nearly all American art museums closed due to the
pandemic, and most stayed closed for extended periods of time. While
most have reopened, ``open'' is not the same as it was a year ago. Many
are open for fewer days and hours, operating under reduced capacity
constraints, and requiring advance reservations and/or timed ticketing.
Most have ceased offering in-person public programs such as tours,
lectures and performances, and school field trips are for now a thing
of the past. (Pre-pandemic, AAMD's 200-plus members typically served at
least 40,000 schools annually.) Earned revenue from admissions, shops
and restaurants has plummeted, while pandemic-related costs have
soared. Moreover, according to Giving USA, an annual report on
philanthropy, charitable giving to the arts declined by 7.5 percent in
2020. And while the Paycheck Protection Program helped many museums
retain staff, some were unable or ineligible to access it, and many
have since had to lay off or furlough valued workers.
Three bright spots stand out. First, art museums successfully
pivoted to on-line programming. Second, they have reached new
audiences; in fact, an extensive survey last year found that about half
of people who were consuming museum programming had not visited an art
museum in the previous year. Third, they are among the safest indoor
spaces. Their sophisticated HVAC systems may have been designed to keep
art safe, but they turn out to keep people safe as well. For more
information, see this report on a study conducted by the Berlin
Institute of Technology.
AAMD salutes both NEA and NEH for their prompt and efficient
disbursement of their CARES Act funding. Altogether, 55 AAMD member
museums received nearly $7 million in funding to help them retain staff
and adapt to pandemic conditions. For example, during its pandemic
closure, the Museum of Art at the Rhode Island School of Design
received NEH support to inventory, assess, photograph, and rehouse
roughly 900 objects in its internationally renowned collection of Asian
costume and textiles. This project was fundamental to the museum's work
toward providing access to the collection for all: viewing objects in
study rooms and galleries was impossible, and this popular collection
lacked adequate documentation for remote learning. The NEH grant
allowed the museum to fully staff and carry out the work.
Going forward, we expect that NEA and NEH will support art museums
in figuring out and dealing with ``the new normal.'' As many of our
members have said, the museum that re-opens is not the one that closed,
nor are its audience or community.
We note that NEA has restarted the Blue Star Museums initiative, a
collaboration with Blue Star Families and the U.S. Department of
Defense to provide free summer admission to active duty military and
their families to museums across the nation. The Blue Star Museums
program sends our military families a clear message -that our nation's
museums recognize and honor their contributions and are opening their
doors to them. The initiative launched on May 15, Armed Forces Day, and
we have encouraged all AAMD members to participate, as the great
majority has done in past years.
We also ask that the Subcommittee provide FWS with the funding
necessary to staff and train personnel in order to avoid placing
impediments on American art museums as they carry out their mission to
be able to legally acquire works of antique ivory from abroad. FWS
staff have worked well with the art museum community on several
important issues related to its mission and, as they continue to craft
regulations that recognize the importance of maintaining historic
works, we urge that they be given all necessary support and resources.
about aamd
The purpose of the Association of Art Museum Directors is to
support its members in increasing the contribution of art museums to
society. The AAMD accomplishes this mission by establishing and
maintaining the highest standards of professional practice, serving as
forum for the exchange of information and ideas, and being a leader in
shaping public discourse about the arts community and the role of art
in society.

[This statement was submitted by Christine Anagnos, Executive
Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Association of Clean Water Administrators
To Chairwoman Pingree and Ranking Member Joyce:

The Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA) appreciates
the opportunity to submit written testimony to the U.S. House of
Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Interior,
Environment, and Related Agencies. As the national voice of state,
interstate, and territorial officials responsible for the
implementation of programs that protect surface waters across the
United States, ACWA supports the President's FY22 Discretionary Budget
Request's suggested increase to the Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA) budget. This request funds EPA at $11.2 billion, which represents
a $2 billion or 21.3% increase from the FY21 enacted level, including
increased funding for items that critical are critical to the mission
of ACWA's members.
A recent Gallup poll found that, ``of six environmental problems
facing the U.S., Americans remain most worried about those that affect
water quality. Majorities express a `great deal' of worry about the
pollution of both drinking water (56%) and rivers, lakes and reservoirs
(53%).'' \1\
The President's discretionary request outlines many key areas
throughout which this additional funding will be used, including:
fighting climate change; promoting environmental justice; gathering
data on polluters and holding them accountable; and investing in water
infrastructure projects and contaminated site clean-ups. These
functions are all are essential to carrying out the EPA's mission of
protecting human health and the environment.
This proposed increase comes with many benefits, especially as
states begin to recover from the economic hardship and disruption of
the pandemic. Our nation's water and wastewater systems are critical to
supporting economic growth and protecting public health. Investing in
infrastructure and building a skilled labor force enable water and
wastewater utilities across the United States to rebound, recover, and
prepare for the future. Therefore, it is vital that we support these
efforts by providing consistently robust financing for water
infrastructure and workforce development, as well as state programs
charged with administering the Federal Clean Water Act. The President's
proposed budget increases in these areas would not only help states
resume pre-pandemic actions, but ensure states are equipped to tackle
emerging challenges and issues.
ACWA appreciates Congress's support of Clean Water Act programs in
the FY21 Omnibus Bill, particularly restoration in Section 106
Categorical Grants for the administration of the Act within the states.
The CWA Section 106 Water Pollution Control Grant Program gives states
the flexibility to conduct essential pollution prevention, inspection,
monitoring, permitting, and compliance activities as EPA's co-
regulator. Sustainable funding for Section 106 State and Tribal
Assistance Grants (STAG) is necessary to ensure states have the
programmatic capacity to meet demands for cleaner water. Strongly
funding Section 106 ensures water infrastructure projects are
constructed with the appropriate public health safeguards and
environmental permits, without delays or bottlenecks, and operated such
that they fulfill their intended purpose.
State surface water programs play an integral role in building
water infrastructure, from planning to design permitting to
construction and maintenance, to permitting and compliance. State
agencies are responsible for a myriad of infrastructure--related tasks
including: providing technical assistance to small, rural,
disadvantaged, and underserved communities; marketing investments in
green infrastructure; processing loan and grant applications;
prioritizing projects to meet the greatest need; conducting
environmental reviews; performing engineering analyses; permitting
projects; monitoring compliance; and providing fiscal accountability.
In the 2021 Omnibus, Congress maintained 2020 funding levels for
the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and increased support for
the Water Infrastructure Financing and Innovation Act (WIFIA). Those
financing vehicles are the national flagship of wastewater and
stormwater infrastructure investment. Annual report cards from the
American Society of Civil Engineers consistently point out the
marginal-to-poor condition of our infrastructure, thwarting economic
growth, diminishing the American quality of life and inadequately
protecting public health and safety. It is essential that Congress
build on the momentum to increase financial support in water and
wastewater infrastructure to improve our Nation's grades.
The Clean Water Act Section 319 Non-Point Source Pollution Control
Program enjoyed a modest increase in funding in 2021 and buttresses the
quality of our national waterbodies in the face of ever--increasing and
evolving non-point source contributions to pollutant loadings. Regional
programs assisting the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound, Long
Island Sound, Gulf of Mexico, New Hampshire's Great Bay, and Lake
Champlain protect some of our nation's most important waters to promote
human health, support economic activities, and preserve habitats for
wildlife. Each of these programs need ongoing funding at 2021 levels or
more in 2022 and beyond.
Many of the funding increases seen in 2021 reversed years of
declining support for state water programs. For example, STAG programs
are now funded at the level they were 19 years ago. Shortfalls in
funding undercut the proven success of states administering these
programs to fulfill the goals of the Clean Water Act. Not only do
increases in federal investment help reverse declines in water quality,
but they also create a multitude of construction jobs, boost the
national economy, and benefit private--sector development. With this in
mind, ACWA asks for your support in delivering to states the resources
they need to carry out these critical programs as you consider the
President's budget request.
In conclusion, we ask that the Subcommittee use the President's
discretionary budget request as a starting point and stoutly fund the
above noted CWA programs. The proposed FY22 budget empowers states to
invest in critical water solutions through infrastructure investment,
technical assistance, data acquisition and analyses, and regulatory
compliance. These investments will have significant benefits for
states, interstates, territories, and all Americans across the country
by fostering progress toward our nation's water quality goals and
simultaneously, stimulating economic growth, supporting tourism,
providing recreation, and improving nationwide health with a clean
environment. True to the spirit of cooperative federalism, the states
cannot do this task alone--so we ask for a vigorous federal-state
partnership through the FY22 appropriations process. The essential key
to achieving the goals of the Clean Water Act is Federal government
support for the work of the state members of ACWA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://news.gallup.com/poll/347735/water-pollution-remains-
top-environmental-concern.aspx

[This statement was submitted by Thomas C. Stiles, Director, Bureau
of Water, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, ACWA President.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies
Thank you for the opportunity to submit recommendations for Fiscal
Year 2022 (FY22) Congressional appropriations. The Association of Fish
and Wildlife Agencies' (AFWA) mission, since our founding in 1902, is
to protect and enable state fish and wildlife agencies (states) to
exercise their statutory authority to conserve and manage the fish and
wildlife within their borders. All 50 states, the District of Columbia,
and the U.S. Virgin Islands are members.
We express our deep appreciation for the increased FY21 funding
levels for many of the programs that benefit fish, wildlife, their
habitats, and the people who enjoy them. We look forward to working
with you to provide resources for our federal agency partners as we
enter another challenging budget cycle to enact funding levels
consistent with FY21, and in some cases higher. Investments in
conservation programs present some of the highest returns on Federal
dollars and offer solutions for critical issues. States have authority
for and are on the front lines of wildlife health and zoonotic diseases
and must be engaged early to cooperatively develop a robust health and
science framework to combat wildlife diseases. Further, we endorse
recommendations submitted by regional associations of fish and wildlife
agencies.
united states fish and wildlife service (fws)
Aquatic Habitat, Assessments, Restoration, and Species
Conservation.--We support no less than funding at FY21 levels for Fish
and Aquatic Conservation, including full funding for the National Fish
Habitat Action Plan and Partnerships at the authorized $7.2 million for
restoration projects, in addition to $1.8 million for administration by
the USFWS and $2 million for technical assistance provided by the USFS,
USFWS, EPA, USGS, and NOAA. Fish Passage needs far outweigh the
resources for species management and replacement of unsafe
transportation infrastructure which also serve as an aquatic
connectivity barrier. We support funding the National Fish Passage
Program at no less than FY21 levels and strongly support incorporating
additional fish passage funding into federal infrastructure plans.
Further, we support funding at no less than FY21 levels for
conservation and restoration activities in the Delaware River Basin,
Klamath Basin, Chesapeake Bay, Everglades, and Great Lakes.
National Fish Hatchery Systems (NFHS) Operations is a high
priority, and we recommend no less than FY21 funding levels. We
recommend redirecting all previous deferred maintenance appropriations
from Refuges to the more than $260 million deferred maintenance backlog
for NFHS facilities to prevent systems failures and fish losses. We
strongly support robust funding for the Aquatic Animal Drug Approval
Partnership at $1.2 million as well as the Fish Health Centers, Fish
Technology Centers, Wild Fish Health Survey, and Mass Marking program,
all of which meet needs of States, tribes, and the federal government.
We request no less than FY21 funds for the mass marking initiative in
the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes region.
Aquatic Invasive Species and Law Enforcement (LE).--We request
Congress continue to fund the implementation of state Aquatic Nuisance
Species (ANS) management plans at the FY21 level of $4.4 million
without compromising other ANS programs. We support continuation of
FY21 funding levels at $25 million to implement the national Asian Carp
management and control plan in the Mississippi River and tributaries as
well as continuation of the provisions in the FY21 report language. We
recommend increased attention on a comprehensive approach across all
relevant federal agencies and assistance to the states to prevent and
control the spread of AIS. Finally, we support increased funding to
combat wildlife trafficking activities, conduct investigations,
supplement inspections, and to work cooperatively with state fish and
wildlife agencies to help protect our nation's native fish and wildlife
resources from unsustainable exploitation.
Habitat Conservation and the National Wildlife Refuge System
(NWRS).--We recommend no less than FY21 funding levels for Habitat
Conservation, including no less than $60 million for the Partners of
Fish and Wildlife Program for voluntary conservation efforts including
to support wildlife migration corridors, habitat connectivity, and
landscape resiliency. We support funding NWRS Operations and
Maintenance at $520 million and continue to support the use of trapping
on refuges as a management tool to provide much needed research on
species of interest as well as to protect federally endangered and
threatened species, imperiled species, and their habitats.
State and Tribal Wildlife Grants and Partnership Grants.--The State
and Tribal Wildlife Grants program is the only federal program
available to states to leverage non-federal funds to conserve over
12,000 state Species of Greatest Conservation Need identified in State
Wildlife Action Plans to prevent them from becoming threatened or
endangered. This investment in voluntary, proactive, and state-led
conservation is needed now to improve the resiliency of State and
Tribal natural resources and to preclude an increase in federal
expenditures in the future under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). AFWA
recommends $100 million for the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants
Program in FY22, and supports a legislative change proposal to enact
the Recovering America's Wildlife Act which would provide States,
Tribes, and their conservation partners with the dependable resources
to do proactive, non-regulatory fish, wildlife, and habitat restoration
and conservation. AFWA also recommends no less than $53 million for the
North American Wetlands Conservation Fund, full authorized funding for
the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, and $15 million for
the Multinational Species Conservation Fund.
Science Support.--Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) presents one of the
most challenging disease threats to our nation's wildlife, and we
request robust funding for USFWS to fulfill CWD responsibilities,
including implementation of the Interstate Action Plan, prioritized
research, monitoring, studies of CWD in wild, free-ranging deer
species, and $5 million to establish the CWD Task Force as directed by
Congress in P.L. 116-188.
Ecological Services (ES) & Cooperative Endangered Species
Conservation Fund (CESCF).--The FWS needs additional resources in ES to
address a growing workload and to increase FWS recovery efforts for
federally listed species. We support robust funding for ES as well as a
strategy to achieve funding within the next 4 years that is
commensurate with the agency's requirements to implement the national
work plan and cooperatively recover species listed under the ESA. We
recommend further deployment across the country of the Southeast's
cooperative conservation model for implementing the ESA in partnership
with the States and reinstatement of Recovery Challenge matching
grants. We also recommend Congress provide robust funding for the
CESCF, which includes a larger proportion of funding that is not tied
to the Land and Water Conservation Fund and much needed flexibility for
ongoing habitat management and species restoration activities as well
as continue support the use of State data.
Cooperative Landscape Conservation (CLC).--We support no less than
FY21 funding levels for Cooperative Landscape Conservation to work with
regional associations of state fish and wildlife agencies on mutual
priorities that are jointly developed, fund important regional state--
federal partnerships, and continue cooperative conservation efforts
supported by the States such as monarch butterflies, the Midwest
Landscape Initiative, and the Southeast Conservation Adaptation
Strategy.
Migratory Bird Management (MBM).--The FWS and States share
management jurisdiction for migratory birds, which represents one of
the most successful state--federal cooperative partnerships for over 80
years, but the program suffers from chronic under--funding of
traditional functions and activities making it particularly vulnerable
to unanticipated problems, capacity/workload challenges, and single
points of failure. The FWS has gone to great lengths to protect the
core functions, but more funding is needed to retain sufficient staff,
fill key vacancies to work in cooperation with the States on
traditional co-management issues, and support science to inform FWS
decision--making. AFWA supports robust funding for MBM at FY2010 levels
of $134.6 million, including full funding of the Migratory Bird Joint
Ventures at $19.9 million, allowing resource managers to accomplish
shared state and federal responsibilities and priorities.
united states geologial survey (usgs)
Ecosystems.--Thank you for providing much--needed funding for the
Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Program (CRU) in FY21, and
we respectfully request $27 million for CRU in FY22. The CRU provides
critically important scientific and technical support for state and
federal fish and wildlife managers through collaborative scientific
projects that address the nation's most critical fish and wildlife
management needs and inform conservation and policy decisions. The
additional $2 million would enable USGS to establish new, state and
federally supported CRUs in MI and IN, to address significant
scientific knowledge gaps and challenges faced by state and federal
natural resource managers. Additionally, we support $5 million for each
of the next 5 years for the CRU program to complete the Wildlife
Migration Corridors Project for Big Game Species and $5 million for the
new pollinator science cooperative to assist States, Tribes, and
federal partners with pollinator identification and assessment
methodologies. We support the National Cooperators Coalition's
testimony on CRUs, funding for the Climate Adaptation Science Centers
at $62 million and recommend $275 million in funding for the Ecosystems
Mission Area, and continued financial support to the Southeastern
Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia, which
provides essential diagnostic and veterinary support services to at
least 42 states.
Water Resources.--USGS provides resource managers with crucial
information for the survival of species affected by the management of
water resources. We support the Groundwater and Streamflow Information
Program, with robust funding increasing to $125 million. AFWA
recommends $28.7 million for Federal Priority Streamgages to address
funding shortfalls and reinstate lost gages, $33 million for
Cooperative Matching Funds to work with states, tribes, and other local
partners, and $20 million for the Next Generation Water Observing
System to enable additional pilot basins and data modernization.
Finally, we recommend at least FY21 funding levels for the National
Water Quality Program with $2 million for harmful algal bloom research.
Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program (BTR).--
AFWA recommends $40 million in funding for BTR, in addition to $10.62
million in continued funding for Asian Carp research and $10 million
for research on CWD in wild, free--ranging deer species in order to
manage environmental contamination and control key sources of
transmission, including to fulfill Congressional intent as directed in
the FY21 omnibus for the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a
transmission study of CWD. It is imperative that Congress provide
additional resources to USGS Ecosystems and other federal agencies to
coordinate with the states on research, management, surveillance,
monitoring, testing, disposal, best management practices, and other CWD
management challenges. We strongly support $0.5 million in funding for
biological research and monitoring to coordinate and support the
management of aquatic animal health in marine and freshwater
aquaculture, including to conduct research with partners, submit data,
and coordinate with other agencies to evaluate the use of drugs and
other materials.
Bureau of Land Managment (BLM).--AFWA supports funding commensurate
with FY21 levels at no less than $1.22 billion for management of lands
and resources. Recognizing states have authority to manage species
within their borders, we recommend a $10 million increase for Wildlife
and Aquatic Habitat Management, at least $2 million increase for sage
grouse conservation activities, a $5 million increase for Rangeland
Improvement and in Bighorn sheep disease prevention, and an additional
$10 million for Wildlife Habitat Management (1170) to combat invasive
species. We also recommend Congress reinitiate BLM's Cost-Share
Challenge Grant Program under Wildlife Habitat Management at $10
million to leverage conservation partnerships to accomplish more
wildlife habitat goals and mission objectives. We support level funding
for the Wild Horse and Burro (WHB) Program and recommend that funds no
longer be borrowed from other budget line items within BLM to fund the
WHB.
Office of Surfice Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.--The
Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund is critical to the restoration of lands
at the nexus of many SGCN and water quality issues, and we support
level funding at the FY21 level of $139.8 million, as well as level
funding for Regulation and Technology at $92.7 million.
United States Forest Service (USFS).--AFWA supports $2 billion for
Wildland Fire Management, as well as a substantial increase to $2.1
billion for the Wildfire Suppression Operations Reserve Fund. We
recommend level funding at $267.18 million for State and Private
Forestry, including $11.9 million for the Forest Stewardship Program.
We support level funding for the National Forest System and for
hazardous fuels management.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).--Finally, we recommend
funding the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at $330 million and that
funding be eligible for use on tributaries of the Great Lakes Region,
which serve as a major conduit of invasive species introductions. We
support funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund at $2
billion, Nonpoint Source Grants at $177 million, and Pollution Control
Grants at $230 million. AFWA recommends at least FY21 funding levels
for the National Estuaries Program, the Beach/Fish Safety Program, and
the Geographic Programs.
______

Prepared Statement of the Association of Friends of the Wichitas
Dear Senator Inhoff:

I am writing this letter on behalf of the Association of Friends of
the Wichitas to enlist your support for the National Wildlife Refuge
Association's (NWRA) request to increase funding for Refuge System
Operations and Maintenance to $600 million in FY2022. We work closely
with Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge staff as well as regional office
representatives. We are honored to share their joys and challenges in
protecting and conserving America's public lands for future
generations.
As you are undoubtedly aware, the Department of Interior's Refuge
System Operations and Maintenance budget has been stagnant since 2010.
On the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge this has meant a decrease in
staffing, down to 34 positions caring for 59,000 acres with over 2.3
million visitors annually. This funding gap has led to deferred
maintenance and critical infrastructure issues such as a lack of
potable water. Our members share NWRAs concerns that a lack of
operating budget has also led to a decline in habitat. There are too
few Law Enforcement Officers on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge
to prevent human disturbance, vandalism, and a degradation of the
natural environment. The result is not only a loss of precious pristine
habitat, but increased public safety risks in this extremely beautiful,
but very dangerous environment. As Friends members we are thrilled to
volunteer alongside Refuge staff and we know that human and animal
safety increases when there is a higher staff to volunteer ratio than
what we are currently able to achieve.
While we are aware you aren't on the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies we also know
that as an Oklahoman you are acutely aware that the Wichita Mountains
Wildlife Refuge is an economic driver, drawing tourists to Southwest
Oklahoma from all over the world. As such, we respectfully request you
make Chairwoman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and the other
Members of the Subcommittee aware of your commitment to providing the
WMWR staff with the funding needed to care for such an extraordinary
piece of our American heritage.

Sincerely,

James Meyer
President
Association of Friends of the Wichitas
______

Prepared Statement of the Association of Friends of the Wichitas
Dear Senator Lankford:

Sincerely,

James Meyer
President
Association of Friends of the Wichitas
______

Prepared Statement of the Association of State Drinking Water
Administrators
summary of request
The Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA)
submits the following recommendations for Fiscal Year 2022
appropriations on behalf of the drinking water programs in the 50
states, five territories, District of Columbia, and Navajo Nation.
ASDWA requests funding for two programs that ensure public health
protection and that will result in enhancing economic stability and
prosperity in American cities and towns. ASDWA requests $125 million
for the Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) program and $1.95
billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund (DWSRF)
program. ASDWA also requests $91.5 million for three drinking water
grant programs to address lead in schools and communities.
overview: the importance of safe drinking water for our communities and
the economy & the role of state drinking water programs
States need sustained federal support to maintain public health
protection and to support the needs of the water systems they oversee.
State drinking water programs strive to meet the Nation's public health
protection goals through two principal funding programs: the PWSS
Program and the DWSRF Program. These two programs provide most of the
funding for states to work with drinking water utilities to ensure the
state--federal partnership of drinking water regulations thrives and
American citizens have safe and adequate water supplies. Vibrant and
sustainable communities, their citizens, workforce, and businesses all
depend on a safe and reliable supply of drinking water. Over 90% of the
population receives water used for bathing, cooking, and drinking from
a water system that is overseen by state drinking water program
personnel. Water systems--as well as the cities, villages, schools, and
businesses they support--rely on state drinking water programs to
ensure they comply with all applicable federal requirements. In
addition to the water we drink in our homes, water produced by water
systems is also used to fight fires, transport wastewater, cook, wash
clothes and dishes, as well as by businesses for manufacturing, food
processing, and cooling. State drinking water programs must have
adequate funding to protect public health and maintain the economic
health of communities. Incidents such as the chemical spill in
Charleston, West Virginia, cyanotoxins in the water for Toledo, Ohio
and Salem, Oregon, prolonged water service interruptions due to more
frequently occurring natural disasters as in Jackson, Mississippi, and
the lead leaching from service lines into the water supply in Flint,
Michigan all serve as stark reminders of the critical nature of the
work that state drinking water programs do--every day--and the reason
why the funding for state drinking water programs must be not only
sustained but enhanced. Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)
contamination adds to the urgency of the need for increased funding.
the public water system supervision (pwss) program
How the PWSS Program Operates.--To meet the requirements of the
SDWA, states have accepted primary enforcement responsibility for
regulatory compliance and technical assistance for more than 150,000
public water systems to ensure health--based violations do not occur or
are remedied expediently. This involves 91 federally regulated
contaminants and the complexity of regulations has increased in the
past decade. Beyond the contaminants covered by federal drinking water
regulations, states are also implementing an array of proactive
initiatives to protect public health and the environment, such as
source water assessments and protections, technical assistance for
water treatment and distribution, and enhancement of water system
performance. Many states have begun to set drinking water standards for
non-federally regulated contaminants, such as PFAS and cyanotoxins.
State activities go well beyond simply ensuring compliance at the tap
and these activities must be efficient given continued resource
constraints. These activities have increased in depth and scope during
the COVID-19 pandemic to include assisting with the development of
continuity of operations plans for water systems, coordination with
state-level Water and Wastewater Response Networks (WARNs) on operator
coverage, emergency operation, and equipment and chemical supply issues
due to the pandemic; developing COVID-19 drinking water risk
communication for the public and modifying ``routine'' drinking water
public notices to clarify the connection or lack of connection to the
coronavirus; developing new forms and processes for tracking closed
facilities and revising reopening system and building procedures;
developing and implementing remote work and oversight tools; and
modifying and updating operator training classes and licensing
programs.
Why Adequate Support is Needed.--States will be unable to protect
public health without adequate federal funding. Inadequate federal
support for state drinking water programs has several negative
consequences. For example, as part of ASDWA's comments on EPA's
proposed Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR), ASDWA updated its Costs
of States' Transaction Study (CoSTS), which found the proposed LCRR
will increase state staff hours by 835,000 hours annually over the
current Lead and Copper Rule in its first five years of implementation.
Using the national average loaded hourly rate for state employees, full
implementation of the proposed LCRR would cost the states $50 million
annually. In addition to the 91 contaminants regulated under the SDWA,
states are balancing additional actions to address non-regulated
contaminants such as cyanotoxins and PFAS. This is especially difficult
given relatively flat PWSS funding over the past decade. While the FY21
increase of 5.6% to PWSS funding (to $112.2 million) was a small step
to closing the 20% funding gap caused by inflation in addition to the
proposed LCRR, which alone will take 47% of current PWSS funding to
fully implement. In total, to fully implement SDWA and continue to work
proactively to keep drinking water safe, states require a 62.8%
increase in funding. States will have to make tough decisions about how
to prioritize support to existing programs to implement the
requirements of the final LCRR. States want to offer the flexibilities
allowed under existing rules to local water systems, however, fewer
state resources mean less opportunity to work individually with water
systems to improve their systems and protect public health.
State drinking water programs are already hard pressed financially.
State--provided funding has historically compensated for inadequate
federal funding, but state budgets have been less able to bridge this
funding gap in recent years, especially during the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic, which has continued to negatively impact state budgets.
Insufficient federal support for this critical program increases the
likelihood of scenarios that put the public's health at risk. This is
an untenable situation, as the long--standing regulatory oversight
remains constant and several proactive actions such as addressing PFAS
and cyanotoxins and providing oversight for the development of water
systems' inventories of lead service lines have increased states'
workloads. States consistently step in to help solve problems and
return systems to compliance and to providing safe water as quickly as
possible. Any reduction in federal funding for state water programs, no
matter how small, exacerbate the existing financial difficulties.
For the PWSS Program in FY 22, ASDWA Respectfully Requests $125
million.--The number of regulations requiring state implementation and
oversight as well as performance expectations continue to grow while
the federal funding increases have not kept pace. Inflation has further
eroded the relatively static funding levels. The requested funding
amount is based on ASDWA's 2020 Resource Needs Report, which found the
funding gap for the PWSS program in 2020 to be $375 million, increasing
to $469 million by 2029. The funding gap has increased by $197 million
since the previous analysis in 2011 due to increasing demands on state
programs to address unregulated contaminants such as PFAS and harmful
algal blooms, and to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal
share of program funding has decreased by 8% since the previous
analysis in 2011. Increased PWSS funds are urgently needed for
implementing existing drinking water rules, taking on new initiatives,
and to account for the eroding effects of inflation. It is a small
price to pay for public health protection.
the drinking water state revolving loan fund program
How the DWSRF Program Operates.--Drinking water in the U.S. is
among the safest and most reliable in the world, but it is threatened
by aging infrastructure and emerging contaminants. Through low interest
loans provided by the DWSRF, states help water systems overcome these
threats. Since its inception, the DWSRF have provided funding for
projects that enhance drinking water systems and protect public health.
Through the DWSRF program, $21.1 billion in federal capitalization
grants since 1997 have been leveraged by states into over $41.1 billion
in infrastructure loans to 14,500 communities across the country. 26.3%
of the cumulative DWSRF funding, including low- and negative--interest
loans, has been provided to disadvantaged communities. Such investments
pay tremendous dividends--both in supporting our economy and in
protecting public health. For every $1 invested in the DWSRF from the
federal government, $2 has gone to communities. States have effectively
and efficiently leveraged federal dollars with state contributions. An
important feature of the DWSRF program is the state ``set-aside'' fund
component, a key reason to fully fund this critical program. Set-asides
provide a process for states to work with water systems to maintain
compliance and avoid violations. States may reserve up to 31% of these
funds for a variety of critical tasks, such as increasing the
technical, managerial, and financial capacity of water systems,
providing training and certification for water system operators, and
continuing source water protection efforts. Set-asides are an essential
source of funding for states' core programs and these efforts work in
tandem with infrastructure loans.
Drinking Water Infrastructure Investment is Well below the
Documented Need.--EPA's 6th Drinking Water Needs Survey concluded that
$427.6 billion of capital investment was needed for the next 20 years.
The total translates to $21.4 billion annually. Continued investment is
needed for aging treatment plants, storage tanks, pumps, and
distribution lines that carry water to our nation's homes, businesses,
and schools. Unlike other water infrastructure funding programs, the
DWSRF offers project subsidization for disadvantaged communities, funds
for training and technical assistance, and is a fundamental funding
mechanism for many medium and small utilities who would pay much higher
interest rates if forced to use the bond market. The DWSRF plays a key
role in keeping infrastructure projects and upgrades affordable for
many communities. Having access to low--interest loans allows water
systems to pass on the savings to their rate payers while working
towards full--cost pricing of their water service.
For the DWSRF Program in FY 21, ASDWA respectfully requests $1.95
billion.--The DWSRF program was funded at $1.126 billion for FY19,
FY20, and FY21, an increase from previous years of steady funding, an
excellent step to provide increased support to the nation's water
systems. In America's Water Infrastructure Act (Public Law 115-270),
Congress authorized an increase in the funding of the DWSRF over time
so that states can increase their staff and expand their expertise in
conjunction with the increased funding. ASDWA fully supports this
authorized increased funding. Funding the DWSRF at $1.95 billion (the
FY 21 authorized level) will support state drinking water programs and
America's water systems in proactively addressing emerging contaminants
and the increased workload associated with the LCRR.
three epa drinking water grant programs to address lead in water in
schools and communities
ASDWA respectfully requests $91.5 million for three drinking water
grant programs.--In FY21 appropriations, Congress funded the Voluntary
School and Childcare Lead Testing Grant program at $26.5 million. ASDWA
requests Congress continue the same appropriation for FY 21. In 2018,
Public Law No: 115-270 authorized $5 million through FY21 for a new EPA
grant program to provide assistance to schools for the replacement of
drinking water fountains manufactured prior to 1988. ASDWA requests
that Congress fully appropriate the $5 million authorization for this
grant in FY 22. Public Law No: 114-322 established an EPA grant for
Reducing Lead in Drinking Water and authorized $60 million through
FY21. Congress appropriated $21.5 million in FY21 and ASDWA requests
full appropriation of $60 million for FY22. Addressing lead
contamination in schools and communities is a priority for state water
programs and continued funding for these three grant programs will
provide significant public health impacts, particularly for children.
conclusion
ASDWA recommends Congress fully fund state drinking water programs
in the FY 22 in order to protect public health and drinking water
across the nation. States are willing and committed partners, however,
additional federal funding is needed to meet the ongoing and growing
regulatory and infrastructure needs. Strong state drinking water
programs supported by the federal-state partnership will ensure the
quality of drinking water in this country will continue to improve so
the public knows that a glass of water is safe to drink no matter where
they live.

[This statement was submitted by J. Alan Roberson, P.E., Executive
Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums
Thank you Chair Merkley and Ranking Member Murkowski for the
opportunity to submit testimony about the priorities of the Association
of Zoos and Aquariums for Fiscal Year 2022. Specifically, I support
Endangered Species Recovery Challenge Grants and the Multinational
Species Conservation Funds administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, National Environmental Education Act (NEEA) programs at the
Environmental Protection Agency, and sufficient funding for the Fish
and Wildlife Service to carry out its work, including to support the
Endangered Species Act (ESA).
My name is Dan Ashe, and I am the President and CEO of the
Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Founded in 1924, the AZA is a
501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that our 241
member zoos, aquariums, nature centers, and science centers represent
the very best in animal care and welfare, conservation, education,
science, and guest experience. In 2019, AZA's accredited member
facilities welcomed nearly 200 million visitors (more than all
professional sports combined), generated more than $22 billion in
economic activity, and supported more than 210,000 jobs across the
country. They also contributed $230 million in direct support for field
conservation in 127 countries benefiting more than 980 species and
subspecies, of which 246 are listed under the ESA.
At the heart of AZA is its mandatory accreditation requirement,
which assures that only those zoos and aquariums that meet the highest
standards can become members. The rigorous, independent, objective, and
exhaustive AZA accreditation process includes self-evaluation, on-site
inspection, and peer review. Our standards are publicly available and
are continuously evolving and improving as we learn more about the
needs of the animals in our care. Once earned, AZA accreditation
confers best-in-class status, an important message for local, state,
and federal government and the visiting public.
AZA and its members are leaders, partners, and participants in
species conservation. We work in concert with Congress, the federal
agencies, conservation organizations, state governments, the private
sector, and the general public to conserve our wildlife heritage. AZA's
Wildlife Trafficking Alliance is a coalition of private companies, non-
profit organizations, and AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums working
closely with U.S. government agencies to combat wildlife trafficking
worldwide. AZA and its member facilities have long-standing
partnerships with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA). Our collaborative efforts have focused on:

--Engaging in endangered species recovery and reintroduction,
including some of the most successful and heralded recovery
efforts, like California condor;
--Supporting conservation domestically and internationally through
multinational species conservation funds and state wildlife
grants; and
--Collaborating on partnership opportunities involving national parks
and wildlife refuges, migratory birds, freshwater and saltwater
fisheries, national marine sanctuaries, illegal wildlife trade,
amphibians, and invasive species.

I am submitting testimony in support of the following key programs
funded through the annual Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
appropriations bill.
endangered species recovery challenge grants
The Endangered Species Recovery Challenge Grant program recognizes
the critically important role of nonprofit partners to the Service's
endangered species recovery efforts, and it is a mechanism, through
merit--based matching grants, to provide funding in a more commensurate
manner to support and enhance these efforts. Recovery Challenge Grants
are limited to nonprofit organizations implementing the highest
priority recovery actions identified in recovery plans, such as for
genetically sound breeding, rearing, and reintroduction programs.
I urge you to continue to provide robust funding for endangered
species recovery and prioritize longstanding recovery efforts in which
existing resources and partner expertise can be most effectively
leveraged. Specifically, I am requesting an increase in funding for the
Recovery Challenge Grant program to $20 million in FY2022. This funding
will power recovery partnerships and inspire their work to better
recover critically endangered species.
multinational species conservation funds
Next, I support the inclusion of $30 million for the Multinational
Species Conservation Funds (MSCF) administered by the Fish and Wildlife
Service. These programs support public--private partnerships that
conserve wild tigers, Asian and African elephants, rhinos, great apes,
freshwater turtles, tortoises, and marine turtles in their native
habitats. Through the MSCF programs, the United States supplements the
efforts of developing countries that are struggling to balance the
needs of their human populations and endemic wildlife. These programs
help to sustain wildlife populations, address threats such as poaching
and illegal trade, reduce human--wildlife conflict, and protect
essential habitat. The Fish and Wildlife Service is seen as a global
conservation leader in large part due to its commitment to
international conservation efforts. This federal program supports AZA-
accredited facilities in their field conservation efforts and
partnerships with the Service.
endangered species act
AZA and its members enthusiastically support the ESA, which has
prevented hundreds of listed species from going extinct. Like AZA
accreditation, the ESA is the global ``gold standard.'' It reflects our
national commitment to species and ecosystem conservation, and it is
working. Since its inception in 1973, it has prevented the extinction
of 99% of the species it protects. However, we know that the challenges
facing our planet in the 21st century are as complex as they are
urgent. Scientists estimate that the total number of mammals, birds,
reptiles, amphibians, and fish has declined by more than 50% since
1970, and many believe, including me, that we are living amidst the
planet's sixth mass extinction. Climate change is accelerating this
crisis. Without critical intervention today, we are facing the very
real possibility of losing some of our planet's most magnificent
creatures such as lions, cheetahs, elephants, gorillas, sea turtles,
and sharks.
AZA-accredited facilities have a unique opportunity and
responsibility to help others understand this crisis. It is our
obligation--to these animals and to all life on earth--to take bold
action now to protect our planet's biodiversity. One achievement that
has gone unnoticed by most people is that zoos and aquariums have
played a significant role in bringing over 25 species, including
California condor, Florida manatee, and black--footed ferret, back from
the brink of extinction.
Although we have made significant progress in saving endangered
species, this work is far from done. Species protection and
conservation requires long-term commitment by all of us. It is through
the ongoing work related to species recovery plans that we will
conserve these species for future generations. The AZA and its members
fully support the ESA, and I encourage you to assure that the agencies
responsible for carrying out the mandates of the Act receive the
necessary funding and human resource capacity to succeed.
u.s. fish and wildlife service budget
Much of the important conservation work at AZA-accredited
facilities depends on a robust and fully staffed Fish and Wildlife
Service. Acknowledging the budget challenges facing Congress and the
agencies, I encourage you to assure that the Fish and Wildlife Service
has sufficient resources to employ qualified professionals,
particularly for the programs handling permits, which support AZA's
science--based conservation breeding and wildlife education programs
that require animals to be moved in an efficient, timely manner:
International Affairs (Management and Scientific Authorities),
Endangered Species, Law Enforcement, and Migratory Birds. In
particular, AZA is keenly interested in expanding our critical work in
support of treating and placing live confiscated wildlife seized at the
ports/borders and on scientific and conservation research on polar
bears in AZA facilities. The success of these important initiatives
depends on the effective assistance of the Fish and Wildlife Service.
environmental education grants
Finally, I urge the Subcommittee to include $14 million for
National Environmental Education Act programs. This relatively small
investment in communities yields an impressive return.
Since 1990 the NEEA has served as a highly effective tool for
improving student performance in science and math, protecting public
health, and helping build 21st century skills by promoting job training
and innovation. NEEA-supported education programs at AZA-accredited
institutions provide essential learning opportunities in formal and
informal settings. In the last 10 years, accredited zoos and aquariums
trained more than 400,000 teachers, supporting science curricula with
effective teaching materials and hands-on opportunities. School field
trips at AZA member facilities annually connect more than twelve
million students with the natural world.
AZA-accredited facilities are long-standing partners that have made
possible conservation successes for species like California condor,
manatee, Mexican wolf, sea turtles, and less charismatic species like
grasshopper sparrow, hellbender and American burying beetle. We
appreciate the Subcommittee's support for $30 million in the ``American
Rescue Plan Act'' for the care of captive species listed under the ESA,
rescued and confiscated wildlife, and federal trust species in
facilities experiencing lost revenues due to COVID-19. Although AZA-
accredited facilities were closed or operating at reduced capacity for
much of 2020, losing more $2 billion in earned revenue, they continued
their support for Service--driven recovery efforts.
AZA and its members look forward to continuing to work with this
Subcommittee and Congress to assure that as a nation we are devoting
the necessary resources to conserve wildlife at home and globally.
Thank you.

[This statement was submitted by Dan Ashe, President and CEO.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Center for Biological Diversity
Chairman Leahy, Vice Chairman Shelby, Members of the Committee:

Thank you for consideration of our testimony. For FY 2022, we are
requesting (1) an increase in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service budget
of $1 billion, (2) an increase in funding to the Bureau of Land
Management by $250 million concomitant with a decrease in funding for
all new leasing on public lands and waters (3) a $3.8 billion increase
in EPA funding to restore funding to FY 2010 levels, and (4) a decrease
in the U.S. military budget of 25% to end the cycle of pitting critical
programs that help people and the environment into an untenable
austerity competition for budgetary scraps at the table.
The world is in the midst of a staggering extinction crisis, with
one million species facing extinction in the coming decades due to
habitat loss, climate change, wildlife exploitation, pollution, and
other human activities. The COVID-19 pandemic almost certainly arose
from people's unsustainable and reckless exploitation of the natural
world, and it demonstrates just how dangerous it can be when Congress
fails to sufficiently protect biodiversity both at home and abroad. And
the catastrophic wildfires of 2020 from California to the Amazon to
Australia continue to demonstrate the inexorable connection between the
climate and the extinction crises.
Despite this, the Appropriations Committee has ignored the
extinction crisis for years, content to throw only the meagerest
breadcrumbs to the Fish and Wildlife Service and other conservation
agencies, even though these austerity budgets will only ensure that
future generations will inherit a world devoid of its most magnificent
wildlife.
For a tiny fraction of the cost of a few non-functional F-35
fighter jets or one-third of the money now dedicated to ``Community
Project Funding,'' the United States could save all of the endangered
species found in this country, it could stem the tide of ever--
increasing deforestation around the world, and could crack down on the
global wildlife trade--the only thing that would make it less likely
another global pandemic like COVID-19 would occur again in the future.
Accordingly, we request the Appropriations Committee stop enriching
special interests and multinational corporations, stop forcing
environmental priorities to fight amongst one another over pennies in
the budget, and put the needs of people and environment first and
foremost in the fiscal year 2022 budget. We request a 25% decrease in
the military budget and a comparable increase in non-defense
discretionary spending so that Congressional funding in the 302(a) and
302(b) allocations actually helps people and the environment. Below are
our specific requests:
i. increase wildlife and endangered species act funding by $1 billion
To begin to make up for lost ground and support the Biden
Administration's commitment to address the threat of climate change to
biodiversity, the Service requires a budget for domestic endangered
species of at least $600 million, distributed across five programs,
starting in FY2022. This would ensure every listed species receives a
minimum of $50,000 per year for recovery and will allow more species to
be put on the road to recovery. To save the western monarch butterfly
from its likely extinction in the next 12 months, we request $50
million in emergency funding. To reestablish our role as a global
leader in conservation, the Service requires a budget for foreign
endangered species of at least $350 million, distributed across the
five multinational species conservation funds.

--Listing. At current funding rates, it will take the Service 10
years to process the 400+ species remaining in the Service's
listing workplan, during which time, 5-8 additional species
will likely go extinct. The listing program budget should be
increased to at least $63.7 million in FY2022.
--Recovery. Hundreds of endangered species receive less than $1,000 a
year for their recovery, with many receiving no funding from
Congress at all. Congress must provide a minimum of $50,000 per
year per species for recovery to make sure that no species
slips through the cracks, or approximately $250 million for the
recovery program in FY2022.
--Planning and Consultation. The Planning and Consultation program
includes key processes that ensure species receive fundamental
protections while allowing flexibility for infrastructure and
other forms of development. This program could provide critical
tools to address the threat of climate change and to better
mitigate landscape level threats such as pesticides. Congress
needs to provide the Service with $150 million in FY2022.
--Conservation and Restoration. This program provides critical tools
to help conserve species by improving their habitat and
removing threats before they need to be listed. To efficiently
keep species back from the brink of needing the protections of
the Act, Congress needs to provide $13.5 million for Candidate
Conservation in FY2022.
--Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation. This program is one of
the most effective tools for states and tribes to conserve
wildlife on private lands. At least half of all listed species
spend a portion of their life cycle on private lands. To
reverse the gap from previous funding shortfalls and match the
current need for state and private lands conservation, the
Service requires CESCF funding of at least $125 million for
FY2022.
--Monarch Butterflies. The western monarch population has crashed by
99.9%, and now numbers fewer than 2,000 monarchs in coastal
California this year--the lowest number ever recorded, down
from 30,000 last year and 1.2 million a decade ago. Without
immediate help, it is almost certain that the western
population will collapse by the next appropriations cycle. To
save western monarchs, Congress needs to provide $50 million
immediately in FY2022.
--Multinational Species Conservation Funding. Just last month, the
IUCN declared the African Forest Elephant critically
endangered. All three species of orangutan, both species of
gorilla, the tiger, and all rhino species face imminent
extinction. Current funding levels are obscenely insufficient.
We recommend increasing the Fund to $350 million spread evenly
across the elephants, rhinoceroses, tigers, great apes, and
marine turtle programs. Funding to sustain these species would
help address habitat loss and deforestation, which would also
benefit the fight against climate change and help to prevent
future pandemics.
ii. end subsidization of fossil fuel extraction on public lands and
waters
President Biden's Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate
Crisis at Home and Abroad, took the bold step of pausing oil and gas
leasing on public lands and waters to allow for a comprehensive review
of the climate impacts of these activities. Congress must not undermine
the President's actions by mindlessly maintaining the status--quo by
funding further oil and gas activities that conflict with this landmark
Executive Order. Accordingly, we recommend zeroing out funding for all
new leasing and permitting during this time. Funds should be
reallocated towards renewable energy, restoration, and protection of
wildlife habitat to address the millions of acres that have already
been destroyed or degraded by fossil fuel extraction.
Bureau of Land Management
--Oil and Gas Inspection and Enforcement. Increase funding to $80
million. Since 2016, the appropriated amount in this line item
has remained largely unchanged despite the massive increase in
oil and gas activities on public lands. Failure to fund
inspections and enforcement inevitably leaves the public to
pick up the tab for environmental damage down the road.
--Wildlife and Aquatic Habitat Management. Many populations of once
common species including pronghorn and greater sage grouse are
declining on BLM lands due to habitat fragmentation, fossil
fuel extraction and industrial development, as well as climate
change. To further President Biden's goal to protect 30% of the
nation's lands and waters, and to stop the downward trend of
wildlife, the BLM line item for wildlife management must be
increased to no less than $300 million in FY2022.
--Abandoned Mine Lands and Hazardous Materials Management. There are
over 50,000 abandoned mines on BLM lands, which pose serious
risks to environment and public safety. We recommend an
increase in funding to $100 million in FY2022 to address the
backlog more aggressively in abandoned wells across BLM lands.
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
--Renewable Energy. Increase funding to $50 million. Congress should
increase the funding for the deployment of renewable energy
projects on the Outer Continental Shelf. This funding is needed
to ensure that the siting and environmental reviews of any
offshore wind capacity fully complies with the National
Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act and Coastal
Zone Management Act in a robust manner.
--Environmental Assessments. Increase funding to $120 million.
Congress should ensure the agency places an emphasis on both
programmatic and project or site--specific environmental impact
statements under NEPA. Renewable energy projects should not be
excluded from an in-depth environmental review under the
premise that it would not result in significant harm.
iii. increase funding for the environmental protection agency by $3.8
billion
Despite the President's proposed increase of $2 billion, this still
represents a decreased budget compared to the EPA's 2010 budget once
inflation is taken into consideration. The EPA requires a total budget
of at least $13 billion for FY2022 if it is going to make progress
beyond what it accomplished in 2010. A decade of funding cuts and staff
reductions at the EPA have jeopardized the integrity of the EPA's core
missions to protect clean air, clean water and protect people from
dangerous chemicals. Since 2000, the EPA has lost 21% of its full-time
staff because of funding cuts, amounting to nearly 4,000 dedicated
employees. Congress's failure to adequately fund the EPA has resulted
in missed statutory deadlines, which have set back the health of our
most vulnerable people.

--Water Quality Protection. Water quality has suffered due to the
EPA's chronic understaffing and lack of funding. The Clean
Water Act instructs the EPA to develop and publish ``criteria
for water quality accurately reflecting the latest scientific
knowledge.'' The EPA has developed water quality criteria for
aquatic life for only two pollutants in the last decade.
Criteria for several pollutants such as lead have not been
updated since the 1980s. The EPA has also failed to develop
criteria for hundreds more chemicals known to cause harm in
aquatic ecosystems. The EPA needs an increase of $250 million
for its water quality criteria program to $466 million for
FY2022 in order to address new chemicals and other water
pollutants that do not have water quality criteria and to
update the numerous existing criteria that are decades out of
date.
--Clean Air. The Clean Air Act directs the EPA to establish National
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for criteria air
pollutants and review them every five years. However, the EPA
is already overdue in its reviews of NAAQS for particulate
matter, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide,
and must also review tainted determinations from the Trump
administration. Additionally, the Clean Air Act requires that
localities that do not meet air pollution standards must submit
State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to the EPA with the goal of
reaching federal standards. Though the Clean Air Act requires
the EPA to approve or deny a SIP within 12 months, there is an
enormous backlog of SIPs awaiting review, with submissions
dating back to 1993. Congress must prioritize clean air by
providing an additional $212 million in FY2022 to bring the
line item for Clean Air to at least $500 million to support the
EPA's critical Clean Air Act programs.
--Pesticide Licensing. Pesticides are used every day without
complying with all statutory requirements to protect the
environment. The EPA is required to consult with the Fish and
Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service under
the Endangered Species Act when registering or reviewing a
pesticide to ensure use of that pesticide will not jeopardize
the existence of endangered or threatened species. Yet the EPA
has never completed the consultation process for any chemical
nationwide. Further resources are desperately needed so that
the EPA is able to conduct biological evaluations more
thoroughly and efficiently, guaranteeing stronger protections
for endangered species. We urge Congress to designate $50
million for Endangered Species Act consultations to prevent
further harm to imperiled species.

[This statement was submitted by Brett Hartl, Government Affairs
Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Center for Invasive Species Prevention
The Coalition Against Forest Pests (CAFP) consists of non-profit
organizations, for-profit entities, landowners, state agency
associations and academic scholars who have joined together to improve
our nation's efforts to address forest health threats.
We appreciate this opportunity to comment on funding for USDA
Forest Service programs that address non-native tree-killing pests.
Between Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 and FY 2018, spending by the Forest
Health Protection program to combat 11 specified non-native insects and
pathogens fell by about 50%. Funding for research conducted by the
Research stations on ten non-native pests decreased from $10 million in
Fiscal Year 2010 to just $2.5 million in Fiscal Year 2020--more than
70%. As far as we can determine, very little additional funding has
been allocated by these programs to species of non-native pests that
have established in the country in recent years. As a result of these
reductions, the Service's ability to develop and implement effective
tools to manage the growing number of pests threatening the health of
the Nation's forests has been crippled.
We ask that the Appropriations Committee restore funding to these
crucial programs by providing the following appropriations:

--State and Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection--total funding
--Cooperative Lands, funding for program work: $51 million
--Federal Lands, funding for program work: $25 million
--Research and Development: total funding $320 million; we ask for
report language encouraging the USDA Forest Service to increase
funding for research targeting non-native insects and
pathogens.
background
To understand how damaging these cuts have been, consider that
since 2010, the following new tree-killing pests have been detected:
polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers, spotted lanternfly, two
rapid `ohi`a death pathogens, Mediterranean oak beetle, and velvet
longhorned beetle. In the meantime, the Asian longhorned beetle has
been detected in Ohio and South Carolina; the emerald ash borer
expanded its range from 14 to 35 states; laurel wilt disease spread
from five states to 11; a second strain of the sudden oak death fungus
appeared in Oregon and California forests; and whitebark pine has been
Pelisted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as Threatened under the
Endangered Species Act.
In total, more than 228 tree species growing in the ``lower 48''
states are attacked by non-native pests; additional tree species in
Hawai`i and other islands are also infested by non-native pests. A
study by Randall Morin found that non-native forest pests had caused an
approximately five percent increase in total mortality by tree volume
nation-wide. The greatest increases in mortality rates were a four-fold
increase for redbay; and a three-fold increase for ash, beech, and
hemlock. A study by Songlin Fei estimates that the 15 most damaging of
the introduced species threaten 41.1% of the total live forest biomass
in the 48 conterminous states.
The Mission of the USDA Forest Service is ``To sustain the health,
diversity, and productivity of the Nation's forests and grasslands to
meet the needs of present and future generations.'' To achieve this
mission, the Forest Service needs adequate funding to address the
difficult challenge of containing the spread of introduced pests,
protecting host tree species from mortality caused by those pests, and
restoring decimated tree species to the forest.
Much of this effort must take place on the 60% of America's forests
managed by states and private landowners. Effectively countering non-
native insects and pathogens requires addressing them where they are
first detected. Almost always, those first detections occur in or near
cities--which are the destination of the imported goods and plants
which are the means by which the pests are introduced.
Furthermore, once established, the non-native pests spread to
forests in rural and wildland areas. The pests' spread is often
facilitated by people moving firewood, plants or household goods.
Consequently, addressing spread requires scientific understanding of
the pest's biology and understanding what motivates people to avoid
activities that facilitate pests' spread.
Obviously, given the large number of damaging non-native pests, the
Forest Service must set priorities. This need has been met by ``Project
CAPTURE'' (Conservation Assessment and Prioritization of Forest Trees
Under Risk of Extirpation) [https://forestthreats.org/research/
projects/project-summaries/genetic-risk-assessment-system]. Priority
species for forests on the continent are listed below. A separate study
is under way for forests in Hawai`i, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin
Islands.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Florida torreya (Torreya taxifolia) Port-Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis
lawsoniana)
American chestnut (Castanea tanoak (Notholithocarpus
dentata) densiflorus)
Allegheny chinquapin (C. pumila) butternut (Juglans cinerea)
Ozark chinquapin (C. pumila var. eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
ozarkensis)
redbay (Persea borbonia) white ash (Fraxinus americana)
Carolina ash (Fraxinus caroliniana) black ash (F. nigra)
pumpkin ash (F. profunda) green ash (F. pennsylvanica)
Carolina hemlock (Tsuga
caroliniana)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Project CAPTURE says these 15 species should be the focus of two
types of programs. First, seed collection and banking and similar
activities should be carried out as part of a comprehensive gene
conservation program aimed at maintaining genetic integrity and natural
levels of genetic diversity within species. Second, researchers should
establish the trees' potential resistance to the pest, and develop tree
breeding and restoration components--including possibly careful
utilization of new genomic technologies. These projects would enable or
hasten the establishment of applied breeding programs.
We hope that the Congress will choose to implement these
recommendations by providing additional funding to the USFS FHP and
Research programs.
forest health and management programs
To be most effective, the USDA Forest Health Management program
must address pests where they are first found--which is almost always
in urban or semi-rural forests. This pattern means that the initial
responsibility for countering non-native pests falls primarily to the
Cooperative Forest Health Management program. This program supports
partners' efforts to prevent, monitor, suppress, and eradicate insects,
diseases, and invasive plants through technical and financial
assistance to state forestry agencies who deal directly with private
forest owners.
Of course, many of the pests spread into National forests. For
example, since its introduction a century ago, white pine blister rust
has spread throughout the West; 74 percent of the threatened whitebark
pine grows within National forests. Since the 1950s, hemlock wooly
adelgid has spread to National forests from Georgia to Pennsylvania and
even Michigan. Within 20 years of its first detection, the emerald ash
borer has spread from the Detroit area to kill trees in many National
forests across the Northeast and Midwest. Over an even shorter period,
the polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers have entered the
Cleveland National Forest. Forests in National parks in the
Appalachians, California, the Pacific Northwest and Hawai`i have also
been severely damaged by these pests. All were first discovered in
urban forests.
Considering the priorities established by Project CAPTURE, we
applaud the continuing commitment by the FHP program to projects
addressing Port-Orford-cedar root disease, threats to whitebark pine,
and thousand cankers disease. However, we are concerned about past
reductions in programs targetting laurel wilt and sudden oak death. We
hope that the inclusion of their hosts (redbay and tanoaks) in the
Project CAPTURE priority list will result in new funding becoming
available. Furthermore, we support efforts to manage ``lingering'' ash
and breed ash trees resistant to the emerald ash borer. Indeed, FHP
leadership will be vitally important to stakeholders trying to manage
spread of the emerald ash borer now that the USDA Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service has terminated its regulatory program.
Wildland and urban forests in the Western states are at greatest risk
to EAB spread.
We expect that FHP will continue to help Hawaiian partners to
counter the rapid `ohi`a death fungi, which threatens ?ohi?a lehua--
which makes up 80% of native forests. The fungus has killed over a
million trees on 180,000 acres on the Big Island alone and has now
spread to the other islands.
We are pleased that the FHP program has established an ``emerging
pest'' line, which in FY2021 is funded at $500,000. Welcome as this
funding is, it is inadequate to carry the burden of addressing the
dozens of non-native pests not included in the national program.
As noted above, the Coalition Against Forest Pests asks that the
Committee provide total appropriations of $51 million FHP Cooperative
Lands and $25 million under FHP Federal Lands for Fiscal Year 2022.
usda forest service forest and rangeland research program
Effective programs to prevent, suppress, and eradicate non-native
insects, diseases, and plants depend on understanding of the pest-host
relationship gained through research. We seek $320 million for the USDA
Forest Service Research and Development program in FY2021.
Funding for research conducted by USFS on ten non-native pests
decreased from $10 million in FY 2010 to just $2.5 million in FY 2020-
more than 70 percent. Current funding for invasive species thus
constitutes about one percent of the total R&D budget. As a result of
these reductions, the USFS's ability to develop and implement effective
tools to manage the growing number of pests threatening the health of
the nation's forests has been crippled. Programs targeting hemlock
woolly adelgid, white pine blister rust, sudden oak death, and the
Sirex woodwasp were cut in recent years. Programs targeting several
other high-impact pests, including the Asian longhorned beetle, emerald
ash borer, goldspotted oak borer, thousand cankers disease, and laurel
wilt disease have been funded at a steady rate. We could find no
documentation of USDA Forest Service research into beech leaf disease,
rapid `ohi`a death, or other pests currently killing trees.
Effective measures depend on an understanding of both the pest's
biology and factors that motivate people to avoid activities that
facilitate pests' spread. As part of the requested $320 million for
Forest Service Research and Development, the signatory organizations
urge you to include language in the Interior Appropriations report
encouraging the USDA Forest Service to increase funding for research
targeting non-native insects and pathogens.
Thank you for considering our views. If you have any questions,
please contact Faith Campbell at [email protected]
______

Prepared Statement of the Center for Large Landscape Conservation &
Alaska Conservation Foundation
Dear Chairman Merkley and Ranking Member Murkowski:

Collaborative, landscape-scale conservation brings people together
across geographies, jurisdictions, sectors, and cultures to restore
fragmented landscapes, thereby safeguarding the ecological, cultural,
and economic benefits provided by intact and connected habitat. We are
therefore encouraged to see $18.8 million (an increase of $6.3 million
above the 2021 enacted level) proposed in the President's Budget for
Cooperative Landscape Conservation via the Science Applications Program
within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). However, additional
funding is necessary to effectively coordinate landscape conservation
across the federal government and with state, tribal, and
nongovernmental partners across the country.
In its Fiscal Year 2022 budget justification, USFWS claims:
``Science Applications is the only program in the Federal government
that provides collaboration and technical capacity to facilitate the
integration, development, and strategic alignment of actions to achieve
the conservation landscape [sic] of the future to sustain fish,
wildlife, and plant by working with and for partners and local, State,
and regional partnerships across the Nation'' (CLC-2, emphasis
added).\1\ We fervently support this work and deeply appreciate the
USFWS's leadership on landscape conservation. And yet, addressing
complex, multi-scalar problems like biodiversity loss, the climate
crisis, and environmental injustice requires a whole-of-government
approach, as stated in the Biden administration's recent Conserving and
Restoring the America the Beautiful report.\2\ Achieving the
administration's ambitious conservation goals and tackling our most
pressing natural resource management challenges at the landscape scale
requires meaningful involvement of many agencies within the departments
of Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce, as well as the Council on
Environmental Quality and other federal entities, in partnership with
tribal, state, regional, and local stakeholders. Coordinating landscape
conservation should not indefinitely be the sole responsibility of one
program within one agency: it is by nature a collective responsibility.
Effectively synchronizing landscape conservation and climate
adaptation efforts across federal agencies and with non-federal
partners will require investing in a new durable, comprehensive, and
inclusive structure and approach to landscape conservation. With
insights from diverse leaders in landscape conservation across the
nation, our two organizations recently released a report calling for
this commitment: Build back a better national landscape conservation
framework.\3\ The report recommends providing national funding to
support robust federal leadership and coordination, and providing
resources to support and connect regional conservation partnerships
across the nation to address large-scale conservation challenges. More
specifically, the experts that contributed to the report suggest the
following, among other recommendations: a) tasking an entity within the
Biden administration to lead and coordinate federal government
functions for the landscape conservation framework and b) creating a
multi-stakeholder national landscape conservation council to maximize
coordination, communication, and collaboration on policies and
projects. This perspective is shared by many prominent leaders in the
conservation community, as articulated in a recent op-ed published in
The Hill by former U.S. Department of Interior officials Lynn Scarlett
and Dr. Mamie Parker.\4\
We propose providing $3 million of additional funding to USFWS
(beyond the requested amount of $18.8 million for ``Cooperative
Landscape Conservation'') to initiate the process of establishing a new
framework for coordinating landscape conservation and climate
adaptation efforts nationwide, in accordance with the recommendations
in the report referenced above and excerpted below (see excerpt on page
4 of this testimony). These additional funds would raise the total
level for the Cooperative Landscape Conservation Program to $21.8
million, which is approximately the funding used to facilitate the
Landscape Conservation Cooperative Network from 2010-2017.
We also suggest the following report language to clarify the
purpose of the proposed additional $3 million:

First, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) will
expend these dollars on coordinating landscape conservation and climate
adaptation efforts with other natural resource and environmental
agencies within the federal government. Second, USFWS will use these
funds to launch an interagency and public engagement process that
solicits recommendations for developing a new national framework for
landscape conservation. Within 12 months, USFWS will submit a report to
the appropriate congressional committees outlining the following:
1. The need for and benefits of a durable, inclusive, and
comprehensive national framework for landscape conservation;
2. The opportunities and challenges of coordinating landscape
conservation across federal agencies and with state, regional, and
local governmental and non-governmental partners;
3. The opportunities and challenges of integrating landscape
conservation with climate adaptation efforts across the federal
government;
4. A proposed new or existing entity within the Biden
administration to lead and coordinate federal government functions of
the national landscape conservation framework;
5. A proposed structure for a nationwide network of regional
conservation partnerships;
6. A proposal for establishing a diverse, inclusive national
landscape conservation council composed of federal, state, and tribal
agencies, regional partnerships, non-governmental organizations,
university partners, private landowners, and other stakeholders; and
7. A sustainable funding strategy to support the following: the new
national landscape conservation network and framework; the federal
interagency governing entity and multi-stakeholder council for national
landscape conservation; dedicated federal, state, tribal, regional, and
local agency staff positions to coordinate landscape conservation
efforts across all scales of government; and landscape conservation
projects across the country.

The proposed new investment in developing a durable, inclusive, and
comprehensive national framework will enable USFWS to facilitate
greater involvement in and support for landscape conservation and
climate adaptation. Such a coordinated approach would improve outcomes,
eliminate redundancies, create synergies, promote inclusion, facilitate
collaboration, and streamline the whole-of-government response
necessary to conserve a network of healthy and productive lands and
waters that sustain our nation's unique natural and cultural resources.
We appreciate your consideration of our testimony and stand ready
to address any questions or provide further resources.

Sincerely,

Michael Barber, Executive Director
Alaska Conservation Foundation
[email protected]

Gary Tabor, President
Center for Large Landscape Conservation
[email protected]
Building Back a better
National Landscape Conservation Framework
executive summary
recommendations
To achieve the overarching goal of a connected network of healthy
and productive lands and waters that sustain natural and cultural
resources to meet the challenges of the 21st century, including climate
change, environmental justice, the loss of biodiversity, and sustained
economic well-being, the nation needs a durable national framework for
landscape conservation. A federal convening structure and policy
leadership will create opportunities and provide resources to advance
conservation science and collaboration. The following recommendations
will allow such an effort to be more effective, garner more public
support, create a more equitable and inclusive conservation paradigm,
and endure for generations to come.
Policies
1. Identify an entity within the Biden Administration to lead and
coordinate federal governmental functions for the landscape
conservation framework.
2. Issue an executive order, or take other executive action,
directing federal agencies to bring together science and people through
landscape conservation collaboratives.
3. Over the next few years, work with Congress on a strategy to
codify a national landscape conservation network.
4. Create a national, multi-stakeholder landscape conservation
council to maximize coordination, communication, and collaboration on
landscape conservation policy and projects.
5. Integrate landscape conservation and national climate adaptation
science efforts.
Necessary Funding and Resources
6. Work with Congress and the executive branch on joint sustainable
funding strategies.
7. Provide national funding to support backbone capacity and
coordination.
8. Seek new funding, and leverage existing funds, for landscape
conservation efforts.
9. Ensure that funding supports a diverse array of organizations
and stakeholders.
10. Revitalize investments previously made by the Obama-Biden
administration in landscape conservation.
conclusion
A common element in these recommendations is the important role of
people in landscape conservation. Gone are the days of artificial lines
and thinking about nature separate from people. Today we know that
conservation is about sustaining whole landscapes for both communities
and nature. This means involving a broad range of people in planning
for and investing in the future of the places where they live and work.
It also means recognizing the economic, ecological, cultural,
recreational, and health benefits that intact, functioning ecosystems
provide to local communities and citizens across America. This
collaborative and holistic approach will be essential in achieving the
administration's biodiversity, equity, and climate change goals.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 2021. ``The United
States Department of the Interior Budget Justifications and Performance
Information, Fiscal Year 2022.'' Available at: https://www.doi.gov/
sites/doi.gov/files/fy2022-fws-budget-justification.pdf.
\2\ United States Department of the Interior, United States
Department of Agriculture, United States Department of Commerce, and
Council on Environmental Quality. 2021. ``Conserving and Restoring
America the Beautiful.'' Available at: https://www.doi.gov/sites/
doi.gov/files/report-conserving-and-restoring-america-the-beautiful-
2021.pdf.
\3\ Mankowski, J., Wathen, G., Poe, A., Mordecai, R., and Wearn, A.
2021. ``Build back a better National Landscape Conservation
Framework.'' Commissioned by the Center for Large Landscape
Conservation and the Alaska Conservation Foundation. Available at:
https://largelandscapes.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Landscape-
Conservation-Framework.pdf.
\4\ Scarlett, L. and Parker, M. April 22, 2021. ``21st century
conservation: A vision of collaboration across landscapes.'' Available
at: https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/549729-21st-century-
conservation-a-vision-of-collaboration-across.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

______

Prepared Statement of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District
On behalf of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District
(CAWCD), I encourage you to direct the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
to again expend at least $2.0 million from its Aquatic Habitat
Management Program sub-activity (formerly known as the Soil, Water and
Air Program) for Colorado River specific salinity control activities in
Fiscal Year 2022. The funding will help protect the water quality of
the Colorado River that is used by approximately 40 million people for
municipal and industrial purposes and used to irrigate approximately
5.5 million acres in the United States.
CAWCD manages the Central Arizona Project (CAP), a multi-purpose
water resource development and management project that delivers
Colorado River water into central and southern Arizona. The largest
supplier of renewable water in Arizona, CAP diverts an average of over
1.5 million acre-feet of Arizona's 2.8 million acre-foot Colorado River
entitlement each year to municipal and industrial users, agricultural
irrigation districts, and Indian communities.
Our goal at CAP is to provide an affordable, reliable and
sustainable supply of Colorado River water to a service area that
includes more than 80 percent of Arizona's population.
These renewable water supplies are critical to Arizona's economy
and to the economies of Native American communities throughout the
state. Nearly 90% of economic activity in the State of Arizona occurs
within CAP's service area. The canal provides an economic benefit of
$100 billion annually, accounting for one-third of the entire Arizona
gross state product. CAP also helps the State of Arizona meet its water
management and regulatory objectives of reducing groundwater use and
ensuring availability of groundwater as a supplemental water supply
during future droughts. Achieving and maintaining these water
management objectives is critical to the long-term sustainability of a
state as arid as Arizona.
negative impacts of concentrated salts
Natural and man-induced salt loading to the Colorado River creates
environmental and economic damages. EPA has identified that more than
60 percent of the salt load of the Colorado River comes from natural
sources. The majority of land within the Colorado River Basin is
federally owned, much of which is administered by BLM. Human activity,
principally irrigation, adds to salt load of the Colorado River.
Further, natural and human activities concentrate the dissolved salts
in the River.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) has estimated the
current quantifiable damages at about $354 million per year to U.S.
users with projections that damages would increase to approximately
$671 million per year by 2040 if the program were not to continue.
These damages include:

--A reduction in the yield of salt sensitive crops and increased
water use to meet the leaching requirements in the agricultural
sector;
--Increased use of imported water and cost of desalination and brine
disposal for recycling water in the municipal sector;
--A reduction in the useful life of galvanized water pipe systems,
water heaters, faucets, garbage disposals, clothes washers, and
dishwashers, and increased use of bottled water and water
softeners in the household sector;
--An increase in the cost of cooling operations and the cost of water
softening, and a decrease in equipment service life in the
commercial sector;
--An increase in the use of water and the cost of water treatment,
and an increase in sewer fees in the industrial sector;
--A decrease in the life of treatment facilities and pipelines in the
utility sector; and
--Difficulty in meeting wastewater discharge requirements to comply
with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit
terms and conditions, and an increase in desalination and brine
disposal costs due to accumulation of salts in groundwater
basins.

The threat of salinity continues to be a concern in both the United
States and Mexico. On November 20, 2012, a five-year agreement, known
as Minute 319, was signed between the U.S. and Mexico to guide future
management of the Colorado River. Among the key issues addressed in
Minute 319 included an agreement to maintain current salinity
management and existing salinity standards. The United States, Mexico,
and key water users, including CAWCD, worked since 2015 to develop a
successor agreement, Minute 323, which was finalized on September 27,
2017. Minute 323 continues collaboration and cooperation among the
United States and Mexico with respect to salinity control in the
Colorado River system. The CAWCD and other key water providers are
committed to meeting these goals.
Adequate funding for salinity control will prevent the water
quality of the Colorado River from further degradation and avoid
significant increases in economic damages to municipal, industrial and
irrigation users.
conclusion
Implementation of salinity control practices through the BLM
Program has proven to be a very cost effective method of controlling
the salinity of the Colorado River and is an essential component of the
overall Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program.
The continuation of funding will prevent further degradation of the
water quality of the Colorado River and further degradation and
economic damages experienced by municipal, industrial and irrigation
users. A modest investment in source control pays huge dividends in
improved drinking water quality for nearly 40 million Americans. CAWCD
requests that this committee direct that BLM again expend in Fiscal
Year 2022 at least $2.0 million from its Aquatic Habitat Management
Program sub-activity for Colorado River specific salinity control
activities.

[This statement was submitted by Theodore C. Cooke, General
Manager.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Chugach Regional Resources Commission
The Chugach Regional Resources Commission (CRRC) is a Tribal
Organization whose primary mission is to develop the natural resource
capability and capacity for each of our seven member Tribes located
within Alaska's Chugach Region in southcentral Alaska; the Chenega IRA
Council, Native Village of Eyak, Nanwalek IRA Council, Port Graham
Village Council, the Qutekcak Native Tribe, Tatitlek IRA Council, and
the Valdez Native Tribe. We depend on Federal appropriations to the
BIA's Tribal Management/Development Program (TM/DP) account and U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to carry out programs which benefit
our member Tribes. CRRC seeks a funding level of $750,000 within the
Tribal Management/Development Program account and an increase of $1.0
million within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service budget to increase
Tribal opportunities in the policies of the Alaska Migratory Bird Co-
Management Council.
We thank Senate members for passage of the CARES Act in 2020,
increased funding within the Interior appropriations budget for FY
2021, and passage of the American Rescue Plan this year. Without these
measures, our member Tribes would not have been able to navigate the
challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, the economic collapse that
ensued, and the resulting challenges faced by Tribal governments, small
Tribal businesses, and Alaska Native families. We thank Chairman
Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Subcommittee Members for your
steadfast support of Tribes and Tribal Organizations like CRRC.
CRRC was organized in 1984 to address environmental and natural
resource issues for our Tribes and develop culturally sensitive
economic projects at the community level. Through our programs and
services, CRRC contributes significantly to the health and economic
vitality of our Tribes and their members. This was especially important
this past year during the pandemic. As of 2021, we serve an estimated
population of over 1,200 Alaska Natives. Here is a short overview of
what we do:

--Operate and fund the maintenance costs and salaries of the 12,000
sq. ft. Alutiiq Pride Marine Institute (APMI), located in
Seward, one of the only Tribally operated shellfish hatcheries
in Alaska that produces oyster and littleneck clam seeds,
geoducks, cockles, and razor clams for direct consumption;
--Through funding the APMI, enable hatchery staff to develop a
shellfish sanctuary in Port Graham and Resurrection Bay;
--Through funding the APMI, enable hatchery staff to study ocean
acidification as part of the Alaska Ocean Acidification
Network and the impact of acidification on fish and
shellfish stocks.
--Operate and fund the Nanwalek Salmon Enhancement Project, a
subsistence fishery, to rejuvenate the availability of fish for
direct consumption;
--Lead natural resource efforts on behalf of our Tribes, including
wetlands monitoring and planning, traditional foods advocacy
and protection, climate change vulnerability and adaptation
planning, subsistence resource advocacy, and the development
and management of a Tribal Conservation District;
--Is the statewide manager and member of the Alaska Migratory Bird
Co-Management Council (AMBCC) working with the State and
USF&WS; and

Over the last year of the pandemic, we improvised our services,
conducting education and outreach to our member Tribes through video
teleconferences and posting information on our website.
Through your support, the TM/DP account has grown nearly 45% over
the last 8 years, from $9.22 million in FY 2013 to $13.387 million in
FY 2021. During the same period, however, our funding rose only 16.8%,
from $350,000 to $409,000, only to contract to $348,000 (FY 2018) and
$380,000 (FY 2019 and FY 2020) before we raised concerns with the BIA
that its unilateral reductions were contrary to the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act. We have not been a
beneficiary of the appropriation increases made to the TM/DP account by
Congress despite the fact that we are one of the longest standing
inter-tribal natural resource organization in Alaska and we regularly
engage in co-management activities with the federal government.
Our work is vital and important for the future of the mariculture
industry in Alaska and importantly to our Tribes and their members who
depend on CRRC's programs and services. We require a stable budget,
together with eligible contract support cost funds, to help us carry
out our programs, pay salaries, and operate and maintain the hatchery.
We respectfully request an FY 2022 budget of $750,000, the funding
level we sought in FY 2021 just as the pandemic was impacting the
United States. This funding level will permit us to fully support the
salaries of our Executive Director, the APMI Director, Science
Director, Shellfish Technician Ocean Acidification Manager, Technician,
and operate and maintain the APMI facility. Had CRRC received increases
to our budget equal to the annual growth of the TM/DP subaccount since
FY 2013, our budget would have grown to $507,500 by FY 2021.
We also request that the Subcommittee include report language that
directs the BIA to transfer TM/DP funds to Tribes based on the funding
level reflected in the enacted appropriation and not a funding amount
unilaterally decided by BIA reflected in its budget tables with no
consultation, and certainly not below the prior year's appropriated
level in violation of Pub. L. 93-638.
Our work sustains full-time and seasonal employment for up to 20
Alaska Native people and we help Tribal businesses, all of which
contributes to community stability. Our employees are able to earn a
living and support their families, reinvest their wages in the
community, supporting the employment of other Alaska Native and non-
Native families, thereby removing families from the rolls of people
needing Alaska State and Federal support. This contributes to family
and community stability and is a bulwark against depression, substance
abuse, suicide, and other social ills that plague remote Alaska Native
communities. The prior year cuts to our TM/DP funding level undermined
our services, reduced our natural resource and marine research and
development, stretched our limited resources, and made it difficult to
retain staff.
Our programs also support future economic and commercial
opportunities for the Prince William Sound and Lower Cook Inlet
regions--protecting and developing the Alaskan shellfish industry and
other natural resources. Federal investment in CRRC has translated into
economic opportunities and community investments that have a great
impact on the region. We highlight additional programs of CRRC below:
Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council.--As the statewide
manager and member of the Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council
(AMBCC), CRRC works with its co-management partners--ten Alaska Native
experts representing the people from each of their regions, the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the State of Alaska--to develop
regulations governing the subsistence harvest of migratory birds during
the spring and summer. Through years of representing our Region on the
AMBCC, CRRC was unanimously selected to serve as the managing entity
for the statewide program, housing staff in the CRRC office, and
providing overall management of the subsistence migratory bird program
on behalf of the USFWS. This program has become one of the leading
models of co-management in the state.
Funding for the program comes from the USFWS to the Alaska Native
non-profit organization through cooperative agreements. There is no
specific line item for the AMBCC in the USFWS budget. As a result,
Tribes do not know what level of funding will be available for the
program from year to year. Funding decisions for the AMBCC are decided
internally at the USFWS. This denies Tribes an opportunity to provide
input in the decision-making process. We think this is wrong and ask
the Subcommittee to include report language directing the USFWS to
engage in meaningful consultation with Tribes consistent with the
government-to-government relationship and the Interior Department's
Tribal consultation policy.
The Native Caucus of the AMBCC has directed the staff to pursue a
P.L. 93-638 contract with the USFWS. We again seek additional funding
of $1 million from Congress to the USFWS budget to support efforts to
increase Tribal opportunities and Tribal voices in the policies of the
Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council.
Natural Resource Management Program.--CRRC's Natural Resource
Management Program created an action plan to address the region's
natural resources. This plan set priorities and direction for the
future management of the natural resources of the Region. While guiding
the plan development, CRRC has recognized that there is a wide variety
of natural features, land uses, and priorities across villages in the
Chugach Region. An inventory analysis was conducted to extract common
themes and areas of concern from a tribal level. These themes were then
integrated by CRRC and our Tribes to produce an effective regional plan
that benefitted every community.
Sockeye Salmon Enhancement Project.--CRRC continues to work along
with the Nanwalek IRA Council members, staff, and community members to
continue the Sockeye Salmon Enhancement Project. CRRC rejuvenated the
project and become more involved in the management of this important
subsistence fishery and now solely funds the operation of the program.
CRRC pursues partnerships with organizations that can assist the Tribe,
such as the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association, the Alaska Pacific
University (APU), Chugachmiut, and the Alaska Department of Fish &
Game.
In addition to these programs, CRRC is involved in a Wetlands
Program Plan Development Project for our Tribes; a Traditional Foods
Program; a Climate Change Program; a Subsistence Memorial Gathering to
commemorate the effects of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill; and a Tribal
Conservation District program to work more effectively with
governmental agencies and explore grant opportunities to better manage
natural resources.
With your continued support, CRRC is making a meaningful difference
for the Alaska Native peoples we serve.
Thank you for the opportunity to share CRRC's funding needs in the
FY 2022 budget.

[This statement was submitted by Willow Hetrick-Price, Executive
Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Coalition for American Heritage
Thank you for the opportunity to offer the Coalition for American
Heritage's recommendations for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Interior,
Environment and Related Agencies appropriations for the Department of
the Interior.
The Coalition for American Heritage (``the Coalition'') is an
organization comprised of heritage professionals, scholars, small
businesses, non-profits and history-lovers across the country. Our
350,000 members work together to promote our nation's commitment to
historic preservation. Preserving historic resources helps stabilize
neighborhoods, attract investment, create jobs, generate tax revenues,
support small businesses, and power America's heritage tourism
industry.
We appreciate the strong funding provided to historic preservation
programs in the FY21 Interior Appropriations legislation. Investing in
these programs will help ensure the continuance of our country's proud
tradition of preservation. As you work to address funding levels for
FY22, the Coalition requests robust funding for all of the U.S.
Department of the Interior's historic preservation and cultural
management programs, and for the National Endowment for the Arts and
the National Endowment for the Humanities. Respectfully, the Coalition
urges the Committee to approve the following funding levels for FY22:

--NPS Historic Preservation Fund: $150 million
--NPS Office of International Affairs: $2.1 million
--NPS National Heritage Areas and Heritage Partnership Program: $32
million
--Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Cultural Resources Management:
$21.131 million
--BLM National Conservation Lands: $65.131 million
--Department of Interior Land and Conservation Fund (LWCF): continued
increase toward the full $900 million in dedicated funding from
offshore mineral leasing revenues
--National Endowment for the Arts (NEA): $176 million
--National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): $225 million
national park service
The popularity of our national parks is at an all-time high. Our
country cannot afford unwarranted reductions to visitor services and
cuts to the responsible stewardship of our historic and cultural
resources. The NPS is responsible for 418 National Park System units.
Over the past 20 years, more than 40 new parks have been added to the
park system. Many recent additions preserve historic places and themes
that have traditionally been underrepresented within the system.
Within the requested funds, we recommend robust funding for
Resource Stewardship, including $1 million for the National Underground
Railroad Network to Freedom, $1 million for the African American Civil
Rights Network, and $1 million for the Reconstruction Era National
Historic Network. Funding for these popular initiatives provides the
public with valuable educational resources that honor and preserve our
country's rich African-American heritage and history for future
generations.
nps historic preservation fund
We urge the Committee to appropriate $150 million in FY22 for the
Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), a vital program that, in partnership
with states, local governments and tribes, is the cornerstone of our
country's historic preservation initiatives.
Within the $150 million request, we recommend the following funding
breakdown:

--$60 million for State Historic Preservation Officers (SHPOs) for
heritage preservation and protection programs.
--$24 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs).
--$19 million for competitive grants to document, interpret, and
preserve historic sites associated with the Civil Rights
Movement.
--$7 million for the competitive grants program to preserve the sites
and stories associated with securing civil rights for all
Americans, including women, Latinos, Native Americans, Native
Hawaiians, Alaska Natives, and LGBTQ Americans.
--$20 million for Save America's Treasures grants for the
preservation of nationally significant sites, structures, and
artifacts.
--$10 million for grants to Historically Black Colleges and
Universities to preserve and repair historic buildings.
--$9 million for Paul Bruhn preservation grants to revitalize
historic properties of national, state, and local significance.
--$1 million for competitive grants for the survey and nomination of
properties associated with communities currently
underrepresented on the National Register of Historic Places
and National Historic Landmarks.
nps deferred maintenance
We urge the Committee to address the deferred maintenance backlog
at America's national parks. Almost half of the current backlog concern
historic assets. Robust investments in this area will contribute to the
successful preservation of historic sites and structures and other NPS
cultural resources. Without critically needed funding for repair and
rehabilitation, these critical sites, buildings and artifacts that draw
visitors to our national parks' assets risk further deterioration and
potential loss.
We recommend the following funding breakdown:

--$140 million for Line-Item Construction projects
--$150 million for Repair and Rehabilitation
--$205 million for Cyclic Maintenance

Line-Item Construction projects.--We support $140 million toward
addressing the needs of the highest priority non-transportation assets.
Repair and Rehabilitation.--We recommend $150 million, a $14
million increase above the FY21 enacted level. The Committee's support
for these programs has been very helpful in addressing the long-term
maintenance needs at America's national parks over the past several
years.
Cyclic Maintenance.--We recommend $205 for cyclic maintenance, a
$16.8 million increase above the FY20 enacted level. These efforts are
critical to preventing assets from degrading to the point of needing
repair. Performing regular maintenance will help prevent an increase in
the number of deferred maintenance projects.
national park service: office of international affairs
We urge a $2.1 million FY22 appropriation for the NPS Office of
International Affairs. This funding would ensure that the United States
can robustly engage in and support the World Heritage Program.
Communities throughout the country are pursuing nominations of sites in
their area to the World Heritage List, including Hopewell Ceremonial
Earthworks in Ohio and Mount Vernon in Virginia. The Office of
International Affairs is critical to shepherding advocates through the
nominations process.
nps national heritage areas
We recommend $32 million in funding for the Heritage Partnership
Program and our National Heritage Areas (NHAs). Through the use of
public-private partnerships, NHAs support historic preservation,
heritage tourism, and recreation. These programs collaborate with
communities to make heritage relevant to local interests and needs.
blm cultural resources management
We appreciate the Committee's ongoing oversight of the BLM
reorganization and the impacts of the move on BLM's ability to oversee
the largest, most diverse collection of historic and cultural resources
on America's public lands. We remain very concerned about the staff
reductions in the Cultural Resources Division. It is vital that BLM has
sufficient staff to support Section 106 reviews, monitor compliance
with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and
consult with tribes.
To assist staff with providing these key services, we respectfully
request that the committee provide $21.131 million for BLM Cultural
Resources Management. We ask that the Committee support BLM efforts to
fill key staff vacancies, especially those cultural resources positions
stipulated in the BLM Tribal Relations Manual, including: National
Curator/NAGPRA Coordinator, National Tribal Coordinator, and 10 of the
12 state office Tribal Coordinator positions.
This funding would also support ongoing collaboration with state
historic preservation offices to standardize and integrate cultural
resources data for BLM lands through the National Cultural Resources
Information Management System. Strengthening BLM's ability to update
predictive modeling and data analysis will enhance the agency's ability
to address large-scale, cross-jurisdictional land-use projects.
blm national conservation lands
We urge a $65.131 million FY21 appropriation for the National
Conservation Lands. An increase in base funding will prevent critical
damage to 36 million acres of congressionally and presidentially
designated National Monuments, National Conservation Areas, Wilderness,
Wilderness Study Areas, National Scenic and Historic Trails, and Wild
Scenic Rivers managed by BLM. Increased funding will help achieve
President Biden's goal of conserving at least 30% of our lands and
waters by 2030.
blm land water conservation fund
We urge the Committee to continue increasing LWCF funding toward
the full $900 million from offshore mineral leasing revenues that is
dedicated to the LWCF annually. Many of our country's most significant
historic and cultural landscapes have been permanently protected
through LWCF investments, including Martin Luther King Jr. National
Historic Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and Hopewell
Culture National Historic Park. In total, more than $550 million has
been invested to acquire historic sites and 137,000 acres in 162 NPS
units.
Within LWCF funding, we urge the Committee to fund the American
Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) at $20 million in FY22. Through
public-private partnerships, the ABPP has helped communities to
preserve more than 100 historic battlefields in 42 states and
territories. In protecting the hallowed ground upon which so many
Americans fought and died, the ABPP preserves a valuable part of our
shared history.
independent agencies: advisory council on historic preservation
We request $8 million for the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation (ACHP), to fund its work to administer the rulemaking
process for historic preservation law, assist in resolving conflicts
from historic resource reviews, and provide advice on historic
preservation.
national endowments for the arts and the humanities
The Coalition urges the Committee to fund the NEA at $176 million
and the NEH at $225 million each in FY22. Robust funding for the NEA
and NEH is critical to communities across America. NEH Preservation
Assistance Grants help small and mid-sized institutions--such as
libraries, museums, historical societies, archival repositories,
cultural organizations, town and county records offices, and colleges
and universities--improve their ability to preserve and care for their
significant humanities collections, which may include books and
journals, archives and manuscripts, prints and photographs,
architectural and cartographic records, decorative and fine art
objects, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, furniture,
historical objects, and digital materials.
The Coalition is grateful to the Committee for the opportunity to
offer its perspective on FY22 appropriations for the Interior,
Environment and Related Agencies appropriations bill. The Coalition
stands ready to work with the Committee on finding common ground to
achieve the FY22 funding levels that will support and enhance historic
preservation.

[This statement was submitted by Marion Werkheiser, Policy
Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Coalition for Healthier Schools
Dear Chairman Merkley and Ranking Member Murkowski:

We--the undersigned sixty-six organizations and 39 individuals--
write to urge two critical improvements to the President's Budget FY22
Budget for US EPA. The nation and its children, many in the poorest and
or most remote areas, have just endured a year school closures and lack
of access to education. While we support the PBFY 22 top-line increase
for EPA, the proposed boost is not proportional to the risks.
Specifically, it does not restore or expand funding to the offices in
EPA most critical to keeping schools open safely: the Office of Air and
Radiation/Indoor Environments Division and the Office of Children's
Health Protection. They have long worked to improve the condition of
learning facilities for all children. In a continuing pandemic, we
believe schools and child care facilities, children and communities,
and the economy, need those offices enhanced to meet the crises of poor
indoor air amid the pandemic and severe weather like high heat.
CLEAN AIR IN EVERY SCHOOL. Understanding that poor indoor air is
common in schools and erodes children health and learning, in the face
of the continuing airborne infective virus, announced by CDC on May 7,
2021, we urge that $65 Million be directed to EPA's Office of Air and
Radiation/Indoor Environments Division's to restore and expand its
Reducing the Risks of Indoor Air program and $10 Million directed to
Office of Children's Health Protection to restore and expand pediatric
environmental health assistance. The offices provide voluntary
education, technical assistance, and related grant programs to educate
communities, parents and personnel, schools, states, and tribes on how
to improve Indoor Air and fix other problems of educational facilities.
There are 98,000 school buildings enrolling 51 million children.
That is more children in fewer schools with fewer staff than five years
ago. Schools are more densely occupied than nursing homes and 40% of
children have chronic health conditions. Poor indoor air quality can be
a severe health risk in `normal times' for the 6 million American
children with asthma, the leading cause of school absenteeism due to
chronic illness. About half of school children rely on subsidized meal
programs, and half are children of color. An estimated 40% of all
school children had no internet or devices at home during the past
school year.
In 2019, schools were clearly not pandemic-ready, and just as
clearly, they were not weather resilient nor climate-ready either. A
2020 US GAO report found tens of thousands of schools needed updated or
all new ventilation systems. In spring 2021, a survey found that most
schools were unable to implement CDC's reopening guidance. This means
that the 2019 environmental factors that made it impossible to reopen
schools fully in 2020 were not addressed: no ventilation and poor
sanitation.
EPA is the only agency, not CDC and not Education, that has
authorizations, critical technical information, and educational grant
programs to help parents, communities, education leaders, and personnel
understand how to keep school buildings open safely and how to reduce
barriers to learning. EPA's Indoor Environments Division has a 25+ year
history of programs and guidance on aspects of indoor environments like
indoor air quality, molds, hazardous chemical management, and flood
repairs to schools and child care facilities. Further EPA is continuing
to build on its archive of training programs that, ten years ago, had
spurred a learning network on school facilities operated as healthy
places for children and staff. The children's office supports pediatric
environmental health services. The science has only grown over the
decades, with the most recent publications on moving air to reduce the
viral load from UC Davis and Johns Hopkins, while the Harvard School of
Public Health's ``Schools for Health'' recaps the leading science on
healthful indoor environments for learning and contributed
significantly to media's understanding of how the virus is transmitted.
Today, K-12 schools are receiving an estimated $200 billion in
COVID relief aid, but not one dollar is required to be spent on indoor
air or ventilation. A proportional response to the real risks of
contaminated indoor air to children who are required to go to school is
needed now from EPA and from this administration.
A proportional response must restore and expand support for the
Office of Air and Radiation/Indoor Environments Division working under
its authorizations from the Clean Air Act and Superfund Amendments and
Reauthorization Act to host annual symposia and provide education and
training to school personnel, districts, and non-governmental
organizations and communities both nationally and regionally. A
proportional response should also support the Office of Children's
Health Protection's grants to pediatric environmental health experts
and researchers.

Sincerely,

Alaska Community Action on Toxics
American Public Health Association
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
Association of Asthma Educators (PA)
Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO
International)
Breast Cancer Prevention Partners
Californians for Pesticide Reform
Cancer Prevention Coalition for Los Angeles (CA)
Center for Environmental Health
Child Care Aware of America
Children's Environmental Health Center of the Hudson Valley at New York
Medical Center and Maria Farer Children's Hospital (NY)
Children's Environmental Health Network
Children's Environmental Protection Alliance (AL)
Clean and Healthy NY
Coalition for Environmentally Safe Schools (MA)
Collaborative for High Performance Schools
CT Foundation for Environmentally Safe Schools
The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center at Hackensack UMC (NJ)
Earth Day Network
Education Law Center
Empire State Consumer Project (NY)
First Focus
Green Schools National Network
Healthy Legacy (MN)
Health Resources in Action
Healthy Schools PA/Women for a Healthy Environment
Healthy Schools Network, Inc.
Improving Kids' Environment (IN)
Indoor Air Institute
IPM Institute of North America
Kids for Saving the Earth (MN)
Learning Disabilities Associations of America
Learning Disabilities Association of Arkansas
Learning Disabilities Association of Georgia
Learning Disabilities Association of Illinois
Learning Disabilities Association of Iowa
Learning Disabilities Association of Maine
Learning Disabilities Association of Maryland
Learning Disabilities Association of Minnesota
Learning Disabilities Association of Pennsylvania
Learning Disabilities Association of New Jersey
Learning Disabilities Association of Oklahoma
Learning Disabilities Association of South Carolina
Learning Disabilities Association of Tennessee
Learning Disabilities Association of Texas
Learning Disabilities Association of Utah
Maine PTA
Maryland Children's Environmental Health Coalition
Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health
Midwest Pesticide Action Center
National Center for Environmental Health Strategies
Nontoxic Certified (NY)
Pesticide Action Network of North America
Occupational Health & Safety Section of the American Public Health
Association
Ohio Public Health Association
Parents for Students Safety (TN)
Partners for a Healthier Community (MA)
Pennsylvania Integrated Pest Management Program
Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition (MA)
Project Green Schools (MA)
Rachel Carson Council (MD)
Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (CA)
Responsible Purchasing Network
School-Based Health Alliance
School Based Health Alliance of Arkansas
Sierra Club
South Texas Asthma Coalition
Toxics Information Project (RI)
Twenty-first Century Schools Fund (DC)
Valley Community Healthcare (CA)
Western New York Council on Occupational Safety & Health

individuals (organizational affiliations for informational purposes
only)
Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, Nuiqsut (AK)
Elgin Avila, MPH, Esq., Health Solutions
Louis Allen, MD
David Hammond, MD, NW Passage (WI)
Gary Arthur, Issaquah Educ. Assoc. WA)
Carl R. Baum, MD, Yale School of Medicine
Gloria E. Barrera, MSN, RN (IL)
Carla C Campbell, MD, MS, FAAP, University of Texas at El Paso
Marie Chan, Fremont VA
Richard Crime, Env. Engineer (KY)
Evan A. Davis, (NY)
Mary Rothwell Davis (NY)
Mary Gant, Green Science Policy Institute
Augusta Gross, PhD (NY)
Chip Halverson, ND, Northwest Center for Biological Medicine (OR)
Miriam Heilbrun, MS, Brooklyn, NY
Brent Ibata, PhD, JD, MPH, FACHE (FL)
Tenaya Jackman, MPH (HI)
Senator Emanuel Jones, Ellenwood, GA
Jerry Lamping, Take Care of Your Classroom Air (TX)
Paul Landsbergis, PhD, MPH, SUNY Downstate Medical Center
Patricia A. Lasley, MPH, Great Lakes Center for Children's
Environmental Health (IL)
Larry K. Lowry, Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health
(TX)
Daniel Lefkowitz (NY)
Virginia Mott (ME)
Christina Lorentz, MPH, Columbia University
Larry K. Olsen, DrPH, MCHES, AT Still University (NM)
Jerome A. Paulson, MD, FAAP, Emeritus, George Washington University
School of Public Health
Kim Poli, MD (NY)
Joseph Pones, PhD, Rutgers University
Chelsea Alexandra Schafer, California State University, Northridge
Alexandra W. Siniora (IL)
Lindsay Talon, PhD, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health
Sciences
Joan K. Teach, PhD (GA)
Mariana Torchia (CA)
Theodora Tsongas, PhD, MS (OR)
Jeff Vincent, PhD, UC Berkeley
Leon Vinci, DHA, Health Promotion Consultants (VA)
Yolanda Whyte, MD, Whyte Pediatrics
Atlanta, GA

List as of June 24, 2021

Contact: Claire L. Barnett, Coordinator, Coalition for Healthier
Schools and Executive Director, Healthy Schools Network, 153 Regent
Street, Ste. 1050, Saratoga Springs, NY, 12866.,
[email protected]
______

Prepared Statement of the Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates
Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee:

I appreciate the opportunity to provide written testimony on behalf
of the Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates, CORFA, a nonprofit
organization registered in the Commonwealth of Virginia. We thank you
for your support for the National Wildlife Refuge System and for the
opportunity to offer comments on the FY2022 Interior Appropriations
bill, most importantly regarding funding for the Refuge System
Operations and Maintenance Fund, which we respectfully request you fund
at $600 million in FY2022.
CORFA is an all-volunteer organization whose mission is to provide
a national peer support group for members of Friends organizations and
community partners, who are working to promote the understanding and
conservation of natural, cultural, and historical resources associated
with the National Wildlife Refuge System. Over 700 members of these
nonprofit groups turn to CORFA to build relationships through
conversations that answer questions and share information, insights,
and experiences concerning nonprofit governance and management. Members
of these nonprofits can receive and give advice on the various
challenges our incredible organizations face such as building capacity,
marketing and communications, fund-raising, and coalition building. I
am a member of the Board of this organization and serve as Vice
President and Secretary.
Just over a year ago, when the pandemic quickly shutdown most
federal, state, and local parks, and other public lands, there were few
places visitors could go to safely drink in nature, while masked and
socially distanced. One of those places was often a National Wildlife
Refuge. Although Visitor Centers, restrooms, and even the parking lots
might be closed, people flocked to National Wildlife Refuges by the
hundreds of thousands to soak up a much-needed ration of the outdoors.
As more and more people ``discovered'' refuges as a respite in a
very stressful time, there has been a heightened public awareness of
these public lands as a valuable resource to local communities. But,
with increased awareness and usage came increased need for upkeep and
protection. The Fish and Wildlife Staff has done a stellar job of
preserving the habitat of our refuges, but they are working at a great
handicap. The completely inadequate budgets continue to fail to cover
the cost of maintaining the incredibly rich and diverse wildlife
habitats that make up the Refuge System. Our refuges are being loved to
death.
The funding gap that has arisen due to low budget allocations over
the last decade has degraded critical wildlife habitat and imperiled
important species. Although the FY2020 appropriations bill injected a
much needed additional $14 million into this budget, funding levels
remain below the high of $503 million in FY2010, with the shortfall
becoming more acute every year. We must change this trajectory.
National Wildlife Refuges are currently funded at 59 per acre per
year. Compare that to funding for National Park Service at $30 per acre
per year.
The Refuge System cannot fulfill its obligation to the American
public, our wildlife, and 59 million annual visitors (in FY2019)
without increases in maintenance and operation funds. Even with the
gains in FY 2020, overall funding for the Refuge System has declined
substantially over the last twelve years. Funding in FY2010 was $503
million--$598 million in today's dollars with inflation and salary
increases. This difference of $95 million has forced the Service to cut
back on programs and create efficiencies whenever possible--
efficiencies that are sometimes harmful or even dangerous. For example,
many refuges have been placed into complexes, where staff travel
sometimes large distances to juggle duties on multiple refuges.
The number of annual Refuge System visitors jumped by 13 million
over the last few years and is likely to take another jump for 2020
visitors, due to lack of access to many other nature areas as mentioned
above. More people are looking to recreate on wildlife refuges, yet
understaffed refuges struggle to provide those opportunities.
Reductions in visitor services can be extremely limiting for
constituencies who want to visit.
Equally troubling is a 15% drop in the number of volunteers since
FY2011. At a time when record numbers of Americans are retiring and
have the capability and desire to give back, the Service's ability to
oversee volunteer efforts has been curtailed. Volunteers provide an
additional 20% of work on our national wildlife refuges, yet they are
being turned away when the System needs them the most. We hear every
day from Friends groups about the frustration their members are
experiencing because they cannot perform the volunteer work for their
refuge that they would ordinarily be doing. Outdoor areas will continue
to be a safer and popular choice for Americans looking to escape the
seclusion of pandemic lock downs but without adequate staffing, refuges
cannot provide the volunteer supervision that makes many of their
visitor services possible.
The Refuge System is bare bones right now and increased growth in
urban spaces and outdoor recreation, and the impacts of climate change,
place additional stress on the System. Every year, more and more
refuges are closed to the public, habitat degrades, and visitors are
turned away. Current funding is nowhere near the at least $900 million
needed for full funding. Our goal is to reach that figure in the next
three years. Funding the Refuge System Operations and Maintenance Fund
at $600 million is a step to reaching that goal.
CORFA appreciates the Subcommittee's consideration of our request
of $600 mil for the refuge system operations and maintenance budget for
FY2022. We look forward to working with Congress to accomplish this
goal and appreciate your consideration of our requests. Please let me
know if you have any questions.

[This statement was submitted by Cheryl Turoczy Hart, Board
Member.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum
Waters from the Colorado River are used by nearly 40 million people
for municipal and industrial purposes and for irrigation of
approximately 5.5 million acres in the United States. Natural and man-
induced salt loading to the Colorado River causes environmental and
economic damages. In 2020 the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation)
estimated the quantifiable damages to Lower Basin water users due to
elevated salinity levels at about $354 million per year. Congress
authorized the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program (Program)
through the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act (Act) (P.L. 93-
320) in 1974 to offset increased damages caused by continued
development and use of the waters of the Colorado River. Modeling by
Reclamation indicates that the quantifiable damages would rise to
approximately $671 million by the year 2040 without continuation of the
Program. Congress has directed the Secretary of the Interior
(Secretary) to implement a comprehensive program for minimizing salt
contributions to the Colorado River from lands administered by the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM). BLM has funded these efforts as
directed by Congress through its Aquatic Habitat Management sub-
activity. BLM's efforts are an essential part of the overall effort. A
funding level of $2.0 million for salinity specific projects in 2022 is
requested to prevent further degradation of the quality of the Colorado
River and a commensurate increase in downstream economic damages.
EPA has identified that more than 60 percent of the salt load of
the Colorado River comes from natural sources. The majority of land
within the Colorado River Basin is federally owned, much of which is
administered by BLM. In authorizing Program (P.L. 93-320, Act) in 1974,
Congress recognized that most of the salts in the Colorado River
originate from federally owned lands. Title I of the Act deals with
programs downstream of Imperial Dam that enable the U.S. to meet its
commitment regarding the quality of waters being delivered to Mexico
(Minute No. 242 of the International Boundary and Water Commission,
United States and Mexico). Title II of the Act addresses measures
upstream from Imperial Dam, thus improving the quality of the water
delivered to users in the United States. This testimony deals
specifically with Title II efforts. In 1984, Congress amended the
Salinity Control Act (P.L. 98-569) and directed the Secretary to
develop a comprehensive program for minimizing salt contributions to
the Colorado River from lands administered by BLM. In 2000, Congress
reiterated its directive to the Secretary and requested a report on the
implementation of BLM's program (Public Law 106-459). In 2003, BLM
employed a Salinity Coordinator to increase BLM efforts in the Colorado
River Basin to pursue salinity control studies and to implement
specific salinity control practices.
BLM is now working on a comprehensive Colorado River Basin salinity
control program as directed by Congress. In January 2018 BLM issued A
Framework for Improving the Effectiveness of the Colorado River Basin
Salinity Control Program, 2018-2023. This document lays out how BLM
intends to implement Colorado River Basin salinity control activities
over the five-year period. Meaningful resources have been expended by
BLM in the past few years to better understand salt mobilization on
rangelands. With a significant portion of the salt load of the Colorado
River coming from BLM administered lands, the BLM portion of the
overall program is essential to the success of the effort. Inadequate
BLM salinity control efforts will result in significant additional
economic damages to water users downstream.
Concentration of salt in the Colorado River causes approximately
$354 million annually in quantified damages and significantly more in
unquantified damages in the United States and results in poor water
quality for United States users. Damages, by water usage sector,
include the following:

--a reduction in the ability to reclaim and reuse water for
beneficial uses, including drinking water and irrigation water
supplies, due to high salinities in the water delivered to
water treatment and reclamation facilities,
--a reduction in the yield of salt sensitive crops, increased water
use to meet leaching requirements and additional actions
necessary to comply with the Clean Water Act within the
agricultural sector,
--increased use of imported water and cost of desalination and brine
disposal for recycling water in the municipal sector,
--a reduction in the useful life of galvanized water pipe systems,
water heaters, faucets, garbage disposals, clothes washers and
dishwashers, and increased use of bottled water and water
softeners in the household sector,
--an increase in the cost of cooling operations and the cost of water
softening, and a decrease in equipment service life in the
commercial sector,
--an increase in the use of water and the cost of water treatment,
and a corresponding increase in sewer fees in the industrial
sector,
--a decrease in the lifespan of treatment facilities and pipelines in
the utility sector, and
--difficulty in meeting wastewater discharge requirements to comply
with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit
terms and conditions, and an increase in desalination and brine
disposal costs necessary to minimize accumulation of salts in
groundwater basins.

The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum (Forum) is composed
of gubernatorial appointees from Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada,
New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The Forum is charged with reviewing the
Colorado River's water quality standards for salinity every three years
to facilitate compliance with Section 303(c) of the Clean Water Act
(P.L. 92-500). In so doing, it adopts a Plan of Implementation
consistent with these standards. The level of appropriation requested
in this testimony is in keeping with the adopted Plan of
Implementation. If adequate funds are not appropriated, significant
damages from higher salinity concentrations in the water will be more
widespread in the United States and Mexico.
In summary, implementation of salinity control practices through
BLM is a cost-effective method of controlling the salinity of the
Colorado River and is an essential component to the overall Program.
Continuation of adequate funding levels for salinity control within the
Aquatic Habitat Management sub-activity will assist in preventing
further degradation of the Colorado River's water quality with a
commensurate significant increase in economic damages to municipal,
industrial and irrigation users. A modest investment in source control
pays huge dividends in improved water quality to nearly 40 million
Americans. The Forum requests that this committee direct that BLM again
expend at least $2.0 million in 2022 from its Aquatic Habitat
Management Program sub-activity for Colorado River specific salinity
control activities.

[This statement was submitted by Don A. Barnett, Executive
Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Colorado River Board of California
This testimony is in support of Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 funding for
the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
associated activities that assist the implementation of Title II of the
Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-320). This
long-standing successful and cost-effective salinity control program in
the Colorado River Basin is being carried out pursuant to the Colorado
River Basin Salinity Control Act and the Clean Water Act (P.L. 92-500).
Congress has directed the Secretary of the Interior to implement a
comprehensive program for minimizing salt contributions to the Colorado
River from lands administered by the BLM. BLM funds these efforts
through the Aquatic Habitat Management Program. BLM's efforts are an
essential part of the overall effort. A funding level of $2.0 million
for salinity specific projects in FY-2022 is requested to prevent
further degradation of the quality of Colorado River water supplies and
increased environmental and economic damages.
The Colorado River Board of California (Colorado River Board) is
the state agency charged with protecting California's interests and
rights in the water and power resources of the Colorado River system.
In this capacity, California participates along with the other six
Colorado River Basin states through the Colorado River Basin Salinity
Control Forum (Forum), the interstate organization responsible for
coordinating the Basin States' salinity control efforts. In close
cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
pursuant to requirements of the Clean Water Act, the Forum is charged
with reviewing the Colorado River water quality standards every three
years. Every three years the Forum adopts a Plan of Implementation
consistent with these water quality standards. The level of
appropriation being supported in this testimony is consistent with the
Forum's 2020 Plan of Implementation. The Forum's 2020 Plan of
Implementation can be found on this website: https://
coloradoriversalinity.org/docs/2020%20REVIEW%20-%20Final%20w
%20appendices.pdf. If adequate funds are not appropriated, significant
damages associated with increasing salinity concentrations of Colorado
River water will become more widespread in the United States and
Mexican portions of the Colorado River Basin.
The EPA has determined that more than sixty percent of the salt
load of the Colorado River comes from natural sources. The majority of
land within the Colorado River Basin is federally owned, much of which
is administered by BLM. Through passage of the Colorado River Basin
Salinity Control Act in 1974, Congress recognized that much of the
salts in the Colorado River originate on federally owned lands. Title I
of the Salinity Control Act deals with the U.S. commitment to efforts
related to maintaining the quality of waters being delivered to Mexico
pursuant to the 1944 Water Treaty. Title II of the Act deals with
improving the quality of the water delivered to water users in the
United States. In 1984, Congress amended the Salinity Control Act and
directed that the Secretary of the Interior develop a comprehensive
program for minimizing salt contributions to the Colorado River from
lands administered by BLM. In 2000, Congress reiterated its directive
to the Secretary and requested a report on the implementation of BLM's
program (Public Law 106-459). In 2003, BLM employed a Salinity
Coordinator to coordinate BLM efforts in the Colorado River Basin
states to pursue salinity control studies and to implement specific
salinity control practices. BLM is now working to create a
comprehensive Colorado River Basin salinity control program as directed
by Congress. In January 2018 BLM issued A Framework for Improving the
Effectiveness of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program,
2018-2023. This document lays out how BLM intends to implement Colorado
River Basin salinity control activities over the next five years.
Meaningful resources have been expended by BLM in the past few years to
better understand salt mobilization on rangelands. With a significant
portion of the salt load of the Colorado River coming from BLM--
administered lands, the BLM portion of the overall program is essential
to the success of the entire effort. Inadequate BLM salinity control
efforts will result in significant additional economic damages to water
users downstream.
Over the forty-seven years since the passage of the Colorado River
Basin Salinity Control Act, much has been learned about the impact of
salts in the Colorado River system. Currently, the salinity
concentration of Colorado River water causes about $354 million in
quantifiable economic damages in the United States annually. Economic
and hydrologic modeling by Reclamation indicates that these economic
damages could rise to more than $671 million by the year 2040 without
continued implementation of the salinity control program. For example,
damages can be incurred related to the following activities:

--A reduction in the ability and increased costs to reclaim and reuse
water due to high salinities in the water delivered to water
treatment and reclamation facilities;
--A reduction in the yield of salt-sensitive crops and increased
water use to meet the leaching requirements in the agricultural
sector;
--Increases in the amount of imported water;
--Increased costs of desalination and brine disposal for recycled
water in the municipal sector;
--A reduction in the useful life of galvanized water pipe systems,
water heaters, faucets, and other household appliances, and
increased use of bottled water and water softeners in the
residential sectors;
--Increased costs of cooling operations and the cost of water
softening, and a decrease in equipment service life in the
commercial sector;
--Increases in the use of water and cost of water treatment, and an
increase in sewer fees in the industrial sector;
--Decreased life of treatment facilities and pipelines in the utility
sector;
--Increasing difficulty in meeting wastewater discharge requirements
to comply with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
permit terms and conditions; and
--Increased desalination and brine disposal costs due to accumulation
of salts in groundwater basins.

The Colorado River is, and will continue to be, a major and vital
water resource to the nearly 20 million residents of southern
California, including municipal, industrial, and agricultural water
users in Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San
Diego, and Ventura Counties. The protection and improvement of Colorado
River water quality through the continued implementation of this very
effective salinity control program avoids, or reduces, additional
environmental and economic damages to California, the other Colorado
River Basin states, and Mexico that rely on Colorado River water
resources.
Thank you for your consideration of this testimony.

[This statement was submitted by Christopher S. Harris, Executive
Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
Chairman Merkley and members of the subcommittee, the Columbia
River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) is pleased to share its
view on the Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) FY
2022 budget. We have specifically identified the following funding
needs within the Rights Protection Implementation account:

1. $5.913 million for Columbia River Fisheries Management (CRFM) to
meet the base program funding needs of the Commission and fisheries
programs of our member tribes;
2. $6.279 million for U.S./Canada Pacific Salmon treaty to
implement obligations under the recent agreements adopted by the U.S.
and Canada;
3. $1.7 million for the Columbia River In-Lieu and Treaty Fishing
Access Sites to sustain annual Operations and Maintenance (O&M) at the
31 In-lieu and Treaty Fishing Access Sites and prevent a complete lapse
in services anticipated in 2023;
4. $1.5 million annually to maintain the increased funding for
Public Safety, Criminal Investigations, and Police Services that was
provided in FY 2020 and 2021 for law enforcement at the In-Lieu and
Treaty Fishing Access Sites;
5. $11 million for the Columbia River In-Lieu and Treaty Fishing
Access Sites to support implementation of P.L. 116-99;
6. $9.0 million for Tribal Climate Resilience for treaty-based
climate change adaptation and planning, a combined figure for US v OR
and U.S. v. WA case areas; and
7. $5.0 million for the Tribal Youth Initiative Program to build a
tribal workforce pool of respected and skilled Native American
scientists, policy analysts, technicians, and managers that serve the
tribes' fisheries and natural resource management program needs.

History and Background.--CRITFC was founded in 1977 by the four
Columbia River treaty tribes: Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation
of Oregon, Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, and the
Nez Perce Tribe. CRITFC provides coordination and technical assistance
to these tribes in regional, national, and international efforts to
protect and restore our shared salmon resource and the habitat upon
which it depends. Our collective ancestral homeland covers nearly one-
third of the entire Columbia River basin in the United States, an area
the size of the State of Georgia.
In 1855, the U.S. entered treaties with the four tribes \1\
whereupon we ceded millions of acres of our homelands. In return, the
U.S. pledged to honor our ancestral rights, including the right to fish
in all Usual and Accustomed locations. Unfortunately, a perilous
history has brought the salmon resource to the edge of extinction with
12 salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia Basin listed under
the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The CRITFC tribes are now globally recognized leaders in fisheries
restoration and management. We are principals in the region's efforts
to halt the decline of salmon, Pacific lamprey, and sturgeon
populations and rebuild them to levels that support ceremonial,
subsistence, and commercial harvests. Columbia River fish stocks form
the core of high-value fisheries from the interior West to Southeast
Alaska valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. To restore these
fish populations, our actions emphasize `gravel-to-gravel' management
including supplementation of natural stocks, restoration of healthy
watersheds, and a commitment to collaboration with state, federal, and
private entities.
1. Columbia River Fisheries Management within Rights Protection
Implementation.--The tribes are leaders in one of the nation's largest
fishery restoration efforts as a result of the negative impacts of the
Federal Columbia River Power System. Management is increasing in
complexity requiring greater data collection, collaboration, and
enforcement. Funding shortfalls are prohibiting the achievement of
tribal self-determination goals for fisheries management, ESA recovery
efforts, protecting non-listed species, conservation enforcement, and
harvest monitoring. The BIA's Columbia River Fisheries Management
budget supports the core fishery program efforts of CRITFC and our
member tribes and covers the bulk of current anadromous fish habitat in
the Columbia Basin. We request an increase of $144,000 over current
levels for a new program base of $5.913 million to account for
inflationary pressures.
CRITFC and our member tribes are principal implementers of actions
laid out in three landmark agreements: 1) the Columbia Basin Fish
Accords with federal action agencies overseeing the federal hydro
system in the Columbia Basin,\2\ 2) continuing engagement in a 10-Year
Fisheries Management Plan with federal, tribal, and state parties under
U.S. v Oregon, and 3) a new Chinook Chapter of the Pacific Salmon
Treaty. These agreements establish regional and international
commitments to harvest and fish production efforts, commitments to
critical investments in habitat restoration, and resolving contentious
issues by seeking balance of the many demands within the Columbia River
basin. While the tribes have committed to substantial on-the-ground
projects through these agreements with additional resources from the
Bonneville Power Administration, the overall management
responsibilities of the tribal programs have grown exponentially
without commensurate increases in BIA base funding capacity. For
example, Congress recently enacted the Endangered Salmon Predation
Control Act, P.L. 115-329, which recognizes that CRITFC and its member
tribes assist the region in management of sea lion predation in the
Columbia River. The tribes are also addressing unmet mitigation
obligations such as fish losses associated with the John Day and The
Dalles dams and increasing avian and piscivorous fish predation. Rights
Protection Implementation funding takes on even greater importance as
funding for state co-management agencies has become inconsistent or
decreased.
2. U.S./Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty within Right Protection
Implementation.--In response to Yakama Nation v Baldridge the U.S. and
Canada forged the Pacific Salmon Treaty in 1985 to conserve and rebuild
salmon stocks, provide for optimum production, and control salmon
interceptions. The treaty established the Pacific Salmon Commission
(PSC) as a forum to collaborate on intermingled salmon stocks. The U.S.
Section of the PSC annually develops a coordinated budget for tribal,
state, and federal programs to ensure cost and program efficiencies.
The 2008 agreement, which expired at the end of 2018, represented a
step forward in ensuring the conservation and rebuilding of the shared
salmon resource. The Parties recently completed revisions to the 2008
agreement. The revised agreement calls for the implementation of
additional data requirements.
For tribal participants in the Pacific Salmon Treaty, the U.S.
Section has identified a continuing program need of $6.279 million for
the 25 participating tribes to implement the revised agreement. These
funds provide for direct tribal participation with the Commission,
panels, and technical committees. This funding maintains tribal
resource assessment and research programs structured to fulfill
required Treaty implementation activities, which protect trust
resources and ensures that our tribal fishers receive an equitable
portion of the harvestable fish numbers. Our FY 2022 recommended level
for this program is consistent with the FY 2021 level and correlates to
the U.S. Section's recommendation.
3. Columbia River Treaty Fishing Sites Operation and Maintenance, a
NEW PROGRAM within Rights Protection Implementation.--Short-term
reliability of O&M funding for the 31 federally owned In-lieu and
Treaty Fishing Access Sites is in jeopardy. A federal commitment to
provide O&M funding was established under a 1995 MOU between the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers and BIA. This fund was assigned to CRITFC in
2003 under a Self-Determination Act (P.L. 93-638) agreement. It will be
exhausted during Fiscal Year 2023, short of its projected life due to
delayed initial capitalization by BIA necessary for interest earnings,
erosion of the principle during this period, and unanticipated low
federal interest rates compared to the rates assumed in the MOU. Since
the federal government has not recapitalized this fund, operations and
maintenance services for the sites are anticipated to lapse in 2023.
CRITFC is required to inform the BIA if we anticipate insufficient
funds for performance of O&M requirements. We request $1.7 million in
reoccurring inflation-adjusted annual appropriations to meet the
ongoing O&M at the sites as anticipated in federal law.
4. Public Safety, Criminal Investigations and Police Services
within Rights Protection Implementation.--Public safety continues to be
a high priority for CRITFC and our member tribes. Our conservation and
criminal enforcement officers are the cornerstone of public safety in
the popular and heavily used Columbia River Gorge area patrolling 150
miles of the Columbia River, including its shorelines in Oregon and
Washington. In this area we are the primary provider of enforcement
services at 31 fishing access sites developed pursuant to P.L. 87-14
and P.L. 100-581 for use by treaty fisheries. CRITFC's officers possess
BIA Special Law Enforcement Commissions to enhance protection and
service to tribal members and federal trust properties along the
Columbia River. CRITFC entered a P.L. 93-638 contract with BIA in
February 2011 for enforcement services along the Columbia River. That
contract currently provides funding for two enforcement positions.
Additional appropriations were provided in FY2020 ($500K) and FY2021
($1.5M) that are currently being implemented to enhance public safety
and law enforcement services. Our immediate priority is to assure that
the appropriations of FY2020 and FY2021 are reoccurring for the long
term. The operational priority is to add four patrol officers, one
sergeant, one investigator, one lieutenant, and three dispatchers.
5. Implementation of P.L. 116-99 (Columbia River In-Lieu and Treaty
Fishing Access Sites Improvement Act) within Rights Protection
Implementation.--P.L. 116-99 recognized the deteriorating condition of
the sites due to age and significant use. Under the act, Congress
authorized $11 million, and we are requesting that amount in FY 2022,
to fulfil the intent of the act including immediate improvements to
begin restoration of the facilities at the 31 sites to safe and
sanitary conditions which are protective of human health and safety.
6. Tribal Climate Resilience within Rights Protection
Implementation.--The Columbia River treaty tribes are a place-based
people. We have lived thousands of years on the same geographic
landscape. We walk in the footsteps of our ancestors. Unlike our
immigrant neighbors we cannot simply move on to find other locales that
might fit our needs. Our place is on the specific landscape of the
Columbia River.
Climate-related stress was evident in 2020 in the form of historic
forest fires and in 2015 with the loss of up to 400,000adult sockeye
salmon due to elevated water temperatures. There needs to be continued
funding to help the tribes collaborate with public, private, and non-
profit sectors to develop and implement adaptation strategies to
protect species at risk.
7. Tribal Youth Initiative Program within Rights Protection
Implementation.--CRITFC strives to build a tribal workforce pool of
respected and skilled Native American scientists, policy analysts,
technicians and managers that serve the tribes' fisheries and natural
resource management program needs. CRITFC's Workforce Development
Program helps prepare tribal members of all ages for jobs and careers
in natural resources management by providing hands-on, culturally
relevant experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
(STEM). Since 2010, CRITFC has held a yearly week-long Salmon Camp for
middle school students in collaboration with our member tribes using
limited funding resources. From 2014-2018, CRITFC was able to offer
paid internships and research experiences for college students
interested in fisheries and natural resources, but due to a lack of
funding those opportunities are not currently available. In 2020,
CRITFC acquired the Center for Coastal Margin Observation and
Prediction (CMOP), a renowned ocean and estuary research institution
dedicated to further understand the linkage between the Columbia River
and the Pacific Ocean which we hope will provide tribal workforce
opportunities in the marine environments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Treaty with the Yakama Nation, June 9, 1855, 12 Stat. 951;
Treaty with the Tribes of Middle Oregon, June 25, 1855, 12 Stat. 963;
Treaty with the Umatilla Tribe, June 9, 1855, 12 Stat. 945; Treaty with
the Nez Perce Tribe, June 11, 1855, 12 Stat. 957
\2\ The Nez Perce Tribe is not a Columbia Basin Fish Accord
signatory

[This statement was submitted by Jeremy Takala, Chair.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership
On behalf of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership (COL), which
represents our nation's leading ocean science, research, and technology
organizations from academia, industry, and the larger nonprofit sector,
I appreciate the opportunity to submit for the record a few of COL's
fiscal year (FY) 2022 funding priorities for the Department of the
Interior and the Smithsonian Institution appropriations.
In the last few years, there has been bipartisan interest from
Congress, federal agencies, the administration, private partners,
philanthropists, academia, and more in growing our nation's efforts
related to ocean mapping, exploration, and characterization. These
efforts include increased funding for NOAA Ocean Exploration and
Research (OER); legislation reauthorizing the National Oceanographic
Partnership Program; presidential memorandums establishing ocean
mapping, exploration, and characterization as a national priority; and
the creation of a National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and
Characterization (NOMEC) Council to coordinate federal policy and
actions and to support collaboration with non-federal and non-
governmental partners related to mapping, exploring, and characterizing
our ocean.
With this increased interest and activity around ocean exploration
will come increased data and sample collection through NOAA OER and the
NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, the Ocean Exploration Cooperative
Institute, and other academic, private, and philanthropic partners,
particularly as ship operations pick up following cancellations and
delays due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols. As an advocate for
increased funding for NOAA mapping and exploration activities, COL
would also like to ensure sustained and adequate funding to support
academic, private, and philanthropic partners; enhanced support for
interagency partnership efforts; and augmented support for the
management of the collected data and geological and biological samples.
Given the important role the Department of the Interior plays in
mapping, exploring, and characterizing waters within the United States
Exclusive Economic Zone (U.S. EEZ), I support the President's requested
increases of $37.0 million for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
(BOEM) and $29 million for the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
Natural Hazards programs. The proposed $227.8 million BOEM budget
includes $45.8 million for renewable energy, $15.0 million for marine
minerals, and $86.8 million for environmental programs. The proposed
$207.7 million USGS Natural Hazards budget includes important increases
for subduction zone science within the Earthquake Hazards Program
(+$2.0 million) and enhanced research, observations, and forecasting
within the Coastal/Marine Hazards and Resources Program (+$10 million).
Together, these activities are essential to advancing ocean
understanding, promoting the blue economy, and using sound science to
support balanced ocean use.
I respectfully request an additional $1 million to BOEM's Marine
Minerals program, $2 million to BOEM's Environmental Studies Program,
and $2 million to USGS's Coastal/Marine Hazards and Resources Program
to support continued efforts to map, explore, and characterize the
critical mineral and offshore renewable energy potential of California
and Oregon, the Aleutian Island Arc, and the central and Western
Pacific Ocean in partnership with other agencies, academia, and the
private sector. Given increasing demand for critical minerals,
including those needed to support the Administration's renewable energy
goals, and continuing concerns regarding critical mineral supply
chains, there remains an urgent need to catalogue the strategic
reserves of ocean-based critical minerals within the U.S. EEZ, support
continued development of BOEM's National Offshore Critical Mineral
Inventory, advance interagency NOMEC efforts, and ensure the best
available data and scientific analyses are available to support
sustainable offshore energy development.
I also support the president's requested increase of $1.3 million
for the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). The
proposed $53.4 million includes $567,000 for collections support, and I
respectfully request an additional $1 million to NMNH collections to
support the museum's work as the biological sample repository for the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s ocean
exploration efforts. Currently, biological specimens collected during
expeditions of NOAA's Okeanos Explorer, the only federal vessel
dedicated to exploring the ocean, are catalogued, curated, archived,
and made publicly accessible by the NMNH. This $1 million would support
sustained curatorial staff to curate and analyze biological samples,
make them available to the scientific community, and allow for the
timely analysis to document the many new species discovered each year,
which will help improve our understanding of marine life and ocean
biodiversity and inform important ocean stewardship and management
decisions.
I also respectfully request $2 million to ensure adequate support
for the Smithsonian's leadership of the Marine Life 2030 program, which
was endorsed by the Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC). Marine Life 2030, which is
led by the Smithsonian Institution and includes more than 30 NGO and
nearly 40 academic partners around the world, seeks to establish a
globally coordinated system over the next decade to deliver information
on ocean life, which will promote human well-being, sustainable
development, and ocean conservation. A better understanding of marine
biodiversity through increased biological observations will help in
decision-making on issues ranging from fisheries management to climate
change. These resources will allow for increased staffing needed within
NMNH to lead Marine Life 2030 efforts both domestically and
internationally, in partnership with academic, private, philanthropic,
not-for-profit, and other non-governmental organizations.
I appreciate the subcommittee's consideration of these requests. I
look forward to engaging more on these and other topics related to
using science to support sound and sustainable use of ocean resources,
which is increasingly important as ocean use continues to grow. Finding
ways to sustain and grow interagency and cross-sectoral work on
overlapping ocean issues (e.g., offshore renewable wind and ocean
mapping, exploration, and characterization activities) will be critical
to effective management that ensures sustainable use for decades to
come.
consortium for ocean leadership members
Alaska Ocean Observing System
Alaska SeaLife Center
Aquarium of the Pacific
Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS)
ASV Global, LLC
Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
Chevron USA
College of William & Mary (VIMS)
Columbia University (LDEO)
Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA)
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)
Dauphin Island Sea Lab
Duke University
Earth2Ocean
East Carolina University
Esri
Estuary & Ocean Science Center, San Francisco State University
Exocetus Autonomous Systems
FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
Florida Institute of Oceanography
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Harte Research Institute
Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute
IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
IOOS Association
JASCO Applied Sciences
L-3 MariPro, Inc.
Liquid Robotics, Inc.
Louisiana State University
MARACOOS
Marine Technology Society (MTS)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
Mystic Aquarium
National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA)
NERACOOS
New England Aquarium
North Carolina State University
North Pacific Research Board
Nova Southeastern University
Ocean Aero, Inc.
Old Dominion University
Oregon State University
Pennsylvania State University
Rutgers University
Saildrone
Savannah State University
Schmidt Ocean Institute
Sea-Bird Scientific
Severn Marine Technologies, LLC
Shell Exploration and Production Company
Skidaway Institute of Oceanography of the University of Georgia
Sonardyne, Inc.
South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium
Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA)
Stanford University
Stony Brook University
Texas A&M University
ThayerMahan
U.S. Arctic Research Commission
U.S. Naval Postgraduate School
University of Alaska Fairbanks
University of California, Davis
University of California, San Diego (Scripps)
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Delaware
University of Florida
University of Hawaii
University of Maine
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
University of Miami
University of New Hampshire
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina, Wilmington
University of Rhode Island
University of South Carolina
University of South Florida
University of Southern California
University of Southern Mississippi
University of Texas at Austin
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences
Vulcan, Inc.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

[This statement was submitted by Dr. Alan P Leonardi, President and
CEO.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Cooperative Alliance For Refuge Enhancement
Chairwoman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee:

The National Wildlife Refuge System stands alone as the only
federal land and water conservation system with a mission that
prioritizes wildlife and habitat conservation alongside wildlife-
dependent recreation. Since 1995, the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge
Enhancement (CARE) has worked to showcase the value of the Refuge
System and to secure a strong congressional commitment for conserving
these special landscapes.
All of the CARE members listed below have endorsed this testimony
and our request to your subcommittee. We represent millions of users of
the National Wildlife Refuge System-wildlife watchers, hunters,
anglers, wildlife professionals and conservationists, and Friends
members. We are watching the Refuge System degrade as year after year,
funding for operations and maintenance erodes, positions are lost, and
habitat is under-managed or, in some cases, abandoned. The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service has been decimated. We need the committee to
include robust funding that will get the System back to land and
wildlife protection.
We ask that the Committee provide a funding level of $600 million
for the Operations and Maintenance accounts of the National Wildlife
Refuge System for FY 2022.

American Birding Association
American Fisheries Society
American Sportfishing Association
Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies
Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation Defenders of Wildlife Ducks
Unlimited, Inc.
Izaak Walton League of America
Marine Conservation Institute
National Audubon Society National Rifle Association
National Wildlife Federation
National Wildlife Refuge Association
Safari Club International
The Corps Network
The Nature Conservancy
The Wilderness Society
The Wildlife Society
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
Trout Unlimited
U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance
Wildlife Forever
Wildlife Management Institute
inadequate funding-challenges to the refuge system
Found in every U.S. state and four territories, national wildlife
refuges conserve a diversity of America's environmentally sensitive and
recreationally vital ecosystems, including wetlands, coasts, forests,
prairie, tundra, deserts, and oceans, and provide Americans with an
opportunity to encounter and engage with these areas. With its primary
focus on wildlife conservation, refuges provide habitat for an
abundance of species, but they also provide a place for people to go to
recreate.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has been decimated by a decade of
slow erosion of funding. In the late 2000's, CARE worked closely with
the Bush and Obama Administrations and Congress to increase funding for
Refuge System O&M by $132 million over three years (FY07-10). At its
peak funding of $503 million in FY2010, staffing levels were over 3,240
across the Refuge System O&M. Over 800 refuge positions have been lost
since that time, a 25% loss in staff. Across the entire NWRS, 1,050
positions have been lost in that time. Wage grade staff number only
500, down from 1,000 in the late 1990's.
Funding remains today (FY2021) at $503 million. With inflation,
level funding in FY2021 (with FY2010 as the base year) would be $603
million. That loss of $100 million in capacity has translated into
those staffing cuts of over 1,000 FTEs, with a dramatic loss of habitat
maintenance and refuge programs. A minimum of $8-10 million is needed
each year to keep pace with inflation and fixed costs.
These losses simply cannot continue. If we want a Refuge System and
the associated wildlife populations the System supports to be around to
pass along to our children, Congress must appropriate at least $600
million in FY2022. Here are a few grim statistics:

--No refuges are fully staffed, while even large, priority refuges
have seen 50%+ loss in staffing levels.
--Over half of refuges are unstaffed, with occasional checks by staff
from neighboring refuge units.
--For staffed refuges, budget cuts have meant a loss of all extra
capacity--refuges with three biologists now have one;
maintenance work is done by regional strike teams, not
dedicated staff; entire states share 1-2 law enforcement
officers; if an environmental education program exists, it is
more than likely run by volunteers.
--Many refuges lost all but one staff, leading managers to pull all
staff due to safety concerns.
--Over 53 million visitors came to refuges last year, but that number
has skyrocketed due to COVID shutdowns. Some funding from the
CARES Act, for example, will cover some costs of bathroom
openings and visitor center ventilation, but the staffing needs
to maintain lands with constant visitors has not been
addressed.

CARE's primary concern is what this means for wildlife populations.
A striking example of long term declines in bird populations is
occurring along the Atlantic flyway. Shorebird populations have
declined 40% over the last 40 years, the primary cause of which is
human disturbances. There are numerous refuge units along the east
coast, which should be a haven and resting spot for migratory birds.
However, chronic funding shortages have meant that there are virtually
no staff on the beaches anymore, and there is no one present to stop
beachgoers from letting their dogs run into groups of feeding birds or
disrupting nests. When these birds are disturbed numerous times a day,
they lose nutrients and their ability to reproduce. Law enforcement
staff in Region 5 (Northeast Region) alone has dropped in half-there
are now 21 LE officers in 13 states with one-quarter of the American
population.
In previous years, CARE has focused on critical areas of funding
that are particularly low. This year, however, we are at a crisis
point. Every aspect of the Refuge System is strained to the point of
breaking.

--Law enforcement needs a minimum of $35 million additional dollars
to even get to a point where there are enough federal wildlife
officers to make a difference.
--Invasive species strike forces cannot keep up with the demand, and
numerous refuges are overrun with phragmites and mice, kudzu
and quagga mussels, purple loosestrife and feral hogs. 2.4
million Refuge System acres are infested with invasive plants,
and current funding and capacity only allows treatment of 10%
of those acres. Similarly, the Refuge System has 1,749 invasive
animal populations and currently controls 5.3% of those.
--Many visitor services and environmental education programs have
been turned over to volunteers. And as wonderful as they are,
volunteers and Friends members are now the face of many
visitor's centers (when they're actually open, due to COVID
restrictions) because there are not enough staff to operate
them.
--Refuges are down to one specialist (if they're lucky, they still
have one) for each refuge complex. For example, cuts have been
made strategically so that there is at least one biologist per
refuge complex. But if that biologist is on leave or leaves the
complex for a different position, there is no one to continue
the work. And it is the same scenario with law enforcement and
maintenance workers and every other position in the System.
--Salary increases are eating into any appropriations increases. In
Alaska, for example, a 0.5% salary increase last year
translated into a loss of 3 FTEs. System-wide, the modest
funding increase provided in FY2021 did not even cover the cost
of the scheduled 1% federal wage increase.
--As the Refuge System has opened additional acres for hunting, there
is not an equivalent increase in funding-habitat maintenance,
parking lots, bathrooms, youth hunt programs, hunt programs for
disabled citizens, etc, are all severely impacted.

This dire funding situation can be seen across the other seven
regions. Without significant increases in funding, there is simply no
room left to trim positions and still maintain at least a portion of
those services--they will simply disappear, and school programs or
ongoing maintenance will end. And refuges will continue to close.
national wildlife refuge system: background
The National Wildlife Refuge System, established by President
Theodore Roosevelt in 1903, protects approximately 850 million land and
marine acres on 568 national wildlife refuges and 38 wetland management
districts in every state and territory in the U.S., and 5 marine
monuments in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. These acres are part of
the Refuge System and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service managed (with some
marine acres co-managed with NOAA). From the Virgin Islands to Guam to
Alaska to Maine, the Refuge System spans 12 time zones and protects
America's natural heritage in habitats ranging from arctic tundra to
arid desert, boreal forest to sagebrush grassland, and prairie wetlands
to coral reefs.
CARE welcomes recreational use of our nation's refuges. The ``Big
6'' uses of the Refuge System--hunting, fishing, wildlife watching,
photography, environmental education, and interpretation--were
enshrined into law in the 1997 National Wildlife Refuge System
Improvement Act. Refuges provide major environmental and health
benefits, such as filtering storm water before it is carried downstream
and fills municipal aquifers; reducing flooding by capturing excess
rainwater; and minimizing the damage to coastal communities from storm
surges.
care requests $600 million in fy2022
There is no alternative to allocating this amount of funding to
Refuge System Operations and Maintenance in FY2022. Anything less means
refuges will slip further into neglect, and with shifting ecosystems
from climate change and human impacts, refuges need protection now.
Financially, it will be easier and far cheaper to properly maintain
refuges now rather than restore all 100 million land acres in the
future.
If annual operations and maintenance funding does not rise
substantially, CARE anticipates further impacts both within and outside
of refuge boundaries, including further closures of visitor centers,
elimination of environmental education programs that currently work
closely with local schools, reduced quality of habitat for hunting,
reduced treatment of invasive plants that reduce habitat quality for
wildlife (both game and non-game) and place nearby private lands at
higher risk of infestations, and decreased use of prescribed fire,
which is used on refuges both to improve habitat for wildlife and to
reduce hazardous fuels that pose a wildfire risk to nearby communities.
The common denominator to all these challenges is a lack of
funding. Adequate staffing and funding are critical to the maintenance
of healthy wildlife populations and access for recreational users to a
healthy ecosystem. Increasing funding for the System will empower and
enable individual refuge units to deliver on-the-ground conservation
that benefits not only wildlife and recreation, but also local
communities across the nation.
We urge Congress to fund the Refuge System at $600 million in
FY2022--to bridge the growing gap between what the System needs and
what it receives--enabling refuges to continue moving America forward
as the world's leader in wildlife conservation and restoration.
On behalf of our more than 16 million members and supporters, CARE
thanks the Subcommittee for the opportunity to submit comments on the
FY2022 House Interior Appropriations bill, and we look forward to
meeting with you to discuss our request.
______

Prepared Statement of the Council on Environmental Quality
Thank you for the opportunity to provide written testimony to the
Subcommittee. I write to focus on Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations for
the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). By way of background, I
served as CEQ's General Counsel for 25 years, beginning with the
administration of President Reagan and ending with the administration
of President George W. Bush.
CEQ has enormous potential to significantly improve the efficiency
and effectiveness of the environmental review process mandated by the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). CEQ's focus has traditionally
focused on excellence in analysis and on interagency, inter-
governmental and public involvement in implementing NEPA while at the
same time discouraging excess documentation of peripheral issues,
duplication of processes, and delay. However, in its attempts to make
the process more efficient, CEQ has encountered two related obstacles:
inadequate resources to oversee NEPA within CEQ and inadequate
resources within the implementing agencies to implement NEPA.
Let me offer some perspective. In the later half of the 1970's, CEQ
staff numbers ranged from fifty to seventy full time employees. There
were teams of people handling discrete sets of issues, including a
robust team overseeing NEPA implementation in the eighty some agencies
that implement the law. However, CEQ's current staffing level is at 17
FTEs. The administration's request is to raise that number to 22 FTEs.
In light of the nation's bi-partisan interest in improving
infrastructure, as well as the enormous challenges of climate change
and regular ongoing business, that is simply inadequate.
The challenge in terms of CEQ oversight is not just issuing
regulations and guidance, as critical as those tools are. Indeed, while
I was at CEQ, the regulations in place had, as a major purpose, the
reduction of delay and paperwork. When those provisions were followed,
the process worked quite well. But as agency budgets and staff declined
(along with CEQ's) for NEPA implementation, two problems emerged: 1)
agency staff who were frankly not well trained in how to implement the
regulations, and 2) a dramatic rise in the use of contractors to
prepare NEPA documents.
While contractors may do excellent work, in my experience, the use
of contractors inevitably slows down the overall review process, often
quite significantly. The agencies must first, of course, expend a fair
amount of time and work on the procurement process and then establish
communication protocols with the contractors. Agency personnel
generally have a fair better sense of their goals then the contractors,
who need to check back early and often in ways that often take more
time than internal agency communications. Because the implementing
agencies themselves often lack adequate staff, contractors not
infrequently are waiting on agencies to move to the next step.
The environmental impact statements that I have seen go from start
to completion within a year or eighteen months--and yes, it happens--
were those that were done by an agency in-house team that was well
trained in NEPA implementation and that had good leadership, management
support and, appropriate, CEQ guidance. Leadership, good management and
adequate resources were the key. These are not just my personal
observations, based on 25 years of experience. The Department of Energy
initiated a process in 1994 that lasted through 2017 to measure their
NEPA performance, including issues of time and delay, using specific
program metrics. Their analysis routinely came to the same
conclusions.\1\
Implementation issues are not what people usually consider when
thinking of delay in the environmental review process. Instead, they
often assume there is something inherent in the law or regulations that
causes the problem. In my twenty-five years of experience at CEQ, I
often found that people came in with good ideas for a ``fix'' that were
already in the regulations. Indeed, I once had a group of County
Commissioners come to me with fourteen suggestions for amending CEQ's
NEPA regulations to expedite the process. When I went through each
suggestion with them, we determined that each of their recommendations
was already incorporated into the CEQ regulations. Yet those provisions
were clearly not being implemented well. In all honesty, I did as much
as I possibly could, usually working six to seven days a week, but in
most of my time at CEQ, I was either the sole person overseeing NEPA or
had one other person plus an intern helping to do the work. That is
flat out inadequate.
CEQ's oversight of NEPA and the integration of other environmental
review requirements into the NEPA process has the potential for being
an enormous help in implementing whatever new infrastructure and
transportation legislation this Congress enacts. But it cannot fully
meet its potential with resources requested in the administration's
budget.
I urge the Subcommittee to add, at a minimum, $1,500,00.00 dollars
to CEQ's appropriations and to designate those additional funds
specifically to add capacity for oversight of NEPA implementation. I
also recommend that the Subcommittee direct CEQ to use a portion of
those funds to survey the capacity of the agencies to implement NEPA in
an effective and efficient manner and to report back to the
Subcommittee about its findings prior to the next appropriations cycle.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony.
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\1\ See, Shorter EIS Completion Times: A Closer Look, NEPA Lessons
Learned, September, 2017, available here: https://www.energy.gov/nepa/
downloads/lessons-learned-quarterly-report-september-2017

[This statement was submitted by Dinah Bear.]
______

Prepared Statement of David Jonas Bardin
Supporting Full Funding of Administration FY 2022 Request for USGS
Geomagnetism Program to Protect Critical Infrastructure Against Solar
Storms Magnetotelluric (MT) Survey, Existing Observatories, Adding
Observatories
The Honorable Jeff Merkley, Subcommittee Chair
The Honorable Lisa Murkowski, Subcommittee Ranking Member
The Honorable Patrick Leahy, Chairman, Full Committee on
Appropriations, U.S. Senate
The Honorable Richard Shelby, Vice Chairman, Full Committee on
Appropriations, U.S. Senate

Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Joyce, Chairman Leahy. Vice Chairman
Shelby, and Members:

This OWT fully supports the Request: a FY 2022 appropriation of
$5,673,000 and 14 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions for the USGS
Geomagnetism Program, to continue the magnetotelluric (MT) survey, to
operate ground-level geomagnetic observatories, and to begin adding
observatories (for which Administration requests $1.5 million and 2
FTEs).\1\

--The Request aims to ``protect critical national infrastructure from
geomagnetic events.''
--Careful bi-partisan and bi-cameral attention, at the Subcommittee
and Full Committee levels, during several budget cycles lay the
foundations for favorable action on the FY 2022 Request.

FY22 Justifications for this Program \1\ are well explained and
compelling and rightly stress the value and aims of completing the MT
survey and expanding the geomagnetic observatories:

magnetotelluric (mt) survey
The USGS Geomagnetism Program is completing a magnetotelluric (MT)
survey across the southern third of the lower 48 States [``CONUS''
\2\], carrying out requirements established by the National Space
Weather Strategy and Action Plan and Executive Order 13865 for
Coordinating National Resilience to Electromagnetic Pulses. The survey
will provide a public service by conducting electromagnetic pulse
vulnerability assessments, which will be used to protect critical
national infrastructure from geomagnetic events. The survey is being
executed through a cooperative agreement with Oregon State University,
which began in April 2020, and is now in its second year, with an
estimated completion date of 2024. Sustained efforts on the MT survey
have been provided for in annual congressional appropriations, with
$1.7 million provided for the effort in FY 2021. [Emphases added.]
The Geomagnetism Program will continue the magnetotelluric (MT)
survey of the United States to improve U.S. electrical grid resilience,
improve forecast models for geomagnetic storms, and aid in mineral
resource assessments. Collection of MT data on a national scale is a
basis for modeling the Earth's electric field, used to assess the
impact of electrical storms. This survey is responsive to priorities
established in the National Space Weather Strategy, as well as related
international initiatives for pursuing induction hazard research. This
broad collaboration includes scientists from NASA, NOAA, the Institute
for Defense Analyses, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the NSF.
The Geomagnetism Program provides data and information on short-
term and long-term variations in the strength and direction of the
Earth's magnetic field, including the intensity of magnetic storms,
through operation of a network of geomagnetic observatories and
supporting research, and analyzes related geomagnetic hazards that
threaten the economy and national security. Magnetic storms are caused
by the dynamic interaction of the Earth's magnetic field with the Sun.
While magnetic storms often produce beautiful aurora lights that can be
seen at high latitude, they can also wreak havoc on the infrastructure
and activities of our modern, technologically based society. Large
storms can induce voltage surges in electric-power grids, causing
blackouts and the loss of radio communication, reduce GPS accuracy,
damage satellite electronics, and affect satellite operations, enhance
radiation levels for astronauts and high-altitude pilots, and interfere
with directional drilling for oil and gas. [Emphases added.]
The Geomagnetism Program is part of the U.S. National Space Weather
Program (NSWP), an interagency collaboration that includes programs in
NASA, DOD, NOAA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and DOE. The
Geomagnetism Program provides data to the NSWP agencies, oil drilling
services companies, geophysical surveying companies, and several
international agencies, including INTERMAGNET, an organization with a
worldwide membership drawn from institutes operating geomagnetic
observatories who coordinate geomagnetic monitoring around the world.
Data, products, and services from the USGS are also used by the
electric-power industry to evaluate geomagnetic storm risk. [Emphasis
added.]
Domestically, the USGS continues to operate 14 geomagnetic
observatories (six within CONUS), delivering data and working
cooperatively with the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), the
U.S. Air Force 557th Weather Wing, and numerous other customers and
Federal agencies. For example, USGS observatory data are used by NOAA's
SWPC, and by the U.S. Air Force, for issuing geomagnetic warnings and
forecasts. USGS geomagnetism research is conducted in collaboration
with the Colorado School of Mines, the USGS Crustal Geophysics and
Geochemistry Science Center, the NOAA SWPC, and the NASA Community
Coordinated Modeling Center. [Emphasis added.]
Expansion of Magnetometer Observatories (+$1,500,000/+2 FTE)--The
USGS would enhance monitoring and evaluation of space--weather hazards
via a significant expansion of operational ground-based magnetometer
stations. In coordination with the NOAA Space Weather Prediction
Center, this expansion would enable delivery of accurate geoelectric
hazard maps by reducing uncertainties that are primarily associated
with the limited number of current observatories. This expansion is
necessary for national electric grid resilience and is responsive to
the interagency Space Weather Action Plan, which calls for an enhanced
geomagnetic monitoring network that will deliver data to operational
centers in real time. The Space Weather Action Plan is being executed
by the Space Weather Operations, Research, and Mitigation Interagency
Working Group, involving Interior, Department of Energy (DOE),
Department of Commerce, Department of Defense (DOD), Department of
Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Department of State, and
Department of Transportation. Funding will begin the addition of the
first of three planned new permanent observatory sites, adding to the
six existing sites within the CONUS and will facilitate beginning the
addition of roughly a dozen new low-cost variometer stations. As the
three new observatories are completed, they will be targeted to cover
regions of high hazard and fill in the geographic footprint of the
current observatory network. [Emphases added.]
New England is a ``region of high hazard'' with a deficient
observatory ``footprint'', USGS advises me, supporting, a new
observatory somewhere in or near Maine to protect the Northeast.

--Using regional MT survey data (which are available) and geomagnetic
monitoring data from its remote Frederick, Virginia
observatory, USGS found a geohazard ``hot spot'' in Maine and
regional risks endangering the Northeast.
--Canadian observatories are also relatively remote.
--USGS will take time and effort to pick specific observatory sites
(in Maine or elsewhere) for maximum cost effectiveness.
Preferring, for example, sites which already have local utility
services and sites which will be available without up front
land acquisition costs.
--If funded, USGS would obligate FY22 funds in FY22 to procure
equipment for a New England observatory even though operations
don't begin until later. (I do hope USGS decides to monitor
electric--as well as magnetic--fields there, as does its
Boulder, CO observatory.)
--The FY 2022 Request's Observatories Expansion builds upon USGS's
February 20, 2020, presentation to the GeoMagnetic Disturbance
Task Force (see Appendix hereto).

I urge full funding of this FY 2022 Request. Please let me know if
you have any questions.
appendix
``Possible Future CONUS Geomagnetic Monitoring'', presented by USGS
on Feb. 20, 2020, under Agenda Item 4 at a face-to-face meeting of the
GeoMagnetic Disturbance Task Force [GMDTF], in Salt Lake City, UT. It
is also posted online at https://michaelmabee.info/wp-content/uploads/
2021/04/Item_4_USGS.pdf. [This statement was submitted by David Jonas
Bardin.]

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\1\ Pages 75, 76, 77 of USGS FY 2022 Budget Justifications [
https://www.usgs.gov/media/files/fy2022-usgs-budget-justification-
greenbook and https://prd-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/
palladium/production/atoms/files/
FY2022%20USGS%20Budget%20Justification%20%28Greenbook%29.pdf ] (June 3,
2021)
\2\ CONUS = ``contiguous United States'' or ``conterminous United
States'' (or ``lower 48'').
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______

Prepared Statement of the Defenders of Wildlife
Mister Chairman, Ranking Member and Members of the Subcommittee,
thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony. I am Mary Beth
Beetham, Director of Legislative Affairs at Defenders of Wildlife.
Founded in 1947, Defenders has nearly 2.2 million members and
supporters and is dedicated to the conservation of wild animals and
plants in their natural communities.
Biodiversity is in crisis on a global scale. Numerous scientific
studies in the last several years have raised the alarm about this
crisis. A landmark 2019 study \1\ compiled by hundreds of the world's
leading scientists found that about 1 million species are facing
extinction. A subsequent report \2\ by the United Nations Convention on
Biological Diversity warned that humanity is at a crossroads and the
biodiversity crisis is intensifying. The health of wildlife and
ecosystems is directly related to human health and well-being--
exploitation of wildlife and habitat fragmentation create circumstances
that can cause spillover of animal diseases to humans. Moreover, the
World Economic Forum found that the biodiversity crisis is one of the
top three threats to the global economy in its 2020 report.\3\
The biodiversity crisis cannot be addressed without funding--more
than 1,900 scientists signed a letter \4\ published in the journal
Science which asked Congress to fully fund conservation programs to
protect biodiversity, including the Endangered Species Act (ESA). But
years of severely inadequate funding and the scale of the catastrophe
facing the planet's wildlife mean significantly more funding is needed
in every area.
In addition, we are extremely disappointed that the final FY 2021
omnibus bill once again reinstated the longstanding prohibition on
protecting the sage--grouse under the ESA, which undermines the
science--based listing process critical to the law's functionality--
listing decisions should be based solely on science, not politics. New
research \5\ shows sage--grouse populations have declined 80 percent
range wide since 1965 and nearly 40 percent since 2002. Time is running
out for the sage--grouse and the Sagebrush Sea. The President's FY 2022
budget did not include the rider in its legislative proposal. We urge
the Subcommittee to exclude the rider from the final FY 2022 bill.
fish and wildlife service
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is our nation's premier
wildlife conservation agency. To address the biodiversity crisis, the
agency needs significant increases to support recovery of threatened
and endangered species; protect migratory birds and fish, species of
global conservation concern and other trust species; and prevent
domestic and international wildlife crimes.
Ecological Services--Earlier this year, a coalition of more than
170 organizations sent a letter to Congress requesting a significant
infusion of funds into the Ecological Services program to begin to
address the biodiversity crisis. Based on available data on the needs
and costs for ESA implementation by FWS across its programs, as well as
inflation adjustment, the recommendation totaled $466.5 million, or
$196.8 million more than the current level:

--Listing: Currently, FWS is scheduled to review 330 species in its
listing workplan between FY 2021-FY 2025. At current funding
levels it would take about ten years to address this backlog.
For FWS to meet this obligation a total of $63.7 million is
needed annually, an increase of $42.9 million.
--Recovery: Of the more than 1600 listed U.S. species, more than 1200
have no recovery plans or have plans that are at least a decade
old and that may no longer contain current scientific
information, especially related to climate change. Hundreds of
listed species receive less than $1,000 per year for recovery
and many receive no FWS funding at all. Congress should provide
a minimum of $50,000 per year per species for recovery. For FWS
to meet its obligations under the recovery budget, a total of
at least $240.3 million is needed annually, an increase of
$135.3 million. We very much appreciate prior report language
directing FWS to establish extinction prevention programs for
critically endangered species and we urge the Subcommittee to
press for the establishment of these programs.
--Planning and Consultation: FWS conducts ESA Section 7 consultations
on more than 10,000 federal actions each year so that projects
can move forward while minimizing harm to listed species. The
requirements of pesticide consultations in particular are
highly technical and essential to protecting species. To meet
these needs and to work with non-federal stakeholders to
develop Habitat Conservation Plans, $149 million is needed
annually, an increase of $39.7 million. In addition, we are
grateful for the direction included in the FY 2021 report for
FWS to enhance the Information for Planning and Consultation
system and develop a system for compliance monitoring. We urge
continued oversight of these efforts.
--Conservation and Restoration: At least $13.5 million per year is
needed for the Candidate Conservation element of Conservation
and Restoration to assist with early conservation action on the
current 27 candidate species.
--Wolf Livestock Loss Demonstration Program: We are disappointed that
the President's budget zeroed out this important program that
assists livestock owners co-existing with wolves, and we urge
continued funding at no less than $1 million.

National Wildlife Refuge System.--A key component in addressing the
biodiversity crisis in the U.S. is to refocus federal land management
on the conservation of biodiversity. Our National Wildlife Refuge
System is the largest network of public lands and waters in the nation
dedicated to wildlife conservation. Substantially increased funding
commensurate with the true costs of maintaining and recovering the
biological integrity, diversity, and health of the System should be
prioritized. Yet the System has lost 25 percent of its staff since FY
2010, and in FY 2021, the System was funded at just $503.9 million,
$100 million short of inflation adjusted FY 2010 funding levels.
Defenders and the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement, a
coalition of 23 hunting, fishing, conservation, and scientific
organizations, support funding at no less than $600 million for FY 2022
to allow the FWS to begin to recover from the erosion of staff and
resources over the last decade.
Migratory Bird Management.--In North America nearly 3 billion birds
have disappeared since 1970 and the only groups to not suffer severe
declines were waterbirds that have received substantial funding over
the decades.\6\ Given the harm to migratory birds under Trump-era
regulations, funding for conservation is more important than ever.
Defenders supports the FY 2022 request of $66 million, an increase of
$18.2 million over the FY 2021 level, which includes increases of $5
million to modernize the permitting process and $1 million for Urban
Treaties to help address threats to birds in underserved communities.
Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) and International Affairs (IA).--
For OLE, we are extremely grateful that the FY 2021 bill continues
appropriated funding to support inspectors at ports of entry and we
urge it be maintained. Defenders supports $115 million for FY 2022, an
increase of $28 million, to help OLE continue to address the crisis in
the illegal global wildlife trade and the threat of zoonotic disease.
For IA, Defenders supports $30 million for FY 2022, an increase of $7
million, crucial in continuing to combat illegal wildlife trade and to
build capacity in range countries.
Cooperative Landscape Conservation and Science Support.--We thank
the Subcommittee for again restoring funding for these two programs,
which the prior administration had continually proposed to zero out. We
support the President's request, for $18.8 million (an increase of $6.3
million) and $36.4 million (an increase of $19.2 million) respectively.
With these increases, FWS can continue to work to address complex
challenges posed by the dual climate and biodiversity crises.
Key grant programs.--Defenders supports: $125.6 million for the
Cooperative Endangered Species Fund, an increase of $83.6 million; $7.9
million for the Neotropical Migratory Bird Fund, an increase of $3
million; $30 million for the Multinational Species Conservation Fund,
an increase of $12 million; and $100 million for State and Tribal
Wildlife Grants, an increase of $27.6 million.
u.s forest service and bureau of land management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service
(FS) manage approximately twenty percent of the country's land base,
providing habitat for hundreds of species listed under the ESA and
thousands of sensitive species. These agencies have long been deprived
of the funding they need to adequately conserve and restore imperiled
species. Given the enormity, urgency, and complexity of the
biodiversity crisis and the importance of these lands in contributing
to solutions, Defenders urges funding increases for programs that
specifically address the biodiversity crisis and restore resilient
ecosystems as listed below. (For the FS, given the recent budget
restructuring, sufficient allocations for salaries and expenses must be
made to accompany program investments.)
BLM Threatened and Endangered (T&E) Species Management.--Current
T&E program funding levels support recovery actions for a fraction of
the 337 listed species that occur on BLM lands. Defenders supports a
total of $33.8 million, an increase of $12.3 million, to support more
recovery actions for more species. This program has been flat at $21.6
million since FY 2014. Additionally, given the impact of the recent
agency reorganization, we recommend that the Subcommittee direct BLM to
report on species recovery needs and T&E program capacity and make
clear to the agency that T&E funding is to be used specifically to
advance recovery of listed species on its lands rather than to pay for
ESA Section 7 compliance, which should generally be funded by the
benefitting programs. We are disappointed that the President's request
does not seem to designate a specific sub-category for the T&E program
and recommend reinstating the program as its own subactivity within the
Wildlife and Aquatic Habitat Management activity to improve outcome
tracking and accountability.
BLM Plant Conservation and Restoration.--This program provides
national leadership across BLM and the federal agencies to ensure
consistent and adequate supplies of America's native plant species for
restoration of native ecosystems. Historically, funding has been
cobbled together from multiple sources within the agency. We support a
total of $25 million for FY 2022, $11.2 million more than BLM's
internal FY 2021 allocation, for continuing the National Seed Strategy
and increasing botanical expertise necessary to yield successful
habitat restoration and long-term ecosystem resiliency. We recommend
establishment of the program as its own subactivity to ensure it
endures and is accountable Bureau-wide to specific outcomes and
expenditures.
BLM Resource Management Planning, Assessment and Monitoring.--
Defenders supports the President's request of $95.7 million, an
increase of $28.6 million to support urgently needed programmatic
initiatives and associated plan amendments to establish regional and
range-wide strategies for the conservation and recovery of imperiled
species' habitats. The increase will also support enhanced expertise
necessary to advance the President's Executive Order on Tackling the
Climate Crisis and needed changes to Trump administration plan
revisions that reduced essential protections for imperiled species.
FS Wildlife and Fisheries Habitat Management.--Defenders supports
the President's request of $36.7 million, an increase of $16 million.
At least $10 million of this increase should be used to reestablish a
new budget line item for the Threatened, Endangered and Sensitive (TES)
Species Program. This will enable greater transparency and
accountability regarding the agency's legal obligations to conserve the
over 480 listed, proposed, and candidate species and 3,100 sensitive
species that occur on FS lands. We also ask that the Subcommittee
direct the agency to report on its progress toward conducting recovery
plan actions and other recovery work for listed species.
FS Land Management Planning, Assessment and Monitoring.--Close to
fifty percent of all land management plans are over 15 years old.
Defenders supports a significant increase in funding from the FY 2021
level of $16.5 million to $24.5 million in FY 2022 to help accelerate
the number of plans revised to finalization and to improve the ability
of planning processes to help achieve 30x30.
FS Forest and Rangeland Research (FS R&D).--Defenders supports the
President's request of $88.7 million, an increase of $48 million for
R&D Programs, including funding for the Wildlife and Fish Research
Program, to support crucial science and applied research. This should
include a specific budget allocation for the Wildlife and Fish Research
Program, which has historically received 9-10 percent of the R&D
Programs line item but warrants a significant increase given the
magnitude of the biodiversity crisis.
u.s. geological survey
Ecosystems--Defenders supports the President's request of $358.2
million, an increase of $99 million to support development of crucial
scientific information for sound management of our nation's biological
resources. This includes an important increase of $43 million for the
National and Regional Climate Adaptation Centers which is more than
double the current level. The Survey's work and the data it provides
will be essential to guiding our national effort to achieve 30x30,
which is a central part of the solution to the biodiversity crisis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Diaz, S., J. Settele, E. S. Brondizio, et al. 2019. ``Summary
for Policymakers of the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and
Ecosystem Services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.''
\2\ Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. 2020.
``Global Biodiversity Outlook 5.'' Montreal.
\3\ World Economic Forum Global Risks Report 2020
\4\ Malcom, J et al. 2019. ``Solve the biodiversity crisis with
funding.'' Science 365 (6459): 1256
\5\ Coates, P.S. et al., 2021. ``Range-wide Greater Sage-Grouse
Hierarchical Monitoring Framework: Implications for Defining Population
Boundaries, Trend Estimation, and a Targeted Annual Warning System,''
U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report (2020)
\6\ Rosenberg, L. V. et al. 2019. ``Decline of the North American
avifauna.'' Science 366 (6461): 120-124.
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______

Prepared Statement of the Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-hle Community Grant School
(DCGS)
Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle Community Grant School (DCGS) is K-8, tribally
controlled grant school funded by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).
We are located in Bloomfield, New Mexico on the Navajo Nation
reservation and primarily serve Navajo students, many of whom travel
great distances over unimproved roads to attend school each day. We
have operated as a tribally controlled school since 2005. As a tribally
controlled school, we have both the greater freedom and the tremendous
responsibility to ensure that our students receive a quality and
culturally relevant education that will help them reach their fullest
potential. We take this responsibility seriously. Our testimony covers
the following priorities:

--Inclusion in the Federal COVID-19 Response and the Pending
Infrastructure Legislation;
--Teacher Benefits and Pay Parity;
--School Repair and Replacement and DFMC Oversight;
--Halting Unnecessary and Unlawful BIE Reporting Requests; and
--FY 2022 Funding Priorities: ISEP Formula Funds, Tribal Grant
Support Costs, Student Transportation, the FACE program (early
childhood learning), Facilities Operations and Maintenance, and
Facilities Improvement and Repair and Replacement Construction.

Inclusion in the Federal COVID-19 Response and the Pending
Infrastructure Legislation. We would like to extend our tremendous
gratitude to the House and Senate Appropriations Interior, Environment,
and Related Agencies Subcommittees for the role you played in ensuring
that schools in the BIE school system were included in the COVID-19
relief laws in a robust and equitable manner. Our communities have been
some of the hardest hit by the pandemic. This emergency funding was
greatly needed and has enabled us to continue providing instruction to
our students in a safe manner, despite these unbelievably challenging
circumstances. Thank you.
As Congress now turns its attention to our Nation's infrastructure
needs, we ask that you similarly ensure that schools in the BIE school
system are included. As you know, our students go to school in some of
the oldest buildings, have some of the slowest internet connections,
and travel great distances every day over largely unpaved or unimproved
school bus routes. Progress has been made on these persistent
inequities because the Subcommittees continue to prioritize funding to
address them on a fiscal year basis. This pending infrastructure
package provides an opportunity to make significant headway on the
tremendous backlog you have been working so hard to address each fiscal
year. Your support can once again make the difference.
Teacher Benefits.--We would also like to thank these Subcommittees
for the inclusion of a provision in the latest COVID-19 relief law,
which allows tribally controlled schools to participate in the Federal
Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) and Federal Employee Group Life
Insurance (FEGLI) programs. While not directly an appropriations
matter, the option to participate in FEHB/FEGLI means that tribally
controlled schools now have the opportunity to purchase cheaper and
more comprehensive insurance options for our employees-at no cost to
the federal government. These new options will bolster our teacher
recruitment and retention efforts and put less pressure on our ISEP
funds. Thank you.
Teacher Pay Parity.--We would also like to specifically thank the
House Subcommittee for your oversight and FY 2021 report language
requesting reports from the BIE on teacher pay parity. The BIE's
failure to appropriately request fixed cost increases to provide pay
parity for teachers and counselors in the BIE school system with their
counterparts in the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA)
puts us and other schools at a competitive disadvantage while it erodes
the spending power of our budgets year after year. Further, federal law
requires BIE-DODEA teacher pay parity. We look forward to reading this
report and hope that BIE will adjust its subsequent budget requests to
comply with federal law.
School Replacement Construction and DFMC Oversight.--As you may be
aware, the DCGS is one of the schools on the 2016 Replacement School
list to receive funding for school replacement construction projects.
DCGS's facilities are in desperate need of replacement in order to
provide our students with an adequate learning environment. DCGS is
committed to putting our replacement school in operation as promptly as
possible for the wellbeing of our students. Under DCGS leadership, the
school replacement construction project is currently on track, with the
dormitory building completion by August 2021 and the academic buildings
by December 2021. Our 100% design drawings have been completed and
approved, the dorm building has been enclosed, the gym walls are going
up, the academic building footings are completed, and the roof beams
and walls are being installed.
Unfortunately, DCGS has already weathered significant bottlenecks
due to the Indian Affairs Division of Facilities Management and
Construction (DFMC), failures to respect the grant agreement terms.
DCGS has had to trigger the procedures to address two disputes under
the grant agreement (one of which is still pending) and the DFMC
continues to misinterpret key grant provisions that are intended to
ensure prompt and thorough review of project documents by the DFMC in
accordance with the project schedule. As a result, reaching the
project's current milestone has unfortunately taken significantly more
time, money, and effort than it should have. The lack of proper
supervision and oversight at DFMC threaten not only to delay the date
by which DCGS will have a safe, new school campus, but they have the
cascading effect of delaying the schools behind us in line on the 2016
Replacement List.
We have repeatedly raised these and related concerns with DFMC and
BIE leadership in the spirit of constructive criticism and building a
strong working relationship between DCGS and DFMC moving forward. While
BIE leadership and some DFMC officials have shown commitment to the
project, DCGS is concerned about the lack of supervision of personnel
within the DFMC and the inadequate oversight of the DFMC with respect
to school replacement construction. To ensure integrity, efficiency and
cost-effectiveness in the school replacement construction process, we
encourage the Subcommittees to request a report from the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) on the DFMC's role in school replacement
construction projects that will allow tribally controlled schools to
share their observations and experiences.
Halting Unnecessary and Unlawful BIE Reporting Requests.--DCGS has
had to expend excessive time and resources to address the BIE's
unauthorized and improper reporting requests and evaluations. Congress
established clear limits upon the BIE's ability to impose its own
administrative directives upon tribally controlled schools. By statute,
agency directives applicable to tribally controlled schools are
expressly limited to the Tribally Controlled Schools Act (TCSA, PL 100-
297), its implementing regulations, and guidelines, manuals, and policy
directives to which the tribally controlled school has agreed to in its
grant agreements. Any authority otherwise not explicitly referenced
does not apply to tribally controlled schools, including authorities
the BIE may impose upon its BIE-operated schools.
DCGS has had to field several BIE requests in which BIE officials
have acted beyond their authority. DCGS is particularly concerned with
the BIE's overreaching with respect to its new approach to school
employee background check requirements, which has introduced audit
findings that mischaracterize the applicable standards and tribal
school compliance. DCGS has been complying and is absolutely committed
to comply with federal statute and the 25 CFR Part 63 regulations for
Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention. Protecting the
wellbeing of our children is of paramount concern for our school and
our community.
DCGS has adopted and implemented best practices in our background
check procedures, including contracting with a private firm that
specializes in background investigations, as authorized by regulation.
The Part 63 regulations repeatedly draw distinct lines between what is
required of the BIA/BIE and what is required of Tribal entities, such
as DCGS. Our focus, as required by statute and regulation, is to obtain
complete, thorough and accurate investigations of any person who will
have contact with our students. A recent BIE background check audit of
DCGS, however, called for DCGS to replicate the federal process used by
the Office of Personnel Management, including background checks on
individuals who have no contact with students. As established by law,
regulation and established best practices, DCGS will continue directing
its resources to the protection of our students. We do not agree with
the BIE's suggestion that a finance office director (with no direct
contact with children) should be subject to higher scrutiny in
background investigations than our custodial staff. Federal law,
regulation, DCGS procedures and common sense call for the investigation
of those individuals who will have contact with children. The BIE's
audit of our background check process should not have issued findings
on matters not provided by statute, regulation or agreement and should
not distract us from the important responsibilities we work to fulfill.
FY 2022 Funding Priorities.--We deeply appreciate the
Subcommittees' ongoing commitment to fully funding Tribal Grant Support
Costs--which are analogous to Contract Support Costs for tribally
controlled schools. We would also like to thank the Subcommittees for
increases for our core operating accounts: ISEP Formula Funds, Student
Transportation, the FACE program (early childhood learning), and for
Facilities Operations and Maintenance. These critical accounts fund the
bulk of our budgets and are in need of further increases to meet
schools' basic operating needs.
We would also like to thank the Subcommittees for the recent
increases for the Education Construction accounts including Facilities
Improvement and Repair and Replacement Construction. As the
Subcommittees are very much aware, the deferred maintenance backlog for
schools runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars and many schools
are long past due for replacement construction. We applaud the
Subcommittees' efforts to urge Indian Affairs to develop and maintain
building lifecycle and replacement plans for each school.
Looking forward, we urge the Subcommittees to redouble your
oversight of DFMC. As we explained in detail, there are real concerns
to be addressed at DFMC and these factors are delaying much needed
school repair and replacement efforts. DCGS finds the DFMC's lack of
qualified personnel with experience in school construction and federal
grants management to be disconcerting. Unqualified personnel have been
placed in positions of authority, yet lack proper supervision. We do
not accept that remote work under COVID-19 can explain or justify the
poor performance of DFMC personnel or the lack of supervision or
oversight of these employees. The Subcommittees have provided
significant resources for school replacement construction. The federal
employees hired to carry out the federal responsibilities must be
appropriately qualified, provided with proper training and supervised
to ensure successful project results.
conclusion
In closing, Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle Community Grant School thanks the
Subcommittees for the important funding increases and oversight
directed to school repair and replacement construction. Direct,
consistent funding is needed to achieve the timely completion of
construction of schools on the 2016 Replacement List and to properly
maintain these important federal investments for our children's future.
For FY 2022, we ask that you continue these critically needed funding
increases and redouble your efforts to keep the Administration
accountable for the timely and transparent completion of projects. At
DCGS, we believe that all children deserve the opportunity to reach
their potential and to go to school in safe buildings. Thank you for
remaining our steadfast partners in this most critical endeavor.
Please continue to consider us a partner and a resource. Please
contact our Administrative Services Director Faye BlueEyes at:
[email protected] if you have any questions.

[This statement was submitted by Ervin Chavez, School Board
President.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Entomological Society of America
The Entomological Society of America (ESA) respectfully submits
this statement for the official record in support of funding for
entomology-related activities at the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service,
and the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI). For fiscal year (FY) 2022,
ESA recommends $830 million for EPA Science and Technology, as well as
strong support for programs across the agency that advance the safe
application of pesticides. ESA strongly supports EPA's commitment to
work with other federal agencies to monitor and improve pollinator
health. In addition, ESA requests the Forest Service be funded at no
less than $8.4 billion in discretionary funds. Within the Forest
Service, ESA requests the Forest and Rangeland Research budget be
supported at $313.5 million to preserve valuable invasive species
research and development. The Society also supports continued
investment in Forest Health Management programs across the Forest
Service at no less than the FY 2020 enacted level of $100 million. ESA
also recommends that DOI continue to support the important work of the
National Invasive Species Council (NISC), to be funded at no less than
$2 million for its critical coordination of efforts across agencies to
respond to the threats posed by invasive species.
Advances in forestry and environmental sciences, including the
field of entomology, help to protect our ecosystems and communities
from threats to our nation's economy, public health, and agricultural
productivity and safety. Through improved understanding of invasive
insect pests and the development of biological approaches to pest
management, entomology plays a critical role in reducing and preventing
the spread of infestation and diseases harmful to national forests and
grasslands. The study of entomology also contributes to the development
of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques, which use science-
based, environmentally conscious, comprehensive methods to take
effective management action against pests, often resulting in lower
costs and a more judicious use of pesticides. In addition, entomology
improves our knowledge of pollinators and factors affecting pollinator
health and populations, helping to ensure safe, reliable crop
production that meets the needs of a growing world population.
EPA carries out its mission of protecting human health and the
environment by developing and enforcing regulations, awarding grants
for research and other projects, conducting studies on environmental
issues, facilitating partnerships, and providing information through
public outreach. Through these efforts, EPA strives to ensure that our
nation enjoys clean water, clean air, a safe food supply, and
communities free from pollution and harmful exposures to chemicals.
EPA's Pesticides Licensing Program Area, supported by EPA's Science
& Technology and Environmental Program & Management budgets, serves to
evaluate and regulate new pesticides to ensure safe and proper usage by
consumers. Through the mandate of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide,
and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA uses scientific expertise and data,
including knowledge gained from entomological sciences, to set maximum
tolerated residue levels and to register pesticide products as
effective and safe. By controlling insects that carry diseases of
humans and domesticated animals, and invasive insect species that
endanger our environment, pesticides registered by EPA help protect
public health and the nation's food supply.
Although pesticide registrations and regulations are the purview of
the EPA, the agency has not traditionally been a major sponsor of
entomology research. However, EPA has recently announced its intention
to provide up to $2 million for projects that promote IPM adoption
while promoting pollinator protection and addressing major challenges
such as citrus greening disease. These Pesticide Environmental
Stewardship Program (PESP) grants will enable grantees to ``implement
sustainable pest management practices that reduce unnecessary risks
from pests and pesticides.'' \1\ While IPM is a long-standing and well-
researched paradigm for mitigating pests, relatively few focused
funding sources are available for entomologists focused on this
subject. As such, ESA encourages you to enable EPA to continue
expanding its investment in IPM and other innovative programs for
safely managing the use of pesticides through increased funding for
such activities across the agency's research and regulatory portfolios.
ESA is in favor of increased funding for scientific studies of
pollinator populations and health. Pollinators play a vital role in our
nation's agriculture industry. Honey bees alone pollinate more than 90
crops in the U.S. and are essential to produce an estimated one-third
of all the food we eat or export, contributing over $17 billion in
annual crop and seed production in the U.S. alone. To ensure a healthy
bee population, more research is needed to fully understand the diverse
factors that endanger bee health. Pesticides represent just one
potential risk to bees, but both the risks and benefits must be
balanced, and they will vary between different crops and different
crop-producing regions of the U.S. EPA is well-positioned to help
identify methods for protecting bee health. The agency has previously
awarded agricultural grants to three universities to aid in the
development of IPM practices that lower pesticide risks to bees while
protecting valuable crops from pests. For this reason, ESA supports
EPA's participation in multi-agency efforts to investigate pollinator
health and implement plans to prevent pollinator population decline.
The U.S. Forest Service sustains the health, diversity, and
productivity of 193 million acres of public lands in national forests
and grasslands across 44 states and territories. Serving as the largest
supporter of forestry research in the world, the agency employs
approximately 30,000 scientists, administrators, and land managers. In
addition to activities at the federal level, the Forest Service
provides technical expertise and financial assistance to state and
private forestry agency partners.
The Forest Service's Forest and Rangeland Research budget supports
the development and delivery of scientific data and innovative
technological tools to improve the health, use, and management of the
nation's forests and rangelands. Programs within Forest and Rangeland
Research provide science-based approaches to reduce and prevent the
spread of destructive insects, plants, and diseases that can have
serious economic and environmental consequences for our nation. For
example, Forest Service scientists are working to understand the impact
of the mountain pine beetle (MPB) on U.S. forests. Since 2000,
outbreaks of MPB have affected more than 10 million hectares of
lodgepole pine forests, compromising long-term forest health while
creating the potential for more dangerous wildfires, loss of wildlife
habitat, poorer water quality, and soil erosion.\2\ Such outbreaks are
predicted to continue in the face of increased temperatures and drought
associated with climate change. Funding for such studies will enable
land managers to better predict and respond to ecosystem changes that
occur following such outbreaks. ESA requests that Forest and Rangeland
Research be funded at $313.5 million for FY 2022.
Also under the purview of the Forest Service is the Forest Health
Management program, which conducts mapping and surveys on public and
private lands to monitor and assess risks from potentially harmful
insects, diseases, and invasive plants. The program also provides
assistance to state and local partners to help prevent and control
outbreaks that threaten forest health. According to a 2011 study,
invasive forest insects cost local governments alone an average of over
$2 billion per year; direct costs to homeowners from property loss,
tree removal, and treatment averages $1.5 billion per year.\3\
Initiatives within the Forest Health Management program can help
control these costly pests. The program's ``Slow the Spread''
activities, for example, have led to a 60 percent reduction in the rate
of the spread of the gypsy moth, another invasive species, resulting in
an estimated benefit-to-cost ratio of 3:1. Without the program, it is
estimated that 50 million additional acres would have been infested by
the moth.\4\ Additionally, the southern pine beetle is the most
destructive pest of pine trees from New Jersey to Florida and west to
Texas. This beetle caused an estimated $1 billion in damage during an
outbreak across the southern U.S., and it has since rapidly moved far
further northward than previously thought possible.\5\ The new
northeast range of the southern pine beetle includes threatened and
rare pine ecosystems, such as the pine barrens of New Jersey.\6\
Funding for the Forest Health Management Program will support
detection, monitoring, prevention, and management of this pest and slow
its spread and limit its damage as it affects more and more of our
country's forests. To support these important functions, ESA requests
that the subcommittee provide no less than the FY 2020 enacted level of
$100 million for Forest Health Management.
The National Invasive Species Council (NISC) coordinates policy,
communication, and technology applications among 16 federal agencies
involved in the shared task of invasive species control. NISC serves a
vital function since the impact of invasive species is felt across a
variety of sectors (agriculture, environmental protection, public
health, etc.) that are not under the jurisdiction of one single agency.
As an example, since 2014 spotted lanternfly has become established in
Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, and Delaware. Its ability to
disperse over broad geographic areas presents a particularly
challenging problem to growers, homeowners, and forest managers, as
does its unusually broad host range. It has been recorded feeding on
more than 100 plants, including commercial crops such as hops, grapes,
apples, and cherries.\7\ In addition to damage caused directly by
feeding, the spotted lanternfly inflicts indirect damage via coating
plants and other surfaces in ``honeydew'' (urine), which encourages the
growth of mold and fungi. To respond to such threats, NISC recently
helped coordinate the development of a comprehensive system of
environmental DNA (eDNA) Rapid Response, whereby cutting-edge molecular
surveillance tools are used to detect invasive insects before they
establish to minimize control and damage costs. Such methods can enable
more effective early detection of invasive species and rapid response,
potentially saving billions of dollars' worth of crops, safeguarding
native ecosystems, and preventing the destruction of private property.
As such, ESA requests that NISC be funded at no less than $2 million in
FY 2022.
ESA, headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, is the largest
organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs
of entomologists and individuals in related disciplines. Founded in
1889, ESA has more than 7,000 members affiliated with educational
institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government.
Members are researchers, teachers, extension service personnel,
administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians,
consultants, students, pest management professionals, and hobbyists.
Thank you for the opportunity to offer the Entomological Society of
America's support for Forest Service and EPA programs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://www.epa.gov/pesp/pesticide-environmental-stewardship-
program-grants
\2\ Fettig, C.J., R.A. Progar, J. Paschke, F.J. Sapio. Forest
insects. G. Robertson, T. Barrett (Eds.), Implications of Forest
Disturbance Processes for Sustainability in the Western US. PNW-GTR-XX.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest
Research Station, Portland, OR (2020). In press.
\3\ Aukema, J.E.; Leung, B.; Kovacs, K.; [et al.]. 2011. Economic
impacts of non-native forest insects in the continental United States.
PLoS ONE 6(9): e24587.
\4\ Forest Service FY 2017 Budget Overview: http://www.fs.fed.us/
sites/default/files/FY-2017-FS%20-budget-overview.pdf.
\5\ Nowak, J.; Asaro, C.; Klepzig, K.; [et al.]. 2008. The southern
pine beetle prevention initiative: working for healthier forests. J.
For. 106(5): 261-267.
\6\ Dodds, K. J.; Aoki, C. F.; Arango-Velez, A.; [et al.]. 2018.
Expansion of southern pine beetle in northeastern forests: management
and impact of a primary bark beetle in a new region. J. For. 116(2):
178-191.
\7\ https://entomologytoday.org/2020/09/10/list-known-host-plants-
grows-invasive-spotted-lanternfly/

[This statement was submitted by Michelle S. Smith, BCE,
President.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony for the
record in support of programs under the Subcommittee's jurisdiction
that support climate change mitigation and adaptation. The
Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) is a non-profit
organization founded in 1984 on a bipartisan basis by members of
Congress to help educate and inform policymakers, their staff,
stakeholders, and the American public about the benefits of a low-
emissions economy that prioritizes energy efficiency, renewable energy,
and new clean energy technologies. In 1988, EESI declared that
addressing climate change is a moral imperative, and that has since
guided our work.
Climate adaptation and resilience work should complement and, when
possible, contribute to a decarbonized, clean energy economy. From
droughts to wildfires and hurricanes to extreme heat, different
regions, states, and communities will experience different climate
change--related threats. Communities need locally-tailored, accessible,
and actionable data to make informed decisions to mitigate their
climate risks and safeguard the ecosystems on which they depend.
This testimony is informed by EESI's 2020 report, A Resilient
Future for Coastal Communities: Federal Policy Recommendations from
Solutions to Practice.\1\ This report is based on EESI's 16-part
Congressional briefing series that featured 42 coastal resilience
experts discussing federal, state, and local programs and policies
conducting effective climate adaptation to coastal hazards. The
programs outlined in this testimony are critical, and worthy of the
Subcommittee's support.
u.s. geological survey climate adaptation science centers
There is one National Climate Adaptation Science Center (CASC) and
nine regional CASCs tasked with helping people and ecosystems adapt to
a changing climate. Regional CASCs partner with a university to conduct
and disseminate research and support community adaptation activities.
Because of their regional focus, CASCs are able to develop regional--
specific research and forge local partnerships, being more responsive
to local needs--a valuable service given the scope and magnitude of
climate challenges.
An example of the on-the-ground adaptation and science support that
CASCs conduct involves the Northwest CASC and the University of
Washington's Climate Impacts Group and their work with the Northwest
and Great Basin Tribes to develop climate risk tools. Based on input
from the 84 Tribes that chose to participate, they created an online
tool that provides climate summaries and climate information
specifically tailored to the needs of those Tribes. The information is
provided in multiple formats--as a map, a graphic, text, and as
downloadable, custom reports--that summarize all of the changes by
geographic area. The tool has been successful because of the
development process's heavy focus on soliciting iterative user testing,
feedback, and revisions.
The Biden Administration's Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 budget proposal
roughly doubles CASC funding, from $41,335,000 to $84,403,000. EESI
supports the proposed funding level. In 2020, the United States
experienced 22 billion-dollar weather and climate disaster events, the
sixth consecutive year with 10 or more such events. The threat of
climate change will necessitate spending to adapt and mitigate;
however, these costs are overshadowed by the cost of doing nothing.
u.s. fish and wildlife service cooperative landscape conservation
Collaborative, landscape-scale conservation brings people together
across geographies, jurisdictions, sectors, and backgrounds to restore
fragmented landscapes and safeguard the ecological, cultural, and
economic benefits provided by intact and connected habitat. The Biden
Administration's proposed FY2022 budget requests $18.8 million (an
increase of $6.3 million) for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Cooperative Landscape Conservation (CLC) initiative via the Science
Applications Program. EESI supports an additional $3 million for CLC to
facilitate effective landscape conservation coordination between
federal agencies and with state, tribal, and nongovernmental partners
across the country.
An appropriation of $21.8 million is approximately the same annual
funding level the Science Applications Program received when it
facilitated the Landscape Conservation Cooperative Network from 2010 to
2017. The increased funding would support a new process to establish a
durable, inclusive, and comprehensive national framework for
coordinating landscape conservation and climate adaptation efforts.
This new approach would improve outcomes, eliminate redundancies,
create synergies, facilitate collaboration, and streamline the whole-
of-government response necessary to conserve healthy and productive
lands and waters that sustain natural and cultural resources.
Thank you for your consideration.
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\1\ Available online at https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/a-
resilient-future-for-coastal-communities.

[This statement was submitted by Daniel Bresette, Executive
Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Environmental Council of the States
Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) is the national
nonprofit, nonpartisan association of state and territorial
environmental agency leaders. For the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget appropriations, ECOS
requests $630.1M for three specific Categorical Grant programs, as well
as continued support for other Categorical Grants and infrastructure
investments as noted.
State environmental agencies are the engines of environmental
progress in our nation. Under America's system of cooperative
federalism, states exercise more than 90 percent of the delegable
authorities under these and other federal laws. Through an ECOS
resolution, states urge the U.S. Congress and EPA to financially
support state implementation efforts commensurate with the complexity
and breadth of federal requirements so we may fulfill our obligations
to our communities. Please consider the following requests:
i. support investment in critical water, wastewater and stormwater
infrastructure
States are keenly aware of the importance of infrastructure
resiliency. During recent crises caused by winter storms, states
offered technical assistance, outreach, and in some cases, brought
critical supplies to local water systems. States also support funding
for water and wastewater upgrades for cybersecurity and physical
security. States work with water and wastewater systems facing
enforcement actions and pilot creative solutions to infrastructure
funding needs. As an example, in Oklahoma, its Funding Agency
Coordination Team (FACT) streamlined the application process for
infrastructure funding sources available to public water and wastewater
systems. The FACT meets with eligible entities and works with them to
develop the right funding package for their circumstances.
State Revolving Funds (SRFs) support critical state-level
investments in local infrastructure that provide our citizens safe
drinking water, sanitation, and clean aquatic environments. The
American Society of Civil Engineers 2021 Infrastructure Report Card
estimates that our nation faces more than $1,045 billion in drinking
water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure needs with a $434M
funding gap.\1\ EPA's assessment on drinking water infrastructure is
even more staggering--its most recent assessment from March 2018 cites
a $472.6 billion need. We encourage Congress to allow 2% of annual
Clean Water SRF capitalization grant funds to go to technical
assistance to small, disadvantaged, and underserved communities as is
done with the Drinking Water SRF. This would provide much-needed
support to communities that lack the professional expertise to build
wastewater infrastructure. We also encourage you to consider
recommendations in the April 13 letter from ECOS and other water
associations to Congressional leaders regarding maximizing federal
investment in water infrastructure as appropriate.
Since 2018, Congress has established and funded seven new STAG
infrastructure assistance grants related to drinking water safety,
totaling $139M as of FY21.\2\ States encourage Congress to consider
making these STAG infrastructure grants eligible for Performance
Partnership Grants (PPGs) to minimize grant administrative burdens.
While states share Congress' commitment to achieving the specific
purposes of each of these grant programs, additional programs may
increase administrative burden and many states already have a complex
system of matchmaking to efficiently distribute funds to the
communities in most need.
ii. increase state and tribal assistance (stag) categorical grants
STAG Categorical Grants fund a wide range of states' core
regulatory work. But these critical programs face an equally wide range
of increased pressures: to move to electronic permitting and remote
public participation, to increase data transparency, to enhance
compliance presence in communities overburdened by pollution, to
address emerging contaminants, and other activities. In FY02, STAG
Categorical Grants were $1.1 billion enacted and are at $1.1 billion
enacted in FY21--nineteen years later. ECOS encourages Congress to
increase its funding of Categorical Grants, the most significant
federal support to core delegated programs.

STAG Categorical Grant Funding History \3\

ECOS has documented that the federal government provides, on
average, 27 percent of state environmental agencies' budgets. As
program expectations expand with flat federal funding, fees (already
our largest funding source comprising 61% of our budgets on average)
have risen from $5.9B in FY2016 to $6.7B in FY2019, a 14% increase; \4\
further fee increases are unsustainable. Even if fees were increased,
this may not address program needs. For instance, in an April 2020
report, the Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies (AAPCA) notes
that ``[states] collect fees for pollutant emissions on a per-ton basis
. . . , but have seen major decreases in revenue from the program as it
meets its primary goal: driving emissions down to create better air
quality.'' In addition to permitting work, state air agencies have seen
increasing ambient monitoring infrastructure programs as well as State
Implementation Plan (SIP)-related and National Ambient Air Quality
Standards (NAAQs) related planning workload.
ECOS looked closely at three critical Categorical Grant programs:
State and Local Air Quality Management (CAA Sec. 103, 105, and 106);
Pollution Control (CWA Sec. 106); and Hazardous Waste Financial
Assistance (RCRA Sec. 3011). This review found that federal funding
levels for these three grant programs have not meaningfully increased,
or have decreased, since 2010. Between inflation and increases in the
cost of administering regulatory programs over this period, states
propose that a 1% compounding annual escalation is the minimum federal
funding trajectory needed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State and
Local Air Hazardous
Quality Water Waste 11-year
Management Pollution Financial Enacted
STAG Categorical Grant (CAA Sec. Control (CWA Assistance Level Total
103, 105, Sec. 106) (RCRA Sec. Increase
and 106) 3011)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY10 Enacted \1\.......................... $226.6M $229.3M $103.3M ............ $559.2M
FY21 Enacted \2\.......................... $229.5M $230.0M $101.5M $1.8M $561.0M
FY21 if 1% Escalation started 2010........ $252.8M $255.8M $115.2M ............ $623.3M
Delta: 1% escalation vs. FY21 enacted..... $ 23.3M $ 26.5M $11.9M ............ $ 61.7M
FY22 Funding Request...................... $255.3M $258.4M $116.4M ............ $630.1M
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Source: FY11 EPA Budget in Brief pg. 69
\2\ Source: FY21 Omnibus

As noted in the above table, if a 1% compounding escalation had
been implemented for these programs starting in FY10, this would amount
to a $61.7M funding level increase by FY21. For FY22, ECOS requests
that Congress consider enacting a combined $630.1M for these three
programs as shown in the above table--$255.3M for air/105 and 103;
$258.4M for water/106, and $116.4M for hazardous waste. As a further
demonstration of a 1% compounding escalation, figure 1 shows this in
greater detail for the air/105 and 103 program. Other charts may be
shared if requested but are not included due to space constraints.

iii. additional considerations
ECOS has testified in the past on a number of topics that remain
important to state environmental agencies. These include:

1. Importance of Flexible STAG Multipurpose Categorical Grant. This
is an important resource to enable nimble project deployment, and we
hope Congress will continue and expand this resource and continue to
provide states flexibility to use these federal funds to address local
needs and priorities.
2. State Research Needs. In February, ECOS' affiliate the
Environmental Research Institute of the States (ERIS) published
responses from 43 states and territories of their research needs across
all media, plus PFAS. ECOS urges Congress to provide funding to EPA to
help meet these needs.
3. Oppose shift from 103 to 105 air funds. States ask that Congress
push back against the proposed CAA Sec. 103-Sec. 105 funding shift at
states' expense.
4. Rescissions. States continue to oppose rescission of STAG
Categorical Grant funds before a state receives them and appreciates
Congress' diligence in preserving funds for their identified purposes.

ECOS thanks the subcommittee for considering the views of state
environmental agencies as you prepare the FY22 budget for EPA. We would
welcome further discussion with you about how federal funding can
support state-level work to protect human health and the environment.
Please do not hesitate to contact me or ECOS Executive Director Don
Welsh at [email protected].
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Data taken from ASCE Failure to Act 2021 study. www.asce.org/
failuretoact.
\2\ New STAG infrastructure assistance grants: assistance for small
and disadvantaged communities, reducing lead in drinking water, lead
testing in schools, drinking water infrastructure resilience and
sustainability, technical assistance for treatment works, sewer
overflow control grants, and water infrastructure and workforce
investment.
\3\ Sources: FY2021 EPA Budget in Brief, p.89 and ECOS Green Report
on Status of Environmental Agency Budgets, 2017, p.11.
\4\ State environmental agency average excluding CalEPA. Source:
ECOS Green Report: Status of State Environmental Agency Budgets Fiscal
Years 2016 to 2019.

[This statement was submitted by Patrick McDonnell, Secretary,
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and President.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC)
I am Howard Learner, the Executive Director of the Environmental
Law & Policy Center (ELPC). ELPC is the Midwest's leading environmental
legal advocacy and sustainability innovation organization. ELPC's staff
is engaged in the Great Lakes states, in Washington D.C., and with
Canada to protect the Great Lakes. Since 2008, we have participated
with policymakers and colleagues to build, effectively implement, and
expand the successful Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).
Thank you Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and all members
of the Subcommittee for the opportunity to submit my testimony
supporting an increased appropriation for the Great Lakes Restoration
Initiative. GLRI is a program that works well and has demonstrated
implementation successes. GLRI funds have been deployed to protect safe
clean drinking water supplies, clean up toxic sites, protect wetlands
and shorelines, help alleviate harmful algae outbreaks, hold off
invasive species from entering the Lakes, and safeguard aquatic
resources. Restoring the Great Lakes' vital natural resources creates
very high leveraged value gained for environmental, public health and
recreation benefits, and for overall economic growth.
The Great Lakes are a global gem, and they contain 21% of the
planet's surface fresh water. 42 million people rely on the Great Lakes
for safe drinking water supplies. The Great Lakes provide a rich
aquatic habitat for many species, and they support a $7 billion annual
fishing industry. Great Lakes recreation draws millions of tourists who
boost the economies of shoreline communities. In short, the Great Lakes
are where many millions of people live, work and play.
ELPC was pleased with the bipartisan Congressional support for the
reauthorization of the GLRI program, which was signed into law earlier
this year. The reauthorization ramps up funding to $475 million in
2026, thereby matching the GLRI funding received in its initial year.
We request that the Senate Appropriations Committee fully fund the GLRI
program with at least $375 million for FY 2022.
I'll make two points in support of fully funding the GLRI at its
authorized amount for FY 2022:

First, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is vitally important
and successful. This is a model federal program providing great
benefits, and it is working well.
Second, the challenges the Great Lakes are facing, from increases
in harmful algal outbreaks and climate change especially, justify full
funding at least at the authorized $375 million for FY 2022.

1. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is vitally important and
successful. This is a model federal program providing great benefits,
and it is working well.
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has been a breakthrough
program, injecting vital funding and structure that had previously
hindered efforts to restore the Great Lakes. Over the past 12 years,
the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has achieved strong results with
sustained funding.
As the third GLRI Action Plan states: ``the GLRI has been a
catalyst for unprecedented federal agency coordination, which has in
turn produced unprecedented results.'' The program supports shoreline
and wetlands protection projects, keeping out invasive species, and
reducing harmful algae blooms. Congress' recognition of the
effectiveness of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is reflected in
the bipartisan support for full authorized funding of $300 million for
FY 2018 and 2019 and increased funding for FY 2020 and 2021.
The GLRI funds and supports thousands of projects across the Great
Lakes states to:

--Improve water quality for safe drinking water supplies, fisheries,
and aquatic habitats.
--Protect shorelines and restore wetlands.
--Protect and restore native habitats and species.
--Help prevent and control invasive species.
--Clean up toxic sediments on lake bottoms.
--Reduce nutrient runoff that causes harmful algal blooms.

The GLRI effectively creates a system of coordination among federal
agencies, state entities and local partners to achieve outcomes. There
are many examples of GLRI projects that deliver multiple benefits to
the Great Lakes, from river and natural area restoration projects to
addressing and ultimately delisting Areas of Concern, including:

--In Ohio, the restoration of Griswold Creek, which included removal
of invasive species and restoration of habitat, and the
restoration of Irwin Wet Prairie near Toledo. Both ultimately
benefit Lake Erie.
--In Northern Minnesota, the Flute Reed Riverbank stabilization
project keeps nutrients out of Lake Superior, improves flood
plains, and creates habitat for fish.
--In Illinois, the Burnham Wildlife Corridor in Chicago restored
natural areas with native species and wildlife habitats while
helping slow down and filter water before it enters Lake
Michigan, thereby reducing runoff pollution into the Lake.

These projects bring together a broad array of partners, working
together to achieve the GLRI's goals and create jobs. The third GLRI
Action Plan details work to address Areas of Concern, including those
that are now delisted: Presque Isle Bay in Pennsylvania, and Deer Lake
and White Lake in Michigan.
GLRI has broad regional economic benefits. A University of Michigan
study showed that every $1.00 of funds spent on GLRI projects between
2010 and 2016 will produce $3.35 in additional economic activity in the
Great Lakes region through 2036.
2. The challenges the Great Lakes are facing, from severe recurring
harmful algal blooms and climate change especially, justify full
funding at least at the authorized amount of $375 million for FY 2022.
While recognizing the GLRI's successes, the threats from climate
change and severe recurring harmful algal outbreaks are getting worse.
ELPC commissioned 18 leading Midwest and Canadian scientists to
write the state-of-the-science report, An Assessment of the Impacts of
Climate Change on the Great Lakes, which we released in 2019 along with
recommended policy solutions. The scientists concluded that climate
change is causing significant and far-reaching impacts on the Great
Lakes region, including increasingly extreme water level fluctuations--
mostly higher, and occasionally lower--which wreak havoc on shoreline
communities, homes, beaches, and businesses. Annual precipitation in
the region has increased at a higher percentage than the rest of the
country, and more precipitation is coming in unusually large events
such as derechos and intense thunderstorms. Lake Michigan had record-
high water levels in 2020, whipped by winds and waves that caused
flooding and damaged the shoreline's built infrastructure.
ELPC is now preparing a report that looks at the risks of rising
lake levels, extreme weather events, and flooding at several industrial
facilities and contaminated sites along the western and southern shores
of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. Using
data from the Digital Elevation Model prepared by the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management,
the report visualizes the extent and severity of inundation at the
sites and surrounding areas. One threat: potential inadvertent releases
of dangerous pollutants into nearby communities and Lake Michigan.
Climate change impacts on the Great Lakes intersect with the
growing problem of agricultural runoff pollution--mostly fertilizers
and manure. These are the principal cause of severe recurring toxic
algae outbreaks in western Lake Erie and other shallow water bays in
the Great Lakes. The Ohio EPA concluded that agricultural runoff
pollution accounts for about 90% of the phosphorus flow into western
Lake Erie.
The Maumee River Basin, which flows into western Lake Erie, is
among the priority watersheds included in the third GLRI Action Plan.
ELPC used satellite imagery to count and measure Concentrated Animal
Feeding Operations (CAFOs) and to estimate the number of animals and
amount of manure those facilities produce. The data shows that in 2018,
alone, CAFOs produced over 3.5 million tons of manure.
The GLRI Action Plan provides a detailed look at strategies to
reduce this harmful agricultural runoff pollution, noting that GLRI
projects have kept more than one million pounds of phosphorous out of
the lakes. But the threats from nutrient pollution from CAFOs to the
Great Lakes and region remain and are amplified by changing rainfall
patterns. On April 7-9, 2021, ELPC hosted our 6th Annual Great Lakes
Science-Policy Confluence Conference, bringing together scientific
experts and policy makers to focus on the growing threat of CAFOs and
manure runoff pollution to the Great Lakes region. A more robust GLRI
is an important part of addressing this problem.
In conclusion, the Environmental Law & Policy Center appreciates
the opportunity to submit testimony in support of the Great Lakes
Restoration Initiative and urge the Subcommittee to recommend to the
full Senate Appropriations Committee an appropriation of $375 million
for GLRI in FY 2022. GLRI is a successful program and a model for
federal, state, and local cooperation.

[This statement was submitted by Howard Learner, Executive
Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Federation of State Humanities Councils
Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the
opportunity to submit testimony on behalf of the nation's humanities
councils. The state and jurisdictional humanities councils were
authorized in the founding legislation for the National Foundation for
the Arts and Humanities and are funded, in part, through the Federal/
State Partnership line in the National Endowment for the Humanities
budget. As 501c3 nonprofit organizations, councils leverage, on
average, $4 for every $1 of federal funding with support from state and
local governments, foundations, private sector entities, and
individuals. For Fiscal Year 2022 we are requesting $225 million for
the National Endowment for the Humanities, including $70 million for
the state and jurisdictional humanities councils through the Federal/
State Partnership.
This is a busy and challenging--but in many ways--exciting and
promising time for the state and jurisdictional humanities councils.
Last year, in the CARES Act, $30 million was made available to the
humanities councils for grants to local cultural organizations to help
them survive the impacts of COVID-19. In a few months, councils made
more than 4,500 awards throughout the states, territories, and DC.
Councils were able to efficiently move money into communities where it
could save jobs, help preserve local institutions, and respond to other
immediate needs. However, the needs far exceeded the available funding.
Consequently, the additional $51.6 million allocated to the councils
through the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act is a welcome addition to
meeting the continuing needs of local cultural organizations and to
enabling them to prepare for recovery.
In the instance of both CARES and ARP, the state humanities
councils serve largely as a pass-through organization in order to move
funds quickly to a large number of local organizations that put those
funds to use both responding to lingering COVID issues and preparing
for recovery. The councils are well positioned for this job--they know
their states and institutions deeply and broadly, they are accustomed
to making grants of a size that address the needs of smaller entities,
and they understand the broader community and how their investments
will fit into that environment.
What the emergency funds through CARES and ARP do not do, however,
is contribute to the on-going operations and programming of the
councils. In a year, humanities councils may partner with some 9,000
local organizations, sponsor more than 31,000 programs and reach as
many as 270 million people in almost every Congressional district. To
maintain and grow current activities and respond to the community needs
and interests, we need additional funding in the Federal/State
Partnership, which directly funds the state councils. This is money
that comes directly to the states and local communities and ensures a
wide availability of public humanities programming across the nation.
In a recent survey of state councils, it became clear that
individual councils, in part driven by size, could immediately use
another $300,000-$600,000 each. Almost all councils see a need for
additional Grantmaking to cities and counties, urban and rural areas
throughout their states. Grantmaking from the state councils allows
communities to commemorate their history and heritage, reach out to new
and underserved audiences, and address the many issues which demand
urgent attention including equity and inclusion, reading and literacy,
healthcare, civics education, international understanding, and
preparation for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of
Independence. Such funding would also help councils sustain and expand
upon work with veterans, Native and indigenous communities, the
incarcerated, and other groups. Councils also see a critical need to
pursue additional discussion groups and conversations, bringing
communities together to examine issues that divide us or that are
changing the way we live, work and play. Finally, councils have
remaining needs for infrastructure, for the technical tools that allow
them to continue to serve their new virtual audiences and get out
safely to every corner of their states with in-person programming.
To elaborate on the work of the councils and the impact of our work
throughout the nation, I would now like to turn to two perspectives:
First, a description of some of the existing programs that have left
indelible imprints on communities throughout the nation and, second,
some brief comments on the commanding opportunities that lie ahead.
For 50 years, humanities councils have developed and delivered
programs that address issues of greatest concern to their communities,
helping explore history and culture and sharing the stories of our
multi-vocal nation. From innovative programs created in response to the
pandemic like Humanities Washington's online discussion initiative,
``Cabin Fever Questions'' and its kid-friendly version ``Cabin Fever
Kids'' to programs that facilitated connection and community during
isolation such as Oregon Humanities' letter-writing program ``Dear
Stranger,'' councils seek out your constituents and work with them to
provide programming, resources, and support where it is most needed.
Actually initiated in 2014, ``Dear Stranger'' took on a new importance
during the pandemic. Oregon Humanities also started its ``Connect in
Place'' conversations in April, thus far sponsoring more than 40
sessions across the state to discuss community, safety, immigration,
faith, race, and aging, among other topics.
Supporting Infrastructure.--The Pennsylvania Humanities Council,
through its Chester Made program, works with local citizens and
businesses to promote revitalization of a portion of downtown Chester.
The project includes development of a story-based cultural map,
launching of a Chester Made Exploration Zone, and the creation of maker
space, videos celebrating local artists and history, pop-up art shows,
workshops exploring history of the downtown area, artist exchanges, and
youth summer camps. Properties along the Chester Corridor are now being
purchased and renovated by residents, and a theater, art galleries,
work spaces, restaurants, and shops are moving in.
In California, Legacies of the Street: Seeking Transportation
Justice, a three-part public conversation supported by California
Humanities, explores the racialized past and present of roads in San
Francisco, Fresno, and Los Angeles, where communities of color suffered
disproportionately from the creation of California's transportation
infrastructure, as highways carved up urban communities to facilitate
suburban commuting to employment hubs. California Humanities has also
supported the LA River project, which included biking and walking tours
and programs examining the River in history, literature, and film, as
well as community forums and exhibits for BART train stations and
riders of the Capitol Corridor train.
Providing Civic Education For decades, the state and jurisdictional
humanities councils have actively conducted and supported nonpartisan
programs, resources, and events providing civic education in support of
our democracy. Nationally, the humanities councils are currently
conducting programs in 43 states and territories as part of their ``Why
It Matters: Civic and Electoral Participation'' initiative. These
events provide free humanities programming to engage the public in
collaborative, accessible, and thought-provoking dialogues on the
importance of electoral and civic participation. Since 2018, nearly all
state and jurisdictional humanities councils have conducted or
supported programs as part of the Federation's Mellon-funded
``Democracy and the Informed Citizen'' national initiative, which
focuses on the role of journalism and the humanities in a democratic
society as well as on the ways citizens gather, assess, and share
information to make decisions about the futures of their communities
and nation.
In addition, councils provide programming on the history of women's
suffrage, including the impact on and contributions of marginalized
groups. From podcasts, such as Humanities New York's ``Amended''
program to film screenings and discussions like South Dakota
Humanities' ``Without a Whisper/Konnon;Kwe'' on the ``untold story of
the proud influence of Indigenous women on the beginning of the United
States women's rights movement,'' to interactive panels and lectures
such as Florida Humanities' ``100th Women's Suffrage Centennial: How
Women of Color Helped to Win the Vote'' and Connecticut Humanities'
``The Fight for Women's Suffrage in Connecticut'' that explores how
Connecticut women fought for, and against, the right to vote, councils
seek to explore America's complex stories and experiences of civic
participation. Ohio Humanities is one of those councils who is
currently offering civic reflection sessions through a special
initiative entitled, ``Justice Talking: The Meaning of Service,'' a
collaboration with ServeOhio and AmeriCorps to prompt ``thoughtful
dialogue about service, justice, and civic engagement.''
Serving Teachers & Students.--Support for our nation's educators
and students has never been more important. Prime Time Family Reading
has been a mainstay of Kentucky Humanities for many years. The program,
which brings together children and their parents face to face with a
scholar and storyteller, not only promotes reading but also introduces
children to books which deal with issues such as honesty, bigotry and
friendship. The Kentucky Humanities Book Festival is celebrating its
40th year, providing workshops, children's programs and special events
with both national authors and poets and hundreds of Kentucky writers.
Florida offers ``English for Families'' in partnership with the Orange
County Library System, a program that utilizes award-winning children's
books to engage the whole family. This leads to increases in English
language acquisition, inspires thought and conversation, promotes
critical thinking, and improves employment prospects and educational
performance.
Rural Development.--For years, the state and jurisdictional
humanities councils have focused programs on rural areas, often in
concert with the Smithsonian traveling exhibits. To date, the
humanities councils have been a large part of touring exhibitions, with
topics from American food to water to change in rural America, and have
served 1,600+ rural communities with an average population of 8,300.
Bringing these exhibits to small towns prompts excitement, but also
triggers a variety of programs and conversations that allow for the
serious exploration of the exhibit's topics.
Racial Equity and Social Justice.--Programs such as Alabama
Humanities Alliance's ``Why It Matters: Black Alabamians and The
Vote,'' explore race and electoral participation in America. Minnesota
Humanities Center partnered with Sweet Potato Comfort Pie to create
``How Can We Breathe,'' a four-part community engagement initiative
that amplifies the voices of African Americans through its programming.
Serving Native and Indigenous Populations.--Vermont Humanities is
increasing its engagement with indigenous Vermonters, with several
programs featuring Abenaki tribal members speaking on the importance of
storytelling, maintaining native languages, and addressing the present
day consequences of the Vermont Eugenics Movement in the1920s.
The Minnesota Humanities Center has also been active in reaching
and serving Indigenous populations in their state, educating
Minnesotans about the history and culture of the state's Indigenous
people through such programs as the award-winning traveling exhibit,
``Why Treaties Matter: Self Government in the Dakota and Ojibwe
Nations,'' and the ``Bdote Memory Map,'' a resource for teaching about
the Dakota people's relationship to the people of Minnesota.
Environmental Humanities Environmental humanities programs use
literature and history to make sense of the changing environmental
concerns facing Americans. From hiking trails to canoe trips, water to
forests, and sustainability to preservation, council programs address
our sense of place and our shared responsibility for the future of the
planet. Vermont Humanities will be hosting a conference this fall on
the impact of the extended fire season on human communities in the
western United States.
Healthcare and the Humanities.--Finally, councils are well
positioned to support the medical community and play a prominent role
in efforts to better position those in the field to deliver their
services as well as to help individuals and their families manage the
many aspects of their illnesses. Since 1997, when Maine Humanities
Council created and piloted Literature & Medicine: Humanities at the
Heart of Healthcare, a reading and discussion program for healthcare
workers, the program has been a hallmark effort for many councils,
including Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina,
South Dakota, and Vermont.
Maine and Vermont councils have also used the Literature & Medicine
program in veterans' hospitals and facilities. Ohio Humanities awarded
a grant to support ``Not Far From Me: Stories of Opioids and Ohio,''
which included the publication of an anthology of more than 50 first-
person accounts from addicts, their families, first responders, faith
leaders, social workers, teachers, medical professionals, community
leaders, and others impacted by opioids. This served as the basis for
community discussions.
In conclusion, we believe the state humanities councils have a
unique role moving our country forward. The humanities help the nation
understand who we are, where we have been, and how we might begin to
recover from the events of the past year. As the face of the humanities
in their local communities, the state and jurisdictional humanities
councils have the local and national networks to provide the programs
and tools necessary to bring people back together and begin our
collective healing.
In addition, the state councils share their own experiences and
programming with each other, creating a rich, innovative and varied
palate of public humanities options. Prime Time Reading and Literature
& Medicine are long-standing programs in many states. Mississippi and
Massachusetts recently partnered on a six-program series that explored
the historical and cultural connections between the seemingly different
states. People from both states as well as from around the country were
involved in panels and conversations on such topics as literature,
poetry, civil rights movement, school integration, coastal communities
and Blues music.
As Americans awaken to the fact that this pandemic is not a
``pause'' from our ``normal,'' but a new chapter that has and will
continue to transform our world in ways we must all adapt to and
wrestle with, humanities councils will best equip us to reimagine and
recommit us to what makes us human. In the coming year, councils will
gather their program participants together at newly configured in-
person events as well as continue to serve their growing virtual
audiences. They will create new civic education programs in the lead up
to the 250th anniversary of the nation. Most importantly, they will
respond to the crises of the present moment with lasting change and
help us reimagine not only how we learn, teach, love, work, mourn,
parent and partner, but also how we recommit ourselves to what we owe
each other.

[This statement was submitted by Phoebe Stein, President.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Chairman Merkley, and respected members of the Committee, I am
Kevin Dupuis, the Chairman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior
Chippewa. On behalf of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa,
I would like to thank you for inviting me to testify. We submit this
testimony to urge Congress to increase, or, at the very least preserve,
the federal funding levels for Indian programs.
As we talk about funding needs in Indian country, it is essential
to keep in mind that the problems that face communities nationwide are
far more severe for Indian communities, with tribes having far fewer
resources to address problems like substance abuse, domestic violence,
public safety, and homelessness. The Fond du Lac Band has worked, and
will continue to work, to find solutions to problems of this kind. With
seed money from federal funds, we have implemented innovative programs
and measures to provide health, education, social services, public
safety and other governmental services to our 4,200 members and the
more than 7,300 Indian people who live on and near our Reservation. For
example, Fond du Lac built the first-of-its-kind supportive housing
programs in Indian country, and the first such supportive housing for
Veterans. We have begun implementing best practices in health care,
using a range of programs and services to aid our people.
We are proud of what we have accomplished, but more remains to be
done. The investment of federal funds is key to that effort. It allows
us to use Band resources and attract private partners so we can provide
jobs, grow the local economy, educate our children, prevent crime, and
care for our elders and infirm. We urge Congress to continue to fund
these programs at least at the levels the President has requested.
BIA: Trust-Natural Resources Management.--There is nothing more
important than preserving and protecting the territories and resources
that our ancestors reserved for our people when they signed our
Treaties with the United States. The Fond du Lac Band is committed to
the management, conservation, and sustainability of the natural
resources of the Fond du Lac Reservation and within our Ceded
Territory, where we have Treaty rights to hunt, fish and gather. We
appreciate Congress's decision to provide a $35 million increase in
funding for BIA Trust-Natural Resources programs in FY 2021. We urge
you to provide full funding for Trust-Natural Resources Management in
FY 2022, including increased funding for Rights Protection and
Implementation which will allow us to protect, enhance, and restore
natural resources with our Reservation and Ceded Territory.
The Fond du Lac Reservation consists of 101,153 acres, including
forests, lakes and rivers that must be managed and protected for the
current and future generations. In addition, our Ceded Territory covers
portions of Upper Michigan, Northern Wisconsin, and North Central
Minnesota. The challenges to our natural resources across the region
are diverse and complex, from species restoration and reintroduction to
adaptation to climate change. But our members depend on our Treaty
rights to put food on the table and for ceremonial practices that serve
as the foundation for our culture. The stewardship of those natural
resources--through scientific study, resource management, and
enforcement of Band laws that regulate Tribal members who hunt, fish
and gather those resources--is critical and is also an important source
of employment for members.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).--We appreciate that Congress
has continued to provide federal funds for EPA, but we ask that funding
for EPA in FY 2022 be increased.
State and Tribal Assistances Grants (STAG).--We thank Congress for
providing STAG funding in FY 2021. We strongly urge Congress to
increase funding for this Program, which has not seen a substantive
increase in years, yet the Band's responsibilities continue to grow as
we work to protect our land, water and air in the face of increasing
pressures and obstacles.
Water Quality.--We have a robust federally-approved water quality
standards program. Given the current threats to water resources in our
region, we urge that Tribal Section 106 funding be doubled so that we
can do the work needed to protect our waters.
Air.--We have a long-standing air monitoring program that has faced
a steady decline in federal funding. As the impacts of climate change
continue to be felt in higher temperatures and more frequent heavy
precipitation events, both indoor and ambient air quality concerns
continue to impact Band members and their health. We request that air
quality program funding for tribes be increased.
Wetlands.--One-half of our reservation is made up of wetlands.
Proper management and restoration of this valuable resource is
impossible without adequate and consistent federal funding. We request
sustained wetland monitoring and protection program funding.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.--The Band fully supports this
initiative and asks that Congress maintain the $330 million level of
funding for this initiative. This initiative has broad--reaching
benefits to resources of importance for all stakeholders (state, tribal
and private) in the Great Lakes region. This funding helps support our
wildlife programs, including our ongoing wild rice and fisheries
stewardship and restoration efforts on the Reservation and in our Ceded
Territories.
BIA: Public Safety and Justice.--A significant part of protecting
our homeland is having a fully staffed and trained law enforcement
department. We appreciate Congress's decision to increase funding for
BIA's Public Safety and Justice, including funding to solve Missing and
Murdered Indigenous Women cold cases. The largest law enforcement
problems we face are due to opioids and other substance abuse problems.
Our law enforcement responds to a wide range of issues and calls, and
the demand increases each year.
We address law enforcement by a combination of tribal and available
federal funds and cooperative agreements with local law enforcement
agencies, but more funding is needed. To meet need, we should have 25
full-time officers, but currently we only have funding for 18. We also
have 2 administrative staff, but should have 2 more to ensure our
department can effectively operate. Funding is also needed for
training. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and with an increase in the drug
epidemic and related crimes, our officers need, but are not receiving,
vital training, including for dealing with an increase of people with
mental health issues. Budget constraints also restrict us from
replacing essential equipment like patrol vehicles, cameras, and
recorders.
Bureau of Indian Education.--With funding from the BIE and the
Department of Education, we operate the Fond du Lac Ojibwe School
serving an average of 220 children from pre-K through 12th grade. More
than 90% of our students come from very low-income households, and 96%
receive free or reduced-price lunch. We are slowly making progress in
improving the outcomes for our students. While the high school
graduation rates for American Indians in Minnesota is at 51%, we are
now at 59%, which is still far behind the state-wide rate of 81%. BIE
funding has never kept pace with need, which prevents us from providing
the educational services needed for our students. We urge Congress to
significantly increase federal funding for Indian education.
Indian Health Service.--We appreciate Congress's decision to
maintain funding for IHS at the FY 2020 levels. But Indians at Fond du
Lac, like Indians throughout the Nation, continue to face severe
disparities across a broad range of health issues, including due to the
COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid epidemic. We serve over 7,300 Indian
people at our clinics, but the current funding level meets only 33% of
our health care funding needs. To make progress in reducing the
disparities in Indian health, we strongly support the Administration's
$2.2 billion requested increase in funding for IHS programs, with the
top priorities given to Hospitals & Health Clinics; Purchased/Referred
Care; Mental Health; Alcohol & Substance Abuse; and Dental Health.
Expanded resources for treatment and community education capacity are
especially needed to combat the epidemic of drug abuse.
We support the Administration's proposal to provide advance
appropriations for Indian Health Service starting in FY 2023. We also
support the proposal to make both Contract Support Costs and the 105(l)
leasing funding mandatory. This is an important first step in making
all Indian Health Service funding mandatory. As many of my elders have
said, we prepaid for our health care and this funding should not be
subject to the discretionary appropriations process.
Miigwech. Thank you.

[This statement was submitted by Kevin R. Dupuis, Sr., Chairman.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Foundation for Resilient Societies
Dear Senators:
We are writing to express our strong support for full funding of
``Administration FY 2022 Request for USGS Geomagnetism Program to
Protect Critical Infrastructure Against Solar Storms.'' This request
would allow for an appropriation of $5,673,000 and 14 full-time
equivalent (FTE) positions for the USGS Geomagnetism Program to further
the magnetotelluric survey across the southern third of the United
States, add observatories, and fund continuing operation of
observatories. Each of these requests is critical to scientific
understanding of the effect of solar storms and associated geomagnetic
disturbance upon our nation's electric grid.
Geomagnetic disturbance caused by solar storms can cause cascading
collapse of electric grids. An example of this hazard occurred in March
1989 when a relatively small solar storm caused a blackout for the
entire province of Quebec in only 92 seconds.
Solar storms can also cause high voltage transformers in critical
locations to catch fire, melt down or explode. As a result, grid
restoration could be prevented until these transformers are replaced.
High voltage transformers could take 1-2 years to manufacture and are
largely produced abroad. Thus, without further action to understand and
monitor geomagnetic activity triggered by solar storms, the United
States could face long-term blackouts.
We appreciate your attention to this important appropriation for
better understanding of solar storm impacts on America's electric grid
and for monitoring solar activity.

Sincerely,

Thomas S. Popik, Chairman and President
Mary Lasky, Treasurer and Secretary
______

Prepared Statement of the Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee:

This testimony is submitted on behalf of the Friends of Alaska
National Wildlife Refuges, which was formed in 2005 to support all 16
Alaska National Wildlife Refuges. We appreciate the opportunity to
offer comments on the FY 2022 Interior Appropriations bill.
The Alaska Friends is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization whose
members reside primarily throughout the State of Alaska and in the
other 49 States. We work on a volunteer basis to assist the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service to accomplish its Congressionally mandated mission
for the 16 Alaska National Wildlife Refuges, which encompass 77 million
acres.
The Alaska Refuges serve many important functions for the people of
Alaska. They provide vital subsistence resources for its many Alaska
Natives and other rural residents. They offer extensive opportunities
for wildlife viewing, photography, hunting, fishing, environmental
education, and a wide variety of land and water recreation.
Furthermore, their natural habitats and extensive wildlife populations
provide essential opportunities for scientific studies of the changes
produced by our warming climate. Alaska is on the forefront of climate
change, whch is creating many challenges to the management and
maintenance of their natural values and productivity for the many
people and communities that depend on their resources.
The Alaska Friends works closely with 16 Alaska National Wildlife
Refuges to assist them in maintaining and enhancing the many resources
and other values to the Alaska community.
Overall, the National Wildlife Refuge System requires at least $900
million in annual Operations and Maintenance Funding to be considered
``full funding'', with all refuges staffed with adequate maintenance,
biological monitoring and management, outdoor recreation, law
enforcement, environmental education, and interpretation programs. We
request that you work towards that overall goal of $900 million in
annual funding by allocating $600 million in funding for Refuge System
Operations and Maintenance for FY 2022. This request of $600 million,
an increase of $112 million over FY 2011 appropriations, would greatly
assist our refuges. The 16 National NWRs would be able to hire urgently
needed staff, meet the increasing needs for adequate law enforcement,
maintain environmental education programs, and develop methods and
actions to mitigate the increasing effects of Alaska's rapidly warming
climate on habitat, fisheries, and wildlife.
The 16 Alaska National Wildlife Refuges comprise approximately 83%
of the lands in National Wildlife Refuge System, but they received only
10.4% of the FY 2021 budget for the Refuge System. Their $52.4 million
FY 2021 funding represented a long-term decrease of 10.4% in real
dollars relative to FY 2010 and is far less than needed to operate and
manage the vast system of magnificent Alaska National Wildlife Refuges.
We request that a substantial increase to $600 million in FY 2022 be
the first step in reaching the goal of $900 million full funding, which
would hopefully provide the opportunity for our 16 Alaska Refuges to
obtain the additional funds they need to manage and maintain these
national treasures.
Thank you for your consideration, and please feel free to contact
Dr. David C. Raskin, President of the Friends of Alaska National
Wildlife Refuges at [email protected].
______

Prepared Statement of the Friends of the Bill Williams River and Havasu
National Wildlife Refuges
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee:

This testimony is being submitted on behalf of the Friends of the
Bill Williams River and Havasu National Wildlife Refuges, which was
formed in 2012 to support the Lake Havasu National Wildlife Refuges
Complex. We appreciate the opportunity to offer comments on the FY 2022
Interior Appropriations bill. Our interest is in the Refuge System
Operations and Maintenance fund, which we respectfully request you fund
at $600 million in FY2022.
The Havasu National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1941 along
the lower Colorado River above the Parker Dam. It is roughly 38,000
acres and goes from Needles, CA south to Lake Havasu City, AZ. It
extends a total of 30 river miles and has 300 miles of shoreline. A
vast area to monitor and maintain. It is also part of the Pacific
Flyway--a major north-south route for migrating birds.
In 1993, the Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge was
designated as a separate NWR with 6,100 acres. This refuge holds one of
the last stands of naturally regenerated cottonwood--willow forest
along the lower Colorado River.
Now both the Havasu NWR and Bill Williams River NWR are considered
as the Lake Havasu National Wildlife Refuges Complex.
The complex is home to threatened and endangered species such as
the Southwest Willow Flycatcher, the Yuma Ridgway's Rail, Western
Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, Razorback Sucker, and the Northern Mexican garter
snake. There are many more species (including plants) that are
monitored but not mentioned here.
The Friends of the Bill Williams River and Havasu National Wildlife
Refuges was established as a non-profit, 501(c)(3) in 2012. Birders,
fishermen, hunters, kayakers, boaters and nature enthusiasts came
together to support and help with these two refuges in the Complex. At
least 100,000 people live within an hour's drive of either refuge. With
Lake Havasu located in between, parts of the refuges seem urban. This
requires maintenance and upgrades that have not been possible lately.
Since the two refuges are close to populated areas, they provide
opportunities for adults and for school children to learn. The Friends
group in partnership with the Refuge staff have provided opportunities
such as the Youth Duck Hunt, Teach-a-Child-to-Fish Day (in conjunction
with Pondhopper Nation, a non-profit), Friends and Family Fun Day,
Youth Bird Camp, as well as walking tours and school field trips.
Overall, the National Wildlife Refuge System requires at least $900
million in Operations and Maintenance Funding to be considered ``full
funding'', which all refuges staffed, with adequate maintenance,
biological, hunting, fishing, environmental education, and
interpretation programs. We ask that you work towards that overall goal
of $900 million in annual funding.
We request that this subcommittee allocate $600 million in funding
for the Refuge System Operations and Maintenance fund for FY 2022.
This request of $600 million, an increase of $97 million over FY
2021 appropriations, would greatly impact our refuge. The Lake Havasu
NWR Complex would begin plans to:

--Construct Nature trails in both Refuges
--Increase Maintenance staff
--Restore more habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife in
areas damaged by wildfire, invasive species and drought.
--Provide adequate Law Enforcement
--Plan and provide public education programs and activities for local
children
--Build a Visitor Center in Lake Havasu City for the Complex
--Build and maintain restroom facilities in high use areas
--Maintain fishing docks and boat launching areas in the Complex

Thank you for your consideration, and please feel free to contact
Jude Gilford, the President of the Friends of the Bill Williams River
and Havasu National Wildlife Refuges at: [email protected].
______

Prepared Statement of Friends of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge,
Inc.
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee:

This testimony is being submitted on behalf of the Friends of
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Inc. which was formed in 1987 to
support the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge,
Maryland. We appreciate the opportunity to offer comments on the FY
2022 Interior Appropriations bill.
we request that this subcommittee allocate $600 million in funding for
the refuge system operations and maintenance fund for fy 2022
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) was established in 1933
as a waterfowl sanctuary for birds migrating along the Atlantic Flyway.
It is home to an incredible amount of plant and animal diversity in its
three major habitats--forest, marsh and shallow water. The Refuge
contains one-third of Maryland's tidal wetlands, which makes an
ecologically important area within the state. These wetlands also
provide storm protection to lower Dorchester County, including the city
of Cambridge. Blackwater NWR is recognized as a ``Wetland of
International Importance'' by the Ramsar Convention and was named a
priority wetland in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. In
addition, the Refuge has been designated as an Internationally
Important Bird Area. Blackwater NWR is home to the largest natural
population of formerly endangered Delmarva peninsula fox squirrels and
is also home to the largest breeding population of American bald eagles
on the east coast, north of Florida. Blackwater NWR encompasses over
33,000 acres, including an area believed to be the birthplace of
Harriet Tubman.
The Friends of Blackwater NWR (FOB) assists the Refuge with its
environmental education, recreation, biological and wildlife
conservation programs in hopes of making the visitor experience the
best that it can be. Over the past year, visitation increased over 27%
to over 233,000 visitors! Along with volunteering, we provide annual
bus transportation and supplies for the Refuge environmental education
program for all 4th and 6th graders in Dorchester County's public
schools. FOB supports the maintenance of four Refuge hiking trails and
over 20 miles of water trails. FOB recently supported studies of deer
and bat populations on the Refuge and provided funds for tree planting
projects. We operate five web cameras overlooking a bald eagle nest,
two osprey nests and two waterfowl impoundments. FOB supports the
annual Eagle Festival, Kids Fishing Event, Junior Duck Stamp
Competition, and a scholarship program. In recent years, the Refuge has
sought support for other things out of the normal realm--like a mowing
contract, new gutters on the environmental education building, a
cleaning contract for the Visitor Center and Headquarters buildings,
and an intern for the Visitor Services program. In the 17 years I've
been volunteering at Blackwater NWR, I've watched the Refuge workforce
continue to shrink along with the budget. The backlog of maintenance
projects continues to grow. This is not the way to run the business of
taking care of our public lands.
While overall, the National Wildlife Refuge System requires at
least $900 million in Operations and Maintenance funding to be
considered ``full funding'', a $600 million allocation for FY 2022 will
go a long way and move us in the right direction to allow our Refuge
managers to take care of our public lands and wildlife in a responsible
manner.
Thank you for your consideration, and please feel free to contact:
Richard Abend, President of the Friends of Blackwater National Wildlife
Refuge, Inc., at 1111 Taylors Island Rd., Madison, MD 21648, email
[email protected].
______

Prepared Statement of the Friends of Eastern Neck
Chairwoman Pingree, Ranking Member Joyce, and Members of the
Subcommittee:

This testimony is being submitted on behalf of the Friends of
Eastern Neck, which was formed in 1997 to support the Eastern Neck
National Wildlife Refuge. We appreciate the opportunity to offer
comments on the FY 2022 Interior Appropriations bill. We request that
this subcommittee allocate $600 million in funding for the Refuge
System Operations and Maintenance fund for FY 2022.
Eastern Neck NWR is an island of 2800-acres off Maryland's Eastern
Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is an important waystation and winter
home for migratory waterfowl, as well as having a diverse woodland,
field and marsh environment and its own resident population of
wildlife. The Friends of Eastern Neck is a totally volunteer
organization with a dedicated board of directors and over 150
memberships. Friends' volunteers do projects for the Fish and Wildlife
Service, staff the Visitor Center and Bookstore on the Refuge, and
maintain what many consider to be one of the best butterfly gardens in
Maryland.
During my time volunteering in the Eastern Neck NWR Visitor Center
I have met a diverse group of people from all over the world. These
visitors are important to the Refuge, but also to a small town near the
Refuge. This is Rock Hall, which is home to a community of waterman.
The seafood industry in the Chesapeake Bay has been adversely affected
by pollution, climate change and regulations attempting to conserve the
fish, crab and oyster populations. The closure of restaurants during
the Covid-19 pandemic has further devastated the market for these
products. The 100,000 visitors a year to the Eastern Neck Refuge have
become critical to the economy of the town as well as to that of Kent
County. There is an active boating season in the summer that brings
visitors, but the Refuge keeps visitors arriving to view the birds that
winter there. The Eastern Neck Refuge has been blatantly understaffed
and underfunded by the Fish and Wildlife Service, even though In the
past the refuge had five staff members. The situation got so bad that
from 2018 to 2020 there were no resident FWS staff on the island. In
2018 the FWS Regional Administration suggested ``shuttering'' the
Refuge. It was only after intense lobbying by the Friends of Eastern
Neck, community outrage, pressure from the citizens of Kent County and
help from Senator Chris Van Hollen that a position was opened and a
solitary biologist took up his post on the island at the end of 2020.
The scientific program, educational programs and maintenance have
all declined. By the time of the Covid lockdown in 2020 all outreach
programs by FWS had ended, and the annual deer and youth turkey hunts
were all that remained. The ``Winter Bird Walks'', which continued,
were run solely by Friends volunteers. Because of the lack of funding
FWS has become dependent on the Friends for funding of maintenance
activities including the rebuilding of observation areas such as the
Tundra Swan Boardwalk, repairs to the roof of the Visitor's Center and
paying for the painting of the staff housing on the Refuge. Signage and
interpretive signs which have deteriorated over the years need
replacement. Eastern Neck NWR is emblematic of the funding issues
facing the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Overall, the National Wildlife Refuge System requires at least $900
million in Operations and Maintenance Funding to be considered ``full
funding'', with all refuges staffed, with adequate maintenance,
biological, hunting, fishing, environmental education, and
interpretation programs. We ask that you work towards that overall goal
of $900 million in annual funding.
This request of $600 million for FY 2022, an increase of $112
million over FY 2021 appropriations, would greatly impact our refuge.
The Eastern Neck NWR would be able to hire staff, begin to address the
maintenance backlog, and restore outreach and education programs. Most
importantly it would secure the scientific program and fund invasive
species control beyond the barebones efforts that are at present.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony in support of
increasing FWS funding so that our precious natural resources are
protected and that the mission of the Fish and Wildlife Service can be
sustained.
Please feel free to contact me, Cecelia Trainor by email at
[email protected].
______

Prepared Statement of the Friends of Hart Mountain National Antelope
Refuge
Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee:

This testimony is submitted on behalf of Friends of Hart Mountain
National Antelope Refuge (FOHM), a nonprofit organization founded in
2003 with a mission of supporting the conservation purposes of our
namesake refuge. We appreciate the opportunity to offer input to the FY
2022 Interior Appropriations bill. Your deliberations can address a
critical need and opportunity to conserve imperiled species, enhance
wildlife corridors and protect cultural resources on millions of acres
of public lands by increasing funding for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (Service) to administer the National Wildlife Refuge System to
$600 million, including $15.7 million for the Conservation Planning
subaccount.
The National Wildlife Refuge System is the only network of federal
lands and waters dedicated specifically to wildlife conservation. The
guiding purpose and historic legacy of the System are vital to ensuring
that imperiled species and diverse wildlife populations in North
America are secure and thriving. Not only is the System essential to
biodiversity conservation and climate resilience, but it also provides
innumerable recreational and educational opportunities for wildlife
watchers, sportsmen, scientists and outdoor enthusiasts. Public use of
our refuges supports more than 35,000 jobs nationwide and generates
billions of dollars in local, sustainable economic revenue.
Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, located in the northern
Great Basin, is an exceptional unit of the Refuge System. Established
by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936, Hart Mountain has become a
success story in conserving and restoring wildlife habitat and
biodiversity in the Sagebrush Sea. The more than 270-thousand-acre
refuge is home to the fleet-footed pronghorn, colorful native fishes,
melodious songbirds, rocky draws filled with quaking aspen, resplendent
desert wildflowers and serves as a vital stronghold for the charismatic
but imperiled greater sage-grouse. Within its boundaries, Hart Mountain
also harbors a rich history of human habitation, preserving ancient
petroglyphs and indigenous artifacts. The refuge attracts thousands of
visitors annually to enjoy an array of recreational offerings,
generating sustainable annual revenue to surrounding communities.
Based in southeastern Oregon, FOHM invests substantial resources
into educating and promoting Hart Mountain Refuge to a public
increasingly interested in Oregon's high desert and the wildlife that
depend on it. The organization works closely with the Service on a
variety of planning and management activities to protect and restore
this vital wildlife reserve.
Proper conservation and maintenance of public values on Hart
Mountain and the rest of the 850-million-acre Refuge System requires at
least $900 million annually for the Operations and Maintenance Fund.
This amount would provide ``full funding'' for the Service to
administer all 568 refuges with sufficient staff, adequate conservation
planning, comprehensive management, and provision of biological,
hunting, fishing, environmental education, and interpretation programs.
We urge you to work towards this long-term goal of $900 million in
annual funding.
This year, we request that your Subcommittee allocate $600 million
for the Refuge System Operations and Maintenance Fund for FY 2022. As
part of this amount, we urge you to allocate $15.7 million for
Conservation Planning (account 1265) to support planning on national
wildlife refuges. Both the $600 million overall and the $15.7 million
request are an amount nearly equivalent to the sum appropriated for
Refuge Operations and Maintenance and Conservation Planning,
respectively, in FY 2010, when adjusted for inflation. Both would
greatly benefit Hart Mountain Refuge.
Planning for the National Wildlife Refuge System has fallen behind
schedule, depriving managers, partners and the public of the latest
science and best practices for conserving wildlife, providing for
habitat connectivity and climate resiliency, and welcoming the American
public to our national wildlife refuges. Updating the 27-year-old
management plan for Hart Mountain Refuge (which even predates the
National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997) should be a
priority for how it could advance biodiversity protection and climate
adaptation across a vast and fragile landscape, while supporting
continued public enjoyment and local economic benefits derived from
this iconic refuge. In fact, the Service began revising the Hart
Mountain Refuge plan in 2012 as the top priority for planning in U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1, but the effort was deferred due to
budget and other constraints.
Updating the management plan for Hart Mountain would help ensure
this refuge contributes to national conservation goals by continuing to
provide for its important natural resources, while meeting the
challenges posed by climate change, supporting habitat connectivity,
protecting cultural resources and bolstering sustainable economies in
the region.
Thank you for your consideration of our request, and for your
important work on the Subcommittee. Please feel free to contact me at
[email protected] or Jesse Laney, President of the Board
of Directors of Friends of Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, at
[email protected] if you have any questions.
______

Prepared Statement of the Friends of Heinz Refuge
Dear Chair Merkley and Ranking Member Murkowski:

This provides testimony on behalf of the Board of Directors and
Members of the Friends of the Heinz Refuge (FOHR), which was formed in
1997, to support the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. We appreciate
the opportunity to offer comments on the FY 2022 Interior
Appropriations bill.
The FOHR is a non-profit charitable organization to work in
partnership with the Refuge. The Refuge and FOHR work to connect people
with nature, and promote a culture of environmental stewardship through
education for all that also reaches children from low-income
communities, outreach, service, and nature-based recreation for the
conservation of wildlife and habitat.
The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum Marsh (JHNWR) is
in the nexus of the Delaware River, Schuylkill River, and Tinicum
Marsh--the largest remaining tidal marsh in Pennsylvania. It provides
key environmental services by absorbing water during storm surges,
which otherwise would make the area completely unlivable, and which
would otherwise flood the Philadelphia International Airport. It also
provides cleaner air, watershed protection, maintenance and
stabilization of ecological processes, and enhancement of biodiversity.
It provides safe forage and breeding areas for migrating birds along
the Atlantic Flyway, and other birds and wildlife, such as this year's
breeding eagles and owls, who call it home. The increased funding from
FY 2022 appropriations would greatly impact our Refuge by allowing them
to hire needed staff, repair infrastructure damage from storms, restore
the confluence wetlands of the Delaware River watershed, and build out
their environmental education programs.
The ten miles of hiking trails in the Refuge remained open for
outdoor nature experiences for visitors during the covid-19 pandemic,
which was so severely needed and for which we are all very grateful.
People flocked in record numbers to the Refuge during the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, about 350,000 people visited the Refuge in 2017,
and provided environmental and natural resource goods and services to
people in the categories of:

1. Maintenance and conservation of environmental resources,
services, and ecological processes,
2. Protection of natural resources such as fish, wildlife, and
plants;
3. Protection of cultural and historical sites and objects;
4. Provision of educational and research opportunities; and
5. Outdoor and wildlife-related recreation.
in summary
Overall, the National Wildlife Refuge System requires at least $900
million in Operations and Maintenance Fundings to be considered ``full
funding'', for Refuge staff to provide adequate maintenance, and
biological, hunting, fishing, environmental education, and
interpretation programs. We ask that you work towards that overall goal
of $900 million in annual funding. The Refuge System needs an increase
to at least $600 million, and without it, it leaves the system in a
critical situation as the Refuges become open to tragic loss of native
plant and animal species, wetlands become further degraded, pollution
builds up on both land and water, and staff morale degrades.
During the frequent and severe hurricanes and tropical storms of
the past few years, the JHNWR sustained major damage to its hard
structures, while the plantings survived, showing the importance of
natural processes in becoming resilient to climate change. This refuge
has geothermal facilities, and solar panels that were undamaged and
also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service
work efficiently, consistently, and untiringly in their mission to
provide all of this to the American people.
However, their efforts require more support from Congress to enable
them to recover from the damage caused by increasingly intense storms,
because at the same time, they are stabilizing the region in the face
of these storms. The Refuge System has accumulated (1) needs for
repairs from storms and heavy public usage, and (2) pro-active work to
become more resilient to climate change. They have been undestaffed and
undermaintained, and are desperately in need of funding. The requested
large increase in funding is critical to the health and capabilities of
the Refuge System, and retention of staff.
Economically, the JHNWR also makes local contributions through
economic output to resident and non-resident visitors, jobs, job
income, and state and local tax revenue (cf The Economic Contributions
of Recreational Visitation at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at
Tinicum, May 2019, Div. of Economics, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.)
Wildlife refuges are economic engines for their communities, yet
the biggest challenge facing the Refuge System is a lack of funding.
Each Refuge requires tailored management to protect its rich and
diverse wildlife habitat, but faces a stark lack of staff. Since
FY2010, when the budget was the same ($503 million) as it is today in
FY2021, 3,500 staffers worked to maintain and protect the Refuge
System. Today, that number is under 2,500, an enormous 30% loss in
capacity.
Due to years of low budget allocations, the funding gap has
degraded critical wildlife habitat and imperiled important species. The
number of wage grade staff have declined by 50% in the last 20 years to
a level of just 500. These staff move the water, maintain the roads,
and support all the infrastructure involved in Refuge management.
Without them, roads are not repaired, trails are lost, wetlands do not
receive the necessary water to grow food for migratory birds, invasive
species management is neglected, and buildings (fishing piers, bridges,
etc.) fall into disrepair.
Refuge staff are working with escalating urgency to try to
compensate for the lack of staffing, maintenance, and operations
support, as they are incredibly stoic and are dedicated to their
purpose with a great deal of grit. However, those of us who support the
Refuges, can see the desperate situations they are in.
Thank you for your consideration, and please feel free to contact
the President of the FOHR.
Sincerely, on behalf of President Jaclyn Rhoads and the full FOHR
Board, Carol L. Armstrong, Board Secretary
______

Prepared Statement of Friends of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
Members of the Committee:

This testimony is being submitted on behalf of the Friends of
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), which was formed in 1999 to
support Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. We appreciate the
opportunity to offer comments on the FY 2022 Interior Appropriations
bill.
I serve as president of the Friends of Malheur NWR, which has a
membership base of over 700 and over 13,000 fans following our social
media pages. This large, 187,000-acre, very rural and remote Refuge is
very important to the American people and to the fish and wildlife it
supports. It is one of the ``jewels'' of the refuge system and it
provides multiple environmental services that are of high value to the
American people.
Overall, the National Wildlife Refuge System requires at least $900
million in Operations and Maintenance (O&M) funding to be considered
``fully funded'', which would allow all refuges to be fully staffed,
with adequate maintenance, biological, hunting, fishing, environmental
education, and interpretation programs. We ask that you work towards
that overall goal of $900 million in annual funding. We request that
this subcommittee allocate at least $600 million in funding for the
Refuge System Operations and Maintenance fund for FY 2022. Much more
funding is needed which would better serve the public and would yield
net economic benefits.
Fully funding the needs of the National Wildlife Refuge System is a
very good investment. The 2019 Banking on Nature Report--a survey of
the economic values of refuge visitation, estimated that ``In FY 2017,
53.6 million people visited refuges. Their spending generated $3.2
billion of sales in local economies. As this spending flowed through
the economy, over 41,000 people were employed and $1.1 billion in
employment income was generated.'' The report also shows that in
FY2017, Malheur NWR supported 210,340 visits which generated
$30,679,300 in economic benefits and supported $8,261,800 in employment
income. Money spent on National Wildlife Refuges is a fantastic
investment for the American People!
As a refuge Friends organization, we have witnessed the effects
that years of underfunding have had on our National Wildlife Refuge
System, especially at Malheur NWR. Underfunding has caused a huge
maintenance backlog there which has reduced the area of wetlands that
can be provided for migratory birds, therefore limiting the ability of
the refuge to fulfill its mission to benefit wildlife. It also has
caused cutbacks in visitor services and degradation of visitor
facilities, lowering the quality of visitor experiences at this jewel
of the Refuge System. Malheur National Wildlife Refuge staff is down to
only 11 permanent full-time equivalents (FTEs) from a full workforce of
30 FTEs. Also, as you should be aware, Malheur NWR was severely
impacted by the effects of the illegal occupation of refuge
headquarters in 2016 and the severe damage done to the facilities on
the refuge. The repair costs of several million dollars took funding
away from the Refuge System, further setting back progress on meeting
the needs of refuges. Our organization donates approximately 10,000
hours of volunteer service to Malheur annually; however, our volunteer
force cannot meet all the unfunded needs of this vast 187,000-acre
refuge.
This pattern of chronic underfunding is not sustainable. Despite
the hard work of our volunteers, volunteer efforts cannot equal the
knowledge and expertise of FWS staff. Our request of $600 million for
the Refuge System's O&M accounts will allow the Refuge System to make
up its more than 400 staff position lost since FY11, including those at
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
This request of $600 million, an increase of $112 million over FY
2011 appropriations, would greatly benefit our refuge and the
economically depressed local community. Malheur NWR would be able to
hire more staff to meet its mission and purpose and to restore wetland
vitality, repair damaged infrastructure needed to manage wetlands,
build out our environmental education programs, and further engage the
broad collaborative partnership Malheur is involved with in the local
community to improve wetlands and wildlife habitat conditions.
Thank you for your consideration, and please feel free to contact
me, Gary Ivey, the President, of the Friends of Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge at [email protected] (web page:
MalheurFriends.org).
______

Prepared Statement of the Friends of the Mid-Columbia River Wildlife
Refuges
Chairwoman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee:

This testimony is being submitted on behalf of the Friends of the
Mid-Columbia Wildlife Refuges. Our organization was formed in 2001 to
support the 7 separate refuges and one national monument in our area
that are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. We thank you
for your support of the National Wildlife Refuge System, and would like
to request an increase in funding for Refuge System Operations and
Maintenance to $600 million in FY2022.
All of our activities are done to support work of our local US Fish
and Wildlife Service personnel. We provide opportunities for people to
connect with nature through projects, programs and events. Consistent
with what many psychologists have observed, our organization feels that
interacting with nature produces more well-rounded and healthy
individuals, be they adult or child. We also feel that the resources
within the Refuges in our region, and the activities of the Refuge
staff, provide this interaction for many in our community.
Our region, like others, has been greatly affected by the pandemic
and mandated isolation. During this time, we have noted that many
people have been visiting the Mid-Columbia Refuges not just to hunt,
but simply to walk or observe wildlife. We have had an annual
visitation of 150,000 including 30,000 hunt visits Despite this heavy
use, the 4 refuges of the Mid-Columbia Refuges have lost 20% of their
staff over the past 2 years with no funding to replace them. Our local
refuges have become a much needed refuge for people as well as
wildlife, and our bi-county health district has strongly encouraged
these activities as a way of coping with the isolation and depression
associated pandemic restrictions.
Recent development and construction in our area has resulted in the
loss of much valuable habitat and similar issues on a national level
are resulting in a reduction in the population of many species. Our
Refuges provide habitat for hundreds of thousands of waterfowl,
endangered salmon, and rare/declining species including the burrowing
owl, long-billed curlew, and ferruginous hawk. It is our feeling that
the Refuge system can continue to play a role in turning around
national trends but if we do not act now, we will lose much that we
hold precious and valuable.
Friends of the Mid-Columbia River Wildlife Refuges are proud to
have worked closely with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff on many
projects, including:

--Remediation of critical habitat for both migratory and residential
birds, many large and small mammals, and a plethora of other
species. This is critical because, as noted above, our region
is undergoing very fast growth with the habitat loss
characteristic of such rapid development.
--Prior to the pandemic, we worked with Refuge staff on guided field
trips aimed at providing opportunities for people to view,
photograph, study, research and learn about the flora and fauna
of the Mid-Columbia Refuges. While many programs were for
adults, a good number were tailored to the age group of
visiting school children.
--We have helped Refuge staff with trail maintenance, increasing
accessibility for walking (with disabled access), hiking on
soft trails, biking, horse-riding, kayaking and canoeing. These
and associated activities allow many local residents of all
ages to get outdoors for exercise and to explore a world of
wildlife while doing so.
--Our organization and Refuge staff have had `citizen science'
projects that support biologists studying local fauna and
flora, with our members often being on hand to answer questions
from the public and contact for assistance
--In conjunction with a wildlife rehabilitation facility in Oregon,
we have had programs that educate the public about returning
injured wildlife to their natural environment by releasing them
on our Refuges.
--Because many of the visitors are from our region, our Refuges offer
fishing and hunting opportunities relatively close to home thus
obviating the need to drive long distances for outdoor
recreational activities. This reduction in drive-time supports
the State of Washington's goal to reduce its carbon footprint.

We agree with the National Wildlife Refuge Association which
estimates that at least $900 million is needed for full funding and
that supporting the 2022 Refuge System Operations and Maintenance Fund
at $600 million is the first step to reaching that long term goal. This
increase over the FY 2021 appropriation would have a strong positive
impact for the Mid-Columbia Refuges by allowing them to fill vacant
staff positions, to continue with much needed habitat restoration and
to support their many environmental education programs.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony. Please feel free
to contact our organization at [email protected]

[This statement was submitted by Carl Berkowitz, Secretary.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Friends of Midway Atoll National Wildlife
Refuge
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee:

This testimony is being submitted on behalf of the Friends of
Midway Atoll NWR, which was formed in 1999 to support the Midway Atoll
National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial
(MANWR). We appreciate the opportunity to offer comments on the FY 2022
Interior Appropriations bill.
Located approximately halfway between Honolulu and Tokyo on the far
northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, Midway Atoll forms part
of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands Important Bird Area (IBA), designated
as such by BirdLife International because of its seabirds and endemic
land birds. The atoll is a critical habitat in the central Pacific
Ocean which includes breeding habitat for 17 seabird species. Midway
Atoll is host to the world's largest albatross colony, including over
70% of the world's nesting population of the Laysan albatross and
almost one third of the world's Black-footed Albatrosses. In breeding
season there can regularly be over a million albatross nesting on the
Refuge's 2-1/2 square miles of land.
Midway Atoll is not only home for the Laysan and Black-footed
albatross but for other rare and endangered species as well, such as
the Laysan Teal, green sea turtles, spinner dolphins, and the
critically endangered Hawaiian monk seal (the most endangered marine
mammal found wholly in US waters). Since 2011 the islands of Midway
have also been the only US location where successful nesting of the
critically endangered Short-tailed albatross has occurred. The
surrounding marine seascape also is unique, with coral reefs that are
home to a high percentage of endemic fish species.
Midway is perhaps best known for the pivotal role it played in a
June 1942 naval battle that turned the tide of World War II in the
Pacific and was one of the most significant naval battles in our human
history. The battle is commemorated by the Battle of Midway National
Memorial that was established in 2000. The U.S. Navy recognized the
Battle of Midway as one of the two most significant dates in naval
history. The Memorial was established so that the heroic courage and
sacrifice of those who fought against overwhelming odds to win an
incredible victory will never be forgotten.
Being halfway between the mainland US and Asia, commercial air
carriers (and their US based manufacturers) rely on Midway's existing
FAA approved runway as an emergency diversion point. Henderson Airfield
on the Refuge is certified as emergency diversion point for ETOPS
(Extended Range Twin Engine Operations) operations.
The need to maintain an operational airfield along with the
designation as a National Memorial (with no additional funds for the
latter) places an unusual burden on the USFWS. MANWR is like no other
Refuge in the US, where in addition to its normal charge of conserving,
protecting, and enhancing the flora and fauna, the USFWS staff on this
refuge is also responsible for maintaining the historic structures and
managing for the Battle of Midway National Memorial, all while
operating Henderson Field to FAA standards. In addition, MANWR because
of its existing runway, is also the only true entryway (window) into
the largest contiguous fully protected conservation area under the U.S.
flag, the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (PMNM).
Importantly, PMNM, is inscribed as a mixed (natural and cultural) World
Heritage Site by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization's (UNESCO) and is the only designated mixed World Heritage
site in the US. Finally, the high number of endangered or threatened
species living at MANWR makes initiating and completing just about any
project on the Refuge much more expensive often times due to Federal
endangered species regulations and concerns.
Despite inflation and aging infrastructure, overall funding for
MANWR has been unchanged for the past decade. This in part, has
resulted in a long-term inability of the USFWS to adequately address
many of the refuge's infrastructure needs including needs of some of
the historical buildings. Over the years flat budgets have led to
increasing deferred maintenance backlogs on many facilities and
structures on the refuge, and since November 2012 a cessation of the
public visitor program.
Overall, the National Wildlife Refuge System requires at least $900
million in Operations and Maintenance Funding to be considered at
``full funding'', which allows all refuges to be staffed and with
adequate funds for maintenance, biological, hunting, fishing,
environmental education, and interpretation programs. We ask that you
work towards that overall goal of $900 million in annual funding.
We request that this subcommittee allocate $600 million in funding
for the Refuge System Operations and Maintenance fund for FY 2022.
This request of $600 million, an increase of $112 million over FY
2011 appropriations, would greatly impact our refuge. The Midway Atoll
NWR and Battle of Midway National Monument would be able to hire needed
staff positions that are now vacant, begin to address the deferred
maintenance backlog, and potentially reestablish a public visitation
program allowing Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Battle of
Midway National Memorial and Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument
to again be accessible to the American people.
Finally, Midway Atoll NWR along with this country's 567 wildlife
refuges are a national treasure. They provide clean air and water, a
haven for wildlife, and a place for people to connect with nature
Thank you for your consideration, and please feel free to contact
Wayne Sentman, the President of the Friends of Midway Atoll NWR at
[email protected].
______

Prepared Statement of the Friends of Neal Smith NWR, Prairie City, Iowa
Chairwoman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee:

This testimony is being submitted by Board Member, James Johnson,
Friends of Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, Prairie City, Iowa.
history and mission
The Walnut Creek National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1990 by an
act of Congress primarily through the efforts of Congressman Neal
Edward Smith, Democrat, Iowa, 4th and 5th districts, an
environmentalist with family roots in farming. The land was destined by
its owners, Redfield Electric, to become a nuclear power plant but
public opinion following nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island and
Chernobyl together with geologic studies coalesced opinion that it was
not a good idea. Congressman Smith, hearing the land was to be sold,
found funding for the initial purchase of 3,000 acres and the land
became the fifth national wildlife refuge in Iowa
In 1997, the name of the Refuge was changed to Neal Smith National
Wildlife Refuge in honor of Congressman Smith. This year, in March, Mr.
Smith celebrated his 101st birthday and he, as health permits, remains
active in the affairs of the Refuge and the Friends organization
supporting the Refuge. That same year, 1997, the 40,000 sq. foot
Prairie Learning Center which houses a visitor center, displays,
education laboratories, classrooms, a theater and the refuge staff was
opened to the public. The Neal Smith Refuge with a congressionally--
defined boundary containing approximately 11,000 acres is home to the
largest contiguous, public, tallgrass restoration effort in the United
States. Nearly 6,500 acres have been returned to tallgrass prairie, the
threatened oak savanna and wet sedge meadows. NSNWR is classified as an
urban refuge being just 13 miles from the Des Moines metroplex of some
15 cities and a population exceeding 750,000. Neal Smith NWR has as its
mission to actively protect, restore, reconstruct and manage the
diverse native ecosystems of tallgrass prairie, oak savanna and sedge
meadow and to develop a citizenry that through environmental education
understands the importance of conservation and our nation's natural
resources.
tallgrass prairie value
So why reconstruct a tallgrass prairie? Both agriculture fields and
prairies are valuable commodities. Tallgrass prairies were the
environments in which our central prairie state's livelihoods developed
from the 1840s for a hundred years or more. The prairie remnants and
restorations preserve the natural, cultural, and historical
environments in which many of our fathers and grandfathers and families
grew up. Historically and traditionally, Native Americans relied on
prairie plants for food, medicine, shelter and clothing. Bison bison,
the American megafauna species and National mammal, numbered in the 40s
of millions and were an important source of food, tools and clothing.
European-American settlers learned much about these life supporting
attributes of prairies from the Native Americans but brought their own
ways and means forever changing the landscape, the flora, and the
wildlife existing thereupon.
So to, from research, we know the prairie can continue to benefit
mankind. The deep root systems, reaching depths of fifteen feet and
more below the surface, anchor soils helping to prevent erosion. Brome
and native, but invasive, canary grass monocultures, commonly planted
as buffers along roadsides and streams, are less efficient than native
prairie in erosion prevention and do not provide a habitat for
diversity and abundance of wildlife. The deep roots of prairie plants
act as filters, absorbing agriculture runoff nutrients to improve water
quality downstream. Research studies initiated at Neal Smith NWR have
demonstrated that strips of prairie plants separating agriculture
fields and impeding surface runoff reduce nitrates and phosphates
leaving the fields by over 90% relative to the typical brome and canary
grass buffer strips planted as study controls. Prairies are efficient
carbon storage and oxygen production entities. They build up quality
soils and provide habitat for wildlife. People enjoy the colorful
beauty of the prairie landscape while participating in outdoor
activities such as nature photography, hunting, and wildlife
observation. Prairies serve as the homes for pollinator species. These
species enable a 12 billion dollar agricultural industry in the USA.
Also, the 400-500 tallgrass prairie plants species provide a vast set
of genes from which we may be able to derive new medicines, improve
plant growth characteristics and yields, or even develop entirely new
products for mankind.
friends of neal smith nwr
The supporting Friends organization formed in 1992 in support of
the Walnut Creek National Wildlife Refuge, near Prairie City, Iowa. The
Friends of Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, consisting of 267
members, supports the mission goals and objectives of the Refuge with
programs, activities, education, human resources, and with a coalition
of partners we purchase and hold land within the projected Refuge
boundaries and affect easements on lands adjacent to the Refuge
boundaries. Our effort and that of the Refuge may be stated as the
attempt to restore fields of corn and soybeans into tallgrass prairie
that existed in Iowa in the 1840s before settlements arrived and modern
farming modified the landscape. In the entire tallgrass prairie region
of the United States just 0.1% of native tallgrass prairie remains yet
it was responsible for the creation of the world's most productive crop
lands and the multi-billion dollar industry that agriculture is today.
The Friends mission is to bring together the public and a thriving
wildlife refuge valued by all. Our vision as Friends is to bring this
story of the Prairie to as many people as possible. To this end we
create programs, host speakers, participate in partner events, lead
interpretive walks, raise funds through memberships and events, design
and participate in workdays, serve as teachers, support education of
students, create curriculum, seek grants, identify and purchase lands
for the FWS, provide academic scholarships, commission research
studies, support Refuge interns, support community projects, assist
with plantings and seed collections, maintain a Prairie Point Nature
bookstore and serve as hosts for the 250,000 yearly visitors. We
support children's education through grants for busing that bring
nearly 8,000 school children to the Refuge each year. Volunteers
provide approximately 15,000 yearly service hours to Refuge operations
but it is never enough to accomplish needed, ongoing projects. With the
recent FWS budget cut backs, the Friends have supported Refuge goals
with purchases of seeds, supplies and equipment for the development and
management of areas. But we can do only so much as our Friends budget
has been severely curtailed due to the pandemic. The two principal
sources of income, our Prairie Point Nature store and memberships and
donations have been deeply affected by the pandemic. Yet the overall
need for our service has drastically increased because Neal Smith NWR
has had an influx of over 92,000 more visitors than the previous year
when 250,000 visitors use the tours and trail system.
challenges and needs
Staff
At one point NSNWR had a full time staff of twelve with another
twelve student interns provided by funds from the Friends. Today, there
are just seven full time staff and no interns to meet the mission,
goals and objectives of the Refuge. Adequate funding is critically
important for this restoration project. Just one refuge operations
staff member exists to maintain infrastructure and support habitat
management. He cannot keep up with needs. Visitor services have had
critical needs for staff for several years. With the estimated 340,000
visitors in 2020 and maintenance, infrastructure and services being
just a shadow of what they have been, we are desperate. The Refuge
needs to have the twelve staff persons and several contiguous years of
full funding to begin to achieve the objectives in the NSNWR 15 year
Comprehensive Plan begun in 2013.
Burn group
Native and non-native invasive plant species are a critical threat
to prairie restoration projects. Chemicals, selective mowing and burns
are the principal means to control invasives and support native prairie
species. NSNWR has invasives that are best controlled by burns. In
fact, about one fourth of the restored acres (2,000) need to be burned
each year. NSNWR does not have a Burn Team and the Regional burn unit
is usually unavailable during opportune times. We have brought Burn
Units from other regions but the costs and scheduling are prohibitive
and difficult, respectively. A second Regional mobile Burn Team with
equipment would make prairie burns more effective as they could be
scheduled in the spring or fall. There have, as of this writing, been
no burns since the fall of 2019 and the invasives such as black locust
and willow along with the lespedeza sericea species are being found in
many areas. This is tragic. Funds for the return of prescribed burns to
an adequate level are critical in establishment of prairies and
controlling invasive species.
Roads
The gravel roads through the prairie are in need of repair
especially after each winter when ruts make some spots unpassable and
even dangerous. County roads are maintained by county equipment but at
the Refuge roads see much more service and require more maintenance.
New gravel is needed and equipment is needed to spread and move gravel
to the road crowns. Funding for agreements with counties increasing
repair and maintenance for roads is needed but is nonexistent.
Bison
Diversity of the American National Animal, Bison bison, requires a
breeding/husbandry program for the approximately 35,000 genetically
pure animals remaining. This is accomplished through multiple federal,
state and other pasturing sites and transport of appropriate animals to
minimize inbreeding. NSNWR is one of these pasturing sites and
participates in the Bison program with approximately 50--66 bison on
800 acres. In support of the program, plans to increase the acreage to
1,600 acres holding 100-110 bison have developed but are on hold
because of costs. High tension wire fencing costs estimated at $100,000
per mile not including installation have made this improvement
impossible under the current budgeting situation. The Friends have not
found a grant resource or have not been successful in developing
partnership funding for the needed support.
Service/Education
Visitor services are the heart and soul of the Refuge. Four staff
members and four interns together with volunteer teachers were employed
in visitor services to teach, educate, develop curriculum, answer
visitors' questions, to plan and arrange meetings and group visits, and
develop plans to bring the nature and scope of the Refuge to the eyes
of the public. Visitor Services, now, has only two positions, there are
no interns, and volunteers from the Friends provide much of the visitor
interactions. The Friends provide six or more educational programs
during the year and the Refuge visitor services created additional
programs while hosting 60 to 150 school classroom visits involving
8,000 children on a yearly basis. Many volunteers were involved in
these activities. Interpretive hikes and classroom sessions were a
major and very well appreciated activity developed through Visitor
Services. Community outreach was a vigorous part of Visitor Services.
Education is a major objective in the Refuge's 15 year Comprehensive
Plan. Educational objectives in the Plan will not be met without
continuous and adequate funding. After Covid-19 the Friends group and
volunteers will again do what they can, smoothing out the
inconsistencies and gaps and providing financial support, but
volunteers and part-time staff are not a sustainable model for the
NSNWR or the Refuge system's needs.
Prairie Learning Center
The Prairie Learning Center is the focus of the Refuge and contains
education, administrative, and visitor information and displays. It is
twenty five years old and its needs are many. HVAC is a continuous
problem, rain exposes many roof leaks, communication links are
problematic, water and plumbing issues create unusable restrooms, and
the classrooms, and teaching laboratory have ancient or non-existent
teacher support equipment. The 12,000 sq. feet of displays have not
been updated in 25 years. The Friends looked into a major display
update and found that 1.2 million dollars would be required for
significant display improvements. An outdoor amphitheater with seating
for 250-300 has been on the list of needs for eight years.
Land Acquisition
Neal Smith NWR boundary encloses about 8,500 acres and with
purchase of 2,500 acres could achieve its defined boundaries. Because
of shortfalls in the FWS budget, land, when it becomes available in the
defined area, may be purchased by the Friends through negotiations with
owners and agents then sold to the FWS or its agent when federal money
becomes available. By this means we have increased by several hundred
acres the protected areas of the refuge this past year. To fully expand
the Refuge to its defined limits, more than 17 million dollars would be
needed. Federal acquisition money has been sporadically available;
therefore, the Refuge and Friends try to negotiate easements with local
landowners to protect interests of the Refuge.
national funding
Very simply the Board members of the Friends of Neal Smith NWR and
I request that your subcommittee allocate the full 600 million for the
Refuge System Operations and Maintenance fund for the 2022 fiscal year.
The NSNWR would be able to

--Hire staff and support interns
--Support the restoration with prescribed burns to reduce invasives
--Develop and maintain roads and trails
--Support the populations and genetics of Bison bison
--Construct a needed amphitheater for meetings events and education
--Enhance and develop hands-on environmental education
--Restore habitat, monitor and protect threatened species such as the
Grasshopper sparrow
--Conduct research with colleagues to study solutions to National
problems such as farm runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus and
topsoil losses
--Improve the public's understanding of the Tallgrass prairie through
improved displays and
--Provide for land acquisition and restoration and maintenance of the
Prairie Learning Center.

Our Nation's refuges are the face of environmentalism for the
public and a source of pride for the Country. We must recognize the
intrinsic value of our refuges and provide maximum funding to insure
protection, accessibility, stewardship, and stability of the refuge
system now and for the next generations.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
______

Prepared Statement of the Friends of Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge
(NWR)
Chairwoman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee:

This testimony is being submitted on behalf of the Friends of
Sherburne NWR, which was formed in 1993 to support the Sherburne
National Wildlife Refuge. We appreciate the opportunity to offer
comments on the FY 2022 Interior Appropriations bill. We request that
this subcommittee allocate $600 million in funding for the Refuge
System Operations and Maintenance fund for FY 2022.
who we are
Friends of Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge is a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization that nurtures an appreciation for and the
conservation of Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge through education,
volunteerism, and philanthropy. With more than 450 members, we support
the refuge in providing education for children in nature's classroom,
furnishing information and facilities for refuge visitors, and ensuring
family events like Wildlife Festival remain free and open to all. Our
members are passionate about conserving wildlife and wild places,
especially at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge
importance of sherburne nwr
Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge provides important resources and
services to the community and beyond: 1) maintenance and conservation
of environmental resources, services, and ecological processes; 2)
protection of natural resources such as fish, wildlife, and plants; 3)
protection of cultural and historical sites and objects; 4) provision
of educational and research opportunities; and 5) outdoor and wildlife-
related recreation. Major ecological contributions of the refuge are
watershed protection, maintenance and stabilization of ecological
processes, and the enhancement of biodiversity.
overview of refuge and programs
The 30,700-acre Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge is in central
Minnesota and predominantly composed of oak savanna. Sherburne supports
a wide variety of wildlife, including state threatened Blanding's
turtles, and is a fall staging area for greater sandhill cranes, with a
record number of over 11,000 cranes estimated to be roosting on the
refuge in recent years. The land is also managed to promote the health
and well-being of migratory birds and their habitat.
Oak savanna habitat, traditionally found in Minnesota and the
Midwest, has largely disappeared from the landscape due to plowing and
development. Only about 0.02 percent of this habitat remains. The
refuge strives to maintain, enhance, and restore this landscape for the
benefit of a wide variety of species, including the red-headed
woodpecker.
The refuge is an asset to local communities, providing recreational
opportunities for residents and for those traveling through these
communities. Many visitors enjoy the scenery and wildlife that can be
spotted on the refuge's three hiking trails, the Prairie's Edge
Wildlife Drive, or from a canoe or kayak on the designated canoe route
along the St. Francis River.
A hotspot for photographers and birders, Sherburne NWR draws many
visitors from the Twin Cities and across the country. Among hunters, we
are known for deer, small game, and migratory bird hunting. Anglers are
commonly spotted at the various fishing access points spread across the
refuge.
The refuge hosts environmental education programs throughout the
year for local elementary and intermediate schools, both on and off
site. The refuge has a partnership with two schools that receive
volunteer or staff-led programming and offers self-led opportunities
for other neighboring school districts. Further, it provides a variety
of interpretive programs and events throughout the calendar year. The
refuge has an active volunteer program, with more than 200 passionate
and dedicated individuals donating their time and expertise, some for
more than two decades.
national funding and the sherburne national wildlife refuge
Overall, the National Wildlife Refuge System requires at least $900
million in Operations and Maintenance Funding to be considered ``full
funding,'' meaning all refuges staffed, with adequate maintenance, and
support for biological, hunting, fishing, environmental education, and
interpretation programs. We ask that you work towards that overall goal
of $900 million in annual funding.
We request that this subcommittee allocate $600 million in funding
for the Refuge System Operations and Maintenance fund for FY 2022.
This request of $600 million, an increase of $112 million over FY
2011 appropriations, would greatly impact our refuge. With adequate
funding, Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge would be better able to
hire the staff and cover expenses to:

--Restore and maintain oak savanna critical for support of species
dependent on the habitat
--Provide maintenance of wetlands to support migrating waterfowl
--Provide increased capacity for biological research, surveys, and
monitoring
--Control invasive species to benefit a diversity of fish and
wildlife
--Have an adequate level of law enforcement for natural resource
protection and public safety
--Further build out our environmental education programs
--Increase capacity to reach communities of diverse backgrounds
--Construct and operate the long-awaited Visitor Center

Just as Sherburne NWR is the face of public lands for people from
the north metro of the Twin Cities to St Cloud, Minnesota, all national
wildlife refuges are there for communities across the country. We need
full funding to ensure that they stay protected, accessible, and
stewarded for the generations to come.
Thank you for your consideration.
For more information, please feel free to contact Steven Chesney,
President of the Friends of Sherburne NWR, at
[email protected].
______

Prepared Statement of the Friends of Tualatin River National Wildlife
Refuge Complex
Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee:

I appreciate the opportunity to provide written testimony on behalf
of the Friends of Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge Complex, near
Portland, Oregon. Friends of Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge is
a 501 (C) (3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the
conservation and welfare of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge
for all dependent species and to enrich the lives of citizens through
education and experience. Our organization has approximately 300
members. I am a member of the Board of this organization. We thank you
for your support for the National Wildlife Refuge System and for the
opportunity to offer comments on the FY2022 Interior Appropriations
bill, most importantly regarding funding for the Refuge System
Operations and Maintenance Fund, which we respectfully request you fund
at $600 million in FY2022.
Just over a year ago, when the pandemic quickly shutdown most
federal, state, and local parks, our beloved Oregon Coast beaches and
other public lands in the Portland area, there was one place where
visitors could go and safely drink in nature while masked and socially
distanced. That place was Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge.
Although the Visitor Center and restrooms and even the parking lot were
closed, we flocked there by the thousands to soak up our much-needed
ration of the outdoors.
As more and more people ``discovered'' the Refuge as a respite in a
very stressful time, there has been a heightened public awareness of
the refuge as a valuable resource to our community. But, with increased
awareness and usage comes increased need for upkeep and protection. Our
Fish and Wildlife Staff has done a stellar job of preserving the
habitat of the refuge, but they are working at a great handicap. Staff
has not increased while an entire new refuge was added to their care in
2013 and is now being prepared for opening to the public.
The completely inadequate budgets fail to cover the cost of
maintaining the incredibly rich and diverse wildlife habitats that make
up the Refuge System. Our refuges are being loved to death.
The funding gap that has arisen due to low budget allocations over
the last decade has degraded critical wildlife habitat and imperiled
important species. Although the FY2020 appropriations bill injected a
much needed additional $14 million into the budget, funding levels
remain below the high of $503 million in FY2010, with the shortfall
becoming more acute every year. We must change this trajectory.
National Wildlife Refuges are currently funded at 59 per acre per
year. Compare that to funding for National Park Service at $30 per acre
per year.
The Refuge System cannot fulfill its obligation to the American
public, our wildlife, and 59 million annual visitors (in FY2019)
without increases in maintenance and operation funds. Even with the
gains in FY 2020, overall funding for the Refuge System has declined
substantially over the last twelve years. Funding in FY2010 was $503
million--$598 million in today's dollars with inflation and salary
increases. This difference of $95 million has forced the Service to cut
back on programs and create efficiencies whenever possible--
efficiencies that are sometimes harmful or even dangerous. For example,
many refuges, such as Tualatin River, have been placed into complexes,
where staff travel sometimes large distances to juggle duties on
multiple refuges.
Current funding is nowhere near the at least $900 million needed
for full funding. Our goal is to reach that figure in the next three
years, and funding the Refuge System Operations and Maintenance Fund at
$600 million is a step to reaching that goal.
The number of annual Refuge System visitors jumped by 13 million
over the last few years. More people are looking to recreate on
wildlife refuges, yet understaffed refuges struggle to provide those
opportunities. Reductions in visitor services can be extremely limiting
for constituencies who want to visit. Equally troubling is a 15% drop
even before the pandemic in the number of volunteers since FY2011. At a
time when record numbers of Americans are retiring and have the
capability and desire to give back, the Service's ability to oversee
their efforts has been curtailed. Volunteers provide an additional 20%
of work on our national wildlife refuges, yet they are being turned
away when the System needs them the most.
The Refuge System is bare bones right now and increased growth in
urban spaces and outdoor recreation, and the impacts of climate change,
place additional stress on the System. Every year, more and more
refuges are closed to the public, habitat degrades, and visitors are
turned away.
The Friends of Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge Complex
appreciates the Subcommittee's consideration of our request of $600 mil
for the refuge system operations and maintenance budget for FY2022 We
look forward to working with Congress to accomplish this goal and
appreciate your consideration of our requests. Please let me know if
you have any questions.

[This statement was submitted by Cheryl Turoczy Hart, Board
Member.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Geological Society of America
summary
The Geological Society of America (GSA) recommends that Congress
provide $1.75 billion for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Fiscal
Year 2022. We thank Congress for the investments made in FY 2021 and
encourage a path of increased investment to build USGS capabilities. As
one of our Nation's key science agencies, the USGS plays a vital role
in understanding and documenting mineral and energy resources that
underpin economic growth; researching and monitoring potential natural
hazards that threaten U.S. and international security; informing
communities about the impacts of a changing climate; determining and
assessing water quality and availability; and assessing risk of COVID-
19 spread to new species. Approximately two thirds of the USGS budget
is allocated for research and development. In addition to supporting
the science activities and decisions of the Department of the Interior,
this research is used by communities across the nation to make informed
decisions in land-use planning, emergency response, natural resource
management, engineering, and education. GSA believes that it is
important to grow the USGS budget to address past shortfalls in
staffing, facilities, and research, given the importance of its many
activities that protect lives and property, contribute to national
security, and enhance the quality of life.
The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a scientific society
with members from academia, government, and industry in more than 100
countries. Through its meetings, publications, and programs, GSA
enhances the professional growth of its members and promotes the
geosciences in the service of humankind. GSA encourages cooperative
research among earth, life, planetary, and social scientists, fosters
public dialogue on geoscience issues, and supports all levels of earth
science education.
The Geological Society of America (GSA) appreciates the increase to
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) budget in FY 2021 and thanks the
Committee for recognizing the importance of the work of the agency to
protect lives, property, and national security. GSA urges Congress to
build on these investments and provide USGS $1.75 billion in Fiscal
Year 2022. This increase will allow the USGS to implement new
initiatives, maintain the base funding for critical research and
monitoring, fill many vacant positions, and update and maintain its
facilities.
u.s. geological survey contributions to national security, health, and
welfare
The USGS is one of the nation's premier science agencies, with a
distinctive capacity to engage interdisciplinary teams of experts to
gather data, conduct research, and develop integrated decision support
tools. Approximately two thirds of the USGS budget is allocated for
research and development. In addition to underpinning the science
activities and decisions of the Department of the Interior, this
research is used by communities and businesses across the nation to
make informed decisions regarding land use planning, emergency
response, natural resource management, engineering, and education.
USGS research addresses many of society's greatest challenges for
national security, health, and welfare. Several are highlighted below.

--Natural hazards are a major cause of fatalities and economic
losses. NOAA found that in 2020 alone, there were 13 severe
storms, seven tropical cyclones, one drought, and one wildfire
that resulted in a cost of $95 billion and 262 deaths. An
improved scientific understanding of geologic and atmospheric
hazards will reduce future losses by informing effective
planning and mitigation.
--Decision makers in many sectors rely upon USGS data to respond to
natural hazards. For example, USGS volcano monitoring provides
data to enable decisions on aviation safety. NOAA depends on
USGS products and data that are reliable, timely, and accurate
to issue flood, drought, and tsunami warnings. USGS is a key
partner in obtaining data necessary to predict severe space
weather events, which affect the electric power grid, satellite
communications, and navigation systems. The Promoting Research
and Observations of Space Weather to Improve the Forecasting of
Tomorrow Act (PROSWIFT Act), which was signed into law in
October of 2020, highlights a path forward for USGS research to
meet these objectives.
--The recent enactment of several bills illustrates the bipartisan,
bicameral support of hazards research and GSA recommends
adequate funding to implement these bills. For example, the
National Landslide Preparedness Act was signed into law earlier
this year, which expanded the existing Landslide Hazards
Program within USGS and also authorized a 3D elevation program
to update and coordinate the collection of elevation data
across the country using enhanced, high-resolution surveys.
Directives to USGS include identifying, mapping, assessing, and
researching landslide hazards, responding to landslide events,
establishing working groups with state offices, and developing
landslide guidelines for geoscientists, emergency management
personnel, and land-use decision-makers.
--GSA urges Congress to continue supporting efforts for USGS to
modernize and upgrade its natural hazards monitoring and
warning systems, including additional 3-D elevation mapping and
earthquake early warning systems, while maintaining fundamental
research and monitoring.
--There is a vital need to understand the abundance and distribution
of critical mineral resources, as well as the geologic
processes that form them, both within the United States and
globally, as articulated in the Energy Policy Act of 2020.
Achieving this goal will require expanded collection and
analysis of geological, geochemical, and geophysical data.
--GSA supports increases in minerals science, research, information,
data collection and analysis that will allow for more economic
and environmental management and utilization of minerals. In
addition, GSA supports increases in funding for research to
better understand domestic sources of energy, including
conventional and unconventional oil and gas and renewables. GSA
appreciates congressional support for the EarthMRI program,
which will provide new resources and leverage current data to
accelerate geological and geophysical mapping, identify
critical mineral sites for further scientific review, among
other safety, security, scientific, and industrial uses.
--Improved fundamental understanding of the quantity, quality,
distribution, and use of water resources through monitoring and
research by the USGS is necessary to ensure adequate and safe
water resources for the health and welfare of society. Improved
representation of geological, biological, and ecological
systems--including underlying physical and chemical processes
and their interactions-is needed. In addition to maintaining
current monitoring capabilities, new hydrologic data are
required to improve the reliability and reduce the uncertainty
of scientific analyses that support water resources management
and policy decisions.
--USGS research on climate impacts is used by local policymakers and
resource managers to make sound decisions based on the best
possible science. In addition to fundamental, long-term climate
change research, the USGS provides scientific information
necessary to anticipate, monitor, and adapt to the effects of
climate change at regional and local levels, allowing
communities to make smart, cost-effective decisions. For
example, the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center (CASC)
has conducted research on the relationship between wildfire and
other ecological disturbances, such as drought, which will help
resource managers plan for and adapt to the evolving threat
that fire poses to humans, infrastructure, and ecosystems.
Across the country, the Southeast CASC is working with local
stakeholders to protect cultural resources in the face of a
changing climate.

Activities from hazard monitoring to mineral forecasts are
supported by Core System Sciences, Facilities, and Science Support.
These programs and services, such as geologic mapping, data
preservation, and satellite observation, provide critical information,
data, and infrastructure that underpin the research of the USGS.
Stagnant funding has created backlogs in the posting of available jobs,
the hiring of new scientists, and the dissemination of data to new
stakeholders; increased investment is needed to fill these critical
roles. GSA appreciates the committee's recent investments in Facilities
to address many deferred maintenance issues and encourages continued
investment in this area. GSA recommends long-term funding and support
for the USGS library, which is used by both federal scientists and
external researchers. The Library houses more than 1.5 million volumes
and more than three million maps, photographs and field records, with
much of the information unique to the USGS or available from very
sources worldwide.
The Landsat satellites have amassed the largest archive of remotely
sensed land data in the world, a tremendously important resource for
natural resource exploration, land use planning, and assessing water
resources, the impacts of natural disasters, and global agriculture
production. GSA supports interagency efforts for future support of
Landsat. The recent National Academy of Sciences' Earth Science and
Applications from Space (ESAS) Decadal Survey report notes,

``Earth science and applications are a key part of the nation's
information infrastructure, warranting a U.S. program of Earth
observations from space that is robust, resilient, and
appropriately balanced.''

Knowledge of the Earth sciences is essential to scientific literacy
and to meeting the environmental and resource challenges of the twenty-
first century. Investments in these areas could lead to job growth, as
demand for these professionals now and in the future is assessed to be
high. Strong investments in geoscience research are needed to prepare
citizens for these job opportunities. These investments will also allow
for the recruitment and training of a diverse STEM pipeline, paving the
way for increased equity, inclusion, and accessibility within the field
of Earth sciences.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony about the U.S.
Geological Survey. For additional information or to learn more about
the Geological Society of America--including GSA Position Statements on
climate change, water resources, mineral and energy resources, natural
hazards, and public investment in Earth science research--please visit
www.geosociety.org or contact GSA's Director for Geoscience Policy
Kasey White at [email protected].
______

Prepared Statement of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife
Commission (GLIFWC)
1. department of the interior, bureau of indian affairs, operation of
indian programs
a. Trust-Natural Resources Management, Rights Protection
Implementation (RPI), Great Lakes Area Resource Management--$8,185,186
($1,129,000 above FY2021 allocation) an increase of 16%, equivalent to
that proposed by the Administration for the Department of the Interior.
GLIFWC supports full expansion of the RPI line item to meet treaty
obligations and fulfill federal court orders.
b. Trust-Natural Resources Management, Tribal Management/
Development Program (TM/DP): At least the $13,387,000 provided in FY21
and the TM/DP requests of GLIFWC's member tribes.
c. Trust-Natural Resources Management, Invasive Species: At least
$10,776,000, the amount provided in FY21.
Funding Authorizations.--Snyder Act, 25 U.S.C. s. 13; Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act, (P.L. 93-638), 25 U.S.C.
ss. 450f and 450h; and the treaties between the United States and
GLIFWC's member Ojibwe Tribes.\1\
2. environmental protection agency
a. Environmental Programs and Management, Geographic Programs,
Great Lakes Restoration: At least $330,000,000, the amount provided in
FY21, including no less than $16,500,000 for the Distinct Tribal
Program (DTP) ($15,000,000 base program plus a proportional increase of
the overall GLRI).
b. State and Tribal Assistance Grants, Categorical Grants, Tribal
General Assistance Program: At least $66,250,000, the amount provided
in FY21.
Funding Authorizations.--Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. s. 1268(c);
Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, Pub. L. 114-322
s. 5005; and treaties cited above.
These programs fulfill federal treaty, trust, and contract
obligations to GLIFWC's member tribes, providing vital resources to
sustain their governmental programs. We ask that Congress maintain and
enhance these programs in proportion to recently proposed or enacted
increases.
glifwc's fy 2022 funding request highlights
1. GLIFWC and its member tribes are seeing the resurgence of an old
challenge--combatting the racism that plagued the years after the
tribes' rights were reaffirmed, and a new one--understanding the
ongoing impact of climate change on their treaty protected resources.
Increased funding, described in more detail below, is needed to address
these issues.
2. Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding of no less than
$330,000,000, with no less than $16,500,000 for the Distinct Tribal
Program.
3. Full funding for contract support costs, as required by the
ISDEA Act.
4. Sufficient funding in the Tribal Management and Development line
item for GLIFWC's member tribes to fulfill their needs for
reservation--based natural resource programs and to fund the Circle of
Flight wetlands program.
glifwc's goal--a secure funding base to fulfill treaty purposes and
legal obligations
For over 35 years, Congress has funded GLIFWC to implement
comprehensive conservation, natural resource protection, and law
enforcement programs that: 1) ensure member tribes are able to
implement their treaty reserved rights to hunt, fish, and gather
throughout the ceded territories; 2) ensure a healthy and sustainable
natural resource base to support those rights; 3) protect public
safety; and 4) promote healthy, safe communities. These programs also
provide a wide range of public benefits, and facilitate participation
in management partnerships in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota.

glifwc's programs--promoting healthy communities and educating tribal
members through treaty rights exercise
Established in 1984, GLIFWC is a natural resources management
agency of eleven member Ojibwe Tribes with resource management
responsibilities over their ceded territory (off-reservation) hunting,
fishing and gathering treaty rights. These ceded territories extend
over a 60,000 square mile area in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and
Michigan.\2\ GLIFWC employs over 80 full-time staff, including natural
resource scientists, technicians, conservation enforcement officers,
policy specialists, and public information specialists.
GLIFWC strives to implement its programs in a holistic, integrated
manner consistent with the culture and values of its member tribes,
especially in light of tribal lifeways that the exercise of treaty
rights supports. This means not only ensuring that tribal members can
legally exercise their rights, but supporting community efforts to
educate them about the benefits (physical, spiritual, and cultural) of
harvesting and consuming a more traditional diet, as well as promoting
inter-generational learning and the transmission of traditional
cultural and management practices.
GLIFWC and its member tribes thank Congress, and particularly this
Subcommittee, for its continuing support of these treaty obligations
and its recognition of the ongoing success of these programs. In
addition to continuing to support allocating increases to the RPI line
item in the historically proportionate amounts, GLIFWC's FY 22 funding
request includes two main elements:
1. BIA Great Lakes Area Management (Within The RPI Line Item):
$8,185,186 An Increase In Glifwc's Allocation Within The Overall Line
Item Is Needed To Address Two Primary Issues: 1) The Need For
Additional Education And Sustained Partnerships To Combat Racism Toward
Tribal Citizens And Misconceptions About Their Treaty Rights, And 2)
The Effects Of Climate Change On Treaty Protected Resources. Addressing
These Issues Effectively Will Require Glifwc To Sustain And Build Upon
Partnerships That Have Already Established It As A Trusted Cooperator
In Numerous Arenas.
With an increase to its base budget of 16%, GLIFWC could:

--restore the buying power it has lost since 2018 (approximately
$356,500),
--secure funding for a full-time position in GLIFWC's Public
Information Office to mitigate racism by enhancing educational
efforts at all grade levels, including adult education
(approximately $100,000),
--evaluate the impacts of changing habitat conditions including
climate change on walleye, tullibee and other species in Mille
Lacs Lake, Minnesota, an important fishery resource for both
tribal and non-tribal fishers (approximately $275,000),
--conduct fisheries assessments near the Keweenaw Peninsula as a way
to monitor stressors (including climate change) on the fishery
(approximately $125,000), and
--solidify its harvest monitoring and enforcement activities and
develop and sustain law enforcement partnerships to mitigate
racism and social conflict (approximately $272,500).

The past year has seen unprecedented challenges and has exposed the
need to redouble efforts to educate non-tribal communities about tribal
treaty rights. GLIFWC and its member tribes have worked hard to ensure
the public is aware of treaty harvesting activities, but even with
additional support from the State of Wisconsin, that awareness has
resulted in many of the old, anti-Indian misconceptions being
recirculated in social media as well as at harvesting locations.
Harvester harassment during the spring fishing season appears to be
increasing. GLIFWC proposes to enhance its enforcement presence and
partnerships, and to fund a full-time staff employee within its Public
Information Office. Both efforts will enable greater outreach to
citizens and students at all education levels, including adult
education, so that understanding about treaty rights is sustained from
an early age, and current misconceptions can be addressed.
Climate change is impacting the health of natural resources and
requiring adaptation by people accessing those resources. These changes
can exacerbate negative feelings. Continued research into climate
change and its impacts, as well as dedicated and focused outreach about
these issues, can help address some of these concerns and
misconceptions.
2. EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: $330,000,000. Distinct
Tribal Program: $16,500,000. GLIFWC supports continued funding for the
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) as an important non-
regulatory program that enhances and ensures coordinated governance in
the Great Lakes, fulfillment of international agreements, and
substantive natural resource protection and restoration projects.
GLIFWC supports the continuation of GLRI funding at no less than $330
million.
GLIFWC appreciates the directive that EPA should follow the
guidance in House Report 116-100, which directs the EPA and other
federal agencies to fund tribal activities at not less than
$15,000,000. Unfortunately, this amount is being treated as a ceiling
rather than a floor. As implementation proceeds, an increasing number
of tribes have shown interest in the GLRI, and as the program expands,
the BIA must increase its capacity to administer it. Funds for
administration are currently taken from Distinct Tribal Program (DTP)
funds. GLIFWC and tribes have proposed that, should overall GLRI
funding increase, the DTP should increase as well. To that end, a
continued 5% commitment to this program for amounts over and above $300
million would allow additional tribes to implement their highest
priority programs and allow for necessary capacity increases within the
BIA.
results and benefits of glifwc's programs
1. Maintain The Requisite Capability To Meet Legal Obligations, To
Conserve Natural Resources, and To Regulate Treaty Harvests: At its
most basic level, GLIFWC's programs support tribal compliance with
court decrees and intergovernmental agreements that govern the tribes'
treaty--reserved rights. Funding for science and research enhances
GLIFWC's ability to undertake work and participate in partnerships to
address ecosystem threats that harm treaty natural resources, including
those related to climate change.
2. Remain A Trusted Management and Law Enforcement Partner, and
Scientific Contributor In The Great Lakes Region: GLIFWC has become a
respected and integral part of management and law enforcement
partnerships that conserve natural resources and protect public safety.
It brings a tribal perspective to interjurisdictional Great Lakes
management forums and would use its scientific expertise to study
issues and geographic areas that are important to its member tribes but
that others may not be examining.
3. Maintain The Overall Public Benefits That Derive From Its
Programs: Over the years, GLIFWC has become a recognized and valued
partner in natural resource management. Because of its institutional
experience and staff expertise, GLIFWC has built and maintained
numerous partnerships that: i) provide accurate information and data to
counter social misconceptions about tribal treaty harvests and the
status of ceded territory natural resources; ii) maximize each
partner's financial resources and avoid duplication of effort and
costs; iii) engender cooperation rather than competition; and iv)
undertake projects that achieve public benefits that no one partner
could accomplish alone.
4. Encourage and Contribute To Healthy Tribal Communities. GLIFWC
works with its member tribes' communities to promote the benefits of
treaty rights exercise. These include the health benefits associated
with a more traditional diet and the intergenerational learning that
takes place when elders teach youth. In addition, GLIFWC sponsors a
camp each summer where tribal youth build leadership skills, strengthen
connections to the outdoors, and learn about treaty rights and careers
in natural resource fields.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Specifically, the Treaty of 1836, 7 Stat. 491; Treaty of 1837,
7 Stat. 536; Treaty of 1842, 7 Stat. 591; and Treaty of 1854, 10 Stat.
1109. The rights guaranteed by these treaties have been affirmed by
various court decisions, including a 1999 US Supreme Court case.
\2\ GLIFWC's programs do not duplicate those of the Chippewa Ottawa
Resource Authority or the 1854 Treaty Authority. GLIFWC also
coordinates with its member tribes with respect to tribal treaty
fishing that extends beyond reservation boundaries by virtue of the
Treaty of 1854 and the reservations' locations on Lake Superior.

[This statement was submitted by Michael J. Isham Jr., Executive
Administrator.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Hopi Tribe
Greetings Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Honorable
Members of the Senate Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and
Related Agencies. My name is Timothy Nuvangyaoma and I have the honor
of serving as Chairman of the Hopi Tribe. Thank you for the opportunity
to provide testimony on priorities for Fiscal Year 2022. My testimony
will focus on the need for funding to address the arsenic contamination
in our water supply, as well as the need for funding to improve our
education system.
The Hopi Reservation, located in the Northeast corner of Arizona,
is approximately 2,500-square-miles. The Tribe has more than 14,000
enrolled tribal citizens, over half of whom reside in one of the
Reservation's 12 villages. Unfortunately, the residents of the
Reservation suffer from a 60% unemployment rate due, in large part, to
the lack of economic development opportunities caused by the remote and
landlocked nature of the Reservation. The Hopi Reservation is the only
reservation in the United States to be completely surrounded by another
reservation. This makes it even harder to access markets and
opportunities outside of the reservation.
i. update on the hopi arsenic mitigation project (hamp)
The Hopi Tribe has suffered with arsenic contamination in its water
supply since the 1960s when the BIA first installed its drinking water
system. The water for eight of the Tribe's villages is contaminated
with high levels of naturally occurring arsenic. These levels exceed
the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) safe drinking water
standards by as much as three times the allowable contaminants.
This troubling situation led the Hopi Tribe to create the Hopi
Arsenic Mitigation Project (HAMP) whose mission is to find a solution
to the arsenic contamination. The HAMP has two phases. The first phase
of HAMP only delivers water to Hopi villages, and the second would
increase the system capacity of the initial phase through the
construction of water main extensions and pressure upgrades to increase
the range of pumped water.
The HAMP was ranked as a priority project by the Indian Health
Service (IHS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This
designation provided full funding for Fiscal Year 2020 and Fiscal Year
2021 through Safe Drinking Water Act program allocations. The total IHS
and EPA contribution for the basic HAMP is approximately $20 million,
which is sufficient to complete the project. The HAMP construction
contractor mobilized on April 1, 2020, with an anticipated completion
date of approximately one year.
The Tribe is also encouraged by recent developments on the Keams
Extension Project (KEP), which is the planned and approved regional
water transmission system project designed to expand the capacity and
extend the length of HAMP to serve additional Hopi families, schools,
and institutions of Eastern First and Second Mesa, which were excluded
in the HAMP. The BIA contributed an additional $5 million for KEP in
November 2020, bringing the total funding for the project to $7.6
million. This segment of the planned regional water system is under
final design and permitting phase. An additional $10 million is needed
to complete the Keams Extension Project.
ii. hopi schools
The Hopi Tribe asks that the Subcommittee prioritize funding for
the BIE school construction program, as we are dealing with significant
health and safety issues at several Hopi schools. In addition, this
program is so underfunded that even when tribal schools are placed on
the priority list, it can take a decade or more before a school is
actually built.
The Hopi Tribe has two tribally controlled schools willing to
consolidate into one school-Hopi Day School (``HDS'') and Hotevilla
Bacavi Community School (``HBCS''). The Hopi Day School (``HDS'') is
over 100 years old, with most of the building made from logs. As you
can imagine, there are significant structural issues that require
constant upkeep and repairs. Further, the HDS does not have an adequate
HVAC system. Despite the poor condition of the HDS, it is not even on
the BIA's school construction priority list. HBCS is over 50 years old,
and relies heavily on the use of portable modular buildings due to
safety concerns in the original structures of the school. HBCS is being
considered for the BIA's school replacement list, but is not on it yet.
The Keams Canyon Elementary School (``KCES''), which was built in
1935, has major health and safety concerns, including cracked walls, a
leaking roof, and retention walls that need major repairs. There are
also water quality concerns at the KCES due to high arsenic
concentrations. The KCES was on the BIA's school replacement priority
list in 2004, but it was not re-built.
The Moencopi Day School (``MDS'') is over 50 years old. The school
relies heavily on the use of portable modular buildings due to safety
concerns in the original structure of the school. MDS is currently on
the BIA's priority list.
The Tribe also requests the Subcommittee's support as we work to
unify our seven Tribally Controlled Schools under a single school
district on the Hopi Reservation. This effort represents a major
transformation for our schools and will provide improved educational
opportunities for our youth, better administrative efficiency and
management of school resources, and increased accountability and
support for our educators and staff. The unification will also allow
increased focus on Hopi culture and language throughout the educational
system.
Funding is needed to provide a Central Administration Office that
will be home to most administrative staff for the new Hopi School
System, including the superintendent, curriculum and instruction
specialist, food services director, human resources director, specials
needs education director, and transportation director. We have already
identified the site for the building and estimate and request the total
construction costs at $3,000,000 for an 8,000 square foot building and
site work.
The Tribe also needs funding for the transition to our new unified
Hopi School System, which will continue over the next two years
concluding in 2023. This transition funding is a critical part of
creating a successful unified school system, and includes the hiring of
our superintendent, business manager and office secretary, which will
cost $305,230. In the following year, the staffing costs will increase
to $2,695,752 to hire the rest of the Central Office staff (about 30
employees).
The Hopi Tribe requests that no cuts be made to our administrative
cost grant during this process. The Tribally Controlled Schools Act
provides administrative funds to tribes by applying an administrative
cost grant formula. 25 U.S.C. Sec. 2008. Once the Hopi Tribe unifies
our school system, as currently implemented, the administrative cost
formula could result in the loss of over $1 million dollars to Hopi
schools. Section 2008(h) provides an exception to this calculation.
However, the Appropriations bill language for BIE limits tribes who can
make use of this exception. We ask that the Subcommittee change the
``grantees'' eligible to use ``the distribution formula based on
section 5(f) of Public Law 101-301'' from ``fiscal year 2003 or 2004''
to ``fiscal year 2023 or 2024.'' This will ensure that the Hopi Tribe
is able to receive the same funding it currently receives, and this
change will not disturb funding for any other tribes' schools.
Finally, Our Hopi schools need housing units for our teachers and
staff. The lack of adequate housing prevents us from attracting and
retaining quality teachers and staff. We request that Congress
appropriate funding for new housing needed for staff and teachers for
our Central Administration Office and our schools. Our current analysis
shows that we need at least 10 housing units at an estimated cost of
$300,000/house = $3,000,000.
Thanks again for the opportunity to provide testimony regarding the
Hopi Tribe's priorities for Fiscal Year 2022. We urge the Subcommittee
to increase funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs' School
Construction and Environmental Quality Projects accounts.

[This statement was submitted by Timothy Nuvangyaoma.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Humane Society of the United States and the
Society Legislative Fund
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to offer testimony on
matters of importance to our organizations and to our millions of
supporters. We thank you for the support and investment in animal
protection in the Subcommittee's Fiscal Year 2021 appropriations bill.
We appreciate your continued consideration in Fiscal Year 2022 and urge
you to address the following requests in the FY22 Department of
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies budget:

--EPA new approach methodologies development and implementation:
strong funding
--BLM, Wild Horse and Burro Program: $150,000,000, contingent on
immediate implementation of a management program based on four
prongs detailed below
--USFS, Wild Horse and Burro Program: FY21 enacted language to
protect USFS wild horses and burros from slaughter
--FWS, Multinational Species Conservation Fund: $30,000,000, with no
funds to promote or facilitate trophy hunting, trade in animal
parts, or other consumptive uses of wildlife
--FWS, Office of Law Enforcement: $115,000,000
--FWS, Office of International Affairs: $30,000,000
--FWS, Wolf Livestock Loss Demonstration Project Prevention grant: at
least $1,000,000

We also request that the budget exclude any language that would:
relax regulations on imports of sport--hunted trophies; impede the
success or expansion of wildlife corridors, including through grants to
tribes; or undermine the integrity, efficacy, or purpose of the
Endangered Species Act. We additionally request that the budget include
language to prohibit FWS from using appropriated funding to authorize
imports of sport--hunted trophies of species listed as threatened or
endangered under the ESA. Finally, we echo the requests for increased
funds for FWS, BLM, and USFS to implement the ESA detailed in letters,
signed by us and more than 170 other organizations, to Appropriations
Committee leadership.
environmental protection agency--new approach methodologies development
and implementation
Thousands of chemicals are currently used, and hundreds of new ones
are introduced each year, for which EPA must conduct risk assessments.
The EPA is also tasked with evaluating and registering pesticides and
evaluating chemicals for possible endocrine activity. In addition,
since 2016, EPA has had a mandate to develop and implement non-
vertebrate test methods for chemical safety evaluation under the Toxic
Substances Control Act (TSCA). The EPA outlined its commitment to this
goal in its 2019 announcement that it plans to reduce by 30% the number
of studies that require the use of mammals by 2025, and to halt
reliance on such studies completely by 2035. Additionally, in its
Budget Justification Request for FY21, EPA notes that it will continue
efforts to develop alternative methods to whole animal toxicity testing
on the effects of pesticide active ingredients on terrestrial and
aquatic vertebrates.
To address these needs, EPA must shift significant focus to new
approach methodologies (NAMs)-defined by the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) as ``any non-animal technology,
methodology, approach, or combination thereof that can be used to
provide information on chemical hazard and risk assessment.'' When
evaluating NAMs to replace vertebrate testing, EPA must also ensure
they provide information of equivalent or better scientific quality and
relevance that will support regulatory decisions under the revised
TSCA. The EPA's National Center for Computational Toxicology (NCCT), in
collaboration with NIEHS, the National Center for Advancing
Translational Sciences, and the Food and Drug Administration, has
developed an extensive database of chemical safety information, is
screening thousands of chemicals using high--throughput non-animal
methods, and is developing and improving models for estimating
exposure. Although these newly developing NAMs are beginning to reduce
animal use while improving the speed and accuracy of chemical
evaluations, further development and implementation is needed to
effectively carry out EPA's mandates.
As such, we support strong funding of NCCT and other EPA Office of
Research and Development programs focused on NAMs development and
implementation in order for EPA to fulfill its commitment to end
reliance on mammal studies and assure a more efficient and relevant
chemicals risk assessment process.
The EPA's FY21 budget justification also notes that the agency
awarded five grants under the Request for Applications (RFA) titled,
``Advancing Actionable Alternatives to Vertebrate Animal Testing for
Chemical Safety Assessment.'' These awards aim to develop and apply
alternative test methods to replace, reduce, and refine vertebrate
animal testing. Similarly, in 2019, EPA announced an RFA titled
``Advancing Toxicokinetics for Efficient and Robust Chemical
Evaluations.'' This initiative aims to advance development of chemical
toxicokinetic tools and approaches for broader applicability during
chemical evaluations, especially NAMs. Additionally, EPA's FY22 budget
request of $22,229,000 for computational toxicology--an increase of
$742,000 over FY21 enacted--underscores the agency's desire to increase
development and implementation of cutting-edge technologies that can
reduce and replace its animal testing. We recommend supportive funding
for these and similar NAMs-focused grant programs.
bureau of land management and forest service--prohibition of
destruction of healthy wild horses and burros
We request FY22 inclusion of language mirroring the language in the
FY21 appropriations bill, barring BLM and USFS from sending any wild
horse or burro to slaughter or selling/transferring any horse or burro
in a manner that results in its destruction, and barring any federal,
state, or local government that receives any wild horse or burro
transferred from BLM or USFS from doing likewise. (See P.L. 116-260,
Sec. 419(d)-(e).)
bureau of land management--wild horse and burro program
We appreciate Congress's increase in funding for FY21 and applaud
the report language directing BLM to ``institute an aggressive non-
lethal population control strategy'' with strict compliance with the
agency's Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program protocols, as it will
help ensure gathers are conducted as humanely as possible (FY21
Division G Report language, pp 13). We request $150 million for FY22 to
fund BLM's immediate implementation of a sustainable management program
applying the four key management concepts previously highlighted in
FY21 report language:

1. Conduct targeted gathers and removals at densely populated Herd
Management Areas (HMAs) to reduce herd size in the short term.
2. Treat gathered horses with fertility control prior to returning
to the range. This program should continue until 90% of the mares on
the range have been treated and continued consistent fertility control
is implemented.
3. Relocate horses in holding facilities, and those taken off the
range, to large cost-effective pasture facilities funded through
public-private partnerships.
4. Promote adoptions to reduce captive populations and costs.

A large coalition including animal welfare groups, cattlemen, state
and local land managers, and groups focused on rangeland health support
this request. Additionally, the Western Governors Association supports
additional funding to implement this management program.
With regard to fertility control, in FY20 the BLM only administered
735 doses--a fraction of what is needed to curb the on-range
population. While we have seen promising signs from BLM that it intends
to administer fertility control vaccines at levels that will impact
population growth (i.e., giving it to 80-90% of the mares they turn
back onto the range) as reported in their FY21 Gather Schedule, they
are a long way from administering the number of vaccines that will
impact the overall population. Thus, it is imperative that Congress
provide continued oversight and funding to ensure BLM revamps this
program in a sustainable and humane way.
fish and wildlife service--multinational species conservation fund
We urge the Subcommittee to appropriate $30 million in FY22 for the
MSCF, which supports critical conservation programs for some of our
world's most iconic species: African and Asian elephants, rhinos,
tigers, great apes, and sea turtles. The HSUS joins a broad coalition
of organizations in support of the MSCF and additionally asks that the
sales of semi-postal stamps benefiting this program be authorized to
continue supplementing these programs above annually appropriated
levels.
While we wholeheartedly support continued funding for MSCF, we
remain opposed to any use of funds from these conservation programs to
promote trophy hunting, trade in animal parts, and other consumptive
uses--including live capture for trade, captive breeding,
entertainment, or for the public display industry--under the guise of
conservation. The use of MSCF grants must be consistent with the spirit
of its authorizing law.
fish and wildlife service--office of law enforcement
We urge the Subcommittee to fund OLE at $115 million and to
continue appropriating funds to support activities investigating
wildlife crimes and enforcing wildlife laws. OLE serves an integral
role in ongoing efforts to both combat the global crisis of wildlife
poaching and trafficking and to prevent zoonotic disease outbreaks. The
conditions for zoonotic viruses to emerge and be transmitted to humans
exist in legal and sustainable trade, and in markets with common
wildlife species as well as in markets with illegal and/or
unsustainable trade. As one of the world's largest consumers of illegal
wildlife, the U.S. must invest in rigorously enforcing existing laws,
regulations, and international treaties that combat the illegal trade
in wildlife.
One of OLE's most effective tools is the deployment of attaches to
targeted U.S. embassies in countries where wildlife trafficking is a
serious problem. Attaches have provided extensive support to local
authorities engaged in wildlife trafficking investigations and vital
access to FWS resources such as the National Fish and Wildlife Forensic
Laboratory and the Digital Evidence Recovery and Technical Support
Unit. Several investigations of transnational organized crime networks
involved in trafficking elephant ivory, rhino horn, reptiles, and other
wildlife and wildlife parts between Africa and Asia have been initiated
as a direct result of attache intervention, and attaches have assisted
extensively in fostering intelligence sharing and investigative support
between affected nations. Here at home, the 2020 confiscation of 1,400
shark fins in Miami illustrates OLE's effectiveness.
Increasing funding for OLE and the attache program will support
efforts to maximize the scope and effectiveness of FWS response to the
international wildlife trafficking crisis, ensuring OLE has an adequate
number of law enforcement agents deployed to enforce laws against
wildlife trafficking in the U.S. and around the world.
fish and wildlife service--office of international affairs
We request that you appropriate $30 million for OIA, whose programs
provide critical resources to help stakeholders on the ground fight
wildlife trafficking and poaching as well as to provide frontline
protection against zoonotic disease by supporting programs that can
help prevent conditions in wildlife trade that lead to spillover
events. It is critical that the U.S. increase investment in global
conservation, including work supported by OIA programs that mitigate
and prevent global crises like pandemics and biodiversity and habitat
loss by promoting conservation and restoration of forests and other
wildlife habitats, monitoring wildlife health, promoting alternatives
to wildlife as a protein source, and combating wildlife trafficking.
Importantly, we request that none of these funds be used to support
or carry out trophy hunting activities or programs. In both FY20 and
FY21, Congress expressed doubt over the conservation efficacy of the
current FWS ``policy to evaluate applications for importing trophies
for elephants and lions on a case-by-case basis'', stating it ``may not
adequately determine whether a country has proper safeguards in place
to protect species vulnerable to poaching. Population counts continue
to decline causing concern that the current policy is detrimental.''
The Service failed to comply with policy review and reporting
directives set forth in FY20 and FY21 accompanying reports,
demonstrating a dire lack of transparency that necessitates a thorough
review of FWS's current trophy--import policies and their compliance
with determination requirements under the ESA. Consequently, we also
request that the import of sport--hunted trophies of species listed as
threatened or endangered under the ESA be halted until a transparent
permitting scheme is established that demonstrably benefits the
species' survival, is biologically sustainable, and does not contribute
to corruption or undermine rule of law in range countries.
fish and wildlife service, bureau of land management, u.s. forest
service--endangered species act implementation
In 2019, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services released a groundbreaking
assessment warning that roughly one million species are at risk of
extinction. Myriad taxa--level studies showing steep populations
declines, for example of monarch butterflies and North American birds,
underscore the biodiversity crisis. We therefore echo the requests for
increased funding for FWS, BLM, and USFS to implement the ESA detailed
in NGO coalition letters to Appropriations Committee leadership that we
and more than 170 other organizations signed (FWS letter dated March 2,
BLM/USFS letter dated April 13).
fish and wildlife service--wolf livestock loss demonstration project
We urge the Subcommittee to provide at least $1 million for the
Prevention grant of the Wolf Livestock Loss Demonstration Project. This
grant assists livestock producers in undertaking proactive, nonlethal
activities to reduce the risk of livestock loss due to predation by
wolves.

[This statement was submitted by Jocelyn Ziemian, Senior
Legislative Specialist, Humane Society Legislative Fund.]
______

Prepared Statement of the International Fund for Animal Welfare
Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee: Thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony on the
FY22 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has 15 offices globally
and works in more than 40 countries around the world. IFAW takes a
holistic approach to innovating solutions for tough conservation
challenges like conflicts between humans and wildlife, and illegal
wildlife trafficking. Recognizing the unbreakable link between animals
and human wellbeing, we support and empower communities to coexist with
and value native wildlife and help those communities develop tools to
protect their wild heritage. IFAW is grateful for this Subcommittee's
championship of strong conservation funding for the current fiscal year
(FY21), and requests your continued support for these programs in FY22.
Specifically, we request the $30 million for the Multinational Species
Conservation Funds, $30 million for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(FWS) Office of International Affairs, $115 million for the FWS Office
of Law Enforcement, and $592.1 million for Endangered Species Act (ESA)
implementation across five programs. IFAW also requests the
Subcommittee deny support for any projects that seek to circumvent the
ESA or National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Finally, we urge the
Subcommittee to prioritize infrastructure projects that are sustainable
and resilient.
The year 2020 was marked, as was the year before it, by ever-more
disturbing news about the state of our natural world. It was the second
hottest year on record, knocking 2019 to the third hottest year in
Earth's history.\1\ Changing climate conditions spurred storms and
other natural disasters of increased frequency and severity:
hurricanes, cyclones, flash floods, and wildfires wreaked havoc in
communities around the world with deadly results.\2\ Trafficking in
wildlife and wildlife parts remained the fourth most lucrative criminal
enterprise worldwide with an estimated annual revenue of $20 billion--
add in illegal logging and fishing, and that number skyrockets to $1
trillion or more.\3\ And we all suffered the effects as a deadly
zoonotic pandemic caused by human interference with wildlife, COVID-19,
forced world-wide lockdowns, sickening more than 175 million people to
date, and causing millions of deaths around the globe.\4\
The environmental, biodiversity, and pandemic crises we continue to
face are not the product of bad luck; they are the direct results of
human activities. On June 10, 2021, a report on Biodiversity and
Climate Change was released on a workshop co-sponsored by the
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services (IPBES) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC)--the first ever collaborative workshop co-sponsored by the two
organizations.\5\ This peer reviewed report warns that ``changes in
climate and biodiversity, driven by human activities, have combined and
increasingly threaten nature, human lives, livelihoods and well-being
around the world. Biodiversity loss and climate change are both driven
by human economic activities and mutually reinforce each other. Neither
will be successfully resolved unless both are tackled together.'' \6\
Fortunately, as we have been the architects of our current crises,
it is within our power to change our shared trajectory, and this
Subcommittee has jurisdiction over critical programs that can help to
do just that. Given the severity of the challenges we face, IFAW
respectfully asks the Subcommittee to exert its leadership in order to
reverse the alarming and interrelated climate and biodiversity
emergencies by making substantial increases in funding for the
important conservation programs within your purview. Doing so will help
to protect biodiversity, and will in turn have significant protective
effects against future wildlife--borne diseases entering the human
population, promote healthy ecosystems, fight climate change, improve
climate resilience, and safeguard human health and wellbeing.
No NEPA or ESA Waivers.--IFAW urges this Subcommittee to consider
the health of wildlife and the environment in all of its actions. At a
minimum, no federally-supported construction projects, including
disaster remediation projects, should be exempted from such fundamental
laws as the ESA and NEPA. NEPA and ESA analyses protect against
substantial social, environmental, and economic harm. These reviews
allow construction projects to move forward while ensuring full
disclosure of potentially harmful outcomes, informed decision-making,
effective design, and risk mitigation. There has been a distressing
trend toward exempting projects from NEPA, ESA, or other environmental
reviews and we urge the Subcommittee to reverse this trend by denying
funding for any plan that does not include a commitment to bedrock
conservation laws and environmental reviews.
Infrastructure.--As Congress moves to address our aging
infrastructure, we have an unparalleled opportunity to invest in
environmental safeguards and conservation innovations that will ensure
American wellbeing and security, and create jobs and prosperity for the
citizens of today and for many future generations. IFAW urges this
Subcommittee to review any infrastructure plans within your
jurisdiction through the lens of wildlife conservation and
environmental sustainability. We advocate prioritizing funding for
projects that: rely on sustainable or natural materials to increase
infrastructure resiliency and longevity; reintroduce or preserve native
flora; create resilient and sustainable water and waste management
systems, particularly through implementing natural alternatives to
traditional water and wastewater management systems like wetlands, dune
restoration, and natural vegetation buffers. Over time, these
modalities can increase resilience while saving scarce taxpayer
dollars. A single acre of wetlands can hold up to 1.5 million gallons
of rain or melting snow. For less than $300,000, it's possible to
construct an artificial wetland that can intercept 3.25 million gallons
of stormwater otherwise destined for the sewer.
We also urge the Subcommittee to prioritize funding for
infrastructure projects that reduce wildlife conflict using wildlife
corridors and crossings. Every year in the U.S. there are an estimated
1-2 million collisions that occur between motorists and large
animals.\7\ These collisions result in 200 human deaths and more than
26,000 injuries, at a cost to Americans of more than $8 billion
annually.\8\ A 2011 study by the insurance industry estimated that over
$1 billion dollars per year is spent on property damage due to wildlife
vehicle collisions while the total annual cost to American taxpayers is
nearly $8.4 billion.\9\ In addition, walls, fences, roads, and dams
impede migratory routes, cut off food and water supplies, and otherwise
disrupt important wildlife habitats. We can and must improve safety and
safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem health by creating and protecting
habitat connectivity, wildlife corridors, and crossings for wildlife.
us fish and wildlife service priority programs
Endangered Species Act.--The biodiversity crisis represents an
existential threat to humanity. Ecosystems require healthy biodiversity
and wildlife in order to remain healthy. As native species decline,
ecosystems weaken, and can even collapse, and may no longer have the
capacity to provide the services upon which we all rely: among them
drinking water, clean air, and productive soil.
The Endangered Species Act, remains our nation's most important
conservation law, and has been successful in protecting 99% of listed
species from becoming extinct. Saving species from extinction is about
more than just preserving iconic wildlife for generations to come. We
are also protecting integral parts of the ecosystem that provides the
air we breathe, the water we drink, the parks we enjoy, and the
medicine we need. The Endangered Species Act protects wildlife within
the United States, and species around the globe by requiring agencies
to ensure that federally supported international activities protect
species survival and preserve important habitat and by generally
prohibiting the import of listed species.
While the ESA remains popular among Americans regardless of
political party, with an approval rating of around 90%, it continues to
face attacks through spending riders, authorizing legislation, and
administrative action. IFAW thanks this Subcommittee for its efforts to
fend off appropriations riders in past bills, and asks that any riders
aimed at undermining the ESA--including legacy riders--be excluded from
the FY22 Act.
As species face ever--mounting pressures from climate change,
habitat loss, and other factors, funding for the ESA has not kept pace
with the need. Furthermore, there remains a backlog of species awaiting
consideration for protections under the Act, as well as listed species
in need of additional resources to promote recovery. IFAW requests
$592.1 million across the following five programs to make up for lost
ground and put species on the path to recovery:

--Recovery Program: $240.3 million
--Planning and Consultation Programs: $149 million
--Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund: $125.6 million
--Listing Program: $63.7 million
--Conservation and Restoration Program: $13.5 million

FWS International Affairs.--The FWS International Affairs (IA)
program is tasked with coordinating domestic and international efforts
to protect and restore wildlife and ecosystems. By overseeing domestic
conservation laws and international conservation treaties, including
the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES),
the IA program has become a keystone of U.S. leadership on the
international stage. Importantly, the IA program supports transboundary
regional projects as well as those that focus on target species,
promoting habitat conservation and restoration in areas where wildlife
is most at risk from habitat loss. IFAW requests $30 million for this
important program in FY22.
Multinational Species Conservation Fund (MSCF).--IFAW is part of a
diverse coalition of groups, including animal welfare, environmental,
sporting, and industry organizations, that support the MSCF. These
funds protect tigers, rhinos, African and Asian elephants, great apes,
and marine and freshwater turtles and tortoises, all of which are in
constant danger from illegal poaching and wildlife trafficking, habitat
destruction, climate change, and other pressures. Wild members of these
species may live outside our borders, but these iconic animals remain
important to the American people. None of us wants this to be the
generation to preside over the extinction of elephants or tigers in the
wild. MSCF programs have helped to sustain wildlife populations by
funding groundbreaking projects that combat poaching, reduce human--
wildlife conflict and protect the vital habitat of priority species. By
promoting community engagement and combatting trafficking, the MSCF
programs also promote the rule of law abroad and contribute to our
domestic security. These programs are highly efficient, with low
administrative costs ensuring that more than 95% of appropriated funds
were distributed through grants in FY17. The MSCF is authorized at $30
million, but it has never been fully funded. Meanwhile, pressures on
these species continue to increase around the globe. IFAW requests that
$30 million be appropriated for the MSCF for FY22.
Office of Law Enforcement.--The Office of Law Enforcement (OLE)
within the FWS is on the front lines of wildlife crime, inspecting
wildlife shipments, conducting investigations, and enforcing federal
wildlife laws to protect fish, wildlife, plants, and ecosystems. The
OLE combats poaching and wildlife trafficking, breaking up
international criminal rings that not only harm wildlife, but may also
engage in other illicit activities. Among other things, the small but
mighty force at OLE sends experienced FWS attaches to strategic regions
where they combat wildlife trafficking by supporting and advising
foreign partners. And, as the world confronts a novel coronavirus with
origins in wildlife, the OLE's inspection and enforcement
responsibilities take on even greater import. This program is critical
both to domestic and international conservation efforts and to national
health and security. IFAW requests $115 million in FY22 for OLE.
In closing, thank you for the opportunity to share IFAW's funding
priorities to promote conservation in the FY2022 Interior, Environment
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. Wildlife and their habitats
are more than our national heritage; they are essential to human health
and welfare, and to domestic and international security. We appreciate
the continued leadership of this Subcommittee on conservation efforts
globally and within the United States. With your support, we can
reverse the tide of extinction, protect human health, and promote a
better future for generations of wildlife lovers and Americans yet to
come. Thank you.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://www.noaa.gov/news/2020-was-earth-s-2nd-hottest-year-
just-behind-2016
\2\ https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/slideshows/here-are-
10-of-the-deadliest-natural-disasters-in-2020
\3\ http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/482771571323560234/
WBGReport1017Digital.pdf
\4\ https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/mapping-
spread-new-coronavirus/?itid=sf_coronavirus_sn_mapping-spread-new-
coronavirus_2
\5\ https://ipbes.net/sites/default/files/2021-06/
20210609_workshop_report_embargo_3pm_CEST_10_june_0.pdf
\6\ https://ipbes.net/sites/default/files/2021-06/
20210606%20Media%20Release%20EMBARGO
%203pm%20CEST%2010%20June.pdf
\7\ Huijser, M.P., P. McGowen, J. Fuller, A. Hardy, A. Kociolek,
A.P. Clevenger, D. Smith and R. Ament. 2008. Wildlife-vehicle collision
reduction study. Report to Congress. U.S. Department of Transportation,
Federal Highway Administration, Washington D.C., USA.
\8\ Id.
\9\ Putting a Dent in the Cost of Wildlife--Vehicle Collisions,
Defenders of Wildlife Blog, September 20, 2011, https://
defendersblog.org/2011/09/putting-a-dent-in-the-cost-of-wildlife-
vehicle-collisions/

[This statement was submitted by Kate Wall, Senior Legislative
Manager.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Interstate Council on Water Policy
summary of coalition's requests for fy 2022:
Federal Priorities Streamgages is $28.7 M
Cooperative Matching Funds for Streamgage Network is $33.0 M
NGWOS and Data Delivery Modernization is $28.1 M
coalition supporting usgs streamgage networks & modernization
As leaders in the undersigned organizations, we urge your support
to enable the US Geological Survey (USGS), an agency in the Department
of Interior (DOI), to fully support its streamgaging networks. These
vital networks, managed within the USGS Groundwater and Streamflow
Information Program, provide critical, life-saving information and
serve the national interest with continuous streamflow information at
over 8,400 locations. Due to inadequate funding, gages supported by
these necessary USGS programs are being discontinued annually, and our
coalition is particularly concerned with the impact of the lack of
resources over many years on the Federal Priority Streamgage network
(details below). Maintaining and adding to the streamgaging networks is
paramount to adequately quantify and manage the nation's critical water
supplies and infrastructure. The members of our organizations rely on
the streamgage data and science that USGS produces and many of us
represent active, cost-share partners in funding the data collection
that Congress and the federal agencies require. Data from streamgages
provides necessary trend information and is the basis for understanding
climate science and for making modeling and forecasted predictions
about how climate change may impact our nation's total water supply and
timing of its availability. Streamgage information is also critical for
natural resource decisions made on U.S. Indian Reservations and for
determining environmental impacts to disadvantaged communities
throughout the nation.
Data and information from these valuable streamgages are utilized
by emergency responders, water supply managers, water quality
administrators, recreationists, consulting engineers, and many others
in forecasting and response during floods, droughts, and other extreme
events, design of bridges and other infrastructure, energy generation,
management of federal lands, design and operation of federal reservoirs
and navigation infrastructure. These networks provide critical
information to other agencies of the DOI and to the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, NOAA, FEMA, EPA, USDA, and other federal agencies, as well
as providing information essential to Congressional oversight and
revision of many federal laws, including the Clean Water Act, Safe
Drinking Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and many interstate river
basin compacts and international treaties.
Federal Priority Streamgage (FPS) Network (formerly referred to as
the National Streamflow Information Program, ``NSIP'').--Authorized by
Congress in 2009, to operate and maintain a stable ``federal backbone''
network of streamgages to meet five specific national needs for
streamflow information at (1) interstate and international boundaries,
(2) National Weather Service flood forecast sites, (3) outflows of
major river basins, (4) ``sentinel watersheds,'' needed to evaluate and
anticipate the potential consequences of ongoing changes in American
land use, water use, climate etc., and (5) national priority water--
quality monitoring sites. Our national ability to collect sufficient
water data at the needed locations to answer the necessary federal,
state, tribal, local, business and NGO questions is seriously
compromised by the insufficient funding for the FPS Network.
The budget for the FPS Network has been flat since 2016, yet
operational costs of the network nationwide have grown by approximately
1%-3% per year since 2016 due to increases in salary, travel,
equipment, and communication costs. Historically, these cost increases
have been covered by 1) USGS partners, where gages are jointly funded,
or 2) delaying planned network enhancements. Network enhancements
include cyclical upgrades to equipment (e.g. for monitoring,
telecommunication, and data transmission) to ensure sites meet
requirements for successful data collection and transmission, as well
as activities to flood--harden existing FPS sites. However, after 5
years of flat funding, the USGS reached a tipping point where network
enhancements could no longer be delayed and operational costs continued
to increase another 1%-3%. With these considerations in mind, the
shortfall of approximately $0.5M between the FPS funding needed to
cover costs in 2021 ($25.2M) over what was available in the enacted
2021 funding levels ($24.7M) resulted in 29 gages being discontinued.
If no increase is made in the program's budget for FY2022, another 33
additional gages (62 total) will be at risk for being discontinued. Of
our requested amount for the FPS, $1.25 M is based on the need to re-
instate these lost gages ($20K/gage x 62 gages lost).
Also, contemporary water management issues such as ecological flows
were not considered when the original national criteria were developed
for the Network. Additional funding would begin to meet these needs.
Today, only 25 % of the Federal Priority Streamgages are fully funded
by the federal government. The USGS is unable to complete development
of the Network, as Congress directed in 2009, without additional
funding. Full implementation of the Federal Priority Streamgage Network
is estimated at $130M. Requested Funding Level for Federal Priorities
Streamgages is $28.7 M for FY 2022 to begin to address the critical
shortfall for the FPS network and to reinstate gages discontinued since
2016.
Cooperative Matching Funds.--The USGS works with over fourteen
hundred partners nation-wide (federal, state, tribal, local, and NGO)
using Cooperative Matching Funds to jointly support USGS streamgages,
many of which meet the criteria of the FPS Network. This matching
program, which began as a 50-50 program, has seen the federal cost-
share contribution decrease from 50 % to less than 30 %. Given the
ability for this program to enable and encourage the expansion of
vitally needed streamgages on a two for one (or greater) cost basis, an
increase over the FY2021 level of $29.6 M will allow for an expansion
beyond the 5,273 streamgages currently covered under this program.
Requested Funding Level for Cooperative Matching Funds for Streamgage
Network is $33M for FY2022.
Related Programs within the USGS Water Mission Area--Next
Generation Water Observation System (NGWOS) and Modernization of the
Networks and Data Delivery.--Our coalition very much appreciates
Congress' recent support of NGWOS and modernization efforts. Build-out
of this innovative program will provide focused monitoring in ten
basins nationwide to better calibrate modeling, thus improving the
ability to estimate water supply in the nation's many ungaged areas.
Additional gaging stations added in the NGWOS basins supports the goals
of increasing gages nationwide under the FPS Network and through
Cooperative Matching Funds. We are supportive of the modeling and
predictive analytical work being developed by the USGS. A robust
network of physical gages is crucial to the calibration of many models
(including NOAA's National Water Model and those developed by others);
however, this coalition's primary support remains directed toward
adequately supporting, invigorating and expanding the real-time stream
gages across the U.S. A recent quote from USGS is illustrative on the
continued need for physical streamgages to calibrate innovative
modeling efforts:

``Looking nationwide, there are about 10,000 streamgages, but
that is only about three one hundredths of one percent of the
Nation's stream reaches. When we talk about groundwater, it is
even more sparse. As models and predictive capabilities have
advanced over the years, we're starting to exceed in the
modeling what we have observations to support. The density of
observations starts to get too low to calibrate and validate
the new high-fidelity models that we need to project what water
will look like in the next few weeks to the next few years.''

Requested Funding Level for NGWOS and Data Delivery Modernization
is $28.1 M to enable additional pilot basins to be added to the NGWOS
program and to allow USGS to continue to modernize water data delivery
systems that benefit all water users across the nation. An increase of
$3.6M in FY2022 over FY2021 amount of $24.5 would allow USGS to stay on
the planned NGWOS implementation track--Operation &Maintenance for the
Delaware River Basin network, complete capital monitoring investments
in the Upper Colorado River basin, implement about 65% of monitoring
investments in Illinois River basin, begin preliminary work in Basin #4
and continue critical NWIS modernization activities
For additional, independent analysis of the USGS' needs for
supplying the nation's water science, we encourage you to review the
recently released ``U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Streamgaging Network:
Overview and Issues for Congress'' Report (R45695) by Anna Normand at
the Congressional Research Service (released March 2, 2021). The report
provides many more funding details and ramifications in its 28 pages,
including impacts to the streamgaging program budgets in nominal
dollars. The full Report can be found at: https://
crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45695
With your help and continued support, Congress can enable the USGS
to fulfill its Water Resources Mission Area goals, including working
toward full implementation of the Federal Priority Streamgage Network,
adequately funding the Cooperative Matching Funds for streamgaging and
moving water science into the 21st century through much needed
modernization upgrades. Meaningful climate change and adaptation work
cannot be completed without the hydrologic knowledge gained from our
Streamgage networks.
We are happy to answer your questions or provide additional
information; please contact any of us or Sue Lowry at the Interstate
Council on Water Policy ([email protected]).

84 Organizations Signing on to FY 2022 Streamgage Support Letter (April
14, 2021)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Organization Signor Title
------------------------------------------------------------------------
American Fisheries Society...... Drue Winters...... Policy Director
American Rivers................. Ted Illston....... Senior Director-
Policy
American Society of Civil Thomas W. Smith... Secretary & Exec.
Engineers. Dir.
American Water Resources Dresden Farrand... Executive VP/CEO
Association.
American Water Works Association Tracy Mehan....... Exec. Dir./Gov't
Affairs
American Whitewater............. Mark Singleton.... Executive Director
Appalachian Mountain Club....... Susan Arnold...... VP for
Conservation
Association of American State Rich Ortt......... President
Geologists.
Association of California Water David Reynolds.... Director/Federal
Agencies. Relations
Association of Clean Water Tom Stiles........ ACWA President
Administrators.
Association of Fish & Wildlife Jennifer Mock Gov't Affairs
Agencies. Schaeffer. Director
Association of Metropolitan Diane VanDe Hei... CEO
Water Agencies.
Association of State Dam Safety Lori C. Spragens.. Executive Director
Officials, Inc..
Association of State Floodplain Chad Berginnis.... Executive Director
Managers.
Association of State Wetland Marla J. Stalk.... Executive Director
Managers.
Bear River Commission........... Don A. Barnett.... Engineer-Manager
Big Hole Watershed Committee.... Pedro Marques..... Executive Director
Big Horn River Alliance......... Anne Marie Emery.. Executive Director
California Sportfishing Bill Jennings..... Executive Director
Protection Alliance.
Cascade Water Alliance.......... Ray Hoffman....... CEO
CDM-Smith....................... Timothy D. Feather Vice President
Cobb County-Marietta Water Glenn M. Page..... General Manager
Authority.
Colorado Lake & Reservoir Kate Dunlap....... President
Management Assn..
Colorado River Salinity Control Don A. Barnett.... Executive Director
Forum.
Delaware River Basin Commission. Steven J. Tambini. Executive Director
Environmental Defense Fund...... Steve Cochran..... Assoc. VP/Coastal
Resilience
Fly Fishers International....... Patrick Berry..... President & CEO
Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Jeremy Tiemann.... President
Society.
Great Lakes Observing System.... Kelli Paige....... CEO
Henry's Fork Foundation......... Brandon Hoffner... Executive Director
Hydrological Services America... Peter Ward........ General Manager
Idaho Rivers United............. Nic Nelson........ Executive Director
Idaho Water Users Association... Paul L. Arrington. Executive Director
Interstate Commission on the Michael Nardolilli Executive Director
Potomac River Basin.
Interstate Council on Water Kirsten Wallace... ICWP Chair
Policy.
Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Earnie Gilder..... Federal Chair
Compact Comm..
KISTERS North America, Inc...... Becca Emery....... Business Develop.
Mngr.
Madison River Foundation........ Jonathan Malovich. Executive Director
Metropolitan North Georgia Water Katherine Zitsch.. Director
Planning District.
Missouri Department of Natural Jennifer Hoggatt.. Director/Water
Resources. Res. Center
Minnesota Department of Natural Ann Pierce........ Director/Ecol. &
Resources. Water Res.
Montana DNRC.................... Anna Pakenham- Director
Stevenson.
Montana Trout Unlimited......... David Brooks...... Executive Director
Montana Watershed Coordination Ethan Kunard...... Executive Director
Council.
North American Lake Management Lisa Borre........ President
Society.
Nat'l. Assoc. Flood & Stormwater Susan Gilson...... Executive Director
Management Agencies.
National Assoc. State Boating John Fetterman.... Director/Law
Law Administrators. Enforcement
National Audubon Society........ Julie Hill-Gabriel VP/Water
Conservation
National Drought Mitigation Dr. Mark Svoboda.. Director
Center.
National Ground Water Terry S. Morse.... CAE, CIC, CEO
Association.
National Hydrologic Warning Bruce Rindahl..... President
Council.
National Hydropower Association. Malcolm Woolf..... President and CEO
National Society of Professional Curtis Sumner..... Executive Director
Surveyors.
National Water Resources Ian Lyle.......... Executive Vice
Association. President
National Water Supply Alliance.. Dave Mitamura..... Executive Director
National Wildlife Federation.... Melissa Samet..... Sr. Water Res.
Counsel
Nebraska Department of Natural Thomas E. Riley... Director
Resources.
New England Interstate Water Susan J. Sullivan. Executive Director
Pollution Control Comm..
Ohio R. Valley Water Sanitation Richard Harrison.. Executive Director
Commission.
Oklahoma Water Resources Board.. Julie Cunningham.. Executive Director
Oregon Water Resources Congress. April Snell....... Executive Director
Phycological Society of America. Eric W. Linton.... President
Red River Compact Commission.... Sue Lowry......... Chairman
Republican River Compact Thomas E. Riley... Nebraska
Commission. Commissioner
Rivers Alliance of Connecticut.. Alicea Charamut... Executive Director
Society of Wetland Scientists... Loretta L. President
Battaglia.
Susquehanna River Basin Drew Dehoff....... Executive Director
Commission.
The Nature Conservancy.......... Jimmy Hague....... Sr. Water Policy
Adv
Three Rivers QUEST.............. Melissa O'Neal.... Associate Director
Tri-State Water Resource Gail Melgren...... Executive Director
Coalition.
Trout Unlimited................. Steve Moyer....... VP/Gov't Affairs
Upper Colorado River Commission. Amy Haas.......... Exec. Director/
Secretary
Upper Mississippi River Basin Kirsten Wallace... Executive Director
Association.
Upper Missouri Watershed Sherry Meador..... Board Chair
Alliance.
Washington State Water Resources Tom Myrum......... Executive Director
Association.
Water Environment Federation.... Walter Marlowe.... Executive Director
West Virginia Rivers Coalition.. Angie Rosser...... Executive Director
West Virginia Water Research Paul Ziemkiewicz.. Director
Institute.
Western Landowners Alliance..... Lesli Allison..... Executive Director
Western States Water Council.... Tony Willardson... Executive Director
Wild Salmon Center.............. Caylin Barter..... Water Policy Pgm.
Mngr.
Wyoming State Engineer's Office. Greg Lanning...... State Engineer
Wyoming Water Association....... Jodee Pring....... President
Xylem Analytics................. Timothy A. Grooms. Marketing Director
------------------------------------------------------------------------

______

Prepared Statement of the Interstate Mining Compact Commission
My name is Thomas L. Clarke and I serve as Executive Director of
the Interstate Mining Compact Commission (IMCC). My address is 437A
Carlisle Drive, Herndon, VA 20190. My phone number is 703 709 8654. My
email is [email protected]. We request that $68.59 million be
provided in the budget of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement (OSMRE) of the Department of the Interior for State and
Tribal regulatory grants under Title V of the Surface Mine Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022.
I appreciate the opportunity to present this statement conveying
the views of IMCC's member States on the FY 2022 budget for OSMRE. IMCC
is comprised of 26 States that together produce over 98% of the
Nation's coal, as well as other important minerals. Among the Compact's
purposes are to advance the protection and restoration of land, water
and other resources affected by mining through the encouragement of
programs in each of the party States that will achieve comparable
results in protecting, conserving and improving the usefulness of
natural resources.
States are given exclusive regulatory jurisdiction over the
environmental impacts of coal mining under Title V of SMCRA. This means
that the core regulatory functions under this federal law are being
carried out at the state level by IMCC member States. Primacy states
perform all the duties mandated by SMCRA, including inspection and
enforcement, ensuring that timely reclamation occurs following mining,
designating lands as unsuitable for mining and issuance of permits that
impose site--specific environmental protection requiremeents. In
addition to performing the regulatory work Congress required in SMCRA,
States pay a significant portion of the cost of meeting this mandate.
Half of the cost of regulation on non-federal lands is borne by the
states. In the aggregate the States are paying approximately 46% of the
total cost of SMCRA regulation (all of the cost of regulation on
federal lands is borne by the federal government). In addition to the
fact that States bear a large part of the cost of regulation, another
feature of state regulation that makes it cost-effective is lower
personnel cost. The biggest single category of program expense is
payroll and state pay scales are, for the most part, lower than those
of the federal government. Accordingly, fulfilling the federal mandate
for effective environmental regulation of coal mining impacts comes at
a bargain to the federal government.
It is no secret that coal production in America has declined.
Instead of simplifying the regulatory challenge for States, the effect
of this decline has been the opposite. The challenge of effectively
regulating the environmental impacts of an industry in decline is much
greater than when its markets were robust. Not only do States have the
challenge of gaining compliance from mine operators who face declining
cash flow, they also have the challenge of navigating their way through
complex, high-stakes bankruptcies. Meanwhile, the number of permits
that States must inspect has not declined at anywhere close to the
falling rate of coal production. Adequate funding for protection of
people and the environment from the adverse impacts of coal mining is
more important than ever. Continued appropriation of adequate funding
for state regulatory programs is essential if these programs are to
achieve the objectives Congress established for them.
Congress has appropriated $68.59 million in federal funding for
State and Tribal SMCRA Title V regulatory programs in each of the last
six fiscal years.\1\ This has been done in the face of administration
budgets that would have gutted appropriations for state regulatory
programs, cutting them by as much as $25 million per year (proposed
budget FY 2021). Congress has wisely rejected these proposed cuts and
continued a much-needed trend of appropriating an amount for state
regulatory grants that aligns closely with the States' demonstrated
needs. President Biden's proposed budget for FY 2022 includes slightly
less than this for State grants, $65 million. The States are grateful
that this Administration recognizes the need to devote significant
funding to the environmental regulation of coal mining. However, its
proposal falls just a little short of our need. We urge Congress to
provide the full $68.59 million for State grants, as it consistently
has in the recent past.
The total grant requests for all State and Tribal Title V
regulatory programs combined have consistently exceeded $70 million per
year. See, Grants Resources (osmre.gov). For FY 2016-2021, State and
Tribal Title V budget requests ranged from a low of $70.38 million for
FY 2017 to a high of $76.24 million for FY 2020. In the current Fiscal
Year, 2021, State and Tribal grant requests totaled $72.75 million.
This is the amount the States believe they will need from the federal
government to operate their regulatory programs.
The amount the States have been able to actually spend for
operation of these regulatory programs has averaged $63 million per
year. Importantly, the gap between actual expenditures and the States'
projected funding needs has been closing. The State's actual
expenditures are on an upward trend. A variety of factors have
prevented the States from spending all of their budgeted funds. These
generally include the time it takes to fill vacancies under state
personnel procedures, state-wide hiring and/or spending freezes imposed
when States face budgetary issues and state revenue shortages that
affect a state's ability to match federal dollars for program
operation. State primacy under the SMCRA regulatory program dates to
the early 1980's. As this regulatory program reached maturity in recent
years, employees who began their careers when the state programs began
have reached retirement age and moved on. When these senior employees
have retired, they have often been replaced from within by a less
senior employee. Less senior employees have often been replaced by
junior employees, who have been replaced by new hires. It is not
unusual for a State to go through the hiring process three times to
fully eliminate the vacancy caused by a single retirement. During the
time such vacancies persist, the money budgeted for the positions
necessarily is not being spent. Because personnel costs are the biggest
single cost driver for most state programs, vacancies are among the
biggest of the challenges that a state program faces in operating
according to budget. As the declining gap between the States' budget
needs and actual expenditures may demonstrate, the States are nearly
past this wave of retirements and the multiple vacancies that have
resulted from them. Multiple vacancies should pose less of a budgetary
challenge in the future, so the States' future needs from the federal
government should be closer to their projections.
With many States now in a position to utilize more of their full
grant amount, it is imperative that funding be maintained at a level
that meets the estimates of program needs the States made in their
budget requests. Those requests reflect the ongoing work associated
with state program implementation including permit reviews, inspections
and enforcement at all inspectable units. Even with the decline in coal
production, the States' workload has not correspondingly decreased--and
in many cases has increased given the tenuous condition of some coal
companies. Higher levels of vigilance are necessary to ensure
contemporaneous reclamation and abatement of violations.
This calls for vigilance by Congress. Inflation and other costs
beyond the control of the States cannot be allowed to undermine state
efforts to realize needed program improvements and enhancements or,
more importantly, to jeopardize their efforts to minimize the potential
adverse impacts of coal extraction operations on people and the
environment. Our analysis of state program funding needs for FY 2022
based on recent estimates indicate that a full federal appropriation of
$68.6 million will be required for the existing State and Tribal
programs. This represents a good middle ground figure that balances the
need to assure that adequate funds will be available to enable the
states to perform this vital work with the recognition that factors
beyond state control may continue to have some effect on States'
ability to spend the entirety of their projected budget needs.
We acknowledge that over the course of many years, the gap between
States' actual program expenditures and the amount of their budget
requests for regulatory grants caused a balance of approximately $30
million in unspent funds to accumulate. This was primarily the result
of two factors: 1) the fact that federal appropriations for state
regulatory grants are treated as two-year money, thereby providing
flexibility for the use of these moneys, and 2) a few tough years where
states faced particular challenges in obtaining state share match
moneys and/or expending grant funding before the end of the federal
fiscal year. Now, however, this accumulated balance has been all but
eliminated. As adopted, the Fiscal Year 2021 funding bill (H.R. 133)
rescinded $25 million of this balance. Having this small remaining
cushion of available carryover funding provides the certainty and
confidence that both OSMRE and the States require in managing funding
for these critical programs. Congress should specifically mandate
through report language that all carryover funds from past fiscal years
can only be used to fund state regulatory program needs. It would also
be beneficial to state program implementation if OSMRE was authorized
to utilize these carryover funds for state program enhancement
activities (without requirements for state matching funds) for such
critical program topics as electronic permitting, mine mapping, and
benchmarking workshops.
Clear indications from Congress that reliable, consistent funding
will continue has done much to stimulate support for these programs by
state legislatures and budget officers who, in the face of difficult
fiscal climates and constraints, have had to deal with the challenge of
matching federal grant dollars with state funds. This is particularly
true for those States whose match is partially based on fees from the
mining industry, where significant reductions in mining and permitting
activity translate to lower revenue (but not reductions in the volume
of regulatory work for state agencies). Recall that any cut in federal
funding generally translates to an additional cut of an equal amount
for overall program funding for States, especially those without
federal lands, since these States can generally only match what they
receive in federal money.
For all the above reasons, we urge Congress to approve not less
than $68.59 million for State and Tribal Title V regulatory grants in
FY 2022, the same amount enacted by Congress over the past few fiscal
years. In doing so, Congress will continue its commitment to ensuring
the States have the resources they need to continue their work on the
forefront of environmental protection and preservation of public health
and safety.
A couple of forward-looking observations about future federal
budgets should be made. The first concerns the potential impact of
actions to eliminate emissions of greenhouse gasses that may be under
consideration. As a compact of States with diverse interests, we take
no position in support of or in opposition to any such action. We only
wish to point out that a foreseeable collateral impact of greenhouse
gas regulation may be the reduction or elimination of revenue from the
coal industry the States use for operation of their SMCRA regulatory
programs. If this happens, the States are likely to need a significant
increase in future funding from the federal government for the
regulatory effort that will be necessary to assure that the
environmental impacts of existing mines are effectively addressed. The
second concerns SMCRA Title V primacy being sought by the State of
Tennessee. Tennessee has applied to OSMRE for primacy. Tennessee
currently projects that this approval will come late in federal Fiscal
Year 2023. For FY 2023 and thereafter, OSMRE budgets will need to
include additional money for the federal share of the costs of
operation of a state regulatory program in Tennessee.
In addition to state regulatory grants, the States have a great
degree of interest in the appropriations for OSMRE's National Technical
Training Program (NTTP) and Technical Information and Professional
Service (TIPS). The States rely heavily on the NTTP and TIPS training
classes for their new employees and for refresher courses for more
seasoned employees. These training programs are especially important as
States find themselves at a point where many of their employees are
finishing careers and must be replaced with less experienced people.
Any adjustments to these two programs should involve the States working
through the NTTP/TIPS Steering Committee.
With regard to funding for State Title IV Abandoned Mine Land (AML)
program grants, the States and Tribes should receive the mandatory
appropriation of $155 million (before sequestration) in FY 2022. We
also strongly support appropriation of $165 million for AML economic
revitalization (AMLER) projects, as the President's budget proposes.
This funding is targeted for economic and community development and
reuse goals. We strongly support continued funding from the General
Fund for these ``pilot'' projects. We also recommend concerted action
to reauthorize fee collection under Title IV of SMCRA. IMCC also
supports a continuation of funding for the watershed cooperative
agreements at $1.55 million. Much valuable work has been accomplished
through this program, especially given the matching funds that come
from other sources besides OSMRE's share for these worthwhile projects.
We appreciate the opportunity to submit this statement on OSMRE's
budget for FY 2022. We also endorse the statement of the National
Association of Abandoned Mine Land Programs (NAAMLP), which goes into
greater detail regarding the implications of OSMRE's funding for the
States and Tribes related to the AML program. We would be happy to
answer any questions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Grant funding for the Tribes' regulatory effort also comes from
this appropriation. As appropriate in context, references herein to
``States'' should be read to include the Tribes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
______

Prepared Statement of the Izaak Walton League of America
The Izaak Walton League of America appreciates the opportunity to
submit testimony for the record concerning appropriations for fiscal
year (FY) 2022 for various agencies and programs under the jurisdiction
of the Subcommittee. The League is a national, nonprofit organization
with 40,000 members and 200 local chapters nationwide. Our members are
committed to advancing common sense policies that safeguard wildlife
and habitat, support community--based conservation, and address
pressing environmental issues. The following pertains to programs
administered by the Departments of the Interior, (Refuge System
Operations and Maintenance at $600 million, State and Tribal Wildlife
Grants at $73 million, North American Wetlands Conservation Fund at $60
million, Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense at $15
million), and Environmental Protection Agency (Great Lakes Restoration
Initiative at $375 million, Chesapeake Bay Program at $90 million,
South Florida Geographic Initiative at $6 million, and Non-Point Source
Grants at $250 million).
department of the interior, fish and wildlife service, national
wildlife refuge system
The League joins other members of the Cooperative Alliance for
Refuge Enhancement (CARE), a diverse coalition of 22 wildlife,
sporting, conservation, and scientific organizations representing
approximately 15 million of members and supporters, in requesting $600
million for operations and maintenance of the National Wildlife Refuge
system in FY 2022.
The League and CARE groups appreciate the importance of fiscal
discipline and making strategic spending decisions. CARE annually
develops an estimate of the operations and maintenance budget that is
necessary to effectively provide visitor services and law enforcement
as well as conserve and manage fish, wildlife, and habitat across the
refuge system. CARE estimates operations and maintenance needs total
$900 million annually. Although our long-term goal is to make steady
progress toward a budget that more accurately reflects demands on the
ground, the FY 2022 request balances fiscal responsibility with
pressing resource conservation, visitor services, and law enforcement
needs.
department of the interior, fish and wildlife service, state and tribal
wildlife grants
The League urges the Subcommittee to provide at least $73 million
in FY 2022 for State and Tribal Wildlife Grants. This amount equals
what was appropriated for FY 2021. State Wildlife Grants support
proactive conservation projects aimed at preventing wildlife from
becoming endangered. Experience shows that efforts to restore imperiled
wildlife can be particularly contentious and costly when action is
taken only after species are formally listed as threatened or
endangered pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. State Wildlife
Grants augment state and community--based efforts to safeguard habitat
and wildlife before either reaches the tipping point. The federal
investment leverages significant funding from private, state, and local
sources.
department of the interior, fish and wildlife service, north american
wetlands conservation fund
The League asks that the Subcommittee provide the fully authorized
amount of $60 million for the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund
for FY 2022. The North American Wetlands Conservation Act conserves
North America's wetlands and habitat for waterfowl, fish and wildlife
while producing a variety of environmental and economic benefits. Its
success is driven by partnerships involving federal, state and local
governments, as well as non-profit organizations and community groups.
Each federal dollar must be matched at least one to one, but funds are
often doubled or tripled at the local level. In fact, NAWCA grants
totaling more than $1.6 billion have leveraged over $4.68 billion for
NAWCA projects through matching and nonmatching funds. Since its
inception in 1989, more than 2,833 NAWCA projects have contributed to
the conservation of almost 29.8 million acres of wetlands across North
America.
department of the interior, fish and wildlife service, chesapeake
watershed investments for landscape defense
The League asks for the fully authorized amount of $15 million in
FY 2022 for the Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense
program. We supported the authorization of this new program as part of
the America's Conservation Enhancement Act last fall. Designed to
support local restoration efforts that improve the health of our
streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay, this program was not authorized
in time to be considered in the FY 2021 Omnibus.
Throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed are iconic species that
help shape the identity and culture of our communities, and drive the
outdoor economy. By assisting local partners with on-the-ground work to
enhance progress toward Bay watershed--wide goals like strengthening
riparian forest buffers, restoring vital habitat for fish and wildlife,
and improving water quality, this grant program will have an incredible
impact on the environment and economy of the Bay and the 64,000 square
mile watershed.
environmental protection agency, great lakes restoration initiative
The League supports providing $375 million for the Great Lakes
Restoration Initiative in FY 2022. The Great Lakes provide drinking
water to 35 million people and support jobs and recreational
opportunities for millions more. However, the health of the Great Lakes
is seriously threatened by untreated sewage, toxic pollution, invasive
species, and habitat loss. The eight states that border the Lakes and
many non-governmental organizations have invested significant resources
to safeguard these national treasures. Sustained federal investment at
a significant level is also needed or the problems will only get worse
and cost even more to fix.
Cleaning up the Great Lakes will provide many benefits, including
economic development in the region. Great Lakes restoration efforts
produce at least $2 in economic return for every $1 invested.
Restoration projects create jobs for engineers, landscape architects,
and construction workers and improve water quality, support outdoor
recreation, and reestablish healthy fish and wildlife habitat. These
results lay the foundation for long-term prosperity in the region.
environmental protection agency, chesapeake bay program
The League asks that the Subcommittee to fund the Chesapeake Bay
Program at $90 million in FY 2022, matching last year's Chesapeake Bay
Program reauthorization. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in
the United States and one of the largest in the world. More than 16
million people live within the Bay watershed. The Bay is a critical
economic, environmental, and recreational resource for these residents
and the entire nation. However, the productivity and health of this
nationally significant resource remain seriously impaired by nutrient
pollution from multiple sources throughout the watershed.
The EPA and states have launched a significant and rigorous effort
to cut pollution and improve water quality. Few would argue that
implementing the total maximum daily load (TMDL) will not be
challenging or not require significant investment to reduce point and
non-point source pollution. However, the president's budget request is
inadequate and fails to support states, local governments, and other
partners as they implement the TMDL. The League believes it is
essential to provide technical and financial assistance to achieve
results on the ground and secure a foundation for sustained pollution
reductions over the long-term.
environmental protection agency, south florida geographic initiative
The League respectfully requests the Subcommittee appropriate $6
million for the South Florida Geographic Initiative for FY 2022. This
amount matches last year's appropriation and is needed to reduce
polluted discharges from leaking septic systems and other toxic
cesspits, adequately monitor seagrass levels, assess efforts to restore
the Everglades, and protect drinking water for 8 million Americans
living in Florida. Economic benefits that would come from restoration
of the Everglades are astronomical. Gains in biodiversity, groundwater
purification and aquifer storage, increasing property values, park
visitation, carbon sequestration, and improved fish and wildlife
habitat that would come from a full restoration of the Everglades, as
described in the Army Corps' Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan,
would drive an economic increase of $46.5 billion. The EPA investment
in the restoration of south Florida and the Everglades is an important
piece of the strategy to restore traditional water flows, protect
drinking water, and conserve biodiversity.
environmental protection agency, non-point source management program
(clean water act section 319)
The League is concerned that the FY 2021 omnibus provided only $177
million for EPA's Section 319, the Non-Point Source Management Program.
The EPA and many states report that non-point source pollution is the
leading cause of water quality problems, including harmful effects on
drinking water supplies, recreation, fisheries and wildlife. Based on
the pressing nature of the problem, it makes sense to invest resources
that help states and local governments more aggressively tackle non-
point source pollution. The League urges the Subcommittee to increase
funding for Section 319 to $250 million for FY 2022.
The Izaak Walton League appreciates the opportunity to testify
about these important issues.

[This statement was submitted by Jared Mott, Conservation
Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe
On behalf of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, I am pleased to submit
this written testimony on our funding priorities and requests for the
Fiscal Year 2022 Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Bureau of Indian
Education (BIE) and the Indian Health Service (IHS) budgets.
We commend the Biden's Administration's FY2022 proposed budget for
Indian Country and urge Congress to enact similar funding levels to
support strong Tribal governments, economies, and communities.
Providing steady, equitable, non-discretionary base funding directly to
Tribal Nations to support core government programs and services is an
integral component of the Federal trust and treaty obligations. Tribes
relinquished their lands and resources in exchange for funding and
services from the Federal government in perpetuity and that obligation
has not changed with time. It is solidified in our Constitution,
Treaties, Executive Orders, and countless legal opinions. The Federal
government, however, has never fully executed its responsibilities. It
is time for the Federal government to honor those promises made nation-
to-nation.
Over the past few decades, Tribal Nations have resumed exercising
our inherent sovereignty and Self-Governance authority to develop
sophisticated governmental systems that allow us to create
comprehensive approaches to implementing programs and services at the
local level that address our Tribal citizens and community's critical
needs and align with our unique culture, traditions, and institutions.
Self-Governance empowers Tribes to employ holistic techniques, develop
innovative solutions, leverage the Federal dollar, and enter successful
partnerships that allow us to realize a greater return on the Federal
investment. The success we have attained demonstrates that continued
Federal support is invaluable to growing sustainable Tribal economies
that will enable us to attain our goal of self-sufficiency.
Tribal Top 5 Priorities and Recommendations for the BIA/BIE and
IHS:

1. Advanced Appropriations for Tribal Programs and Services
2. Increase Funding for Tribal Base Budgets/Recurring Programs
3. Mandatory Appropriations for Section 105(l) Leases and Contract
Support Costs
4. Fully Fund Tribal Fixed Costs/Pay costs
5. Invest in Tribal Infrastructure

Advanced Appropriations for Tribal Programs and Services.--Tribal
Nations are resilient, however, the persistent delays and/or lapse of
Federal funding disrupts our governmental programs and services and
attenuates our ability to protect the health and well-being of our
communities and citizens. In addition, the 35-day government shutdown
of 2018-2019 put our Treaty rights at risk jeopardizing the survival of
our resources, inhibited our economic development potential, stifled
our ability to recruit and retain staff, delayed the process for the
reacquisition of our Tribal homelands and, most significantly,
jeopardized our sovereignty and culture. Providing appropriations one
year in advance for the BIA, BIE and IHS will mitigate the adverse
financial effects of Federal budgetary uncertainties and allow Tribes
to engage in more effective strategic planning, spend funds more
efficiently, grow our Tribal economy and businesses and increase the
quality of care and well-being of our Tribal citizens and community.
Increase Funding for Tribal Base Budgets/Recurring Programs.--We
urge Congress to appropriate funding to support Tribal base budgets by
increasing funding for Tribal Priority Allocations and other Recurring
Programs. For decades, in order to pay for tax cuts, wars, natural
disasters and technology upgrades, funding for Tribal programs and
services has been reduced or permanently rescinded. As funding for
Tribal programs decreased, inflationary rates grew resulting in greater
financial repercussions at the local level. There has been a growing
trend among agencies to fund Tribal programs and services with grant
dollars rather than providing base and recurring funding. Grant funding
is incongruent with the trust and treaty resources and impose extensive
regulations and reporting requirements, it is competitive short-term
funding which creates uncertainty in planning and restricts the use of
indirect costs.
Mandatory Appropriations for Section 105(l) Leases and Contract
Support Costs.--Separate, indefinite accounts that were established to
support Section105(l) leases and Contract Support Costs (CSC) has
allowed Tribes to recoup funding that is owed to them, but it has
resulted in the unintended reduction of funding for Tribal program
lines in the IHS, BIA and BIE budgets. The agencies are legally
required to compensate Tribes for Section 105(l) lease obligations and
CSC in accordance with the Indian Self-Determination and Education
Assistance Act (ISDEAA) but these obligations have grown tremendously
since their inception. It is therefore incumbent upon the agencies and
Congress to establish a permanent full funding solution that does not
implicate current budget lines and services to Tribes.
Fully Fund Tribal Fixed Costs/Pay Costs.--The Federal government's
failure to fund Tribal fixed costs and pay costs has financially
devastated Tribal governmental operations resulting in significant job
losses. Our Federal counterparts consistently receive annual increases
to their fixed costs rates to account for inflationary costs associated
with fringe benefits and pay costs. Similar concessions must be
extended to Tribal governments to preserve jobs at the local level.
Invest in Tribal Infrastructure.--Increased Federal funding and
investments could effectuate Tribal infrastructure development and, in
turn, promote Tribal economic growth and self-sufficiency. Tribal
governments and their citizens face profound infrastructure challenges
that are acute and longstanding. Decaying, unsafe infrastructure is not
only a public health issue but an impediment to economic development
and job growth and reflects a failure of the Federal government to
uphold its trust obligations. The breadth and severity of the unmet
infrastructure needs must be addressed.
Tribal Priorities & National Requests and Recommendations for the
BIA:

1. Trust Natural Resources
--$66 million BIA Rights Protection Implementation
--$17.1 million Western WA Fisheries Management
--$15 million Wildlife & Parks
2. $25 million Economic Development TPA
--$25 million Indian Guaranteed Loan Program/Surety Bonds
3. Human Services
--$70 million Social Services
--$100 million Welfare Assistance
--$30 million Indian Child Welfare Act

$66 million--BIA Rights Protection Implementation.--Rights
Protection implementation is essential to preserve our Tribal treaty
rights through resource management activities. The vitality and
sustainability of our Natural Resources is integral to the health and
welfare of our Tribal citizens, communities, culture and religious
practices and economies. Our Tribal Treaty Rights are at risk. Climate
change is having a profound impact on Tribal communities, lands,
resources and infrastructure and degradation of our natural environment
is happening faster than we can restore it in the Northwest. The
Federal investment in Tribal Natural Resources is essential to restore
ecological functions, healthy habitats, and protect our resources. This
investment also fosters Tribal self-sufficiency and supports Tribal
economies by allowing us to cultivate cross jurisdictional partnerships
with state and local governments that create jobs and promote and
advance trade. It also allows us to preserve for future generations
important cultural and religious practices.
$17.1 million--Western WA Fisheries Management.--This critical
funding supports Tribal co-management activities of their treaty
resources with the state of WA. These obligations include planning,
regular assessments of resources, data gathering and other natural
resource management requirements. This funding is critical to support
day to day activities and monitoring of endangered habitat and fish
stocks. Increased commercial and recreational activities coupled with
the severe consequences of climate change has increased the urgency and
costs associated with protecting our treaty resources.
$15 million Wildlife & Parks.--Funding supports our hatchery
operations that harvest salmon, oysters and other fish and shellfish
stocks. Our Tribal culture and traditions, ceremonies and subsistence
is dependent on the survival of these species.
$25 million-Indian Guaranteed Loan Program/Surety Bonds.--Loan
guarantees are an attractive financial tool because Tribes can leverage
limited Federal funding in a prudent budgeting effective way and
promote economic growth by investing in projects that can generate
their own revenue streams. The Federal government is in a unique
position to help advance Tribal projects and provide sustainable
economic opportunities for Indian businesses and Tribal governments
through the Indian Loan Guarantee Program and Surety Bonding for Indian
contractors.
Human Services.--Our social service programs cater to the needs of
our most vulnerable populations by providing critical services to our
elders, children, and Tribal families. We focus on opportunities for
personal growth through education, training, and employment through
structured programs that are designed with the goal of developing self-
reliance, self-sufficiency and developing strong Tribal citizens and
community members. The success of our human services programs is
demonstrated through the high number of Tribal citizens and descendants
entering higher education learning and earning degrees, our 80% hiring
rate and growing workforce of Tribal citizens, descendants and other
Natives, our cultural preservation classes that create marketable
products that can be sold through the Tribe's retail outlet and our
flourishing language program. We lead our citizens down the path of
self-sufficiency by developing their leadership skills, educational
skills, job skills, fostering health and well-being in a culturally
appropriate way.
Tribal Priorities & National Requests and Recommendations for the
IHS:

1. $337 million to Support Current Services
2. $460.3 million for Purchased and Referred Care
3. $150 million Opioid Funding

$337 million to Support Current Services.--Maintaining current
services is a priority for Tribal governments and more vital now as we
try to mitigate the impacts of the public health crisis on our
communities. It is critical that the IHS budget honors and respects the
Federal trust obligation by investing heavily in our healthcare
systems. To maintain current services, factors such as the inflationary
rate, pay costs, contract support costs, population growth and staffing
needs for recently constructed facilities all need to be fully funded.
When these mandatory factors are not funded, Tribes must supplement
programs with their own limited revenue, or chose between limiting
services or shutting down services completely. The COVID-19 pandemic
exposed what Tribal leaders have been stating for decades; the severe
and persistent underfunding of Tribal healthcare programs and services
has resulted in underlying inequalities that cross a wide spectrum of
areas leaving Tribes and their citizens vulnerable to deadly diseases
and social and economic devastation. While Indian country was included
in COVID Relief Legislation, the disproportionate impacts of the
pandemic on Tribal communities require significantly more resources to
preserve human life.
$460.3 million Purchased and Referred Care (PRC).--Most IHS and
Tribally operated direct care facilities do not provide the required
emergency specialty care services, so Tribes are forced to turn to the
private sector to fulfill this need. PRC funds are used to purchase
essential health care services, including inpatient and outpatient
care, routine emergency ambulatory care, transportation, and medical
support services, such as diagnostic imaging, physical therapy,
laboratory, nutrition, and pharmacy services. When PRC funds are
depleted, services are denied to Tribal patients.
$150 million Opioid Funding.--The opioid epidemic has devastated
Tribal communities with American Indian/Alaska Native opioid related
deaths exceeding three times the rate of non-Indians. We believe a
holistic service delivery approach is most effective with those
suffering from opioid addiction. Tribal governments must be included in
any funding allocated for treatment and prevention.
The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe continues to support the requests and
recommendations of our Regional and National Indian Organizations.
Thank you.

[This statement was submitted by The Honorable W. Ron Allen, Tribal
Chairman/CEO.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Kentucky Chapter of the Wildlife Society
Dear Chairman Merkley and Ranking Member Murkowski:

We are writing to express our support for the State and Tribal
Wildlife Grants Program. We appreciate your past support and hope that
you will make funding for this program a priority. The State and Tribal
Wildlife Grants Program, now in its twentieth year, provides a critical
investment that is necessary to sustain our nation's biodiversity. In
FY2021, $72.4 million was appropriated to the program, benefiting every
state, territory, the District of Columbia and Indian tribes. These
funds leveraged tens of millions in state and private funds. We ask
that you provide the most robust funding possible for the program in
FY2022.
The State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program is the nation's core
program to prevent fish and wildlife from becoming endangered. The
program provides funding for priority conservation work aimed at
preventing and recovering endangered species. The program is saving
taxpayer dollars by supporting interventions before federal listing is
required for many species, cutting down on endangered species
controversies. Successes in every state, territory and the District of
Columbia are highlighted in a new report by the US Fish and Wildlife
Service that documents 20 years of success for the program.
The State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program funds on-the-ground
conservation work such as invasive species control, habitat management,
land protection, species reintroduction, disease abatement, research,
and monitoring needed to conserve over 12,000 animals identified as
Species in Greatest Conservation Need in State Wildlife Action Plans.
These plans were developed by each state, territory and the District of
Columbia using the best available science and with input from farmers,
ranchers, business-owners, conservationists, and the public.
The State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program directly benefits over
100 million people who depend on healthy fish and wildlife and habitat
for birding, hunting, fishing, wildlife viewing, photography, hiking
and other forms of wildlife-dependent recreation. The program is
important to sustaining the $460 billion outdoor recreation economy and
helps states meet their statutory responsibility for conserving fish
and wildlife for future generations.
Again, we appreciate the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and
Related Agencies past support for the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants
Program and encourage you to make funding for this program a priority
in FY2022. Stronger funding for the program will expand conservation
work to a greater number of the species that are in decline. Thank you
for considering our request.

Sincerely,

Christina Wampler, President
______

Prepared Statement of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior
Chippewa Indians
On behalf of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Indians, I am pleased to submit testimony concerning the Tribe's FY
2022 funding needs in the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), Bureau of
Indian Affairs (BIA), Indian Health Service (IHS), and Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) accounts.
The Tribe is grateful to the Subcommittee for passage of the
Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and to all members who
supported the CARES Act in 2020, which sustained the Tribe through the
worst of the pandemic, and for the recently enacted American Rescue
Plan (ARP) and the resources those measures provided the Tribe to
actively combat and mitigate the pandemic, help Tribal businesses and
families hit hardest by the pandemic, and ensure that essential
governmental services could be provided to our members.
We write to express our strong support for the Biden
Administration's FY 2022 discretionary funding request. We understand
that the Administration seeks significant increases in FY 2022
discretionary spending to address the four-fold crises of: 1) the
pandemic, 2) the economic crisis that has shuttered business and
suppressed governmental revenues which threaten essential services, 3)
racial inequities and historic shortfalls to underserved communities,
and 4) the climate crisis. Our Tribe has seen all four calamities. We
support the President's FY 2022 budget request. We ask that you to do
the same.
As of April 8, 2021, there have been 362 positive coronavirus cases
on the Lac du Flambeau reservation out of 1829 tested (a positivity
rate of 19.7%), 360 recoveries, 2 active cases, 21 hospitalizations, 1
current hospitalization, and zero deaths. We have been very fortunate.
But this was no accident. On March 14, 2020, early in the pandemic, we
issued a State of Emergency Declaration. This was followed up a few
days later with a Shelter at Home Declaration. We closed the Lac du
Flambeau Public School and Zaasijiwan Head Start program on the advice
of our medical professionals. We closed the Aging Program, suspended
daily meal deliveries, began doing curbside delivery of frozen meals
for elders, and urged seniors to shelter at home. On April 29, 2020, we
closed access to public boat landings, campgrounds, parks, trails, and
tribal roads. We also closed the LDF Country Market, LDF Gas Station,
LDF Smoke Shop, and the Tribal Government Building to Visitors. We
issued a face-mask order and kept our members updated through frequent
statements on the Tribe's website.
With CARES Act funds, we were able to issue hazard pay to essential
workers, did our best to provide services and resources to Tribal
members impacted the most by the pandemic, and made emergency
assistance available to those most in need. We hope to construct an
Emergency Operation Center using COVID-19 relief funds to better meet
the needs of our reservation community in times of crises. We have
already leveled the ground in anticipation of construction. The past
year has been a testament to the hard work of dedicated Tribal
officials and employees working collaboratively to keep members and
residents safe and to mitigate the spread of the infectious
coronavirus. The pandemic, however, highlighted the unmet needs of
Indian country.
i. indian health service programs
The Tribe appreciates the Subcommittee's commitment to increasing
appropriations in FY 2021 for the Indian Health Service (IHS) to
address the health needs of our members. We greatly appreciate and
support the President's $8.5 billion funding request for FY 2022 for
IHS, an increase of $2.2 billion. If enacted into law, this will help
address ``long-standing health inequities'' experienced by Tribal
members that have been driven home to all Americans by the pandemic.
This funding also includes an advance appropriation for FY 2023. These
funds will better ensure that we maintain and expand the Peter
Christensen Health Center, Dental Program, the Family Resource Center,
and our In-patient Treatment Center. These programs are vital to ensure
the support and preservation of family life and wellbeing by providing
outpatient mental health, inpatient & outpatient alcohol and other drug
abuse, and psychological consults.
We are also pleased to see the Administration prioritize funding to
fight the opioid crisis with an investment request of $10.7 billion, an
increase of $3.9 billion over the FY 2021 enacted level. The request
will help Tribes like ours provide medication--assisted treatment and
expand our behavioral health provider workforce. The Tribe is still
working hard to combat the problem of opioid addiction. We appreciated
the Committee's continued focus on the urgency of this crisis. We urge
the Subcommittee to increase funds for preventive health programs such
as Drug Endangered Children (DEC) and Drug Endangered Elders (DEE).
These programs can save lives. Congress must recognize the toll that
the pandemic, quarantines, and economic uncertainty has caused Tribal
communities that are predominantly low-income.
ii. bie and bia appropriations
A. Indian Education. The Tribe continues to promote higher
education among our children, especially in STEM subjects with the hope
that through scholarships and federal loan forgiveness programs, our
young Tribal citizens will return to the Reservation to maintain it as
a vibrant Tribal community. We have limited Tribal funds to help our
members cover the rising costs of college and graduate school. For
these reasons, we strongly support President Biden's request of $4
billion for the BIA and BIE, a $600 million increase over the FY 2021
enacted level. We cannot stress enough our need to retain our human
capital here at Lac du Flambeau. Recruitment and retention of qualified
professionals remains the greatest challenge for remote reservations
like ours. Investments in people return powerful dividends for our
future.
B. Road Maintenance Program. The Tribe appreciates Congress
appropriating $36 million for the BIA Road Maintenance Program for FY
2021, including $500,000 for school bus roads. The BIA, however, has
not been transparent in how these additional appropriations are
allocated among eligible Tribes. We again urge the Subcommittee to make
a one-time investment in the Road Maintenance Program, as it did 30
years ago, and ensure that at least $20 million be added to the Road
Maintenance Program account for FY 2022 for the replacement by Tribes
and the BIA of aging heavy road maintenance equipment. With many
equipment decades old, replacement parts are hard to come by. We need
to replace plow trucks, front end loaders, graders, sanders, and wings.
Every Tribal program depends on all-season road access, including
elementary, middle, and high schools, health centers, law enforcement,
ambulance services, residences, and on-reservation businesses. Idle
equipment serves no one.
iii. natural resources (epa and bia)
The Tribe enthusiastically supports President Biden's call for a
budget of $11.2 billion for EPA, an increase of $2 billion (21%) above
the FY 2021 enacted level. We support the restoration of nearly 1,000
staff from EPA over the last four years. Ensuring that this important
agency can carry out its core mission to protect the air, land, and
waters of the United States, is critical. EPA must also lead the Nation
in tackling the threat of climate change. We urge the Subcommittee to
increase FY 2022 funds for the BIA and EPA Natural Resources programs
that are critical to protecting our culture, our health, and our
economy; part of Wisconsin's $19 billion hunting, fishing, recreation,
and tourism industry. We thank the Subcommittee for increasing the
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Program to $330 million in FY
2021 and urge the Subcommittee to prioritize funds in FY 2022 to
address environmental conditions in underserved communities like Indian
country. We strongly recommend additional funding for the GLRI in FY
2022.
The Tribe has one of the leading Tribal Natural Resources programs
in the Country. Our program includes a Fish Hatchery for several
species of fish, Fisheries Management, Waterfowl habitat protection,
GLRI, Wild Rice Restoration, Conservation Law Enforcement, Wildlife
protection, Historic Preservation, and numerous Environmental Programs,
including Water Resources and GAP. Our Natural Resources Department
employs fish/wildlife/wild rice technicians, fish hatchery operators,
hydrologists, environmental specialists, and administrators, many of
whom are paid in full or in part with EPA and BIA funds. These funds
are critical to our work protecting the resources that were promised to
us in Treaties. Vilas and Oneida county lakes continue to have high
concentrations of mercury. We cannot eat contaminated fish that are
otherwise a staple of our members' diet. Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)
is another threat to our treaty protected resources and has been
detected in deer in our ceded territories and is moving closer to the
reservation. We seek funds to research CWD and prevention.
We continue to see higher levels of PFAS; per- and polyfluoroalkyl
substances, which are entering waters in our ceded territories. EPA
established cumulative-lifetime health advisories for PFOA and PFOS,
which are two PFAS that have been most widely produced and studied, at
70 parts per trillion (ppt). The Wisconsin Department of Health
Services, at the request of the State's Department of Natural
Resources, after study, recommended groundwater enforcement standards
of 20 ppt for PFOA and PFOS. Exposure to PFOA and PFOS can lead to
adverse health effects, including cancer. Wisconsin recommends that
Walleye consumption be limited to one per month when such fish test
positive. We seek additional funds to test for PFOS levels and other
contaminants such as pharmaceuticals.
A. EPA's Underground Storage Tank Fund (LUST). The annual
appropriation for Tribes allocated by EPA to cleanup under the Leaking
Underground Storage Tank (LUST) program is inadequate for Indian
Country. We have spent almost a decade working with State and EPA
officials to clean up the Tower Standard/Haskell Lake site, a LUST site
located within the Tribe's exterior boundaries. This site is
contaminated with petroleum, benzene, lead, dibromoethane, and other
contaminants. EPA estimated that $1.7 million was required for
``interim'' action measures to remediate contamination on the site. The
Tribe has advocated for recognition of Tribal Cleanup Standards and
Federally Approved Water Quality Standards. EPA has not recognized our
standards. Tribal Groundwater Standards are equivalent to Federal Safe
Drinking Water Act Standards and State Groundwater Cleanup Standard.
Tribal Water Quality Standards were approved by EPA in 2005. Last fall,
EPA completed site work with an Air Sparge/Soil Vapor Extraction Pilot
Test and groundwater monitoring of some of the site wells. The design
of this system will result in an interim measure expected to last 3
years, subject to funding. EPA has also promised to complete the site
characterization monitoring wells next year, also subject to funding.
This has been an outstanding promise since 2015.
Please allocate at least $25 million as a Tribal set-aside within
the LUST Program for FY 2022. This will better ensure that our Tribe
and other Tribes have access to sufficient EPA funds to remediate known
LUST sites causing harm to our communities. We further recommend that
the Senate report repeat language used in the Senate's FY 2020 report
that directs EPA to ``fully engage in meaningful consultation with
Tribes and honor Tribal cleanup standards when developing interim and
final action plans to remediate LUST sites located on reservations.''
B. EPA Tribal General Assistance Program. For FY 2021, Congress
approved $66.25 million for the Tribal general assistance program
(GAP). Tribal GAP program provides base funds to assist Tribes build
their environmental capacity to assess environmental conditions,
utilize available data, and build their environmental programs to meet
local needs. The Tribal GAP funding is limited to capacity building. It
is critical that Congress expand Tribal EPA funding to include program
implementation. Please consider this change in eligible uses, along
with more funding for the program, in the FY 2022 appropriations
measure.
C. Trust-Natural Resources Management. Continue to build Tribal
capacity through meaningful increases to the Trust-Natural Resources
Management program, specifically Tribal Fish Hatchery Operations and
the Tribal Management/Development Program. For FY 2022, our Hatchery
operations alone requires a $500,000 increase to the BIA's Fish
Hatchery Operations account, and we require a $250,000 increase to our
TM/DP Program operations. Our Natural Resources Program is the pride of
the Tribe. We want to perpetuate it and hire and train future
biologists, hydrologists, and environmental specialists to maintain the
health of our hatchery, waters, land, and air. Our Natural Resources
Program is the pride of our Tribe. We want to perpetuate it and hire
and train future biologists, hydrologists, and environmental
specialists to maintain the health of our hatchery, waters, land, and
air. This requires resources we do not have. This Subcommittee's
actions are key to our Tribe's ability to build on our successes for
the benefit of our members. Please also support passage of the
Recovering America Wildlife Act this year, including its set-aside of
nearly $100 million for Tribal natural resource programs.
D. GLIFWC. The Tribe strongly supports the Great Lakes Indian Fish
and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) appropriations request for FY 2022.
GLIFWC provides valuable support to the Great Lakes Tribes, like Lac du
Flambeau, through services and activities which GLIFWC funds under the
BIA's Rights Protection and Implementation and other programs.

[This statement was submitted by John Johnson, Sr., President.]
______

Prepared Statement of the League of American Orchestras
The League of American Orchestras urges the Senate Interior,
Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee to
substantially increase Fiscal Year 2022 funding for the National
Endowment for the Arts (NEA). While the agency has received steady
bipartisan support from the Subcommittee and Congress over the last
several years, this past year of unprecedented closures due to the
COVID-19 pandemic has called for special consideration of the
devastating impact on the arts sector, including orchestras.
Since the onset of COVID-19, the League of American Orchestras has
collected information tracking the pandemic's impact on orchestras,
their workforce, and their capacity to deliver on their community--
centered mission. Our third COVID-19 Impact Survey opened on February
22, 2021, with 198 orchestras across budget sizes participating by
March 11, 2021. The survey collected information to help gain a better
understanding of orchestras' capacity to deliver performances for the
rest of the current season and the 2021-22 season. Among the highlights
as of March: 23% of orchestras are currently offering performances with
a live, in-person audience; over two-thirds (67%) are offering
streaming performances; orchestras are expecting halls to be on average
at 42% of capacity when audiences return in person. The full impact of
this pandemic has yet to be felt. Even as government closure orders
lift, orchestras will not quickly return to full capacity, which will
have a severe and prolonged impact on their financial capacity and
workforce.
The designation of being an NEA grantee has long provided a
significant reputational boost that assists orchestras of all sizes in
presenting concerts and unique experiences to the public. In 2020, the
value of an NEA grant became even more significant given the crucial
financial support in the form of CARES Act grants during what continues
to be an extended period of vulnerability for the performing arts. The
following testimony is both an expression of gratitude by the grantees
and a request on behalf of the orchestral field for the agency to be
empowered to continue providing necessary support. The NEA's leadership
capacity, direct grants via Art Works and Challenge America as well as
its indirect grantmaking through state and regional partnerships,
research, and convening role make the agency an irreplaceable beacon to
arts organizations and the communities that rely upon them as they cope
with and recover from this troubled time.
A National Endowment for the Arts CARES Act grant made it possible
for the Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra (PSO) to retain its office
location, pay needed utility bills, and preserve its artistic and
education staff, all of which were needed for the 2020-21 season to
operate. Without NEA CARES funding, the orchestra would have had to
make dire cuts to its programs, staff, and operations. The NEA CARES
grant freed up operational funds that led to the PSO's ability to
quickly plan scenarios for an ever--changing 2020-21 season. This work
resulted in a virtual concert season and the creation of a new program
entitled Musician Led Projects. Both were launched in fall 2020. The
digital season is employing nearly the entire roster of PSO musicians
through Classical, Pops, Youth, Holiday, and Summer concerts. These
concerts have included works by Arturo Marquez, Florence Price, Max
Richter, George Walker, Ahmet Adnan Suygun, and many others. Musician
Led Projects have given every musician in the orchestra the opportunity
to earn income through self--led initiatives that connect music to
members of the Portland community; this has been critical as the
orchestra can only perform with 25-30 musicians on stage due to health
recommendations. These projects have included small performances in
outdoor locations, virtual performances, zoom studio tours with
patrons, and educational content to engage very young listeners.
Virtual concerts and Musician Led Initiatives have reached supporters
and patrons in 36 states and provided employment opportunities for
stagehand and concert hall staff in addition to work for PSO staff
members. The NEA CARES Act grant allowed the Portland Symphony
Orchestra not only to survive but quickly pivot to provide safe
employment opportunities for artists and meaningful programs for the
community.
With funding from an NEA CARES grant, the Nashville Symphony is
presenting a series of free Community Concerts in the spring and summer
of 2021. Scheduled to take place both at Schermerhorn Symphony Center
and at locations around the Middle Tennessee region, these concerts
will be the Nashville Symphony's very first performances since being
forced to shut down in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over
the past year, the Nashville Symphony has embarked on a reimagining
process and has initiated dialogues with key stakeholders and
organizations in its community in order to help shape and transform the
orchestra's community engagement programming. As part of the Nashville
Symphony's reemergence, these Community Concerts represent a vital
first step in how the orchestra will respond to the community's input
and play a meaningful role in helping the people of Middle Tennessee
heal from the devastation of the pandemic.
The Billings Symphony utilized its NEA CARES grant to fill and
sustain three key positions: Music Director, Education Director and
Manager of Artistic Operations. These positions play a significant role
in contributing to the organization's overall community engagement and
are critical for sustaining the orchestra's mission to ``enrich lives
through music.'' Eliminating or curtailing even one position would have
resulted in dramatically reduced services to its already--underserved
populations. This award allowed the Billings Symphony to continue
offering its services through uncertain times as well as sustain it
into the future. Given the unknown end of this public health crisis,
the Billings Symphony has started facing a new reality by tasking its
community engagement division to begin a transformation to provide
creative and effective alternative programming, i.e., live streaming
events, online educational resources for students, creative connection
platforms for patrons and more. It prioritized scheduling for those who
have been most isolated during the shutdown such as the Women's Prison
and assisted living facilities. Lastly, receiving CARES funding freed
up the orchestra to retain a residency for its ``you can't be it if you
can't see it'' equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives, which
include the leads for its planned March 2021 Guys and Dolls Concert.
By supporting musician salaries at the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
(SLSO) during the summer of 2020, CARES Act funds benefitted both
performers and the regional community, which enjoyed continued access
to orchestral music. Creative offerings included: the #SLSOatHome video
series in which musicians offered performances from their homes; the
SLSO Instrument Playground Online, a valuable free educational tool for
students, teachers, and parents to be introduced to orchestral
instruments by musicians; and several musicians organized outdoor
concerts in their own neighborhoods. The SLSO Songs of America project,
a series of videos celebrating the breadth of voices in American music,
featured SLSO musicians, local guest artists, and St. Louis landmarks
that showcase the unique spirit of the community. The project reached
more than 250,000 people online in its first month and aired on the
local PBS affiliate, reaching another 185,000 people. Federal support,
including NEA CARES Act funds, enabled the SLSO to be nimble and
creative, maintain employment for musicians and staff throughout the
pandemic, and continue making meaningful musical experiences when the
community needed them most.
During a season when far too many performing arts organizations
have been unable to perform, the NEA CARES Act grant facilitated Toledo
Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA's) return to the stage. The
funding helped retain their Music Director and plan a season with both
in-person and virtual audiences. TAPA adjusted its concert repertoire
to accommodate a limited number of musicians safely on the stage while
selecting programming that would resonate with the Toledo community
during these extraordinary times. TAPA's celebratory 80th anniversary
Nutcracker, the longest running annual production in the entire
country, was modified and streamed by over 4,000 viewers with a
recorded score performed by Toledo Symphony musicians, and in December
PBS Newshour featured this Toledo production. So far this season,
concerts have been viewed not only locally, but in 46 states and 29
countries through the new TAPA Streaming service. This spring, TAPA
celebrates Toledo's Metroparks, with Forces of Nature, a concert
highlighting the treasure of their nationally acclaimed Metroparks
system. In gratitude to their audiences, supporters, students, and
community, their final concert this June will feature Beethoven's
Symphony No. 6, Pastoral (feelings of gratitude after a storm). Toledo
Alliance for the Performing Arts is deeply grateful for the NEA's
investment in its efforts to provide the healing power of the arts
during these challenging times.
The South Bend Symphony Orchestra (SBSO) in Indiana was honored to
be a recipient of CARES Act support administered by the NEA. While the
2019-20 performance season came to an abrupt end for SBSO--as it did
for nearly every arts organization in the country--the work of the
organization had to continue. The operating support allowed the SBSO to
focus energy on shifting to new projects and platforms during the
pandemic. During a year spent exploring and redefining new ways in
which the performing arts could thrive, the SBSO discovered that
adaptation was equal to innovation. During the height of the pandemic,
the South Bend Symphony launched an innovative new project entitled
Octet. Octet was a proof of concept that attempted to add new
dimensions to the listening experience when musicians and audiences
were unable to gather in person. To provide musicians work at a time
when it had become nearly non-existent for performers, eight SBSO
string players were hired to assemble and perform in a socially
distanced hall to record chamber music. This recording was mixed to be
channeled through eight individual speakers, which were later set up in
a circle in an exhibition hall at the South Bend Museum of Art where
patrons could safely visit and encounter the sounds of a live octet as
part an immersive audio experience. The project united several
community partners and brought ``live'' music into South Bend for
months. Octet, a fully transportable system, transcends the pandemic
and will travel indefinitely to area hospitals, libraries, schools, and
other community venues in the future. It notably traveled to several
area COVID vaccine clinics, where patients enjoyed a unique musical
experience during the mandatory observation time following vaccination.
Without the incredible support of federal agencies like the NEA during
this time, projects like Octet could never have happened. The SBSO is
proud to have continued serving its patrons and community during the
COVID-19 pandemic and is poised to thrive in the seasons to come.
Thank you for this opportunity to share a sampling of ways in which
the National Endowment for the Arts has been able to support orchestras
through the COVID-19 pandemic, which directly translated to supporting
musicians, staff, and their communities. These dedicated grants and the
flexibility for FY20 and FY21 grantees to pay down operating costs have
made a tremendous difference at a financially precarious time. NEA
CARES Act grants have helped many organizations offer much--needed
employment and provide ways for children and adults to enjoy music and
inspiration amid great uncertainty. The NEA has shown consistent strong
leadership in promoting public engagement with high--quality artistry
and great empathy and understanding for the urgent needs of arts
organizations and artists throughout this pandemic, and the agency
continues to provide valuable leadership as the arts recover and begin
to reopen. While this year's testimony has focused on the COVID-19
support provided by the agency in acknowledgment of this anomalous
time, it is our hope that Congress will support the annual
appropriations for the National Endowment for the Arts with a
substantial increase in FY22 so that communities throughout our nation
can look forward to deeper engagement with and increased access to the
arts.
about the league
The League of American Orchestras leads, supports, and champions
America's orchestras and the vitality of the music they perform. Its
diverse membership of more than 1,800 organizations and individuals
across North America runs the gamut from world--renowned orchestras to
community groups, from summer festivals to student and youth ensembles,
from conservatories to libraries, from businesses serving orchestras to
individuals who love symphonic music. A national organization dedicated
solely to the orchestral experience, the League is a nexus of knowledge
and innovation, advocacy, and leadership advancement. Its conferences
and events, award--winning Symphony magazine, website, and other
publications inform people around the world about orchestral activity
and developments. americanorchestras.org

[This statement was submitted by Simon Woods, President and CEO.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Maniilaq Association
Recommendations:

1. Provide full funding and advance appropriations for the Indian
Health Service (IHS)
2. Increase funding and accepted applications for the Joint Venture
Program
3. Fund Critical Infrastructure investments for the Indian health
system
4. Ensure mandatory funding for Contract Support Costs and 105(l)
lease payments
5. Fully fund Village Built Clinic leases
6. Support increased funding for Sanitation Facilities Construction
7. Increase funding and authorize a self--governance funding
mechanism option for the Special Diabetes Program for Indians
8. Increase funding for Preventive Health programs.
9. Reduce dependence on competitive grants for Indian Country

Introduction

Thank you Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members
of the Subcommittee for the opportunity to share our funding priorities
for the FY 2022 federal budget. My name is Tim Gilbert and I serve as
President/CEO of the Maniilaq Association. The Maniilaq Association is
an Alaska Native regional non-profit organization representing twelve
tribes in Northwest Alaska. We provide health services through a self--
governance agreement with the Indian Health Service (IHS).
We have been grateful that IHS has received significant
supplementary appropriations to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Those
dollars have been critical in ensuring that we had the means to serve
our patients and fight this deadly disease. The historic funding
provided to IHS will translate into real lives saved. It is critical
that we use this crisis as an opportunity to make real, sustained
investments in the Indian health system. As we have seen with the
remarkable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in Indian Country, when
given adequate resources and when tribal sovereignty is honored, tribal
communities can rise to the challenge. It is now time to take the
lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic--both positive and
negative--to renew the Indian health system. Annual appropriations are
essential to this effort and in fulfilling the federal government's
trust and treaty obligations by ensuring critical programs and services
receive adequate funding to fulfill their intended purpose. To further
these goals, I offer the following recommendations for your
consideration for FY 2022 appropriations for the IHS.
Provide Full Funding for the Indian Health Service.--The IHS and
its tribal partners under the Indian Self-Determination and Education
Assistance Act strive to provide tribal people with access to high
quality and comprehensive medical services, no more so than during the
ongoing pandemic. It has navigated unimaginable hardships related to
supplies, staffing levels, infrastructure and facilities, and high
rates of underlying conditions in serving our people at this time.
The IHS Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup has calculated this
need at $48 billion for full funding. While this represents a dramatic
increase in funding, it is imperative that Congress address the true
needs of the Indian health system. In FY 2022, the Workgroup requests
$12.759 billion for IHS. We support their full request and reiterate
the top 5 priorities for program expansion as follows:

1) Hospitals and Clinics: $4.2 billion
2) Purchased/Referred Care: $2 billion
3) Mental Health: $715 million
4) Alcohol and substance Abuse: $778.5 million
5) Dental Services: $649.7 million

Support Expansion of the IHS Joint Venture Program.--As you are
aware, the IHS Joint Venture (JV) program provides tribes with a
critical opportunity to build new facilities and to enhance health
services for their patients. Under this project, tribes and tribal
organizations build or acquire the facility with their own or other
non-IHS funds, and IHS commits to fund the additional staffing and
operations costs associated with the new or expanded facility. The
program has been a major success, with close to 40 facilities built,
acquired, or renovated since 1992. It has been a critical, cost-
effective mechanism to address the health care facilities shortage,
since funds continue to be limited for the IHS Facilities Construction
Priority List. Yet, despite the remarkable success of this program,
projects like ours remain unfunded by IHS. In the last round, we--along
with 2 other Tribal health organizations in Alaska--received a high
score, but were not funded, as IHS only funded the top 5 applicants. We
were in the top 10. We request that the Committee direct IHS to fund
all high-scoring applicants for JV construction projects.
Additionally, there remains a significant flaw in the program that
leaves tribal facilities without necessary maintenance and replacement
funds. The IHCIA requires that the tribe lease the facility to IHS for
20 years at no cost. The JV facility is eligible to receive a share of
IHS's perennially insufficient Maintenance and Improvement (M&I)
funding, but is not eligible for a lease under section 105(l) of the
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA).\1\
This leads to the anomaly that non-JV facilities can be fully funded
under 105(l), receiving either fair market rental or the cost elements
set out in the regulations, while JV facilities are stuck with nothing
but M&I. We request that Congress amend the Indian Health Care
Improvement Act to correct this issue. We are happy to provide any
technical assistance you may need.
Support for Advance Appropriations for IHS.--For many years, tribes
have requested that IHS appropriations be funded on an advance
appropriations cycle. It has unfortunately become the norm that IHS
does not receive its full yearly appropriation until several months
(sometimes longer) after the start of the fiscal year. In the recent
past, IHS, Tribal and Urban health programs have even had to deal with
government shutdowns, when no funding was provided for weeks on end.
These funding delays make it impossible for IHS and Tribal health
programs to plan and manage their annual budgets. As you know, health
systems cannot practically operate on a day to day or week to week
basis without knowing what funding will be provided in the future.
Unrelated political disagreements in Washington, DC should not impede
American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) from receiving the health
care they deserve. Full advance appropriations for the IHS would
promote greater stability in services, medical personnel recruitment
and retention, and facilities management.
We thank the leadership of this subcommittee for supporting this
important change in previous Congresses. We were also grateful to see
President Biden support IHS advance appropriations in his FY 2022
budget request to Congress which was released on April 9, 2021. We urge
the Committee to take the necessary steps in the FY 2022 appropriations
bill to move IHS to an advance appropriation for FY 2023 and beyond.
Fully fund critical infrastructure investments.--As Congress
considers making dramatic investments in the country's infrastructure,
it is critical that the Indian health system not be left behind.
Therefore, we request that the subcommittee allocate funding for full
implementation of interoperable Electronic Health Records (EHR) and
tele-health. This will ensure that IHS can provide services that are
similar to other health providers. As you are aware, this investment is
especially critical as the Veterans' Administration and Department of
Defense move to modernize their systems. For tribes and Tribal health
organizations who have committed their own resources to move away from
RPMS and make their systems functional, IHS should take this into
consideration with any new resources and ensure these programs are not
only interoperable, but compensated accordingly.
It is also critical that Congress make significant investments in
Tribal health facilities construction. IHS and tribal facilities are
some of the oldest in the nation, with an average age of 10.6 years.
This creates situations where facilities are out of date, or not
appropriate for the size of the patient populations they serve.
Therefore, consistent with the Budget formulation Workgroup's request,
we recommend $15 billion for Health Facilities Construction Funding &
Equipment.
Sanitation Facilities Construction.--During the pandemic, we were
told to socially distance and wash our hands to keep COVID-19 from
spreading. Yet for many homes in Alaska Native villages, without access
to clean running water or sewer, this was impossible. Roughly 20
percent of rural Alaska Native homes still lack in-home piped water.
This creates significant health risks for Alaska Natives living in
these communities. Yet, with a backlog of almost $3 billion ($1.8
billion of that in Alaska), the IHS Sanitation Deficiency list cannot
keep pace with need. We urge Congress to prioritize Sanitation
Facilities Construction funding in FY 2022 and any infrastructure
package moving through Congress. Furthermore, cost caps imposed by the
IHS decrease project priority and limit the amount of funding going to
those projects. IHS should eliminate cost caps that would provide piped
water and sewer for these communities.
Mandatory Funding for Contract Support Costs and 105(l) lease
payments.--We appreciate the subcommittee's commitment to ensuring that
Contract Support Costs (CSC) and 105(l) lease costs are fully funded by
including an indefinite discretionary appropriation in FY 2021 for both
of these accounts. However, these line items continue to take up a
larger and larger percentage of the IHS discretionary budget, thereby
leaving little room to expand other services given tight discretionary
appropriations caps. We strongly agree with the subcommittee's words in
the explanatory statement for the Further Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-94) regarding 105(l) costs which said, in part:
``Obligations of this nature are typically addressed through mandatory
spending, but in this case since they fall under discretionary
spending, they are impacting all other programs funded under the
Interior and Environment Appropriations bill, including other equally
important Tribal programs . . . ''
Therefore, we ask you to continue to advocate with your colleagues
on authorizing committees to enact mandatory appropriations for CSC and
105(l) lease costs. Doing so, will ensure that other areas of the IHS
budget are held harmless by these costs and true increases in critical
services line items can move forward. This will enhance care for AI/AN
patients and reduce health disparities.
Fully Fund the Village Built Clinic Lease Program.--Village health
clinics supported by the IHS Village Built Clinic (VBC) Lease Program
have a long and unique history in Alaska, and provide the only local
source of health care in many rural areas. VBC leases, which are vital
to the provision of services by Community Health Aides/practitioners,
who provide primary health care services and coordinate patient care
through referral relationships with midlevel providers, physicians, and
regional hospitals, remain severely underfunded. We ask that Congress
fully fund all VBC leases in FY 2022 and thereafter.
Extend Self-Governance Funding Options to the Special Diabetes
Program for Indians (SDPI) and increase funding to $250 million/year.--
While we understand that SDPI is not under the jurisdiction of the
subcommittee, we appreciate that Congress included a three-year
reauthorization of SDPI in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
(P.L. 116-260). Communities like ours across Indian Country rely on
SDPI resources to address the alarming rates of diabetes and diabetes--
related health complications among our people. SDPI's success rests in
the flexibility of its program structure that allows for the
incorporation of culture and local needs into its services. Consistent
with this model, Congress should authorize SDPI participants the option
of receiving their federal funds through either a grant (as currently
used) or self--governance funding mechanisms under the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act. This would be a natural and
just extension of SDPI in respecting tribal sovereignty. Additionally,
SDPI has not had an increase in funding since FY 2004. Short term
reauthorizations also destabilize this health program and make staffing
and program continuity difficult. For this reason, we recommend
permanent reauthorization for SDPI at a minimum base of $250 million
per year with annual adjustments for inflationary increases. Therefore,
we urge you to work with your Congressional colleagues to ensure that
SDPI receives a funding increase of at least $250 million per year.
Plan for the Future with Dedicated Funding for Preventative Health
Services.--Among the many things we have learned from the COVID-19
pandemic is that basic public health functions are critical to
preserving life and overall health of Americans, yet public health
systems in most tribal communities lag far behind systems in other
jurisdictions. Without robust public health systems in place,
responding to public health threats means that tribal communities will
continue to be a challenge. Like other governments, Tribes have the
responsibility to provide public health services for their people. Yet
the federal government provides few resources to tribal communities for
this purpose. AI/ANs experience health disparities for a variety of
health conditions such as such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease,
cancer and other largely preventable chronic conditions. Treating these
chronic health conditions imposes unnecessary challenges on Tribal
health systems and IHS. We support long-term, sustained, full
investment in tribal public health infrastructure so that tribal
communities have the resources available to respond quickly when the
next crisis hits.
Reduce Dependence on Federal Grants.--In addition to the critical
funding needs that are outlined above, we also support moving away from
competitive grants for federal funding mechanisms. The federal trust
responsibility does not require that we jump through a myriad of hoops
and onerous applications to see that services are provided to our
people. Grants also unfairly pit tribes against tribes, when all are
deserving of critical resources. Therefore, we agree with other tribal
leaders and continue to support broad based funding for our health
systems across all federal agencies. Too often, tribes are under
resourced to apply for federal grants, and to comply with the
associated burdensome reporting requirements which vary from grant to
grant. Applications and reporting requirements force our health system
to divert staff time to apply and report thereby diluting the
usefulness of the resources. Instead, we request wide-spread, formula-
based funding across all programs. Tribes must also be granted the
flexibility needed to respond to the specific needs of their own
communities, not those prescribed by federal grants. This also means
providing enough resources so funds are provided in meaningful amounts
across all tribes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 25 U.S.C. Sec. 5324(l); 25 C.F.R. Part 900, Subpart H.

[This statement was submitted by Tim Gilbert, President/CEO.]
______

Prepared Statement of Methane Action and Remineralize the Earth
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, Methane Action and
Remineralize the Earth (remineralize.org) are providing a summary of
our more detailed recommendations, which you may find on the website of
Methane Action (MethaneAction.org). These are based on the
recommendations of scientists, lawyers, economists and businessmen and
women in the U.S. and overseas with many decades of expertise in
climate change mitigation. (See, e.g., scientists' letter of April 2021
at MethaneAction.org). The world must rapidly reduce anthropogenic
emissions, and develop and deploy greenhouse gas (GHG) destruction and
removal methods, and through domestic and global governance, ensure
that both are done safely and effectively. This Subcommittee has the
power to take the lead in all three. Some of what we set out here may
require authorizing in an appropriations bill. We focus primarily on
the emerging, safe, efficient, nature-based methods of removing methane
and other GHGs. We include recommended bill language below.
a greenhouse gas drawdown program
Purpose.--The purpose of this title is to expedite the deployment
of new GHG removal methods and the restoration of the earth's climate
to a healthy state of below 300 parts per million CO2 as soon as
possible, to return ambient methane to safe levels of less than .8
parts per million by 2028 from the current 1.9 ppm and reduce other
greenhouse gases and climate--forcing agents as rapidly as possible,
and to thereby reverse the harms caused by climate change and protect
the stratospheric ozone layer especially near the arctic as well. (See,
latest IPCC draft report on impacts on humans and nature:https://
phys.org/news/2021-06-climate-impacts-people.html; https://phys.org/
news/2021-06-climate-impacts-nature.html; https://phys.org/news/2021-
06-hunger-drought-disease-climate-reveals.html and https://phys.org/
news/2021-06-greenhouse-gases-pose-threat-arctic.html)
Establishing a Greenhouse Gas Drawdown Program.--Within ninety days
of enactment, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency,
in consultation with other relevant agencies, shall publish one or more
regulations establishing a Greenhouse Gas Drawdown Program (the
Program). The technologies he shall require as options for destroying
or converting GHGs shall include, but not be limited to, those
described below unless the Administrator of the E.P.A. and the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget agree that any would not be cost
effective at a given time. The goal of the Program is to expedite the
restoration of the earth's climate to a healthy state as described in
the Purpose section above. It shall include the following steps
undertaken simultaneously:
a) Environmental and Biological Assessment.--The Administrator and
the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture shall commence within
sixty days a program to study the climate restoration potential of
practices under their jurisdiction, and the methods listed below,
initially in controlled environments prior to the completion of their
assessment duties under the National Environmental Policy Act and the
Endangered Species Act. They shall ensure by regulation that the full
assessment, and interagency consultation concerning any action that may
affect any listed species, regardless of the location of the decision,
the action or its effects.
b) Research, Development and Deployment.--The Secretaries of
Agriculture and Interior and the Administrator of EPA, in consultation
with the Secretary of Energy and the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon
Management and the Advanced Research Projects Agency, shall within
sixty days of enactment begin to study, develop and to require the use
of practicable greenhouse gas drawdown methods in such activities as
they conduct, permit, subsidize or purchase from, including but not
limited to:

1. the conversion or sequestration in agricultural, silvicultural
and other forest soils, and open or closed aquatic environments,
biochar, soil remineralization with rock dust and sea minerals and
enhancement (enhanced rock weathering (ERW)) and the use of other
natural sequestrates;
2. the conservation, restoration, remineralization and de-
acidification of mature terrestrial forests, kelp forests, coral reefs,
deltas, estuaries, and other aquatic ecosystems and marine life,
including alterations in trawling and the designation of and
implementation of expedited recovery programs for ``Climate Keystone
Species'' that play particularly important roles in sequestering GHGs,
including but not limited to the great whales, all bears and for
foreign aid purposes, forest elephants;
3. the atmospheric oxidation, catalysis and other methods for the
conversion of methane and other greenhouse gases and climate forcing
agents by means of exposing them to minerals, including but not limited
to photocatalysis with iron salt aerosols, tower or chimney aided
catalysis, zeolite sorbents followed by catalytic destruction, minerals
or compounds in filters, waters and the atmosphere both near and
removed from sources of methane;
4. natural and enhanced weathering of the alkaline silicate rock
dusts in soils to increase photosynthesis of growing plants, increase
the intake or uptake of CO2 and N2O (nitrous oxide), improve the
fertility of soils, and buffer downstream oceans from the effects of
ocean acidification while addressing climate change; and
5. changing or amending tillage and cover crop combinations,
altering animal grazing, fodder or feed for example, with rotational
grazing, the addition of red and other seaweed, and other methods of
reducing the amount or nature of GHGs emitted and escaping from and
around livestock.

For the GHG Drawdown Program and (a) and (b) we appropriate
$9,000,000, and provide additional appropriations as follows:

(i) Field test methane oxidation effects of iron in ships' fuel to
assess the feasibility of removing methane from the atmosphere in order
to reduce its presence as a pollutant with climate forcing and other
dangerous effects by increasing the oxidative power of the atmosphere
using chlorine atoms generated by iron--containing sea salt aerosols.
This technique is called Enhanced Atmospheric Methane Oxidation (EAMO),
employing iron salt aerosol to catalyze the oxidation. EAMO mimics the
natural methane oxidation processes, for which is appropriated for
contracting for Field Tests from FY22-24, $2,156,866, and an
Environmental Impact Statement in advance of expanded EAMO deployment,
$348,000.
(ii) Enhanced Atmospheric Methane Oxidation (EAMO) via Retired Oil
Drilling Platform or Remote Island Tower.--The Administrator is
directed to contract for an initial test project to disperse Iron Salts
Aerosols (``ISA'' in the form of FeCl3) into the atmosphere allowing
ISA to work as a photocatalyst that in the presence of sunshine
accelerates methane oxidation to CO2 and water. The Administrator shall
contract in FY22 with a qualified provider for a trial of EAMO via a
retired oil--drilling platform or island tower for which is
appropriated $1,207,000.
(iii) Methane Oxidation Monitoring System (MOMS).--The
Administrator shall complete a two-year contract for a Methane
Oxidation Monitoring System (MOMS) using data from multiple existing
satellites and from newly installed surface detection equipment, to be
deployed on at least twenty ships by July 1, 2023. Ship Deployment and
operations budget to be appropriated for FY2023. For development of
MOMS in FY2022: $2,010,000
(iv) Agricultural and silvicultural methane removal.--In
cooperation with USDA and its agencies, such as the USDA Office of
International Research, Engagement and Cooperation, by July 1, 2022,
and the Administrators of EPA and USAID, the Secretary shall contract
for an evaluation of GHG sequestration, uptake, oxidation and other
long term removal methods in agricultural and silvicultural practice,
including but not limited to the methods described in paragraphs 4)(I)
and (II) below.

I) With a goal of cutting methane emissions from rice cultivation,
in cooperation with the Administrators of EPA and USAID, the Secretary
of Agriculture shall contract in FY 2022 for a three year test of the
impact of various potential additives to rice farming, including but
not limited to iron sulfates, approved for organic farming to enhance
yields, fight plant chlorosis, and improve the nutritional value of
rice crops by enhancing their iron levels in order to fight anemia, in
conjunction with other changes in rice farming practice such as
targeting the flooding of fields more efficiently for which is
appropriated $3,000,000.
II) The Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the
Administrators of USAID and EPA, shall contract with one or more
qualified and successful organizations, such as Hope for Haiti, in FY22
to complete over a period of 18 months an agricultural GHG
sequestration program that includes restoring minerals to the soil and
provides multiple development benefits for which is appropriated
$300,000.
(v) Achieving methane and other GHG emissions reductions, and
potential sequestration and other removal via wetlands management.--The
Administrator shall contract in FY22 for one or more investigations of
relative wetland emissions of greenhouse gases, to determine if
alternative practices could reduce greenhouse gas emission, without
significantly changing the ecosystem of important wetland and other
land preserves, recommend such wetland management practices, and
evaluate proposals for changing land status, e.g., rewetting drained
wetlands. $500,000 per year for 3 years for which is appropriated
$1,500,000
(vi) Restoring Climate Keystone Species.--The Secretaries of the
Interior and Agriculture in carrying out their duties under Section
7(a)(1) and (2) of the Endangered Species Act shall assist the
Secretary of Commerce, and competent non-government organizations, in
establishing a program to enhance the recovery of salmon, whales,
elephants and other climate keystone species in the U.S. and other
countries which shall include taking steps to reduce the carbon
footprint of trawling and to protect whales and other climate keystone
and water cleansing species such as kelp forests and oysters for which
is appropriated $10,000,000 for Interior including a pass--through for
Commerce and $5,000,000 for Agriculture.
(vii) Surface-Based Photocatalytic Enhanced Methane Oxidation
(SPEMO).--The Administrator shall contract for three years of research
and development of surface--based photocatalytic enhanced methane
oxidation (SPEMO) to lower methane emissions from coal mines, oil wells
and animal farms, to ensure that the CH4 concentration from ventilated
air is less than 1.7 ppm by volume; and apply photocatalytic paint to
buildings, rooftops, photovoltaic panels, or in a ventilated conduit to
reduce methane in the general atmosphere as a complement to commercial
photocatalytic paints and coatings already being used because of their
ability to reduce urban pollution such as nitrogen oxides and volatile
organic compounds for which is appropriated $3,000,000.
(viii) Accelerating the recovery of the stratospheric ozone
layer.--The Administrator shall contract in FY22 for a three year study
of technologies for eliminating Ozone Depleting Substances at the
source or in the general atmosphere, to promote the use of those found
feasible and to develop and publish a comprehensive mitigation plan for
reducing emissions and eliminating ozone depleting substances from the
atmosphere for which is appropriated $1,500,000.
c) Comprehensive assessment of atmospheric methane sources, sinks
and solutions, and development of a plan for atmospheric methane
reduction. The Administrator shall by June 1, 2022 and annually
thereafter issue a report providing (1) a review of each major methane
emission source and sink and options to affect their impact on
atmospheric methane levels; (2) a review of all possible, and all
currently practicable, technologies, programs, policy and regulatory
changes that could help reduce atmospheric methane levels and for each
proposed technology or policy change, their technological readiness,
likelihood of success, barriers to implementation, cost-effectiveness
and cost-benefit analysis, and likely impact on atmospheric methane
levels, and (3) national and global plans and related proposed
agreements for atmospheric methane and other GHG reduction, including
goals, recommendations, governance of the development and deployment of
methods, options for investment in new technologies, regulatory and
land management changes, and the potential use of emergency powers, for
which is appropriated $6,000,000.
______

Prepared Statement of the Metlakatla Indian Community
Recommendations:

1. Provide full funding and advance appropriations for the Indian
Health Service (IHS).
2. Ensure that mandatory funding for Contract Support Costs and
105(l) lease payments
3. Fund Critical Infrastructure investments for the Indian health
system
4. Increase funding and authorize a self-governance funding
mechanism option for the Special Diabetes Program for Indians
5. Support for Tribal Hatcheries at the Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA)
6. Support for U.S. Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty
7. Support for Tribal Court Assistance for Tribes Subject to PL 83-
280
8. Support Funding to Address the Impacts of Climate Change
9. Reduce dependence on competitive grants for Indian Country

introduction
Thank you Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members
of the Subcommittee for the opportunity to share our funding priorities
for the FY 2022 federal budget is Reginald Atkinson and I am the mayor
of the Metlakatla Indian Community. The Metlakatla Indian Community
(MIC) is located on the Annette Island Reserve in southeast Alaska, a
land base of 87,000 acres which includes significant fish and forestry
resources. Through our Annette Island Service Unit we provide primary
health services at our outpatient facility through funding from the IHS
as a co-signer to the Alaska Tribal Health Compact under the Indian
Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. The following
testimony will provide recommendations on the IHS and BIA priorities.
improving the indian health system
We have been grateful that IHS has received significant
supplementary appropriations to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Those
dollars have been critical in ensuring that we had the means to serve
our patients and fight this deadly disease. The historic funding
provided to IHS will translate into real lives saved. It is critical
that we use this crisis as an opportunity to make real, sustained
investments in the Indian health system. As we have seen with the
remarkable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in Indian Country, when
given adequate resources and when tribal sovereignty is honored, tribal
communities can rise to the challenge. It is now time to take the
lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic--both positive and
negative--to renew the Indian health system. Annual appropriations are
essential to this effort and in fulfilling the federal government's
trust and treaty obligations by ensuring critical programs and services
receive adequate funding to fulfill their intended purpose. To further
these goals, I offer the following recommendations for your
consideration for FY 2022 appropriations for the IHS.
Provide Full Funding for the Indian Health Service.--The IHS and
its tribal partners under the Indian Self-Determination and Education
Assistance Act strive to provide tribal people with access to high
quality and comprehensive medical services, no more so than during the
ongoing pandemic. It has navigated unimaginable hardships related to
supplies, staffing levels, infrastructure and facilities, and high
rates of underlying conditions in serving our people at this time.
The IHS Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup has calculated this
need at $48 billion for full funding. While this represents a dramatic
increase in funding, it is imperative that Congress address the true
needs of the Indian health system. In FY 2022, the Workgroup requests
$12.759 billion for IHS. We support their full request and reiterate
the top 5 priorities for program expansion as follows:

1) Hospitals and Clinics: $4.2 billion
2) Purchased/Referred Care: $2 billion
3) Mental Health: $715 million
4) Alcohol and substance Abuse: $778.5 million
5) Dental Services: $649.7 million

Support for Advance Appropriations for IHS.--For many years, tribes
have requested that IHS appropriations be funded on an advance
appropriations cycle. It has unfortunately become the norm that IHS
does not receive its full yearly appropriation until several months
(sometimes longer) after the start of the fiscal year. In the recent
past, IHS, Tribal and Urban health programs have even had to deal with
government shutdowns, when no funding was provided for weeks on end.
These funding delays make it impossible for IHS and Tribal health
programs to plan and manage their annual budgets. As you know, health
systems cannot practically operate on a day to day or week to week
basis without knowing what funding will be provided in the future.
Unrelated political disagreements in Washington, DC should not impede
American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) from receiving the health
care they deserve. Full advance appropriations for the IHS would
promote greater stability in services, medical personnel recruitment
and retention, and facilities management.
We thank the leadership of this subcommittee for supporting this
important change in previous Congresses. We were also grateful to see
President Biden support IHS advance appropriations in his FY 2022
budget request to Congress which was released on April 9, 2021. We urge
the Committee to take the necessary steps in the FY 2022 appropriations
bill to move IHS to an advance appropriation for FY 2023 and beyond.
Fully fund critical infrastructure investments.--As Congress
considers making dramatic investments in the country's infrastructure,
it is critical that the Indian health system not get left behind.
Therefore, we request that the subcommittee allocate funding for full
implementation of interoperable Electronic Health Records (EHR) and
tele-health. This will ensure that IHS can provide services that are
similar to other health providers. As you are aware, this investment is
especially critical as the Veterans' Administration and Department of
Defense move to modernize their systems. For tribes and Tribal health
organizations who have committed their own resources to move away from
RPMS and making their systems functional, IHS should take this into
consideration with any new resources and ensure these programs are not
only interoperable, but compensated accordingly.
It is also critical that Congress make significant investments in
Tribal health facilities construction. IHS and tribal facilities are
some of the oldest in the nation, with an average age of 10.6 years.
This creates situations where facilities are out of date, or not
appropriate for the size of the patient populations they serve.
Therefore, consistent with the Budget formulation Workgroup's request,
we recommend $15 billion for Health Facilities Construction Funding &
Equipment.
Mandatory Funding for Contract Support Costs and 105(l) lease
payments.--We appreciate the subcommittee's commitment to ensuring that
Contract Support Costs (CSC) and 105(l) lease costs are fully funded by
including an indefinite discretionary appropriation in FY 2021 for both
of these accounts. However, these line items continue to take up a
larger and larger percentage of the IHS discretionary budget, thereby
leaving little room to expand other services given tight discretionary
appropriations caps. We strongly agree with the subcommittee's words in
the explanatory statement for the Further Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-94) regarding 105(l) costs which said, in part:
``Obligations of this nature are typically addressed through mandatory
spending, but in this case since they fall under discretionary
spending, they are impacting all other programs funded under the
Interior and Environment Appropriations bill, including other equally
important Tribal programs . . . ''
Therefore, we ask you to continue to advocate with your colleagues
on authorizing committees to enact mandatory appropriations for CSC and
105(l) lease costs. Doing so, will ensure that other areas of the IHS
budget are held harmless by these costs and true increases in critical
services line items can move forward. This will enhance care for AI/AN
patients and reduce health disparities.
Extend Self-Governance Funding Options to the Special Diabetes
Program for Indians (SDPI) and increase funding to $250 million/year.--
While we understand that SDPI is not under the jurisdiction of the
subcommittee, we appreciate that Congress included a three-year
reauthorization of SDPI in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
(P.L. 116-260). Communities like ours across Indian Country rely on
SDPI resources to address the alarming rates of diabetes and diabetes--
related health complications among our people. SDPI's success rests in
the flexibility of its program structure that allows for the
incorporation of culture and local needs into its services. Consistent
with this model, Congress should authorize SDPI participants the option
of receiving their federal funds through either a grant (as currently
used) or self-governance funding mechanisms under the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act. This would be a natural and
just extension of SDPI in respecting tribal sovereignty.
Additionally, SDPI has not had an increase in funding since FY
2004. Short term reauthorizations also destabilize this health program
and make staffing and program continuity difficult. We recommend
permanent reauthorization for SDPI at a minimum of $250 million per
year with annual adjustments for inflationary increases. Therefore, we
urge you to work with your Congressional colleagues to ensure that SDPI
receives a funding increase of at least $250 million per year.
Plan for the Future with Dedicated Funding for Preventative Health
Services.--Among the many things we have learned from the COVID-19
pandemic is that public health functions are critical to preserving
life and overall health of Americans, yet public health systems in most
tribal communities lag far behind systems in other jurisdictions.
Without robust public health systems in place, responding to public
health threats means that tribal communities will continue to be a
challenge. Like other governments, Tribes have the responsibility to
provide public health services for their people. Yet the federal
government provides few resources to tribal communities for this
purpose.
AI/ANs experience health disparities for a variety of health
conditions such as such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and
other largely preventable chronic conditions. Treating these chronic
health conditions imposes unnecessary challenges on Tribal health
systems and IHS. We support long-term, sustained, full investment in
tribal public health infrastructure so that tribal communities have the
resources available to respond quickly when the next crisis hits.
support for bureau of indian affairs
Tribal Hatcheries.--We deeply appreciate the increase for the Fish,
Wildlife, and Parks sub-activity within the BIA Trust-Natural Resources
Management budget in FY 2021 and are asking the Subcommittees to
continue increased funding levels FY 2022.
U.S./Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty.--Pacific salmon migrate through
a broad geographic range that includes rivers, streams and the coastal
waters of both the United States and Canada. Recognizing this reality,
the Pacific Salmon Treaty was negotiated between the U.S. and Canada in
1985 to prevent overfishing and provide optimum production and fair
sharing of the salmon harvest. In the U.S., salmon fisheries governed
by the Treaty provide nearly 27,000 full time jobs and add nearly $2
billion annually to the gross domestic product. Funding to carry out
different elements of the Treaty is appropriated through the
Departments of Interior, State and Commerce. In the Department of
Interior's budget, this funding is appropriated through the BIA Trust-
Natural Resources Rights Protection Implementation sub-activity and the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Pacific Marine Fisheries Commission.
We thank you for the Subcommittee's continued support for this program
in FY 2021, and encourage further investments to in FY 2022.
Tribal Court Assistance for Tribes Subject to PL 83-280.--We deeply
appreciate the much--needed support for tribes who are affected by
Public Law 83-280 and who are striving to serve their communities with
competent and appropriate judiciary systems. We are grateful for both
the increased appropriations directed to the BIA Public Safety and
Justice Law Enforcement-Tribal Justice Support program element and the
helpful report language provided in FY 2021 Senate Appropriations
Committee report (116-123) that outlined additional support for BIA to
work with ``Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations to consider options
that promote, design, or pilot Tribal court systems for Tribal
communities subject to full or partial State jurisdiction under Public
Law 83-280.'' We ask that the Subcommittees continue to include PL 280-
specific funding under this program element and continue to direct the
BIA in FY 2022.
Increased Funding to Address the Impacts of Climate Change.--Like
many tribal communities we continue to be impacted by the growing
challenge of climate change on our environment. Threats such as
flooding, erosion, ocean acidification, increased wildfires, extended
drought, and changes in seasons all contribute to the serious
challenges that tribal communities currently face. We are forced to
reduce emissions, mitigate and adapt, but we need additional support.
We appreciate language in the FY 2021 Appropriations Explanatory
Statement that acknowledged the challenges Alaska Native communities
face when it comes to climate change. We encourage the committee to
provide increased funding for climate change activities targeted at
tribal communities in FY 2022.
Reduce Dependence on Federal Grants.--In addition to the critical
funding needs that are outlined above, we also support moving away from
competitive grants for federal funding mechanisms across all
departments. The federal trust responsibility does not require that we
jump through a myriad of hoops and onerous applications to see that
services are provided to our people. Grants also unfairly pit tribes
against tribes, when all are deserving of critical resources.
Therefore, we agree with other tribal leaders and continue to support
broad based funding across all federal agencies. Too often, tribes are
under resourced to apply for federal grants, and to comply with the
associated burdensome reporting requirements which vary from grant to
grant. Tribes must also be granted the flexibility needed to respond to
the specific needs of their own communities, not those prescribed by
federal grants. This also means providing enough resources so funds are
provided in meaningful amounts across all tribes.

[This statement was submitted by Reginald Atkinson, Mayor.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California
Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee:

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
(Metropolitan) encourages the Subcommittee's support for fiscal year
2022 federal funding of $2.0 million in financial assistance from the
Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Aquatic Habitat Management sub-
activity for the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program
(Salinity Control Program) to prevent further degradation of Colorado
River water quality and increased economic damages.
The salt concentration in the Colorado River causes an estimated
$354 million in quantifiable damages to water users each year. While
this figure is significant, had it not been for the efforts of the
Salinity Control Program, damages would be much higher. Salinity
Control Program actions have reduced the salinity of Colorado River
water at key locations over 90 milligrams per liter (mg/L) from what
they would have been without the actions. Modeling by the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation (Reclamation) indicates that quantifiable economic
damages will rise to approximately $671 million by the year 2040
without continuation of the program.
Metropolitan is the regional water supplier for most of urban
Southern California, providing supplemental water to retail agencies
that serve approximately 19 million people. Water imported via the
Colorado River Aqueduct has the highest level of salinity of all of
Metropolitan's sources of supply, averaging around 630 mg/L since 1976.
This salinity level causes economic damages to all sectors. For
example, high salinity has the following impacts:

--It reduces the useful life of water heaters, faucets, garbage
disposals, clothes washers, and dishwashers, and increases use
of water softeners in the household sector;
--It increases the cost of cooling operations, the need for and cost
of water softening, and decreases equipment service life in the
commercial sector;
--It increases water use, the cost of water treatment, and sewer fees
in the industrial sector;
--It decreases the life of treatment facilities and pipelines in the
utility sector;
--It increases the cost of desalination and brine disposal for
recycled water in the municipal sector;
--It reduces the yield of salt sensitive crops and increases water
use for leaching in the agricultural sector;
--It increases desalination and brine disposal costs due to
accumulation of salts in groundwater basins, and reduces
opportunities for water recycling due to groundwater quality
deterioration;
--It reduces the ability to replenish groundwater in basins with
relatively low salinity standards;
--It reduces the ability to reclaim and reuse water due to high
salinities in the water delivered to water treatment and
reclamation facilities; and
--It makes it more difficult to meet wastewater discharge
requirements to comply with National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System permit terms and conditions.

There has been concern over salinity levels in the Colorado River
for many years. To address the concern, the International Boundary and
Water Commission signed Minute No. 242, Permanent and Definitive
Solution to the International Problem of the Salinity of the Colorado
River in 1973, and the President signed the Colorado River Basin
Salinity Control Act of 1974 (Act) into law. Title I of the Act deals
with the U.S. commitment to the quality of waters being delivered to
Mexico. Title II of the Act deals with improving the quality of the
water delivered to users in the United States. This testimony deals
specifically with Title II efforts. To further foster interstate
cooperation and coordinate the Colorado River Basin states' efforts on
salinity control, the seven Basin states formed the Colorado River
Basin Salinity Control Forum.
The Forum is charged with reviewing the Colorado River's water
quality standards for salinity every three years. In so doing, it
adopts a Plan of Implementation consistent with these standards. The
level of appropriation requested in this testimony is in keeping with
the adopted Plan of Implementation, which is to be implemented by
Reclamation, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the
BLM.
EPA has concluded that more than 60 percent of the salt load of the
Colorado River comes from natural sources. The majority of land within
the Colorado River Basin is federally owned, and much of this federal
land is administered by BLM. In implementing the Colorado River Basin
Salinity Control Act in 1974, Congress recognized that most of the
salts in the Colorado River originate from these federally owned lands.
In 1984, Congress amended the Salinity Control Act and directed
that the Secretary of the Interior develop a comprehensive program for
minimizing salt contributions to the Colorado River from lands
administered by BLM. In 2000, Congress reiterated its directive to the
Secretary and requested a report on the implementation of BLM's program
(Public Law 106-459). In 2003, BLM employed a Salinity Coordinator to
increase BLM efforts in the Colorado River Basin, to pursue salinity
control studies, and to implement specific salinity control practices.
BLM is now working on creating a comprehensive Colorado River Basin
salinity control program as directed by Congress. In January 2018 BLM
issued A Framework for Improving the Effectiveness of the Colorado
River Basin Salinity Control Program, 2018-2023. This document lays out
BLM's plan to implement Colorado River Basin salinity control
activities over a five-year period.
Meaningful resources have been expended by BLM in the past few
years to better understand salt mobilization on rangelands. With a
significant portion of the salt load of the Colorado River coming from
BLM administered lands, the BLM portion of the overall program is
essential to the success of the effort. Inadequate BLM salinity control
efforts will result in additional economic damages to water users
downstream.
Implementation of salinity control practices through BLM is a cost-
effective method of controlling the salinity of the Colorado River and
is an essential component to the overall Colorado River Basin Salinity
Control Program. Continuation of adequate funding levels for salinity
control within the Aquatic Habitat Management sub-activity will help to
prevent further degradation of Colorado River water quality and
significant increases in economic damages to municipal, industrial, and
irrigation users. A modest investment in source control pays huge
dividends in improved drinking water quality to nearly 40 million
Americans.
Metropolitan urges the Subcommittee to support funding for fiscal
year 2022 of $2.0 million from BLM's Aquatic Habitat Management sub-
activity for the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program.

[This statement was submitted by Jeffrey Kightlinger, General
Manager.]
______

Prepared Statement of Michael Chavarria, Governor of the Pueblo of
Santa Clara, New Mexico
Recommendations:

1. IHS--Provide full funding and advance appropriations for the
Indian Health Service.
2. IHS--Authorize a self-governance funding mechanism option for
SDPI.
3. DOI--$200 million increase for BIA tribal law enforcement and
detention services.
4. DOI--$620,000 for juvenile education in BIA detention
facilities.
5. BIA--Increase funding for BIA disaster recovery and prevention
programs.
6. BIA--$5 million to establish a BIA Emergency Response Fund.
7. USFS--$6 million in priority funding for Tribal Forest
Protection Act implementation.
8. EPA--$100 million for the EPA Indian General Assistance Program.
9. BIA--$6.2 million for the BIA Endangered Species Program.
10. BIA--$60.9 million for the Tribal Climate Resilience Program.
11. BIA--$20 million for THPOs and maintain $1.5 million for NAGPRA
enforcement.
12. DOI--Maintain the funding moratorium for energy leasing in the
Greater Chaco Region with additional funding for completion of the
Tribal Cultural Resources Study.
13. BIE--Maintain Tribal Education Department and Sovereignty in
Education grant funding.
14. BIE--$109 million for Facilities Operations and $725 million
for Facilities Maintenance.
15. BIE--$473 million for Indian School Equalization Program.

introduction
Thank you for this opportunity to share our funding priorities for
the FY 2022 federal budget. My name is J. Michael Chavarria and I am
the Governor of the Pueblo of Santa Clara in New Mexico. On behalf of
my Pueblo, we thank you and your staff for your hard work on behalf of
Pueblo Country throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The relief
dollars provided by Congress are critical to our short- and long-term
recovery from this dire crisis. Annual appropriations are also
essential to this effort in fulfilling the federal government's trust
and treaty obligations by ensuring critical programs and services
receive adequate funding to fulfill their intended purpose. To further
these goals, I offer the following recommendations for your
consideration for FY 2022.
i. advancing healthcare in indian country
Provide Full Funding and Advance Appropriations for the Indian
Health Service. The IHS strives to provide tribal citizens with access
to high quality and comprehensive medical services, no more so than
during the ongoing pandemic. It has navigated unimaginable hardships
related to supplies, staffing levels, infrastructure and facilities,
and high rates of underlying conditions in serving our people at this
time. Yet, despite its irreplaceable importance to Indian health, it
must still contend with annual uncertainties related to federal
funding. This is unacceptable. The time to change is now. The IHS
should be given parity with the Veterans Health Administration and
receive full advance appropriations on at least a two-year cycle. Full
advance appropriations for the IHS would promote greater stability in
services, medical personnel recruitment and retention, and facilities
management.
The IHS Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup has calculated this
need at $48 billion for full funding. While this represents a dramatic
increase in funding, it is imperative that Congress address the true
needs of the Indian health system. We strongly urge Congress to fully
fund advance IHS appropriations beginning in FY 2022 to provide
consistency and parity in the administration of Indian healthcare.
Extend Self-Governance Funding Options to the Special Diabetes
Program for Indians (SDPI). Thank you for including a three-year
reauthorization of SDPI in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.
Communities like ours across Indian Country rely on SDPI resources to
address the alarming rates of diabetes and diabetes-related health
complications among our people. SDPI's success rests in the flexibility
of its program structure that allows for the incorporation of culture
and local needs into its services. Consistent with this model, Congress
should authorize SDPI participants the option of receiving their
federal funds through either a grant (as currently used) or self-
governance funding mechanisms under the Indian Self-Determination and
Education Assistance Act. This would be a natural and just extension of
SDPI in respecting tribal sovereignty.
ii. support for justice services
$200 Million Increase for Tribal Law Enforcement; Increase BIA
Detention Facility Funding; and $620,000 for Juvenile Detention
Education. Tribal law enforcement and emergency services personnel
strive to provide high-quality and responsive public safety services.
They must often do this notwithstanding the effects of serious
understaffing and insufficient resources. If given the proper levels of
support, tribal law enforcement would be able to better protect their
communities. At Santa Clara Pueblo, for example, we would like to
upgrade our radio system so the police department, fire/EMS, forestry,
and conservation officers can all utilize the same network. This would
greatly enhance our ability to serve the community. We urge Congress to
provide a minimum $200 million increase for BIA and tribal law
enforcement, including tribal courts and special services, in FY 2022
for officer resources, personnel, and supplies and equipment.
Public safety facilities and housing construction programs have
been critically needed for many years. It has been four years since the
Turning Point Program in Yuma, Arizona, that provided Native offenders
with a substance abuse behavioral modification program with traditional
healing practices unexpectedly closed. Today, we still do not have
access to a comparable program or rehabilitation facility within our
vicinity. BIA detention facilities and the services they provide are in
need of increased support, particularly in regards to ensuring
vulnerable youth have access to quality educational services. We
request Congress increase funding for BIA detention services and
provide $620,000 for juvenile education in BIA detention facilities.
iii. effective natural resources management
Increase Funding for BIA Disaster Recovery and Prevention
Programs.--The stewardship of natural resources is key to both the
economic and cultural well-being of Pueblo People, particularly in this
era of increasing climate uncertainty. Santa Clara has been devastated
by three catastrophic wildfires with the threat of new fires and floods
always on the horizon. We have invested heavily in the development of
fire preparedness and suppression resources to protect life and
property. We understand the fundamental importance of beneficial
partnerships with the BIA and other agencies in this effort. Because of
this work, we are proud to say that Santa Clara is home to award--
winning tribal forestry and land management departments. Expanding
tribal access to BIA disaster programs and deepening the resources
available therein is critical. We urge Congress to provide increased
funding for BIA natural disaster recovery and prevention programs in FY
2022.
$5 Million to Establish a BIA Emergency Response Fund.--Many tribal
governments are hindered by the upfront investment costs and cost--
sharing requirements of certain federal emergency response programs.
When coupled with bureaucratic delays in distributing funds, it often
takes an unacceptable amount of time to receive disaster relief
precisely when time is of the essence. We anticipate the need for these
resources will only continue to grow and with quick access to funding
becoming a top response need. We recommend an initial amount of $5
million be allocated to establish a BIA Emergency Response Fund within
the Office of Trust Services.
$5 Million in Priority Funding for Tribal Forest Protection Act
(TFPA) Implementation with Report Language on Expanding TPFA-Eligible
Lands to the National Park Service.--The TFPA (Pub. L. 108-278)
authorizes the Interior Secretary to give special consideration to
tribally--proposed Stewardship Contracting or other projects on Forest
Service or BLM land bordering or adjacent to tribal lands to protect
trust and federal resources from fire, disease, and other threats. This
is a smart policy. The TFPA was authorized, however, without a
designated funding mechanism or with an accounting for Park Service
land. As a result, efforts to the implement its beneficial provisions
have been impeded. While we are encouraged to see the President's
proposed general increase in Forestry Projects funding, dedicated TFPA
dollars are needed. We request $5 million for TFPA implementation with
report language encouraging agencies to prioritize this process to the
greatest extent possible; and we request report language on the
expanding TFPA--eligible lands to include the U.S. Park Service.
$100 Million for the EPA Indian General Assistance Program.--EPA
resources enable our Pueblo to support an array of projects that
improve the quality of life for our people and safeguard the natural
resources that provide us with physical and spiritual sustenance.
Without these funds, we would face tremendous hurdles in operating
environmental programs such as water quality monitoring and hazardous
waste management. We strongly support the Indian GAP's goals of
advancing greater local control, cooperative federalism, and tribal
self-determination. We are encouraged to see the President's proposal
to increase funding for this vital program in FY 2022, and we urge
Congress to go even further by providing $100 million for EPA Indian
GAP funding to advance sustainable environmental protection measures in
Indian Country.
$6.2 Million in Funding for the BIA Endangered Species Program.--We
must account and appropriately care for the diversity of wildlife that
are essential to maintaining our ecosystems' equilibrium and are
culturally meaningful as part of our natural resources management and
conservation. Further, each species possesses its own inherent value
and should, thus, be protected by the federal government. The BIA
Endangered Species Program is the only program that provides tribal
nations with technical and financial assistance to protect wildlife on
tribal lands through natural resources restoration, management, and
economic development. We highly recommend Congress support the
President's $6.2 million request for the BIA Endangered Species Program
in FY 22.
$60.9 Million for the Tribal Climate Resilience Program and
Maintain Cooperative Landscape Conservation Programs.--Across America,
communities are facing mounting challenges related to our progressively
unstable natural environment. Invasive species, disappearing tree
lines, and accelerated rates of erosion are also taking an increasing
toll on our agricultural and natural resources. These two Interior
programs equip tribal nations with the tools to manage resource
stressors, develop adaptive management plans, and engage in
intergovernmental coordination. We request Congress fund the
President's $60.9 million request for the BIA Tribal Climate Resilience
Program and maintain the Interior Cooperative Landscape Conservation
Program.
iv. protecting tribal cultural patrimony
$20 Million to Support the Vital Work of THPOs and Maintain $1.5
Million for NAGPRA Enforcement.--The preservation of tribal sacred and
cultural sites is a priority for all Indian Country. Damage of these
sites is often irreversible, forever altering the way in which we can
express ourselves as indigenous people. More tribal nations are
establishing THPOs under the National Historic Preservation Act to
protect this heritage. Our expert officers identify sites and
coordinate with appropriate officials and third parties on their
protection. They also support the work of museum and research centers
that house tribal material culture and repatriated items. We request
$20 million in THPO support and maintain $1.5 million in BIA NAGPRA
enforcement funding for FY 22.
Maintain the Funding Moratorium Related to Energy Leasing in the
Greater Chaco Region and Provide Additional Funding for Completion of
Tribal Cultural Resources Study.--As requested by the President is his
FY 2022 Budget, we urge Congress to maintain the moratorium on oil and
gas leasing on federal land in the withdrawal area of the Greater Chaco
Region. We request this moratorium span the lifetime of the legislation
rather than becoming ineffective upon completion of the ongoing
tribally--led cultural resource studies. However, if a temporal
requirement must be included, we ask that the moratorium stay in place
until completion of the studies as well as the Resource Management Plan
Amendment. Further, we ask that additional funding be provided to
complete the Region's Tribally-Led Cultural Resources Study, as
instructed in the in the explanatory statement accompanying the Further
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116-94).
v. invest in native student achievement with increased bie funding
Maintain Funding for BIE Tribal Education Department and
Sovereignty in Education Grants.--These grants have and continue to be
greatly beneficial to the Pueblo of Santa Clara. The funds support the
development of TEDs to improve educational outcomes for students and
efficiencies and effectiveness in the operation of BIE--funded schools.
The goal of the grants is to promote tribal educational capacity
building, which it has achieved in our community through the Department
of Youth and Learning and our Pueblo-Operated Kha'p'o Community School.
Maintaining this BIE line item will strengthen the exercise of
sovereignty in tribal education.
$109 Million for BIE Facilities Operations and $725 Million for BIE
Facilities Maintenance.--To flourish academically and personally, we
must provide our children with safe and vibrant classrooms and engaging
areas to play, as well as with after--hours wraparound services. Too
many tribal school facilities are in various states of disrepair. These
unsafe conditions pose unacceptable human and environmental health
risks that harm our students physically and psychologically. The
backlog of unmet needs for these accounts has grown exponentially with
Interior leadership testifying in July 2019 to a total identified
deferred need of $725 million. We urge Congress to fully fund this
unmet need amount at $725 for BIE Facilities Maintenance and $109 for
BIE Facilities Operations.
$473 Million for the Indian School Equalization Program (ISEP).--
These funds provide the core budget account for BIE elementary and
secondary schools by covering teacher salaries, aides, principals, and
other personnel. ISEP funds are often reallocated to cover the program
cuts in other areas of education. ISEP must have adequate funding to
ensure all program needs are fulfilled and must not be reduced to
provide funds for new initiatives that have not been vetted by tribal
nations. We strongly support an influx of investment in the ISEP in FY
2022.
______

Prepared Statement of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, California
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is pleased to submit this request for
increased funding for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within the FY
2022 Interior-Environment Appropriations Act. The following testimony
outlines several specific requests that are critical to support
priority wildlife rescue, research, and recovery programs for
Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act species
important to California, the West Coast and nationwide, particularly as
the nation looks to recover from the devastating COVID-19 global
pandemic.
In a typical year, the Monterey Bay Aquarium welcomes over two
million visitors, provides more than 91,000 students and 5,000 teachers
with award--winning education programs at no cost, and provides
valuable data, tools and approaches for conservation and science at
local to global scales.
The COVID-19 global pandemic dramatically impacted our institution.
The Aquarium suffered the loss of approximately $70 million in revenue
and 40 percent of our staff over the 14 months during which we were
fully closed to the public. We continued to spend over $1 million every
month on animal care and life--supporting core operations--including
for endangered, threatened, and protected species care and stranding
response and rehabilitation. In addition, we provided enhanced and free
digital and livestreamed educational content for schools and the wider
public. The Aquarium has taken extraordinary measures to ensure the
health and safety of our animals, staff and the public during this
challenging time, and we are hopeful that emergency grant funds
appropriated in the past two COVID-19 bills will provide some economic
relief soon. We are grateful to Congress and to the Committee for its
role in COVID-19 relief and recovery.
Monterey County has only recently achieved the public health
metrics that would allow us to reopen, so the Aquarium reopened to the
public May 15 at 25 percent capacity. As we gradually increase the
number of admitted guests, we can also more fully return to our
mission- to inspire conservation of the ocean.
wildlife recovery and rescue requests
The Aquarium recognizes the critical role that the Department of
the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) plays in
scientific information and managing the nation's public lands, natural
resources, and wildlife species. For decades, we have worked in
partnership with USFWS to help recover the threatened southern sea
otter, and we urge you to support these priority requests for FY 2022
so that we may accelerate that work.
As scientists continue to document the impacts of rapid climate
change and the significant loss of biodiversity, the USFWS leads the
recovery of keystone endangered and threatened species that play an
important role in maintaining resilient ecosystems. Sea otters, listed
as threatened, are a prime example of a keystone species and have
earned the title of ``ecosystem engineers'' because they can deliver
outsized benefits to degraded stretches of coastline. Thanks to federal
protection and the work done by federal and state agencies as well as
concerted recovery efforts led by the Aquarium, the population in
California has slowly begun to recover in recent decades. Healthy
populations of sea otters can preserve and enhance the growth of
seagrass and kelp, and offer benefits like improving water quality,
nurturing valuable fisheries, protecting coastal communities from
rising tides and storms, reducing invasive species, and sequestering
carbon.
The Aquarium helps to lead a science and conservation alliance in
California that conducts important cross--disciplinary research in
collaboration with the USFWS, U.S. Geological Survey, and the
California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. The Aquarium pioneered the use
of female exhibit otters as surrogate mothers who rear stranded sea
otter pups for successful release to the wild (``surrogacy method'')
and holds the only federal permit for sea otter surrogacy. Population
estimates and research together show that use of the surrogacy method
for wild sea otter recovery has been effective in increasing sea otter
population numbers along California's Central Coast, as well as
improving the ecological health of a National Estuarine Research
Reserve.
Greater investment for species protected by the Endangered Species
Act and safeguarded by the Marine Mammal Protection Act can play a
central role in the collaborative effort to protect and enhance sea
otter population gains, as well as bring associated habitat benefits,
on the Central Coast of California. Over the long term, public--private
leveraged funding may make it possible to accelerate recovery efforts
and provide measurable environmental and economic benefits.
Given the importance of public--private collaboration with the
USFWS, the Aquarium requests additional funding and prioritization for
the following competitive grant programs:

Recovery Challenge Grants.--The USFWS Recovery Challenge Grant
program leverages cost-effective models that bring together the
resources needed to recover some of our most vulnerable species. This
program recognizes the critically important role of nonprofit partners
to the USFWS's endangered species recovery efforts and provides merit-
based matching grants to support them. Although recovery efforts are on
an upward or stable trajectory for many species supported by USFWS
recovery programs, continued support and increased funding is needed to
sustain these gains and to mitigate threats to populations, food webs,
and environmental sustainability. Access to funds is currently highly
competitive.
We request $11 million over FY21 ($20 million total) for the
Recovery Challenge Grant program to support and implement critical
recovery efforts in collaboration with the USFWS. In addition, we
strongly support funding for Endangered Species Act recovery actions
generally and request an increase of $15 million over FY21 ($120
million total) for this important program.
John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program.--
The USFWS Recovery Challenge Grant program leverages cost-effective
models tThe Aquarium was recently awarded its first Prescott Grant
awards ($100,000 for 2019, $100,000 for 2020) to help improve southern
sea otter populations through stranding response projects. This
opportunity for grants comes at a critical time for the Aquarium, which
continues to lead California's emergency live stranding response of
southern sea otters throughout their entire range alongside network
partners. Increased funding for the Prescott grant program also
supports additional stranding network organizations that join the
Aquarium in this challenging work.
We request an increase of $1.2 million over FY21 levels (total of
$2.4 million) for the Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant
Program.
Thank you for your consideration of these requests.

[This statement was submitted by Margaret Spring, Chief
Conservation & Science Officer.]
______

Prepared Statement of the National American Indian Court Judges
Association
On behalf of the National American Indian Court Judges Association
(NAICJA), this testimony addresses important programs in the Department
of Interior (DOI). First, NAICJA joins the American Bar Association
(see attached letter) in requesting substantially increased funding for
tribal courts in response to the $1.2 billion annual shortfall for
tribal courts as identified in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) 2020
report to Congress, Report to the Congress on Spending, Staffing, and
Estimated Funding Costs for Public Safety and Justice Programs in
Indian Country, 2018.
Secondly, NAICJA joins the National Congress of American Indians
(NCAI) in requesting:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Program NCAI FY 2021 Request
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOI: Base funding for tribal courts and $123,000,000
the Indian Tribal Justice Act, including
courts in Public Law 280 jurisdictions.
DOI: Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Law $527,400,000
Enforcement and Detention.
DOI: BIA Funding to Tribal Governments.... Provide increases via tribal
base funding instead of
through grants.
DOI: BIA Indian Child Protection and $93,000,000
Family Violence Prevention Act.
DOI: BIA Welfare Assistance............... $100,000,000
DOI: Indian Child Welfare Act Program..... $30,000,000
DOI: BIA Social Services Program.......... $70,000,000
DOI/Indian Health Service................. $12.75 billion
DOI/Indian Health Service: ISDEAA Section Provide such sums as may be
105(l) Lease Agreements. necessary through mandatory
spending.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

NAICJA is a non-profit organization devoted to the support of
American Indian and Alaska Native justice systems through education,
information sharing, and advocacy. Its membership is primarily judges,
justices, and peacemakers serving in tribal justice systems. As a
national representative organization, NAICJA's mission is to strengthen
and enhance tribal justice systems, including juvenile justice systems.
The federal government's trust responsibility to Tribal nations is
at the heart of NAICJA's recommendation to follow NCAI's FY 2022 Indian
Country Budget Request. Like all other governments, Tribal nations are
responsible for the protection and care of their citizens, residents,
and visitors on their lands. Through treaties and other agreements,
tribal lands were ceded in exchange for the promise of protected self-
governance and adequate resources from the United States. Those
promises are the foundation of the government-to-government
relationship that exists today.
Core to Tribes exercising those responsibilities of protection and
care is sufficient federal government funding resources provided in
fulfillment of its trust responsibility. The primary DOI agencies
through which the federal government can provide funds critical to the
health and safety of tribal citizens and residents of tribal lands are
the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Indian Health Service (IHS). The
BIA and IHS provide essential services including hospitals, schools,
law enforcement, and social services among others. Programs and
services through these agencies affect the lives of around two million
people across the country.
Unfortunately, both agencies have been drastically underfunded for
decades. Chronic underfunding allows systemic harm to be perpetuated
against tribal citizens and residents of tribal lands. The inability of
the federal government to live up to its trust responsibility is long-
documented, most notably by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (the
Commission). The Commission has released three reports since the 1990s
chronicling the continued underfunding of Indian country. Most
recently, in 2018, the Commission in Broken Promises: Continuing
Federal Funding Shortfall for Native Americans found that ``Federal
funding for Native American programs across the government remains
grossly inadequate to meet the most basic needs the federal government
is obligated to provide . . . Since 2003, funding for Native American
programs has mostly remained flat, and in the few cases where there
have been increases, they have barely kept up with inflation or have
actually resulted in decreased spending power.'' \1\
Chronic underfunding also affects tribal justice systems. Tribal
courts in particular need resources to protect women, children, and
families, address substance abuse, and rehabilitate offenders. In 1991,
the Commission found that ``the failure of the United States Government
to provide proper funding for the operation of tribal judicial systems
. . . has continued for more than 20 years.'' \2\ In 2018, the
Commission in Broken Promises found that there continues to be
``systemic underfunding of tribal law enforcement and criminal justice
systems, as well as structural barriers in the funding and operation of
criminal justice systems in Indian Country.'' \3\ Finally in 2020, the
BIA submitted a report to Congress, Report to the Congress on Spending,
Staffing, and Estimated Funding Costs for Public Safety and Justice
Programs in Indian Country, 2018. The total annual estimated need for
tribal public safety and justice programs included $1.3 billion for
tribal law enforcement, $1.2 billion for tribal courts, and $240.6
million for existing detention centers. According to the same report,
BIA funding only meets 14.7 percent of estimated need. Leaving tribes
to fight for short-term funds via competitive grant processes.
It is time for this history of underfunding to change, especially
as the world continues to battle a global pandemic. NAICJA urges this
committee to support the requests outlined in this testimony and
included in the NCAI's FY 2022 Indian Country Budget Request.
Increase base funding for tribal courts and the Indian Tribal
Justice Act, including courts in Public Law 280 jurisdictions.--Along
with the IHS, the BIA is one of the primary agencies responsible for
providing services throughout Indian Country, either directly or
through compacts or contracts with tribal governments. One of the most
fundamental aspects of the federal government's trust responsibility is
the obligation to protect public safety on tribal lands. Congress and
the United States Supreme Court have long acknowledged this obligation,
which Congress reaffirmed in the Tribal Law and Order Act expressly
``acknowledging the federal nexus and distinct federal responsibility
to address and prevent crime in Indian Country.''
According to the BIA, the minimum base level of funding needed for
tribal courts is $1.2 billion.\4\ For FY 2021, funding for tribal
courts (generally) was $38.9 million and $15 million for tribal courts
in PL 280 jurisdictions. This gap between identified need and recent
appropriations calls for an increase in base funding for tribal courts,
including courts in PL 280 jurisdictions.
Fund BIA Law Enforcement and Detention efforts.--The BIA has also
reported on the minimum base level of service needs in the areas of law
enforcement and maintaining existing detention centers. The report
found that $1.3 billion is needed for tribal law enforcement, and
$240.6 million is needed to adequately fund existing detention
centers.\5\ Again, the same report found that Congress is funding
tribal law enforcement, detention/corrections, and tribal courts at a
mere 14.7 percent of estimated need.
Again, the gap between identified need and level of appropriation
is wide. Further, recent experience demonstrates that addressing the
lack of justice funding can make rapid and dramatic strides toward
improving public safety.\6\ Tribal justice systems simply need the
resources to put their tools to work to protect tribal citizens,
residents, and visitors on tribal lands.
Fund BIA Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention
Act.--The ICPFVPA authorizes funding for two tribal programs: (1) the
Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Program, which
funds prevention programming, investigations, and emergency shelter
services for victims of family violence; and (2) the Treatment of
Victims of Child Abuse and Neglect program, which funds treatment
programs for victims of child abuse. The ICPFVPA also authorizes
funding for the creation of Indian Child Resource and Family Service
Centers in BIA regions. Child abuse prevention funding will assist
Tribal nations in protecting one of their most vulnerable and most
sacred populations. Tribes, like states, need adequate resources to
effectively prevent and respond to child abuse and neglect in their
communities. However, unlike states, Tribes do not have meaningful
access to HHS Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act Program (CAPTA)
grant programs. The ICPFVPA was enacted to fill this gap, but without
appropriations for ICPFVPA programs, Tribes are left without funding
for child protection and child abuse prevention services.
Fund BIA Welfare Assistance and Social Services.--The Welfare
Assistance line item provides five important forms of funding to AI/AN
families: (1) general assistance, (2) child assistance, (3) non-medical
institution or custodial care of adults, (4) burial assistance, and (5)
emergency assistance. The Social Services Program provides a wide array
of family support services filling many funding gaps for tribal
programs and ensuring federal staff and support for these programs.
Importantly, the Social Services Program provides the only BIA and
tribal specific funding available for child protective services for
both children and adults in Indian Country. NAICJA supports NCAI's
recommended appropriations for both programs.
Fund the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Program.--ICWA funding is
the foundation of most tribal child welfare programs. Current funding
levels fall far short of estimates made in 1978 when ICWA was passed,
which with inflation would be $193 to $459 million in today's dollars.
Funding for off-reservation programs has completely stopped since 1996.
NAICJA supports NCAI's recommendation to increase the ICWA Program
appropriation to $30 million.
Fund the Indian Health Service.--In permanently authorizing the
Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA), Congress reaffirmed the
duty of the federal government to provide all the necessary resources
to ensure the highest possible health status for AI/ANs, declaring that
``it is the policy of this Nation, in fulfillment of its special trust
responsibilities and legal obligations to Indians.'' \7\ Unfortunately,
IHS has never received sufficient funding to fully honor its
obligations. ``Funding for the IHS and Native American health care is
inequitable and unequal. IHS expenditures per capita remain well below
other federal health care programs, and overall IHS funding covers only
a fraction of Native American health care needs, including behavioral
health needs to address the suicide epidemic in Indian Country.'' \8\
In accordance with National Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup
recommendations, representing all twelve IHS Areas, NAICJA supports a
total appropriation of $12.75 billion. Further, NAICJA supports
American Bar Association policy calling for IHS to be exempt from
government shutdowns and federal budget sequestrations.\9\
Fund Indian Self Determination Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA)
Section 105(l) Lease Agreements.--Ensuring tribal nations have the
tools and resources for effective governance is critical to fulfilling
the promise of the ISDEAA (P.L. 93-638) ISDEAA promotes self-
determination and self-governance, and this nation's trust and treaty
obligations, by enabling tribal nations to enter into contracts and
compacts with the federal government to operate certain federal
programs. Those tribal shares of federal programs make up the ``base
funding'' for tribal governments and provide certainty and security to
those governments. Congress must support tribal self-determination by
increasing tribal base funding, providing funding directly to tribal
nations as opposed to passing funds through states, providing formula
based funding rather than difficult to navigate competitive grant
programs, and promoting accurate data collection so that funding can
better target the needs of Indian Country. Additionally, funding for
Section 105(l) lease agreements must be provided through mandatory
spending that does not affect discretionary spending caps on tribal
programs.
conclusion
Thank you for your consideration of this testimony. For more
information, please contact A. Nikki Borchardt Campbell at
[email protected].
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ United States Commission on Civil Rights, Broken Promises:
Continuing Federal Funding Shortfall for Native Americans, 4 (December
2018).
\2\ United States Commission on Civil Rights, The Indian Civil
Rights Act: A Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights 71
(June 1991).
\3\ Supra note 1, at 32.
\4\ Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services. ``Report
to Congress on Spending, Staffing, and Estimated Funding Costs for
Public Safety and Justice Programs in Indian Country, 2018,'' July
2020.
\5\ Id.
\6\ Michael S. Black, Acting Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs,
U.S. Department of the Interior, Testimony, Briefing Transcript, p.
136; see also Dep't of the Interior, press release, March 4, 2014.
\7\ Indian Health Care Improvement Act, 25 U.S.C. Sec. 1602.
\8\ Supra note 1, at 8.
\9\ 2019A115A.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

______

Prepared Statement of National Association of Clean Air Agencies
(NACAA)
On behalf of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies
(NACAA), thank you for this opportunity to provide testimony on the FY
2022 budget for the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), particularly grants to state and local air pollution control
agencies under Sections 103 and 105 of the Clean Air Act (CAA), which
are part of the State and Tribal Assistance Grant (STAG) program. NACAA
has three recommendations with respect to FY 2022 appropriations. The
association urges Congress to 1) increase federal grants to state and
local air quality agencies by $92 million above FY 2021 levels, for a
total of $321.5 million (equal to the Administration's request); 2)
provide flexibility to state and local air quality agencies to use any
additional grants to address the highest priority programs in their
areas; and 3) retain grants for monitoring fine particulate matter
(PM2.5) under the authority of Section 103 of the Clean Air
Act, rather than shifting it to Section 105.
NACAA is the national, non-partisan, non-profit association of air
pollution control agencies in 41 states, including 115 local air
agencies, the District of Columbia and four territories. NACAA exists
to advance the equitable protection of clean air and public health for
all, and to improve the capability and effectiveness of state and local
air agencies. These agencies have the ``primary responsibility'' under
the CAA for implementing our nation's clean air programs. As such, they
carry out an array of critical activities intended to improve and
maintain air quality and protect public health.
NACAA is grateful to the Subcommittee for your continuing
commitment to air quality and your recognition of its importance to
public health. While NACAA appreciates this commitment, it is important
to emphasize how essential it is that these critical clean air programs
receive additional funding going forward.
air pollution poses serious public health problems
Many areas of the United States have enjoyed enormous improvements
to air quality while experiencing strong economic growth. Overall,
federal, state and local programs to address air pollution under the
Clean Air Act have been hugely successful over the years. However,
there are still significant air quality problems, posing threats to
public health and welfare, including disparities that persist in
overburdened communities despite progress overall. Every year tens of
thousands of people in this country die prematurely from air pollution.
Millions are exposed to unhealthful levels of air contaminants,
resulting in health problems such as cancer and damage to respiratory,
cardiovascular, neurological and reproductive systems.\1\ EPA's own
data show that in 2019 about 82 million people in this country lived in
counties that exceeded one or more of the federal health--based air
pollution standards.\2\ EPA's most recent data on hazardous air
pollutants indicate that in 2014 ``millions of people live in areas
where air toxics pose health concerns.'' \3\
State and local agencies still lead the nation in responding to
climate change. As emissions continue upward, wildfires worsen, ozone
seasons lengthen, global temperatures trend steadily upward and global
atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations now exceed 420 parts per
million. State and local agencies in NACAA have implemented programs
that made meaningful progress towards reducing greenhouse gases and
many maintained efforts to respond to the Paris Climate Agreement, even
as the U.S. withdrew.
There are few problems that this Subcommittee addresses that pose a
greater threat to public health than air pollution. We ask that you
provide adequate resources to ameliorate this problem.
state and local air agencies have been underfunded for years
The responsibilities that state and local air quality agencies face
continue to increase, while at the same time federal funding has not
kept pace with the need for resources. Federal grants to state and
local air quality agencies (under Sections 103 and 105 of the CAA) were
$229 million in FY 2021, which is approximately the amount they
received over 15 years ago, in FY 2004. If the FY 2004 figure is
adjusted for inflation, level funding is approximately the amount the
Administration has requested--$321.5 million in FY 2022 ($92 million
more than the current grant amount). Although the need for increases is
far greater, NACAA recommends that Section 103 and 105 grants receive
merely level funding adjusted for inflation ($321.5 million) in FY
2022.
State and local air agencies have done more than their fair share
to provide resources. The Clean Air Act (Section 105) envisioned that
the federal government would support up to 60 percent of the cost of
state and local air programs. However, the reality is that it provides
only about 25 percent and in some cases much less, while state and
local agencies provide the remaining 75 percent.
Air quality agencies were already doing their best with inadequate
resources. Now, state and local governments will face only steeper
challenges trying to backfill the deficit in federal funding as the
worst of the economic damage of the COVID--caused recession is likely
still to come. The resource shortfalls for state and local clean air
programs could stretch for years. Additionally, many clean air agencies
are located within state and local public health departments and have
had extra demands placed on them in serving immediate public health
crises caused by the pandemic, further straining their budgets and
competing for available resources. Without federal funding increases,
many state and local air agencies will have difficulty keeping pace
with existing requirements and addressing new responsibilities. These
problems exist even before one considers a more active partnership
between state and local agencies and the federal government, should it
seek to expand its efforts to address the climate crisis. Such a
partnership would require state and local involvement and leadership
and the resources to make that possible.
how would additional funding be used?
State and local air quality agencies regularly carry out many
essential resource--intensive activities, such as monitoring, compiling
emission inventories, planning, conducting sophisticated modeling,
permitting, inspecting sources and adopting and enforcing regulations.
Continuing these existing responsibilities requires tremendous effort.
In addition to ongoing day-to-day operations, state and local air
quality agencies also face emerging issues, including new regulations,
technologies, monitoring, controls and other elements of the program
that become ever more sophisticated. Additionally, the public
increasingly calls for more (and timelier) information and assistance
from state and local agencies, including during out-of-the-ordinary
events, such as wildfires and natural disasters.
Advances in technology, including monitoring and sensor equipment,
and their accessibility to the public require state and local agencies
to respond to this data more and more quickly. Unfortunately, many
agencies still have older technology and must expend scarce resources
struggling to respond to the public's need for information. These
agencies are increasingly called upon to manage and share the air
quality data generated by government and the public, and to develop
programs to address air quality issues as they become known.
Additionally, in light of technological and other advances and the need
to provide the public and regulated community the efficiency and
services they deserve, it is essential that state and local agency
staff be well trained and provided with the tools necessary to keep
pace with changing requirements.
Despite broad improvements in most national and regional trends,
air pollution and climate change continue to inflict disproportionate
harm on black people, indigenous people and people of color. All clean
air agencies have an obligation to focus regulatory attention on the
communities that historically have borne the greatest burdens from air
pollution and a changing climate, and who continue to do so today. The
members of NACAA aspire to address the systems that produce inequitable
outcomes and believe EPA should do so as well. Accordingly, among the
programs for which additional resources are needed are state and local
air agency efforts to address these disproportionate harms, including
funding for staffing, tools and technical assistance. We also believe
EPA should have adequate funding for its own efforts in this arena.
To address the many challenges we face, including those identified
above and others, there are many activities requiring additional
funding, and they vary from area to area, since different parts of the
country have unique problems and priorities. However, there are
important efforts for which many agencies need additional resources.
These include, among others:

--expanding greenhouse gas--focused programs and taking on new
responsibilities as federal climate mitigation programs expand;
--developing new strategies to meet our health--based air quality
standards and to reduce hazardous air pollutants;
--improving programs to address environmental justice and
disproportionate harm;
--enhancing our monitoring systems, equipment and procedures;
--modernizing modeling and other estimation tools;
--improving emission inventories of air pollutants;
--improving risk assessment capabilities;
--improving small business compliance assistance;
--helping the public better understand air pollution and how to
protect their health; and
--training staff so they can keep pace with changing requirements.

These and other efforts are essential if we hope to further reduce
air pollution, maintain the improvements we have made and continue to
protect public health and welfare. Additionally, a well--funded and
well--functioning national air program will support the economy through
timely, well--reasoned permitting, planning and actions that support
the private sector.
While the grants requested in this testimony would not fully meet
the needs of state and local clean air programs, even such a modest
increase will help.
flexibility in the use of funds is necessary
Each state or local area in the country faces a unique set of air
quality circumstances. For example, while one area may face tremendous
impacts from wildfires, another may find ozone--related problems or
hazardous air pollutants to be a greater challenge. A one-size-fits-all
strategy for grants that is applied to all areas of the country would
not recognize the need to focus resources effectively. Therefore, NACAA
recommends that Congress provide state and local air agencies with the
flexibility to use increased grant funds on the highest priority
programs in their areas.
nacaa recommends that monitoring grants remain under section 103
authority
EPA's budget proposes shifting the PM2.5 monitoring grant program
from Section 103 authority to Section 105 authority. However, we
request that these funds remain under Section 103 authority. Grants
under Section 103 do not require state or local matching funds, while
Section 105 grants call for a match. There are some state and local
agencies that are unable to provide additional matching funds. If the
program is shifted to Section 105 authority, these agencies may be
forced to refuse critical monitoring grants due to their inability to
afford the required match. NACAA has made this recommendation in
previous years and state and local air quality agencies are very
appreciative that Congress has been agreeable to this request in the
past.
conclusion
State and local air quality agencies' efforts to protect and
improve air quality are critically important for public health and a
sound economy. NACAA recommends that for FY 2022 Congress 1) increase
federal grants to state and local air agencies by $92 million above FY
2021 levels, for a total of $321.5 million (equal to the
Administration's request); 2) provide flexibility to state and local
air agencies to use any additional grants for the highest priority
programs in their areas; and 3) retain grants for monitoring fine
particulate matter under Section 103 authority.
Thank you very much for this opportunity to provide testimony. If
you require additional information, please contact Miles Keogh
([email protected]) or Mary Sullivan Douglas
([email protected]) of NACAA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/air-pollution-
current-and-future-challenges
\2\ https://www.epa.gov/air-trends/air-quality-national-summary
\3\ https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-09/documents/
2014_nata_technical_
support_document.pdf, p. 138
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

______

Prepared Statement of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies
(NACWA)
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) represents
nearly 330 public wastewater and stormwater utilities nationwide, both
large and small, that collectively provide essential clean water
services to more than 150 million Americans daily. These essential
public services protect public health and the environment and are vital
for local economic growth.
NACWA firmly believes it is past time for the federal government to
re-engage as a strong funding partner in water infrastructure
investment. Our nation's water infrastructure is at a key juncture,
with costs rising both for traditional investment needs like
maintaining aging infrastructure and meeting compliance obligations, as
well as for newer challenges such as addressing emerging contaminants
and managing increasingly complex water quality issues and ensuring
system resilience in the face of climate change and cyber risks. And
these costs do not include the additional expenditures related to
needed new capital investments.
The challenges of COVID-19 over the past year have only heightened
the financial and infrastructure needs of the public clean water
sector. In the face of these rising costs, utilities struggle to
maintain rates that are affordable for all customers. In fact, the
inability of poorer households to afford ever--increasing rates for
clean water services has become the single greatest problem for many
clean water utilities around the country. This affordability challenge
has existed for many years due to shrinking federal government
investment but has been particularly exacerbated by the COVID-19
pandemic.
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the current
federal cost--share of water infrastructure has fallen to less than 5
percent of total drinking water and wastewater infrastructure
investment, forcing the vast majority of the cost of providing clean
and safe water, onto local ratepayers and states. Paying for water
infrastructure investment must be a shared effort between local
governments and the federal government. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
has heightened the importance of safe and reliable clean water for all
Americans, while also underscoring the growing gap between federal and
local investment in water systems and the vital need for more robust
federal funding.
Last month, the U.S. Senate took a major first step towards
bridging this gap with overwhelming bipartisan passage of the Drinking
Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021 (DWWIA), S. 914, which
authorizes tens of billions in funding for clean water and drinking
water infrastructure and programs beginning with FY22. While the timing
and bicameral path forward on this legislation remains unclear, NACWA
hopes the Subcommittee continues building on this strong bipartisan
momentum during the FY22 appropriations process and provides funding at
levels at least as high as those authorized in DWWIA.
NACWA also requests that the Appropriations Committee provide as
much funding as possible for clean water in any comprehensive
infrastructure and investment package, especially in the form of direct
grants.
Below are NACWA's FY22 EPA Appropriations priorities. As always,
NACWA appreciates the Subcommittee's strong engagement and
collaboration with the Association and our members and appreciates your
consideration of these clean water priorities.
clean water state revolving fund (cwsrf)
The CWSRF is the primary federal clean water financing tool that
communities and public clean water utilities, both large and small,
utilize to help meet their Clean Water Act (CWA) obligations and
infrastructure needs. The CWSRF has been instrumental to communities'
success in complying with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) permits, reducing the frequency and size of sewer
overflows during wet weather events, and upgrading aging infrastructure
and improving overall local water quality. NACWA strongly supports the
higher authorization levels being advanced in Congress through DWWIA
and requests as robust funding as possible in FY22 for the CWSRF.
sewer overflow and stormwater reuse municipal grants
Reducing sewer overflows can be very costly, placing financial
strain on many communities and their ratepayers, especially in
communities under federal consent decrees, dealing with aging
infrastructure, and adjusting to population and economic shifts.
Meanwhile, stormwater management presents significant opportunity for
continued improvement in water quality and water reuse, but this comes
with rising costs around the country.
Originally authorized under the America's Water Infrastructure Act
(AWIA) (P.L.115-270) at $225 million per fiscal year and recently
reauthorized at $280 million per fiscal year under DWWIA, this program
provides grants to municipal entities for treatment works to intercept,
transport, control, treat, or reuse municipal combined CSO, SSO, and/or
stormwater.
In FY20, Congress took a major step forward by funding these sewer
overflow grants--originally proposed in conjunction with the 1994 CSO
Policy--for the first time ever. NACWA appreciates Congress' FY20
appropriation of $28 million and FY21 appropriation of $40 million for
the program. However, as the main grant program available to
communities for sewer controls and stormwater we urge continued growth
in appropriations for this program at the level authorized in DWWIA.
integrated planning and epa office of municipal ombudsman
At the end of 2018, Congress passed the bipartisan Water
Infrastructure Improvement Act (Public Law No: 115-436) which codified
EPA's Integrated Planning (IP) Framework to provide local communities
with critical flexibilities in meeting their CWA obligations and ensure
residents continue receiving safe, reliable, and affordable clean water
services. The IP approach helps local communities sequence and
prioritize how they meet their specific clean water obligations and
long-term infrastructure needs and better manage costs over time. IP
presents a significant opportunity to help communities stay on track
with their clean water obligations and best manage costs, especially at
a time of rapid innovation and changing environmental conditions.
EPA will soon be providing an update to Congress on IP via a report
that was required as part of the 2018 legislation. However, it takes
significant work by the community, state regulatory agency, and EPA to
understand and pursue an integrated planning approach. We urge Congress
to provide EPA with additional resources to help communities consider
IP, including providing states with needed guidance on how to
incorporate integrated planning concepts in CWA municipal permits.
Specific funding for this effort in FY22 would be particularly helpful
in advancing IP efforts at the local level, as well as signaling to EPA
that Congress continues to view expanding IP as a priority.
EPA has recently begun to ramp up its IP efforts with its Technical
Assistance Program for states and municipalities, which ends in August
2022, to receive free IP reviews from the Environmental Finance Centers
at the University of Maryland and University of North Carolina. While
this assistance is helpful, the Agency has yet to fully provide states
and communities, both large and small, with more information and
guidance on the initial steps, knowledge, and resources needed to begin
the IP process and how to best utilize it to meet CWA obligations.
NACWA appreciates the subcommittee including IP report language in
the final FY21 omnibus bill that supports IP activities at the Agency.
Dedicated Congressional funding for IP is essential however to ensure
EPA has the resources to fully and properly implement the law and help
communities fully utilize this clean water tool. NACWA requests funding
at a level of at least $2 million in FY22 to provide EPA and the
Agency's regional offices with dedicated resources to fully and
properly implement IP activities.
The Water Infrastructure Improvement Act also included a provision
establishing a Municipal Ombudsman's office within EPA to provide
municipalities with a dedicated point of contact within the Agency to
ensure Agency policies are being implemented appropriately and
consistently at the local level, as well as lead the EPA's efforts on
IP. Last year, EPA hired the Agency's first Municipal Ombudsman, and
the water sector looks forward to increased collaboration. NACWA
requests FY22 report language similar to that in the FY21 Omnibus that
directs funding for the Office of Municipal Ombudsman to be funded at
no less than the previous fiscal year level, with a request that this
funding level be increased.
water workforce infrastructure grants program
Jobs in the water sector provide a good career with competitive
wages. Over the next decade however, the water utility workforce is
expected to incur a retirement rate of over one-third. This number is
not only alarming given the important daily work of these professionals
but is also problematic given the education and on-the-job training
these jobs require.
Congress authorized the Water Workforce Infrastructure Grants
Program through AWIA 2018 to facilitate innovative workforce training
programs that help address the workforce need. NACWA requests funding
at a level of at least $5 million in FY22 for the program to train and
develop the utility workforce of the future and ensure the long-term
stability in the sector. NACWA also requests that the Subcommittee
clarify that public clean water and drinking water utilities are
eligible to receive these grants in partnership with training and
educational institutions.
water infrastructure finance and innovation act (wifia) program
The WIFIA program is a compliment to the SRFs, providing an
additional financing option for water infrastructure investment by
leveraging limited federal resources. Since being authorized in 2014,
NACWA has been pleased with the success of the WIFIA program in
financing critical infrastructure projects. NACWA requests funding at a
level of $68 million in FY22 for WIFIA.
NACWA also supports an additional $5 million be provided for SWIFIA
which allows state financing authorities that administer the SRFs to
apply for WIFIA loans directly through EPA, applying with a single
application in which the state would bundle multiple projects on the
state's approved intended use plan.
low income household water assistance program (lihwap)
NACWA has long supported the creation of a federal low-income water
assistance program at U.S. EPA to assist low-income households in
maintaining access to affordable and reliable public clean and drinking
water services. A robust and permanent federal water assistance program
is key to helping communities and public utilities provide service to
all customers while continuing to invest in and maintain safe, reliable
water and wastewater systems. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has further
highlighted this important need.
DWWIA takes an important step by directing EPA to assess low-income
water needs around the country and authorizing a low-income household
water assistance pilot program. NACWA continues to work with Congress
on the establishment of a permanent low-income household water
assistance program, and as a step in that direction we strongly support
the low-income provisions in DWWIA.
NACWA looks forward to further discussions with the Subcommittee
and both the Senate and House authorizing committees on this important
issue and requests that as much funding as possible be appropriated in
FY22 for low-income household water assistance.
In addition to the core clean water programs outlined above, NACWA
also supports increased FY22 funding for EPA's Geographic Programs,
such as the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), Chesapeake Bay
Program, and Long Island Sound among others, which support critical
watershed--based investments; Section 319 Nonpoint Source grants that
are instrumental in pursuing holistic watershed solutions to
impairments driven by nonpoint sources, which remain the largest
outstanding driver of water quality impairments; and $20 million for
EPA's National Priorities Water Research grant program that serves as
an important source of federal funding to directly support water
research projects.
Lastly, NACWA supports strong FY22 appropriations for EPA to
complete an updated Clean Water Infrastructure Needs Survey to ensure
there is accurate, updated, and complete understanding of clean water
needs across the country. It is critical that EPA receive Congressional
funding support to complete this vital survey, but also that EPA be
directed to move expeditiously in issuing the next updated report which
is already behind schedule.

[This statement was submitted by Jason Isakovic, Director of
Legislative Affairs, Kristina Surfus, Managing Director of Government
Affairs.]
______

Prepared Statement of the National Association of State Energy
Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and members of the
Subcommittee, I am David Terry, Executive Director of the National
Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), which represents the 56
State and Territory Energy Directors and their Offices. NASEO is
submitting this testimony in support of funding for the ENERGY STAR
program (within the Climate Protection Partnership Division of the
Office of Air and Radiation) at the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). NASEO supports funding of at least $80 million in FY'22,
including specific report language directing that the funds be utilized
only for the ENERGY STAR program. The program received $54 million a
decade ago and is now down to $39.4 million. The ENERGY STAR program is
successful, voluntary, and cost-effective. The program has a proven
track record--it makes sense, it saves energy and money, and Americans
embrace it. ENERGY STAR helps consumers and businesses control
expenditures over the long term. The program is strongly supported by
product manufacturers, utilities, and homebuilders, and ENERGY STAR
leverages the states' voluntary efficiency actions. Voluntary ENERGY
STAR activities are occurring in public buildings, such as schools, in
conjunction with State Energy Offices, in virtually every state,
including Oregon and Alaska. The states and the public utilize ENERGY
STAR because it is seen as unbiased and delivers cost--saving benefits
to businesses, consumers and state and local governments.
The ENERGY STAR program is focused on voluntary efforts that reduce
energy waste, promotes energy efficiency and renewable energy, and
works with states, local governments, communities and business to
achieve these goals in a cooperative, public--private manner.
NASEO has worked closely with EPA and approximately 40 states are
ENERGY STAR Partners. With very limited funding, EPA's ENERGY STAR
program coordinates with the State Energy Offices to give consumers and
businesses the opportunity and technical assistance tools to make
better energy decisions and catalyzes product efficiency improvements
by manufacturers without regulation or mandates. The program is
voluntary.
ENERGY STAR focuses on energy--efficient products as well as
buildings (e.g., residential, commercial, and industrial). Over 300
million ENERGY STAR qualified products were sold in 2019 alone, not
including another 300 million ENERGY STAR certified light bulbs. The
ENERGY STAR label is recognized across the United States. Approximately
90 percent of households recognize the ENERGY STAR label and a majority
of surveyed U.S. households reported having purchased an ENERGY STAR
product. The manufacturing, installation, design, wholesale
distribution, and provision of professional services related to ENERGY
STAR products employed almost 827,000 American workers in 2019. It
makes the work of the State Energy Offices much easier, by engaging the
public on easily--recognized products, services, and targets. In order
to obtain the ENERGY STAR label, a product has to meet established
guidelines. ENERGY STAR's voluntary partnership programs include ENERGY
STAR Buildings, ENERGY STAR Homes, ENERGY STAR Small Business, and
ENERGY STAR Labeled Products. A new ENERGY STAR ``tenant spaces''
program should be launched in 2021. The program operates by encouraging
consumers and working closely with state and local governments to
purchase these products and services.
Marketplace barriers are also eradicated through the ENERGY STAR
program's collaborative approach to consumer education. State Energy
Offices are working with EPA to promote ENERGY STAR products, ENERGY
STAR for new construction, ENERGY STAR for public housing, etc. Another
ENERGY STAR success is in the manufactured housing sector. Some states
and utilities offer modest rebates for ENERGY STAR manufactured homes
in order to deliver both energy cost savings to homeowners and lower
overall electric grid operation costs for all customers.
In 2019, millions of consumers and thousands of voluntary partners,
including manufacturers, builders, businesses, communities, and
utilities, tapped the value of ENERGY STAR and achieved impressive
financial and environmental results.
An estimated 70,000 energy efficiency home improvement projects
were undertaken through the whole house retrofit program, Home
Performance with ENERGY STAR, in 2020.
More than 840 utilities, state, and local governments and non-
profits utilize ENERGY STAR in their energy efficiency programs, as do
1,800 manufacturers.
The State Energy Offices are very encouraged by progress made at
EPA, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, and in our
states to promote programs to make schools more energy--efficient while
improving indoor air quality and comfort. In fact, there are over 150
ENERGY STAR--rated schools in states from Arizona to Maine. In
addition, many states' private sector partners voluntarily utilize
ENERGY STAR to promote energy efficiency and lower operating costs.
EPA provides technical assistance to the State Energy Offices in
such areas as ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (how to rate the
performance of buildings), setting an energy target, and financing
options for building improvements and building upgrade strategies.
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is used extensively by State Energy
Offices to benchmark performance of state and municipal buildings,
saving taxpayer dollars. Portfolio Manager is the industry--leading
benchmarking tool which has been used voluntarily in approximately 50%
of the commercial buildings in the United States. Portfolio Manager is
used to measure, track, assess, and report energy and water
consumption.
Additionally, the industrial sector embraces ENERGY STAR at job--
creating companies such as GM, Eastman Chemical, Nissan, Raytheon, and
Boeing. Recent ENERGY STAR certified manufacturers include such
companies as J.R. Simplot, Flowers Foods, Ardagh Glass, and Marathon
Petroleum Refining. At the close of 2019, more than 750 U.S. industrial
sites had committed to the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry, while
311 sites met or exceeded their targets by achieving an average 10%
reduction in industrial energy efficiency within five or fewer years.
The State Energy Offices are working cooperatively with our peers
in the state environmental agencies and state public utilities
commissions to ensure that programs, regulations, projects and policies
are developed recognizing both energy and environmental concerns. We
have worked closely with this program at EPA to address these issues.
We encourage these continued efforts.
For example, in Oregon, the State is focused on decarbonization
efforts, and ENERGY STAR is a useful tool to promote sustained
investments in energy efficiency. In Alaska, the State has worked with
partners to promote the Village Energy Efficiency Program, and ENERGY
STAR has been critical.
Moreover, Oregon and Alaska have significant ENERGY STAR activities
underway:

--Oregon is home to 180 businesses and organizations participating in
U.S. EPA's ENERGY STAR program: 9 manufacturers of ENERGY STAR
certified products; and 10 companies supporting independent
certification of ENERGY STAR products and homes 49 companies
building ENERGY STAR certified homes. ENERGY STAR Partner
Activity in Oregon includes 1.9 million customers served by
ENERGY STAR utility partners in 2020; 3,607 buildings (255
million square feet) benchmarked using EPA's ENERGY STAR
Portfolio Manager; 26,522 homes earned the ENERGY STAR to-date;
437 buildings earned the ENERGY STAR to-date, including 107
schools, 3 hotels, 6 hospitals, 142 office buildings and 5
industrial plants.
--Alaska is home to 20 businesses and organizations participating in
U.S. EPA's ENERGY STAR program; has 153 thousand customers
being served by ENERGY STAR utility partners; 437 buildings
that have been benchmarked using EPA's ENERGY STAR Portfolio
Manager; 11,891 homes have earned the ENERGY STAR label; 31
schools, and 4 hospitals.

conclusion
The ENERGY STAR program saves consumers billions of dollars every
year. The payback and job creation benefits are enormous. NASEO
supports robust program funding of at least $80 million in FY'22.
Funding for the ENERGY STAR program is justified. It is a solid
public--private relationship that leverages resources, time and talent
to produce tangible results by saving energy and money and, in light of
Administrator Michael Regan's commitment to environmental justice, can
provide immense benefits to high--need and underserved communities.
NASEO endorses these activities as well as the constructive
partnerships that the State Energy Offices have with EPA to
cooperatively implement a variety of critical national programs without
mandates.

[This statement was submitted by David Terry, Executive Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the National Association of State Foresters
(NASF)
The National Association of State Foresters (NASF) appreciates the
opportunity to submit written public testimony to the House Committee
on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related
Agencies regarding our fiscal year (FY) 2022 appropriations
recommendations. Our priorities focus primarily on appropriations for
the USDA Forest Service (Forest Service) State and Private Forestry
(S&PF) programs, as well as the Research and Development (R&D) Forest
Inventory and Analysis Program.
State foresters deliver technical and financial assistance, along
with forest health, water, and wildfire protection for more than two-
thirds of the Nation's 751 million acres of forests. The Forest Service
S&PF mission area provides vital support to deliver these services,
which contribute to the socioeconomic and environmental health of rural
and urban areas. The comprehensive process for delivering these
services is articulated in each State's Forest Resource Assessment and
Strategy (Forest Action Plan), authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill and
continued in the 2018 Farm Bill. S&PF programs provide a significant
return on the federal investment by leveraging the boots-on-the-ground
and financial resources of state agencies to deliver assistance to
forest landowners, tribes, and communities. As federal and state
governments continue to face financial challenges, state foresters, in
partnership with the S&PF mission area of the Forest Service, are best
positioned to maximize effectiveness of available resources by focusing
work on priority forest issues where resources are needed most.
FY21 marked the first year that Congress appropriated the Forest
Service budget under a modernized structure. To transition to this new
structure, the historical budget for each program account was broken
out into three parts: operations (aka cost pools), salaries & expenses,
and program dollars. Congress determined its FY21 appropriations levels
based in part on an historical analysis performed by the Forest Service
that described how FY21 program budgets would have broken out under the
previous budget structure. While the modernized budget structure has
resulted in unprecedented levels of transparency--as the FY21 budget
was implemented, it became clear that elements of Forest Service
analysis were incorrectly estimated.
Your support of the following programs is critical to helping
states address the many and varied challenges outlined in Forest Action
Plans.
state fire assistance (sfa) and volunteer fire assistance (vfa)
More people living in fire--prone landscapes, high fuel loads,
drought, and deteriorating forest health are among the factors that led
most state foresters to identify wildland fire as a priority issue in
their Forest Action Plans. We now grapple with increasingly expensive
and complex wildland fires--fires that frequently threaten human life
and property. In 2020, 58,950 wildland fires burned more than 10.1
million acres.\1\ State and local agencies respond to the majority of
wildfires across the country; in 2019 state and local agencies were
responsible for responding to 39,804 (79%) of the 58,477 reported
wildfires across all jurisdictions.\2\
SFA and VFA are the fundamental federal mechanism for assisting
states and local fire departments in responding to wildland fires and
in conducting management activities that mitigate fire risk on non-
federal lands. SFA also helps train and equip local first responders
who are often first to arrive at a wildland fire incident and who play
a crucial role in keeping fires and their costs as minimal as possible.
Attacking fires when they are small is the key to reducing fatalities,
injuries, loss of homes, and cutting federal fire--fighting costs. The
need for increased funding for fire suppression on federal lands has
broad support. The need to increase fire suppression funding for state
and private lands, where roughly 80 percent of wildfires occur, and
where many federal fires begin, is just as urgent. NASF supports
funding the State Fire Assistance program at $88.5 million including
$79 million for program dollars, and Volunteer Fire Assistance at $20
million in FY 2022.
forest pests and invasive plants
Also among the greatest threats identified in the Forest Action
Plans are native and non-native pests and diseases which have the
potential to displace native trees, shrubs, and other vegetation types
in forests; the Forest Service estimates that hundreds of native and
non-native insects and diseases damage the Nation's forests each year.
The growing number of damaging pests and diseases are often introduced
and spread by way of wooden shipping materials, movement of firewood,
and through various types of recreation. There is an estimated 81
million acres at risk of attack by insects and disease.\3\ These
extensive areas of high insect or disease mortality can set the stage
for large--scale, catastrophic wildfire.
The Cooperative Forest Health Management program supports
activities related to prevention, monitoring, suppression, and
eradication of insects, diseases, and plants through provision of
technical and financial assistance to states and territories to
maintain healthy, productive forest ecosystems on non-federal forest
lands. The Cooperative Forest Health Management program plays a
critical part in protecting communities already facing outbreaks and in
preventing exposure of more forests and trees to the devastating and
costly effects of damaging pests and pathogens. NASF supports funding
the Forest Health-Cooperative Lands Program at $51 million including
$39.43 million in program dollars in FY 2022.
assisting landowners and maintaining healthy forests--forest
stewardship program and forest legacy program
Actively managed healthy forest landscapes are a vital part of
rural America, providing an estimated 900,000 jobs, clean water, wood
products, and other essential services to millions of Americans. Over
50% of U.S. forestland is privately owned and supports an average of
eight jobs per 1,000 acres.\4\ However, the Forest Service estimates
that 57 million acres of private forests in the U.S. are at risk of
conversion to urban development over the next two decades. Programs
like the Forest Stewardship Program (FSP) and the Forest Legacy Program
(FLP) are key tools identified in the Forest Action Plans for keeping
working forests intact and for providing a full suite of benefits to
society. With the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) signed into law,
the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) will receive permanent
annual funding at the full authorized level, nearly doubling historical
appropriations for the LWCF. FLP should receive significant increased
funding levels commensurate with the increased funding provided to the
LWCF by the GAOA.
FSP is the most extensive family forest--owner assistance program
in the country and is delivered in partnership with state forestry
agencies, cooperative extension services, certified foresters,
conservation districts, and other partners. FSP equips private forest
landowners with the unbiased, science--based information they need to
sustainably manage their forests now and into the future, helping to
keep forests as forests. In addition to delivering technical assistance
directly to forestland owners, the Forest Stewardship Program often
serves as a gateway to other landowner cost--share assistance
programming, like the USDA Environmental Quality Incentives Program,
state programs, and partner programs, that can help landowners keep
their forests working and intact. Today there are nearly 24 million
acres nationwide managed with Forest Stewardship plans. From 2019 to
2020, the total amount of acres covered by current Forest Stewardship
plans increased by nearly half a million acres. Forestland owners that
have management plans are almost three times more likely to meet their
management objectives compared to those without management plans. The
FSP leads landowners to reach their management objectives while tying
those objectives to the state's Forest Action Plan. Increased federal
funding for FSP will allow state forestry agencies to ramp up outreach
efforts and provide additional technical assistance to landowners to
ensure that private forestland acres are maintained. Forest Stewardship
plans provide guidance for family forest landowners to keep their land
healthy and productive and often serve as management roadmaps for
several generations.
Following congressional direction, NASF has worked closely with the
Forest Service to modernize the funding allocation formula to state
agencies for FSP, focused on improving program delivery with greater
emphasis on performance--based outcomes. Under the new allocation
formula, priority areas and priority resource concerns have been
designated in each state and greater emphasis has been placed on
providing technical assistance and implementing land management plans
in those priority areas. NASF supports funding for the Forest
Stewardship Program at $30 million including $22 million for program
dollars, and the Forest Legacy Program at $128 million in FY 2022.
urban and community forest management challenges
Urban forests are important to achieving energy savings, improved
air quality, neighborhood stability, aesthetic value, reduced noise,
and improved quality of life in municipalities and communities around
the country. Urban trees and forests provide a wide array of social,
economic, and environmental benefits to people living in urban areas;
today, more than 83 percent of the Nation's population lives in urban
areas. Yet, urban and community forests face serious threats, such as
development and urbanization, invasive pests and diseases, and fire in
the wildland urban interface (WUI).
The program is delivered in close partnership with state foresters
and leverages existing local efforts that have helped thousands of
communities and towns manage, maintain, and improve their tree cover
and green spaces. In FY 2020, the U&CF program delivered technical,
financial, educational, and research assistance to nearly 8,000
communities across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S.
territories and affiliated Pacific Island nations. NASF supports
funding the Urban and Community Forestry program at $40 million
including $31.91 million in program dollars in FY 2022.
importance of forest inventory data in monitoring forest issues
The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program, managed by Forest
Service, Forest and Rangeland Research, is the only comprehensive
inventory system in the United States for assessing the health and
sustainability of the Nation's forests across all ownerships. FIA
provides essential data related to forest species composition, forest
growth rates, and forest health data, and it delivers baseline
inventory estimates used in Forest Action Plans. Further, this data is
used by academics, researchers, industry, and others to understand
forest trends and support investments in forest products facilities
that provide jobs and products to society. The program provides
unbiased information used in monitoring of wildlife habitat, wildfire
risk, insect and disease threats, invasive species spread, and response
to priorities identified in the Forest Action Plans.
As the key partner in FIA program delivery via state contribution
of matching funds, state foresters look forward to continued work with
the Forest Service to improve efficiency in delivery of the program to
meet the needs of the diverse user groups for FIA data. This will
ensure that, at a minimum, the historical level of base program
delivery is accomplished, which should include funding the collection
of data on a 7-year cycle in the east and 10-year cycle in the west.
NASF supports funding the FIA program at no less than $93.5 million in
total funding in FY22 including no less than $32.4 million for program
dollars. However, we request that this increase not be realized at the
expense of other critical Forest Service Research & Development or S&PF
programs. We request you to work with the Forest Service to establish a
budget line item for FIA for salaries and expenses.
landscape scale restoration (lsr)
The concept of the LSR Program was developed over a decade ago by
state foresters. They agreed to reallocate 15% of the federal dollars
their agencies received annually through four core programs (Forest
Stewardship, Urban and Community Forestry, Forest Health-Cooperative
Lands, and State Fire Assistance) to a new competitive grant program,
now called LSR. Given the tremendous toll COVID-19 has had on state
budgets, now more than ever, S&PF programs are critical to protecting
our forested landscapes nationwide. To better support private
forestland owners and the state forestry agencies that provide them
with wildfire protection and forestry assistance, NASF is recommending
Congress return LSR funding back to the S&PF core programs it
originated from for the next two years. This return of support to our
nation's core cooperative forestry programs is essential to bolstering
the forestry supply chain in the U.S. and helping Americans weather
prolonged economic instability. In the absence of COVID-19 stimulus
funding for state forestry agencies, NASF requests LSR funding be
returned to the four core S&PF programs it originated from--Forest
Stewardship, Urban and Community Forestry, Forest Health-Cooperative
Lands, and State Fire Assistance--for both FY22 and FY23. If
supplemental funding is provided for state forestry agencies or S&PF
funding, NASF supports funding LSR at $20 million in FY22.
NASF appreciates the opportunity to share our FY 2022
appropriations recommendations for the Forest Service with the
Subcommittee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ National Interagency Fire Center, Historical Wildland Fire
Summaries, Last accessed April 15, 2021 at https://www.nifc.gov/fire-
information/statistics/wildfires
\2\ Id.
\3\ Tkacz, Bory, et al. 2014. NIDRM 2012 Report Files: Executive
Summary. 2013-2027 National Insect and Disease Forest Risk Assessment.
Last accessed on March, 5, 2019 at: http://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/
technology/pdfs/2012_RiskMap_Exec_summary.pdf
\4\ Forest2Market. The Economic Impact of Privately-Owned Forests.
2009.

[This statement was submitted by Joe Fox, President.]
______

Prepared Statement of the National Association of Tribal Historic
Preservation Officers
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee, I appreciate this opportunity to present the National
Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (NATHPO)'s
recommendations for Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations. My name is Valerie
Grussing and I am the Executive Director. First, thank you for the FY
2021 Interior Appropriations bill--it was the most preservation
friendly appropriations bill in history. Our FY22 goals in service of
our members rely on this Subcommittee's continued support for the needs
of tribal preservation activities. The recommended line item amounts
are discussed below.
1. National Park Service, Historic Preservation Fund, Tribal line
item ($24 million)
2. National Park Service, National NAGPRA Program:
a. Exclusively for NAGPRA Grants ($2.331 million)
b. Program administration ($1 million for Program Use)
3. Bureau of Indian Affairs--Create line items and support the
following divisions:
a. 12 Regional Offices support for Cultural Resource
compliance ($3 million)
b. Central Office cultural resource efforts throughout the
bureau ($200,000)
c. NAGPRA compliance work ($765,000)
d. To fight ARPA crimes on Indian reservations ($200,000)
4. Smithsonian Institution: For repatriation activities, including
Review Committee and repatriation office ($1.25 million)
5. Bureau of Land Management: Fill vacant Tribal Liaison Positions,
HQ agency lead and 10 of the 12 State Offices ($1.5 million)
What are Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs)? THPOs are
an exercise of tribal sovereignty, appointed by federally recognized
tribal governments that have an agreement with the Department of the
Interior to assume the federal compliance role of the State HPO, per
the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Tribal historic
preservation plans are grounded in self-determination, traditional
knowledge, and cultural values, and may involve projects to improve
Indian schools, roads, health clinics, and housing. THPOs are the first
responders when a sacred site is threatened or when Native ancestors
are disturbed by development. THPOs are often responsible for their
tribe's oral history programs, operating museums and cultural centers,
leading revitalization of Native traditions and languages, and many
more related functions.
What is the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation
Officers? NATHPO is a national non-profit membership association of
tribal government officials committed to protecting culturally
important places that perpetuate Native identity, resilience, and
cultural endurance. NATHPO assists tribes in protecting their historic
properties, whether they are naturally occurring in the landscape or
are manmade structures.
1. historic preservation fund (hpf), administered by the national park
service--tribal line item ($24 million)
As of December 31, 2020, there are 200 National Park Service (NPS)-
recognized Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs). Each THPO
represents an affirmative step by an Indian tribe to assume the
responsibilities of the State Historic Preservation Officers for their
respective tribal lands, as authorized by Congress in the 1992
amendments to the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).
Collectively, these Tribes exercise responsibilities over a land base
exceeding 50 million acres in 30 states. The HPF is the sole source of
federal funding for THPOs and the main source of funding to implement
the nation's historic preservation programs. HPF revenue is generated
from oil and gas development on the Outer Continental Shelf. We
recommend $24 million to carry out the requirements of the NHPA. This
would provide the 200 federally recognized THPOs an average of $120,000
each to run their programs. Funding THPOs and staff creates jobs,
generates economic development, and spurs community revitalization. It
also facilitates required environmental and historic review processes,
including for energy and infrastructure permitting. Tribes don't want
to stop this development--they need it more than anyone. But they also
need to reap the benefits rather than just continue to incur the costs.
If these review processes are ever to be ``streamlined,'' THPOs must be
able to do the required work.
What is at stake? As the number of Indian tribes with THPO programs
increases, the amount of HPF funding appropriated to THPOs must catch
up. Native American cultural properties on millions of acres of tribal
lands are at risk. For the past several years, each THPO program has
been asked to conduct important federal compliance work with fewer
financial resources. In the first year of congressional funding support
for THPOs (FY1996), the original 12 THPOs each received an average of
$80,000, while in FY2021, 200 THPOs received an average of $75,000. If
the original $80,000 were adjusted for inflation, the current
apportionment would be $131,000 per THPO; that is the gap we must begin
to close. Additionally, the number of tribes with a THPO continues to
grow; around 10 Tribes successfully establish a THPO program each year.
The epidemics we see rampant in Indian country are the symptoms of
historical trauma--of people systematically cut off from their
families, languages, practices, and lands. Reconnecting Native peoples
to their cultural heritage, traditions, and places has the power to
help heal deep generational wounds. Treating the cause: that is the
work THPOs do. To continue this work in Indian country, it is essential
that THPO programs receive increased funding to meet the increasing
need. The chart below demonstrates the program growth and funding need.
Additional HPF programs administered by the National Park
Service.--NATHPO appreciates the strong HPF funding levels the
Committee has provided in recent years. We support the request of the
National Trust for Historic Preservation that Congress provide a total
FY 2021 HPF appropriation of $150 million. Within that funding we
recommend:

--$60 million for State Historic Preservation Officers (SHPOs);
--$24 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs);
--$26 million for competitive grants to preserve the sites and
stories Civil Rights;
--$10 million for grants to Historically Black Colleges and
Universities;
--$20 million for Save America's Treasures grants;
--$9 million for Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization grants;
--$1 million for grants related to communities underrepresented on
the National Register of Historic Places and National Historic
Landmarks.

We also recommend the Committee encourage the NPS to work with
states and tribes to improve what has become a burdensome apportionment
process so that SHPOs and THPOs can more readily and efficiently access
funding Congress has allocated for their work.

HPF Tribal appropriation has steadily increased, as has the number of
THPOs.
Therefore, the average apportionment per THPO has remained the same.

2. national park service, national nagpra program
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)
provides for the disposition of Native American cultural items \1\
removed from Federal or tribal lands, or in the possession or control
of museums or federal agencies, to lineal descendants, Indian tribes,
or Native Hawaiian organizations based on descent or cultural or
geographic affiliation. NAGPRA prohibits trafficking of Native American
cultural items and created a grants program exclusively for Indian
tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and public museums.
NAGPRA Grants Program:
a. $2.331 million to be used exclusively for NAGPRA Grants to
Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and museums. We recommend
that the Committee restore the amount that the NAGPRA grants program
received each year for most of its history prior to when the NPS began
to divert a greater amount of funds for administrative use within the
cultural resource division. NAGPRA grants have been ``level-funded'' at
$1.65 million. NATHPO requests that the Congress restore the grants to
the $2.331 million funding level.
Administration of National NAGPRA Program:
b. $1 million, additionally, for NAGPRA program administration,
including the publication of Federal Register notices, grant
administration, civil penalty investigations, and Review Committee
costs.
3. bureau of indian affairs--create line items and support the
following divisions
The BIA has federally mandated responsibilities to work with Indian
tribes and comply with the NHPA, the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), NAGPRA, and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA).
Currently the BIA does not have any budget line items devoted to
complying with these federal laws. Funds are not only needed for the
BIA to comply with their internal development efforts, such as roads
and forestry, but also to conduct project reviews of outside
development projects, such as oil and gas development. ARPA crime on
Indian reservations continues to be a major problem, as looters and
traffickers continue to steal valuable cultural resources from tribal
and federal lands. The BIA does not have any special agents or law
enforcement forces to combat this uniquely destructive crime in Indian
country and we urge the creation of a dedicated line item within the
BIA.
NATHPO recommends the BIA create line items and support the following
divisions:
a. Cultural Resource compliance at the 12 Regional BIA Offices ($3
million);
b. Central Office cultural resource efforts throughout the bureau
($200,000);
c. NAGPRA compliance work ($765,000);
d. To fight ARPA crimes on Indian reservations ($200,000).
4. smithsonian institution, national museum of the american indian and
the national museum of natural history repatriation programs
NATHPO requests that the Smithsonian Institution receive $1.25
million for its repatriation activities, including operation costs of
the Review Committee and repatriation office.
5. bureau of land management: tribal liaisons and cultural resources
management
The BLM oversees the largest, most diverse and scientifically
important collection of historic and cultural resources on our nation's
public lands, as well as the museum collections and data associated
with them. We appreciate the Committee's commitment to ongoing
oversight of the Department's reorganization. NATHPO and many other
organizations are profoundly concerned with the impact of the
reorganization and loss of staff within the Cultural Resources
Division. The cultural resources program also supports NHPA Section 106
review of land--use proposals, Section 110 inventory and protection of
cultural resources, compliance with NAGPRA, and consultation with
Tribes and Alaska Native Governments. We are very appreciative of last
year's dedicated increase of $1.5 million for the agency to enhance its
National Cultural Resources Information Management System (NCRIMS). We
recommend once again providing specific funding of $1.5 million above
enacted, specifically to fill vacant Tribal Liaison Positions,
including the Headquarters agency lead and at 10 of the 12 State
Offices.
Thank you for considering our testimony. I would be pleased to
answer any questions you have.
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\1\ Cultural items include human remains, funerary or sacred
objects, and objects of cultural patrimony.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
______

Prepared Statement of National Conference of State Historic
Preservation Officers
Fiscal Year 2022 Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) Request

Funded through withdrawals from the Historic Preservation Fund (54
USC 3031), U. S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service.

--$60 million for State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs)
--$24 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs)
--$19 million for the African American Civil Rights Movement grant
program
--$7 million for the History of Equal Rights grant program
--$10 million for the Historically Black Colleges and Universities
(HBCUs) grant program
--$20 million for the Save America's Treasures grant program
--$1 million for the Underrepresented Community grant program
--$9 million for the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization grant program
--Funding for the Semiquincentennial grant program
unique and successful federal-state partnership
Recognizing the importance of our national heritage, in 1966
Congress passed the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA, 54 USC
300101), which established historic preservation as a priority of the
federal government. Recognizing that State officials have local
expertise, the Act's authors directed federal entities charged with its
implementation--the Department of the Interior and the Advisory Council
on Historic Preservation--to partner with the States. Duties delegated
to the SHPOs include: 1) locating and recording historic resources; 2)
nominating significant historic resources to the National Register of
Historic Places; 3) cultivating historic preservation programs at the
local government level; 4) providing funds for preservation activities;
5) commenting on federal rehabilitation tax credit projects; 6) review
of all federal projects for their impact on historic properties; and 7)
providing technical assistance to federal agencies, state and local
governments and the private sector.
To assist the states in accomplishing this federally--delegated
work, in 1976, Congress established the Historic Preservation Fund
(HPF). The HPF is funded from outer--continental shelf lease revenues
rather than tax dollars, so that the depletion of one non-renewal
resource can be used to help preserve another non-renewable resource--
our heritage. The states also contribute toward this effort, matching
at least 40 percent of the HPF funding they receive.
finding and saving america's heritage
The first step in preserving and protecting America's heritage is
identifying it--which requires the survey, documentation, stewardship
and sharing of historic site data. These sites represent the many
peoples, places, and events that have shaped our national identity.
Adequate funding is essential for SHPOs to meet these goals. Currently,
due to lack of funding, many states must continue to rely upon outdated
paper records--a situation that has been brought into sharp relief in
terms of access and availability by the fact of the remote work
required during the pandemic. Having accurate, up-to-date, digitally
accessible information about our Nation's historic resources in all
states would dramatically increase the efficiency and effectiveness of
all local, state, and federal projects. From decisions on the design of
local in-fill development, to state transportation planning projects,
to federal large--scale infrastructure and energy projects and disaster
recovery efforts--every single project and by extension the American
people benefit from enhanced and accessible historic resource
databases.
Once identified and documented, America's historic resources are
primarily recognized at the local, state, and national levels by
listing on National, State and Local Historic Registers. State Historic
Preservation Officers, through the authority of the National Historic
Preservation Act assist, support and encourage communities with their
preservation efforts and are the gateway to the National Register of
Historic Places. National Register recognition by the Secretary of the
Interior confirms citizens' belief in the significance of their
communities' historic places.
The National Historic Preservation program is primarily one of
assistance, not acquisition. The federal government does not own,
manage, or maintain responsibility for the vast majority of the
historic assets aided by the National Historic Preservation program.
Instead, the program, through the SHPOs, provides individuals,
communities, and local, state, and federal governments with the tools
they need to identify, preserve, and utilize the historic assets of
importance to them.
In addition to $60 million in funding for SHPOs, the NCSHPO
supports $24 million in funding for the Tribal Historic Preservation
Offices (THPO). THPOs assume many of the responsibilities of the SHPO
on their respective Tribal lands and are important leaders in the
national preservation community. The number of THPOs continues to
increase annually. With over 200 THPOs in place, funding increases are
necessary to prevent a decrease in the average THPO grant.
NCSHPO also supports $19 million for competitive grants to
identify, recognize and preserve the sites and stories related to the
Civil Rights movement; $7 million for the History of Equal Rights grant
program; $10 million for the program to support the preservation and
rehabilitation of buildings on the campuses of Historically Black
Colleges and Universities; $20 million for the Save America's
Treasure's grant program; $9 million for the Paul Bruhn Historic
Revitalization grant program to support historic preservation in rural
communities; and, $1 million for the Underrepresented Communities grant
program.
jobs, economic development & community revitalization
Historic preservation has stimulated economic growth, promoted
community education and pride, and rescued and rehabilitated
significant historic resources throughout the country. By addressing
the effects of blight and vacancy with an answer other than demolition
of the irreplaceable, historic preservation is frequently a catalyst
for positive community change, resulting in dynamic destinations for
visitors and residents alike.
The Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit (HTC) program, administered
by the State Historic Preservation Offices in cooperation with the
National Park Service, is an important driver for economic development.
Since inception, the HTC has enabled the rehabilitation of more than
45,000 buildings, created more than 3 million jobs and leveraged $173
billion in private investment nationwide. On average, the HTC leverages
$5 dollars in private investment for every $1 dollar in federal
funding, creating highly effective public--private partnerships and
community re-investment. In many states, including my own state of
North Carolina, the HTC has been expanded through adoption of state tax
credit programs that complement the HTC.
Historic preservation also stimulates economic development through
heritage tourism. SHPOs are essential, ground level partners in working
with grass roots constituents to identify and interpret the historic
places that attract these visitors. A modest increase in SHPO funding
would allow SHPOs to expand their public outreach and assistance
efforts, enabling communities to take greater advantage of heritage
tourism opportunities which lead to job creation, new business
development and enhanced community pride.
state historic preservation offices' accomplishments
The HPF has facilitated nearly 2 million listings in the National
Register and the survey of millions of acres for cultural resources.
The HPF has also provided SHPOs with the administrative capacity for
constituent access to the Historic Tax Credit program, which has
generated more than $38.1 billion in federal tax revenue from historic
rehabilitation projects. In FY 2020, HPF funding also enabled SHPOs to
review more than 110,000 federal projects and balance the desire for
progress with the need to have America's past remain part of its
future.
Many SHPOs have also made extensive use of HPF grant programs that
are intended to make sure that sites associated with the Civil Rights
Movement and underrepresented communities are recognized and preserved.
In North Carolina, over the last several years, we have applied for and
received grants under several of these grant programs. A 2015
Underrepresented Communities grant yielded National Register
nominations and listings for eight Rosenwald School nominations, two
historic African American cemeteries, and the College Heights Historic
District, which is associated with the HBCU North Carolina Central
University. A 2020 Civil Rights grant is currently underway with a
study to gather and document oral histories, background research, and
places associated with the Civil Right Movement in northeastern North
Carolina. The North Carolina Division of State Historic Sites has also
recently received a Civil Rights grant to rehabilitate the home of
Civil Rights leader Golden Frinks in Edenton and to update the existing
National Register listing to capture its Civil Rights significance.
conclusion
On behalf of all 59 SHPOs, I'd like to thank you, Chairman Merkley,
Ranking Member Murkowski, and members of the U.S. Senate Committee on
Appropriations, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related
Agencies for the opportunity to submit testimony.
Historic preservation recognizes that what was common and ordinary
in the past is often rare and precious today, and what is common and
ordinary today may be extraordinary, whether it is fifty, one hundred
or five hundred years from now. State Historic Preservation Offices
help to ensure that the places associated with the history of all
Americans are recognized and preserved. To that end, I would like to
thank the committee sincerely for its commitment to historic
preservation. The federal government plays an invaluable role in
preserving our nation's history and our collective sense of place.
Through our partnership, SHPOs remain committed to working together to
identify, protect, and maintain our Nation's heritage.

[This statement was submitted by Ramona Bartos, President and
Deputy SHPO of the North Carolina Office of Archive.]
______

Prepared Statement of the National Congress of American Indians
On behalf of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI),
thank you for this opportunity to submit written testimony. Founded in
1944, NCAI is the oldest and largest national organization comprised of
American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Tribal Nations. NCAI's
testimony will discuss certain funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA), Indian Health Service (IHS), and Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), totaling approximately $13.5 billion.
Federal funding, as part of the federal government's treaty and
trust obligations, is critical to ensuring that Tribal Nations are able
to provide essential government services to tribal citizens. This is
particularly important during a pandemic, and where federal law and
policy deny Tribal Nations the same opportunities to develop strong tax
bases as are available to states and local governments. More
information on the funding requests that are outlined throughout this
letter can be found in the FY 2022 Indian Country Budget Request:
Restoring Promises.\1\
u.s. department of the interior, indian affairs
Ensuring Tribal Nations have the tools for effective governance is
critical to fulfilling the intent of the Indian Self-Determination and
Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA). Congress must support tribal self-
determination by increasing tribal base (or Tribal Priority Allocation,
``TPA'') funding and promoting more accurate data collection, so that
funding can better identify and target the needs of Tribal Nations.
NCAI conducted a detailed analysis of federal government spending
on Indian Affairs (IA) programs for FYs 2001 through 2021.\2\ This
analysis illustrated that the increase in funding for IA programs over
the past 20 years has marginally kept up with inflation, while many
programs are comparatively operating with less financial support now
than in FY 2001.\3\ In addition, detailed spending data revealed that
significant increases in the budgets for Administrative priorities in
any given year often comprise most of the total annual increase for
that year.
Basic Tribal Governance Programs.--IA distributes funding for the
``Aid to Tribal Government (TPA)'' (ATG) program provides baseline
funding for tribal government programs and services.\4\ This includes
program costs and staffing to execute tribal government activities,
such as monitoring government compliance and maintaining citizenship
information.\5\ Additionally, IA provides funding for the ``Small
Tribes Supplement'' program to provide a minimum base level by which
eligible Tribal Nations can run viable governments.\6\ IA also provides
funding for the ``New Tribes'' program that establishes a base level of
funding to support new federally recognized Tribal Nations.\7\
Unfortunately, the funded amount of these tribal governance programs in
FY 2021 constitutes an effective reduction of $33.4 million in
purchasing power compared to the amount provided in FY 2001, adjusted
annually for inflation.\8\ And when controlling for the funded activity
``Tribal Government,'' which includes programs that allow for moving
multiple tribal shares into a single program line, the net effect is a
$42 million loss in purchasing power when comparing the FY 2021 enacted
amount to the adjusted FY 2001 amount.\9\
This past year, IA has demonstrated the value of ATG in promoting
self-determination and the unique needs of Tribal Nations. The majority
CARES Act Operation of Indian Programs funding was distributed through
ATG \10\ with the option to reallocate funds received under Division B,
Title VII of the CARES Act to other TPA accounts.\11\ As part of the
American Rescue Plan, a majority of the funds were, again, proposed for
distribution using ATG, expressly allowing Tribal Nations to reprogram
funds.\12\
Increasing funding to Tribal Nations through the ATG program is a
solution to grow Tribal Nations' base funding. The flexibility to
reprogram or permanently transfer funds also helps to offset a portion
of the revenue lost to federal tax law and policy that inhibits Tribal
Nations' exercise of their tax authority.
Increases intended for ATG should also provide increases to the
Consolidated Tribal Government Program (CTGP) and Self-Governance
Compacts program for any shares of ATG that have been moved to these
consolidated program lines. Only IA has this consolidated information
and should be able to inform such ratios for Congress. Any amount
provided to the ATG, CTGP, and Self-Governance Compacts programs should
have a corresponding increase for the New Tribes program because New
Tribes program shares eventually move into ATG.
Public Safety and Justice Programs: TPA funds are not eligible to
be reprogrammed to most Public Safety and Justice programs.\13\ This
means that Congress and this Subcommittee must consider public safety
and justice in tribal communities separate from TPA funds. In 2018, the
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found that there continues to be
``systematic underfunding of tribal law enforcement and criminal
justice systems, as well as structural barriers in the funding and
operation of criminal justice systems in Indian Country'' that
undermine public safety.\14\
In 2020, the BIA submitted a report to Congress estimating that to
provide a minimum base level of service to all federally recognized
Tribal Nations, $1.3 billion is needed for tribal law enforcement, $1.2
billion is needed for tribal courts, and $240.6 million is needed for
existing detention centers.\15\ Based on its latest report, Congress is
funding tribal law enforcement, detentions/corrections, and tribal
courts at just 14.7 percent of their estimated need.\16\ Meaningful
investment in tribal law enforcement and tribal justice systems is
necessary to ensure the safety and security of residents and visitors
on tribal lands. NCAI recommends that Congress provide $123 million for
tribal courts, including courts in P.L. 83-280 jurisdictions, and
$527.4 million for Criminal Investigations and Police Services and
Detention/Corrections.
indian health service
In permanently authorizing the Indian Health Care Improvement Act
(IHCIA), Congress reaffirmed the duty of the federal government to
provide all necessary resources to ensure the highest possible health
status for AI/ANs, declaring it as ``the policy of this Nation,''
intended to fulfill ``its special trust responsibilities and legal
obligations to Indians.'' \17\ Unfortunately, the historic underfunding
of the Indian healthcare system has resulted in a health crisis across
Indian Country. Additionally, treatment of chronic diseases like
diabetes, auto-immune deficiencies, cancer, and heart disease quickly
expend limited tribal resources, leaving few dollars for preventative
care. Further, failing infrastructure creates unsafe and unsanitary
conditions and severely compromises the quality of healthcare. Aging
facilities and the lack of resources to modernize equipment and health
information technology have created a dire need for large investments
in basic infrastructure.
For the Indian Health Service (IHS) budget to grow sufficiently to
meet the documented needs of Tribal Nations over a 12-year period, and
based on the FY 2018 estimate of 3.04 million AI/ANs eligible for
Indian health programs, the federal government would need to invest $48
million.\18\ New healthcare insurance opportunities and expanded
Medicaid in some states may increase healthcare resources available to
AI/ANs. However, other such opportunities cannot substitute for
fulfillment of the federal government's trust and treaty obligations to
Tribal Nations. Accordingly, NCAI recommends the amount requested by
the National Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup for FY 2022--a total
of $12.75 billion in FY 2022.\19\
Section 105(l) Lease Agreements: Ambiguities in the intent of
Congress with respect to Section 105(l) lease agreements under the
ISDEAA impact health delivery and substantially hinder the development
of healthcare infrastructure throughout Indian Country.\20\ Congress
should confirm that space used to provide services within the scope of
an ISDEAA agreement--to any patient--is compensable under Section
105(l) of the ISDEAA.
environmental protection agency
Tribal communities face direct and often disproportionate impacts
of environmental degradation. Federal funding to support environmental
protection for tribal lands was not forthcoming until more than 20
years after the passage of the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts. The
federal government must ensure Tribal Nations have fair and equal
opportunities to preserve and enhance the environmental quality of
Indian Country for present and future generations. NCAI recommends that
Congress provide the Environmental Protection Agency $100 million for
the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program; a five percent
set--aside in the National Clean Water Act State Revolving Fund; a 20
percent set--aside in Water Pollution Control Grants; $13 million for
Nonpoint Source Pollutant Control, Clean Water Act Section 319; a 10
percent set--aside for the Exchange Network; and a $17 million set--
aside as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
estimate of total obligations for tribal programs
Congress should require all federal departments or agencies with
tribal programs to include an annual estimate of the cost to fully fund
the responsibilities of each tribal program within the department or
agency. Each program estimate should include a detailed explanation of
the methodology and underlying data relied on to provide such
estimates. Each methodology should be developed in consultation and
collaboration with Tribal Nations. The estimates should also identify
data deficiencies that limit accuracy and provide a plan for remedying
those deficiencies.
conclusion
Thank you for this opportunity to provide written testimony and for
your consideration of the recommendations of NCAI. We look forward to
working with this subcommittee on a nonpartisan basis to ensure the
federal government honors its treaty and trust obligations to Tribal
Nations through the federal budget process.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ National Congress of American Indians (2021). Fiscal Year 2022
Indian Country Budget Request: Restoring Promises. Washington, DC.
https://www.ncai.org/resources/ncai-publications/
NCAI_IndianCountry_FY2022_BudgetRequest.pdf.
\2\ Id. Pg. 28
\3\ Id.
\4\ U.S. Department of the Interior, Budget Justification and
Performance Information Fiscal year 2021, IA-ST-6, https://www.bia.gov/
sites/bia.gov/files/assets/as-ia/obpm/BIA_FY2021_
Greenbook-508.pdf.
\5\ Id. at IA-TG-3.
\6\ Budget Justification and Performance Information Fiscal year
2021, supra note 37, at IA-TG-4.
\7\ Id.
\8\ NCAI, FY 2022 Indian Country Budget Request, Pg. 35.
\9\ Id.
\10\ U.S. Department of the Interior, CARES Act Final Distributions
for ATG and Welfare Assistance, https://www.bia.gov/sites/bia.gov/
files/assets/as-ia/opa/pdf/CARES%20Act%20Final%20
Distributions-ATG--%26_WA_508.pdf.
\11\ U.S. Department of the Interior, FAQ--Division B, Title VII of
the CARES Act, July 2020, Pg. 5, https://www.bia.gov/sites/bia.gov/
files/assets/as-ia/opa/pdf/FINAL%20-%20FAQs%20for%20
Indian%20Affairs%20Div.%20B%20Title%20VII%20of%20the%20CARES%20Act%20Fun
ds%20-
%2007.02.20_508.pdf.
\12\ U.S. Department of the Interior, American Rescue Plan
Consultation Presentation, Pg. 9, https://www.bia.gov/sites/bia.gov/
files/assets/as-ia/doc/Consultation_ARP_Final_3-25-2021_
508_Compliant.pdf.
\13\ Id.
\14\ U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Broken Promises: Continued
Federal Funding Shortfall for Native Americans, 32, 2018, https://
www.usccr.gov/pubs/2018/12-20-Broken-Promises.pdf.
\15\ U.S. Department of the Interior, Report to Congress on
Spending, Staffing, and Estimated Funding Costs for Public Safety and
Justice Programs in Indian Country, 2018, Pg. 1, (2020), https://
www.ncai.org/initiatives/tibc/Public_Safety_and_Justice_Subcommittee_-
_2018_
TLOA_Report.pdf.
\16\ Id. at comparing 2018 BIA spending to 2018 Total Estimated
Costs.
\17\ Indian Health Care Improvement Act, 25 U.S.C. Sec. 1602.
\18\ NCAI FY 2022 Indian Country Budget Request at Pg. 70.
\19\ IHS Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup, Reclaiming Tribal
Health: A National Budget Plan to Rise Above Failed Policies and
Fulfill Trust Obligations to Tribal Nations, Pg. 1, https://
www.nihb.org/docs/05042020/FINAL_FY22%20IHS%20Budget%20Book.pdf.
\20\ NCAI Resolution #ECWS-2021-002, Support for Legislative Fix to
Amend Lease Compensation Provisions of the Indian Self-Determination
and Education Assistance Act. https://www.ncai.org/attachments/
Resolution_eontvOcwAgAYphrWlBPWpscJEzItoIqJInPaYgjHtOhHq
ZpSyCL_N CAI%20Resolution%20ECWS-21-002.pdf

[This statement was submitted by Fawn Sharp, President.]
______

Prepared Statement of the National Endowment for the Arts
Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski and members of the
Committee, thank you for providing the opportunity to submit this
testimony regarding federal appropriations for the National Endowment
for the Arts in Fiscal Year 2022. My name is Pamela (Pam) Breaux, and I
serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Assembly
of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), the organization that represents and
serves the nation's 56 state and jurisdictional arts agencies. Today, I
thank the members for their tremendous support of the National
Endowment for the Arts and urge the Committee to consider increasing
funding in FY 2022.
Over the last year, as the nation has grappled with the COVID-19
pandemic and resulting economic hardships, this Subcommittee repeatedly
supported artists and arts organizations, understanding the important
role they play in our communities. The arts and creative sector
workforce was especially devastated as a result of the pandemic; for
this reason, state arts agencies doubled down on providing services and
resources to the field. This Subcommittee provided funding to assist
states in this important work, for which NASAA and the states are
extremely grateful; we especially appreciate that committee members
worked together in a bipartisan manner to provide funding to the Arts
Endowment.
As you look to the next budget, NASAA hopes you will consider
increasing funding for the National Endowment for the Arts to $201
million, which continues to make a substantial impact in communities
throughout the United States. Through its highly effective federal--
state partnership, the Arts Endowment distributes 40% of its
programmatic funds to state, jurisdictional and regional arts agencies
each year. The resulting funds helped to empower states and regions to
priorities and served far more constituents than federal funds alone
could reach. Unique among federal agencies, the Endowment funds state
plans; these plans are developed by state arts agencies in response to
citizens, communities, arts organizations, legislatures and governors.
This makes the federal--state arts investment incredibly responsive and
relevant to citizens in every state and jurisdiction. The report
accompanying last year's Consolidated Appropriations Act affirmed
Congress's support for this important partnership and its corresponding
40% allocation. We sincerely thank the Committee for this
acknowledgement.
Federal funding for arts and creativity is a high return investment
in cities, towns and rural communities nationwide. It improves the
lives of all Americans, equips an innovative workforce and keeps us
competitive globally. It is a great example of government done right,
as it fuels public--private partnerships, leverages $9 in additional
funds for every federal dollar invested and puts tax dollars and
decision--making authority into the hands of citizens.
State arts agencies use their share of NEA funds, combined with
funds from state legislatures, to support almost 23,000 grants to arts
organizations, civic organizations and schools in more than 4,600
communities across the United States. Twenty-two percent of state arts
agency grant awards go to non-metropolitan areas, supporting programs
that strengthen the civic and economic sustainability of rural America.
Twenty-six percent of state arts agency grant dollars go to arts
education, fostering student success in and out of school and building
the critical thinking, creativity and communications skills needed to
meet the demands of an increasingly competitive work force.
Congress's continued support of the 40% formula is essential to
state arts agencies, boosting their ability to ensure that the arts
benefit all communities, regardless of wealth or geography. The Maine
Arts Commission, for example, quickly transformed services to provide
meaningful benefits to its arts community struggling to deal with
impacts of the pandemic. The Arts Commission mounted a professional
development series designed to help arts organizations retool
development and fundraising practices for difficult times, manage
crises to help organizations transform their operations during
turbulent times, and reinvent audience development strategies to help
organizations engage audiences during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
These are but a few examples of how the Maine Arts Commission and many
other state arts agencies are providing needed services to the arts and
creative community.
New research tells us that the recovery of the arts and creative
sector is also inextricably linked to the recovery of the nation's
broader economy. Arts and Economic Recovery Research shows how the arts
strengthen the economy following periods of acute economic distress.
Rigorous quantitative data and case studies show that the arts can
improve--not merely reflect--broader economic conditions at the state
and local levels. The findings reveal that the arts are an agile and
resilient sector with the capacity to ignite job growth, reduce
economic risk through diversification, stimulate commerce and attract
tourism. As we work toward arts sector recovery and stability, that
work not only benefits the arts industry, but it also positions the
arts to benefit the broader economy. Strengthening the arts provides
opportunities to help strengthen the nation.
NASAA and states also applaud the Arts Endowment's many services to
the country, including its leadership in developing noteworthy programs
for communities, military personnel, veterans, students, and many
others. NASAA and state arts agencies proudly partner with the
Endowment and work collaboratively and in solidarity to benefit all
communities across the country. Together we accomplish what neither
side can achieve alone.
Thank you again for the opportunity to provide testimony. NASAA
sincerely appreciates Congress's strong bipartisan support for the
National Endowment for the Arts and federal funding for the arts. We
look forward to continuing to work productively with this Committee,
and we stand ready to serve as a resource to you.

Sincerely,

Pamela (Pam) Breaux
President and Chief Executive Officer National Assembly of State Arts
Agencies
______

Prepared Statement of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
Dear Chairman Leahy and Vice Chairman Shelby:

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is a self-funded,
global non-profit organization founded in 1896 dedicated to ending
losses from fire, electrical, and related life safety hazards. With the
unabating wildfire crisis in the U.S., NFPA recently launched Outthink
Wildfire(tm), an initiative to advocate for policy change in five key
areas that will stop the destruction of communities by this hazard. We
write to ask for your support for key federal programs.
The five tenets are: 1) all homes and business in areas of wildfire
risk must be retrofitted to resist ignition; 2) current codes,
standards, and sound land use planning practices must be used and
enforced; 3) local fire departments must have adequate resources to
protect their communities; 4) fuel management on federal and non-
federal lands must be a priority; and 5) the public must be well--
informed and motivated to embrace their role in reducing wildfire risk.
While action on these fronts is urgently needed at all levels of
government, Federal programs need to play a key role in ending the
devastating wildfire losses communities are now experiencing as
discussed in this letter.
mitigating wildfire severity
NFPA supports the Administration's FY2022 proposal to provide $1.7
billion in funding for high--priority hazardous fuels and forest--
resilience projects to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), in addition to
the proposed $340 million to the Department of the Interior (DOI) for
hazardous fuel treatments on its lands. As identified in the National
Cohesive Wildfire Management Strategy, denser, more continuous fuel on
landscapes now outside of their natural ecological fire regimes is a
major contributor to the severe wildfires that threaten communities and
drain Federal fire suppression resources. The U.S. must increase the
rate of fuel treatments, including prescribed burning, to address the
millions of acres now at high or very high risk of wildfire.
In addition to increased resources for hazardous fuel treatment
projects, NFPA supports programs that enable collaboration between the
USFS and its partners, assist state and private land managers in
restoring forest health, and encourage landscape--scale restoration
projects. For example, the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration
program has been successful in reducing fire risk and achieving other
management objectives through a stakeholder--driven process aimed at
minimizing conflict.\1\ Given the National Cohesive Strategy's call for
increased landscape--scale fuel treatment and forest health projects,
funding this program at its authorized level of $80 million can help
continue and expand on its success. Similarly, the Landscape Scale
Restoration Program should receive $20 million.
Finally, NFPA supports a robust budget for forestry research,
including programs to better understand wildfire behavior and landscape
treatment strategies, as well as programs to develop new wood products
and markets to create more financial incentives for hazardous fuel
treatment. As part of that funding, the Joint Fire Sciences Research
program should receive $8 million each for the USFS and DOI. NFPA also
believes research funding for the built environment aspect of wildfire
resilience should be increased and thus supports the Administration's
proposal to increase funding for the National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST), particularly for efforts to improve resiliency
through building codes.
assisting state & local fire departments
State and local fire response resources play a major role in
preparing for and responding to wildfires on both public and private
lands, making the USFS funds provided by the State Fire Assistance
(SFA) and Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA) programs critical to public
safety. According to the National Association of State Foresters,
members of state and local fire departments are the first to respond to
80 percent of wildfires. Findings from NFPA's 2016 Fourth Needs
Assessment of the U.S. Fire Service \2\ that the majority of fire
departments with wildfire response responsibilities lack sufficient
training and personal protective equipment reveal a significant gap in
safety, for both the responders and the lives and properties of the
communities they protect.
SFA and VFA are critical safety programs for supporting wildland
urban interface (WUI) communities, funding hazardous fuels treatment in
the WUI, supporting fire planning projects, and helping to train and
equip state and local responders. SFA also supports public education
and community capacity development programs like Firewise USA(r) and
the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network. These programs teach WUI
residents how to lower wildfire risk to their homes and support
community mitigation activities. Therefore, NFPA supports funding the
State Fire Assistance program at $88.5 million and the Volunteer Fire
Assistance program at $20 million.
mitigation for communities
The National Cohesive Strategy also identifies the need for fire
adapted communities--communities where homes and businesses are
retrofitted to resist ignition and wildfire safety codes, standards,
and land use planning practices are applied. According to the U.S. Fire
Administration, the Nation has over 70,000 thousand communities in
areas at risk from wildfires, home to 46 million housing units.
Preparing for wildfire through creating defensible space and home
retrofits can greatly reduce the risk of loss. NFPA supports the
Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Building Resilient
Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and the Administration's
proposal to add $540 million in new resources to programs tasked with
helping communities undertake pre-disaster planning and make
investments in resiliency. The USFS' Wildfire Hazard Severity Mapping
for Communities program also supports community risk assessment and
hazard mitigation planning and should continue. In addition, NFPA is
also highly supportive of proposed efforts to improve resiliency and
safety in HUD--assisted housing with an additional $800 million in new
investments.
Thank you for the opportunity to share our views on Federal support
for reducing wildfire risk to communities. NFPA strongly urges the
Committee to support a robust budget for wildfire mitigation and we
stand ready to provide any addition information that would be useful.

Sincerely,

L. Seth Statler
Director of Government Affairs
National Fire Protection Association
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See e.g., Schultz, Courtney, et al. (2017) Strategies for
Success Under Forest Service Restoration Initiatives, Ecosystem
Workforce Working Paper, Number 81 (https://tinyurl.com/38b3cpz4)
\2\ National Fire Protection Association (2016) Fourth National
Needs Assessment, https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Data-research-
and-tools/Emergency-Responders/Needs-assessment, (Eighty-eight percent
of U.S. fire departments-some 23,000 departments--provide wildland and/
or WUI firefighting services, but 63 percent of those have not formally
trained all of their personnel involved in wildland firefighting on
these skills. Only 32 percent have all of their responders equipped
with appropriate personal protection equipment (PPE), and 26 percent do
not have any of the necessary PPE at all. Only 27 percent of
departments have a health and fitness program).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

______

Prepared Statement of the National Humanities Alliance
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

On behalf of the National Humanities Alliance, with our more than
200 member organizations, I write to express strong support for the
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
overview
For FY 2022, we respectfully urge the Subcommittee to fund the
National Endowment for the Humanities at $201 million.
While we recognize the difficult choices that are before this
Subcommittee, we believe that expanding the capacity of the NEH is
essential at this moment in the nation's history when the humanities
are so needed to 1) renew our civic and democratic culture; 2) advance
racial equity by helping Americans understand diverse histories and
cultures; and 3) rebuild the economy and revitalize communities.
The NEH has a clear track record of supporting programs that work
towards these ends, and additional capacity is needed to ensure that
these crucial goals are met around the country. With its current level
of funding, the NEH is unable to fund many of the highly rated
proposals it receives--in FY 2020, 1,605 applications with high ratings
were not funded, amounting to a total of $184,789,512.
renewing our civic and democratic culture
The NEH funds programs that can help rebuild our civic
infrastructure by supporting history and civics education and providing
opportunities for communities to come together to address difficult
issues and build bridges across differences.
The NEH has taken the lead in revitalizing the teaching of civics,
partnering with the Department of Education to fund The Roadmap to
Educating for American Democracy. Released in March 2021 by iCivics,
The Roadmap is the product of a collaboration of over 300 scholars,
teachers, and parents with different political leanings. Rather than
promising a national curriculum, the Roadmap proposes robust history
and civics education structured around seven themes that can be
integrated into K-12 education.
In addition, the NEH has long funded professional development
programs for K-12 teachers that ensure that the U.S.'s diverse history
is taught in primary and secondary classrooms. Programs such as The
Most Southern Place on Earth and Stony the Road We Trod take deep dives
into Civil Rights history and bring teachers into contact with
activists, while programs like Teaching Native American History and The
Battle of Little Bighorn and the Great Sioux War introduce teachers to
Indigenous perspectives and tribal representatives. Muslim American
History and Life and Religious Worlds of New York help teachers
understand our nation's religious diversity. And The First Amendment
and Twenty-First Century America emphasizes the ongoing life of our
foundational documents. The National Humanities Alliance conducted a
year--out follow-up survey of participants in 12 NEH funded
professional development programs that took place in 2019. Respondents
were asked to reflect on their classroom practices during the 2020
school year. Eighty-three percent of respondents said they frequently
or very frequently ``challenge [their] students to think about our
nation's history from alternative perspectives,'' and 73 percent said
they ``teach about historical events from the perspective of everyday
people involved.''
The NEH also supports National History Day, providing opportunities
for high school students to engage in nuanced explorations of American
history that build critical thinking skills and a robust understanding
of how the past impacts the present. The NEH also supports
conversation--based programs that help Americans build community and
come together across differences. Dialogues on the Experience of War
programs help veterans throughout the country process trauma,
contextualize their experiences, and build supportive communities. One-
hundred percent of respondents across 5 Dialogues programs surveyed by
the National Humanities Alliance agreed the groups they took part in
were ``safe and supportive places for discussion'' and reported a
desire to ``keep in touch with some of the people [they] met through
the program.''
advancing racial equity by helping americans understand diverse
histories and cultures
NEH funding supports educators and community--based organizations
in broadening understanding of our diverse histories, grappling with
legacies of slavery and racism, and building connections and dialogue
across difference.
The NEH has funded a wide range of community digitization projects
that help build more inclusive archives. A Clemson University program
invited descendants of the enslaved and convicted laborers who helped
build the school to preserve their heritage, acknowledging these
stories as foundational to the university's existence. In Seattle, a
program run by the Korean American Historical Society led to the
development of much--needed curricular materials on Korean American
history and culture.
Research undertaken by the National Humanities Alliance indicates
that these projects had immediate impacts on those who participated in
them. In a survey of the Museum of Chinese in America's program (MOCA),
100 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they felt ``a
greater sense of belonging as a result of having a project focused on
preserving my cultural heritage in my community.'' Participants from
Georgia College and MOCA felt the workshop ``[showed their community
that they] have more in common.''
NEH funding supports public programs that help communities grapple
with and celebrate their complicated and diverse histories. The
Mastheads, a humanities organization in Pittsfield, Massachusetts,
offered a series of community conversations on the region's rich and
diverse past, including a lecture from local historian Dr. Frances
Jones-Sneed titled ``Black Artists Who Found Their Voices in the
Berkshires.'' In survey responses, 95 percent of respondents agreed or
strongly agreed ``the program enhanced [their] appreciation of
Pittsfield's history.'' The International Storytelling Center in
Jonesborough, Tennessee, hosted Freedom Stories: Unearthing the Black
Heritage of Appalachia, a year-long virtual celebration of Appalachia's
understudied Black history. In a preliminary report on the program, 90
percent of survey respondents agreed the program ``helped [them] better
understand the diversity of the Appalachian region,'' and 83 percent
were motivated to ``learn more about racial justice in Appalachia.''
The NEH also offers essential support for minority--serving higher
education institutions, providing humanities faculty powerful and
much--needed opportunities to undertake research and develop new
curricula, ultimately serving both students and the local community.
The NEH's HBCU Cultural Heritage Stewardship program provides HBCUs
with resources to protect, preserve, and leverage their historic
campuses, buildings, and landscapes, ensuring these symbols of African
American excellence and American achievement are preserved to inspire
and educate future generations.
Additionally, an NEH grant to Tuskegee University is helping
faculty integrate local literary history--including writing by Zora
Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, and Albert Murray--into their classrooms.
After taking courses that integrated faculty workshop content, 86
percent of student respondents to a National Humanities Alliance survey
reported learning more about Tuskegee's local culture and/or literary
history. One student wrote: ``I gained a greater appreciation for the
school I attend and the city it's in.[ . . . ] Great minds grew from
this soil.'' NEH funding helped Vanguard University, a Hispanic Serving
Institution, develop a summer bridge program themed around American
history and culture. A survey of the program conducted by the National
Humanities Alliance demonstrated that it prepares students for success
in their college career. At the end of the fall 2020 semester, 100
percent of respondents again agreed or strongly agreed they ``know
where to go to find resources on campus that will help [them] succeed
(e.g., writing center).'' Ninety percent of respondents agreed or
strongly agreed they are ``confident reaching out to [their] professors
for assistance/questions/advice when needed'' and ``feel comfortable
going to [their] professors' office hours.''
Finally, funding for documenting traditional cultures and
endangered languages supports Indigenous people throughout the United
States. Through the Dynamic Language Infrastructure-Documenting
Endangered Languages program, a partnership with the National Science
Foundation, NEH funding has preserved and made accessible languages
spoken by Indigenous tribes, having a profound impact on their way of
life. On the Olympic Peninsula, the creation of the Klallam Dictionary
has made it possible for children to study the language in their
schools. Most local Native American students take Klallam courses, and
their collective GPA has risen since the dictionary was published in
2012. Preservation funding has helped Calista Education and Culture, a
Native Alaskan organization, collect and publish historical narratives
and traditional tales, at the same time preserving the voices of fluent
Yup'ik speakers. Similarly, funding to Sealaska Heritage Institute
helped the organization collect and publish Tlingit oral literature.
Originally published in the 1990s, these collections are still being
used in Tlingit language classrooms.
rebuilding the economy and revitalizing communities
NEH funding catalyzes growth in local economies and connections
within communities--exactly the work that is needed as we look to
rebuild from the pandemic. Communities throughout the U.S. benefit
today from past NEH investments that have built strong community
institutions and stimulated local economies. NEH funding to the Dubuque
County Historical Society in Iowa helped transform the institution into
the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, which contributed
about $10.5 million per year to the local economy prior to the
pandemic. In Rabun Gap, Georgia, the NEH helped establish the Foxfire
Museum & Heritage Center, an Appalachian cultural institution renowned
for its New York Times bestselling anthologies that today serves as a
local cultural hub and tourist site while providing educational
opportunities for students in the rural area. A more recent NEH grant
to the Community Library Association in Ketchum, Idaho, is helping
build community around Ernest Hemingway's legacy, encouraging locals to
reflect on their heritage and providing internships for students, in
addition to preserving Hemingway's home. And in Pittsfield,
Massachusetts, NEH funding is similarly building community around local
cultural heritage by supporting The Mastheads' summer programs. In a
2019 survey of these programs conducted by the National Humanities
Alliance, 97 percent of respondents felt that participating in them
enhanced their sense of connection to Pittsfield.
conclusion
We recognize that Congress faces difficult choices in allocating
funds in this and coming years. Humanities educators and organizations
have so much to offer communities across the country at this pivotal
moment in our history, and robust investment in the NEH is essential to
ensure that they have the capacity to do so. Thank you for your
consideration of our request and for your past and continued support
for the humanities.

Founded in 1981, the National Humanities Alliance advances national
humanities policy in the areas of research, preservation, public
programming, and teaching. More than 200 organizations are members of
NHA, including scholarly associations, humanities research centers,
colleges, universities, and organizations of museums, libraries,
historical societies, humanities councils, and higher education
institutions.

[This statement was submitted by Stephen Kidd, Executive Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the National Parks Conservation Association
Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski and members of the
subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony on
behalf of National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). Founded in
1919, NPCA is the leading national, independent voice for protecting
and enhancing America's National Park System for present and future
generations. We appreciate the opportunity to provide our views
regarding the FY22 National Park Service (NPS) budget. Our requests
this fiscal year are:

1. $2,974,029,000 for the Operation of the National Park System
($295,042,000 above FY21 and equal to the president's budget request);
2. $32,200,000 for Cultural Resource Project funds and support
($5,000,000 above FY21 and above the president's budget request; and
3. $32,889,000 for the Heritage Partnership Program ($9,000,000
above FY21 and $10,641,000 above the president's request)

NPCA's highest priority remains funding for the Operation of the
National Park System (ONPS). We commend the appropriated increases in
this account in recent years, including the $111 million increase the
subcommittees provided in FY21. These funds are critical to help parks
recover from years of underfunding. Unfortunately, NPS is still
struggling with insufficient staff and other operating needs due to the
impact of uncontrollable fixed costs compounded by record visitation
increases. Between 2011 and 2019, the park service lost 16% of its
staff while at the same time struggling to accommodate a 17% increase
in visitation. The FY21 increase helped restore staffing, but as the
president's budget notes, much work remains to be done to bring these
levels up further. Staffing for our national parks is creating major
challenges for park superintendents who are struggling with reduced
spending power and who are unable to fill lapsed positions.
Park superintendents regularly report challenges resulting from
understaffing and that these constraints are compounded by often
double---digit percentage increases in visitation. Staff commonly cover
multiple corollary duties. It is not uncommon to have, for example,
interpretive staff addressing increased restroom use or law enforcement
assisting with parking cars. As a result, other needs go unaddressed.
Natural and cultural resource protection, research and monitoring,
programming, and other services central to parks meeting their mission
go unaddressed or are delayed indefinitely.
Unfortunately, the surge in visitation we are already witnessing
this summer may be a bellwether of times to come as superintendents
scramble to cover basic needs while ensuring the safety and basic needs
of long lines of visitors. A robust FY22 increase in operations funding
is needed to help with these and other pressing needs.
We commend the administration's recognition of parks' operating
needs in its budget, as well as the focus on racial justice and climate
change. Additional operations funding are needed to help with these
issues.
Restoring thousands of lapsed positions is an opportunity to
diversify NPS staffing. The vast majority of NPS staff, 83%, are white,
a percentage significantly higher than other federal agencies, while
more than three in five are men. The lack of ethnic and racial
diversity among park staff is cited as one reason that people of color
comprise a disproportionately low percentage of park visitors. For
example, only 2% of national park visitors are African American.
Bringing rangers back to our parks, and ensuring a diverse and
inclusive workforce while doing so, can help make all Americans feel
welcome in their parks.
Funding can also help increase HR capacity to address diversity
issues, from connecting with academia and other sources to cultivate a
pipeline of talented career recruits, to ensuring the ubiquity of
diversity training and related resources that are needed to enhance
retention. An infusion of operations funding can also expand community
outreach and improve the relevance of park programming. Investments can
support outreach to underrepresented communities; field trips and
ranger programs, including virtually; and IT needs such as distance
learning. These can be complimented by multilingual signage and
programming and other culturally relevant efforts that make parks
accessible and relevant to all. We encourage report language
encouraging NPS to use a robust operations increase to diversify its
personnel.
Investing in park operations can also assist NPS with needs related
to climate change adaptation, resiliency and mitigation. Our national
parks are on the front lines of climate change, between storm surges,
wildfire risks, and threatened wildlife habitat and irreplaceable
cultural sites. Helping our parks adapt to a changing climate requires
funding. These investments can be made across diverse subaccounts
within park operations, including Cultural and Natural Resource
Stewardship. Accordingly, we are enthusiastic supporters of and urge
support for the proposed $211.3 million increase for Resource
Stewardship. We recognize the urgent need for these natural resource
stewardship investments as outlined below. However, we also
respectfully encourage the subcommittee to consider providing increases
for cultural resource stewardship and to examine those needs more
carefully in FY23.
Among other climate--related needs, funding is vital to relocate
facilities threatened by erosion and storm surges, combat invasive
species, address catastrophic wildfires, provide critical air and water
quality monitoring and otherwise inventory and monitor cultural and
natural resources to identify threats and develop adaptive management
strategies. NPCA is particularly invested in the need for improved air
monitoring and staffing. An investment of $3.3 million is needed for
NPS monitoring repair, replacement, or upgrades, and $2.6 million is
needed annually for operation/maintenance and personnel. We note that
the Climate Conservation Corps concept offers an opportunity to address
many needed repair, resiliency, and mitigation projects on park lands
and importantly, adjacent landscapes that share wildlife habitat and
watersheds. We commend and support the administration's proposal for
$45 million for this program in FY22. NPCA is an enthusiast of this
concept, which, in addition to supporting these climate--related needs,
offers to train a diverse workforce that can steward our parks and
public lands in the future.
Increased park operations can also support infrastructure
investments that take into consideration adaptation, resiliency and
mitigation. Park maintenance increases should not just be limited to
those through the Great American Outdoors Act. Supporting cyclic
maintenance, repair and rehabilitation can help keep the deferred
maintenance backlog from growing.
Secondly, Cultural Resource Projects and support funds need support
with a $5 million increase, a modest sum with the potential for large
rewards in protecting our heritage. Within the Cultural Resources
Stewardship program, Cultural Resource Project funds are used to
complete the National Park System's highest priority cultural resource
management projects. These projects are beyond the funding capabilities
of the parks themselves, and are designed to preserve, protect and
provide information about the diverse array of NPS's cultural
resources. Funds from this program is used by the National Park Service
to fulfill its Section 110 (National Historic Preservation Act)
obligations. Those obligations include 1) ensuring historic
preservation responsibilities are fully integrated into all federal
agencies; 2) supporting programs and initiatives that advance the goals
of the NHPA; 3) Engaging more diverse communities in historic
preservation; and 4) ensuring that historic properties are protected
and that new projects do not unnecessarily damage historic properties.
Cultural Resource Project Funds have been used in seven NPS regions
(including Alaska) to document, preserve, and interpret African
American history. An increase of $5 million within the Cultural
Resources Stewardship program directed towards Cultural Resources
Project Funding would allow for that critical work to continue and to
be expanded to other traditionally underrepresented groups including
Asian Pacific Americans, Latinos, and American Indians. The project
funds and support have been flat funded at $27.5 million since 2016 and
warrant a modest $5 million increase to $32,200,000.
A third NPCA priority is our request $32.9 million for the Heritage
Partnership Program, which supports National Heritage Areas (NHAs) in
dozens of communities throughout the country. The 55 National Heritage
Areas are strong examples of truly effective public--private
partnerships established in support of conservation and preservation
values. Heritage areas allow local experts to better protect and
interpret stories and resources that are both regionally distinct and
nationally significant. The federal funding NHAs receive must be
matched dollar for dollar with money from a non-federal source. On
average most heritage areas are generating a five to one return on
their federal investment making them one of the most cost-effective
programs ever managed by NPS. That money is used to provide grants to
local partners who manage a variety of local and regional programming.
The funding level for the Heritage Partnership Program in FY21 was
$23 million. We are disappointed with the president's budget request
for a cut to this important program. Members of the Alliance of
National Heritage Areas, a coalition of NHA managers and executive
directors, have concluded their program should be funded at a level
where each heritage area receives $500,000 in federal funding per year.
With 55 NHAs currently designated a budget of $32 million would allow
for each to receive $500,000 (after meeting NPS guidelines and
performance benchmarks) while providing additional funds to support new
heritage areas as well as NPS management and staffing needs.
NPCA worked for years with partners and park champions in Congress
to secure introduction of the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) and
its predecessor bills, and final passage. It was an historic victory
for our national parks. Therefore, we were alarmed that the previous
administration sought to undermine the program in numerous ways, in
particular undermining the Land and Water Conservation Fund and related
programs. We were relieved that this subcommittee and its House
counterpart rejected those efforts and provided extensive
implementation instructions to NPS to ensure transparency and
accountability, and to provide a broader sense of federal land
acquisition opportunities. We were also pleased that both the Land and
Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and the Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF)
were eligible for Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) and encourage
these accounts to be eligible in FY23 and future years.
We encourage the committee to continue engaging with the new
administration to ensure transparency and accountability in GAOA
implementation. We hope that you can work with them to ensure next
year's budget provides supplemental lists for both the LWCF and LRF,
which would offer numerous benefits including allowing members of
Congress, public interest groups, and the broader public to see the
many park units that can benefit from these investments in future years
as well as enable rank and file members to pursue CDS for both LWCF and
LRF projects.
As members of the committee know, investing in our national parks
is a wise investment. National parks deliver robust economic returns,
with $10 in economic benefits for every dollar invested in the NPS. In
2019, 328 million park visitors spent an estimated $21.0 billion in
local gateway communities when visiting NPS sites. This spending
supported a total of 341 thousand jobs, $14.1 billion in labor income,
$24.3 billion in value added, and $41.7 billion in economic output in
the national economy.
We should briefly note our commitment to other programs and
agencies. Endangered Species Act funding is also needed, and we
appreciate recent investments to provide for these needs. We urge the
committee to continue to make significant investments in the protection
and recovery of our most vulnerable species, including fish, wildlife
and plants in our national parks. The health and long-term protection
of our national parks is also contingent on continuing strong
investments in critical watershed protection and restoration programs.
NPCA strongly supports Environmental Protection Agency and USFWS
programs that restore watersheds essential to the wetlands, rivers,
streams, and bays that flow in and around our parks. We applaud the
committee for its past commitment and urge its continued support for
the efforts of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the Chesapeake
Bay Program, Delaware River Restoration Program and the South Florida
Program.
In conclusion, we hope that the committee's new leadership and
membership and the administration's commitment to our national parks,
communities and the broader environment, coupled with the expiration of
the Budget Control Act of 2011, can be an opportunity for increased
investments. We look forward to communicating with you as the FY22
process moves forward. We appreciate your attention to our views and
thank you again for the opportunity to submit testimony.

[This statement was submitted by John Garder, Senior Director of
Budget and Appropriations.]
______

Prepared Statement of the National Tribal Contract Support Cost
Coalition
My name is Lloyd Miller and I serve as legal counsel to the
National Tribal Contract Support Cost Coalition. The Coalition is a
voluntary organization of 20 Tribes and inter--tribal organizations
across 11 States. Collectively, these tribal organizations operate over
$500 million in IHS and BIA contracted programs on behalf of over 250
Native American Tribes. I am pleased to submit this written testimony
for the Coalition to address fiscal year 2022 contract support cost
issues in the Indian Health Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs
budgets.\1\
The Coalition was launched in 1996 to press Congress and the
agencies to honor the Government's legal obligation to add contract
support cost funding to every contract and compact awarded under the
Indian Self-Determination Act. During the same period, tribal members
of the Coalition carried on massive litigation--pressing multiple cases
that eventually resulted in two Supreme Court decisions cementing the
federal government's duty to pay these costs in full.\2\
Ultimately, Treasury ended up paying some $2 billion in damages to
the Tribes for broken contract promises, some stretching back 20 years.
Adjusting to the legal regime in the wake of the Cherokee and Ramah
cases wasn't easy. Initially the agencies tried to roll back the
Tribes' courtroom victories by pushing for destructive appropriations
riders. In FY 2014, their failure to work with this Committee led IHS
to undertake a massive reprogramming of agency funds to meet current
year contract obligations. But after that unfortunate experience, the
House and Senate appropriations committees worked closely and
creatively with the Tribes and OMB to develop and later refine a new
and uncapped appropriation to address contract support cost
requirements. Today, the risk of insufficient appropriations to pay the
Tribes is gone, and for that we thank this Committee.
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\1\ The Coalition members are the Alaska Native Tribal Health
Consortium (AK), Arctic Slope Native Association (AK), Central Council
of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes (AK), Cherokee Nation (OK), Chickasaw
Nation (OK), Choctaw Nation (OK), Citizen Potawatomi Nation (OK),
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (MT), Copper River Native
Association (AK), Forest County Potawatomi Community (WI), Kodiak Area
Native Association (AK), Little River Band of Ottawa Indians (MI),
Muscogee (Creek) Nation (OK), Pueblo of Zuni (NM), Riverside-San
Bernardino County Indian Health (CA), Shoshone Bannock Tribes (ID),
Shoshone-Paiute Tribes (ID, NV), Southeast Alaska Regional Health
Consortium (AK), Spirit Lake Tribe (ND), Tanana Chiefs Conference (AK),
Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation (AK), and Northwest Portland Area
Indian Health Board (43 Tribes in ID, WA, OR).
\2\ See Cherokee Nation v. Leavitt (2005) and Salazar v. Ramah
Navajo Chapter (2012).
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mandatory appropriations.
The Committee's solution in FY 2015 was creative: it included an
indefinite and mandatory appropriation within a fixed discretionary
appropriation to cover a legal obligation of unknown amount. The more
natural solution would have been to move contact support cost payments
to the mandatory side of the budget. But, doing so was deemed a
potentially insurmountable undertaking as compared to the solution we
have today. That said, the presence within the IHS and BIA
appropriations of an indefinite appropriation to pay a mandatory
obligation of unknown amount has produced its own challenges for the
Administration and for this Committee.
Given these realities (and as we first proposed to this Committee
in 2013), today we renew our request that mandatory IHS and BIA
contract support cost payments be moved to the mandatory side of the
budget. Among other means of accomplishing this goal, the Coalition
continues to support the enactment of legislation establishing a
permanent and indefinite appropriation for contract support cost
payments.
And since 105(l) leasing obligations are similarly mandatory
obligations, we further recommend that IHS and BIA section 105(l)
leasing obligations likewise be moved to the mandatory side of the
budget.
payment delays and underpayments.
The BIA and the Office of Self-Governance seem structurally
incapable of making timely payments to the Tribes. Although delays in
regular contract payments are rampant, delays are especially severe
when it comes to contract support costs. Government contractors are
routinely paid on a timely basis. Yet, tribal governments are left to
wait months, even years, before they receive their payments. Today,
almost seven months into the new fiscal year, the BIA and OSG have
still not paid many Tribes--and possibly not paid most Tribes--any
contract support cost amounts to operate their FY 2021 contracts and
compacts.
This is unacceptable.
Worse yet, the BIA and OSG have still not paid many Tribes in full
for FY 2020, and in some cases for FY 2019-even though indefinite
appropriations are legally available to pay these obligations. At issue
are substantial portions of the Tribes' CSC obligations, and not mere
post-year reconciliations.
The Coalition respectfully asks this Committee to charter a task
force to develop regulatory and legislative solutions to these
persistent BIA and OSG payment problems. Interior should also be
required to promptly report in writing to this Committee (and to the
Tribes) on the status of the BIA's and OSG's FY 2020 and FY 2021
payment obligations to the Tribes.
agency failures to report to congress
It has been years since the BIA honored Congress's directive for an
annual written report on contract support cost obligations. This is so,
even though the annual reporting mandate is unmistakable in Section
105(c) of the Act: ``Not later than May 15 of each year, the Secretary
shall prepare and submit to Congress an annual report . . . . '' See 25
U.S.C. Sec. 5325(c).
For IHS, the problem is delay. Although annual reporting is
mandatory, not until May 2019 did IHS submit its reports to Congress
for fiscal years 2016 and 2017 (posting them that month on its
website). The IHS report for fiscal year 2018 was more timely, but
still posted 19 months after the May 2018 statutory deadline (in
November 2019). IHS has still to release its FY 2019 shortfall report.
Annual contract support cost reports are vital not just for
Congress but for the Tribes too. After all, CSC dollars are obligations
to the Tribes--they are not appropriated for agency programs. Only by
seeing these reports can the Tribes learn how each agency is managing
this important account. In the past, reports have often disclosed
errors in tribal payments (sometimes also leading to corrective
action). These reports have also revealed systemic agency shortcomings,
such as inconsistent practices across Areas or Regions, as well as
inconsistent practices between contracting and compacting Tribes.
Transparency and regular reporting are essential for self-governance to
succeed and to honor the agencies' government-to-government obligations
to the Tribes. If Congress and the Tribes are to have effective
oversight over one billion dollars in contract support cost
appropriations, timely reports are essential.
The Coalition respectfully requests that the Committee direct the
BIA to promptly provide FY 2017 and FY 2018 reports to Congress and the
Tribes; that the Committee direct that IHS and the BIA expedite the
preparation of their FY 2019 reports (due last May) and provide a
written explanation of any systemic obstacles that prevent timely
reporting to Congress and the Tribes; and that the agencies timely
honor their statutory reporting duties for FY 2020 and future years.
The Coalition also respectfully requests that the agencies be
required on a semi-annual basis to update their reports for specific
fiscal years, because both agencies continue making payment adjustments
for up to 5 years.
Indian Health Service CSC Payments on Substance Abuse and Suicide
Prevention (SASP), Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative
(DVPI) and Related Appropriations Accounts.

Prior to FY 2012, IHS transferred these accounts to Tribes through
their compacts and contracts. CSC requirements were calculated and
reported to Congress (though for the most part IHS failed to pay them).
But ironically, just months after the Supreme Court Ramah decision in
2012 confirmed that payment was mandatory, IHS reversed course and
demanded new grant instruments for these funds.
Today, Tribes must cut into very limited program accounts to cover
program administration costs (such as accounting, hiring, facility and
auditing costs). Tribes continue to struggle with the Nation's highest
rates of substance abuse, domestic violence, opioid addiction,
methamphetamine addiction and suicide than the general population, so
it is essential that they receive necessary CSC funding so that scarce
program funds are not diminished to cover unavoidable administrative
costs.
Further, employing unnecessary grant instruments and grant
reporting conditions and the like simply perpetuates a whole agency
grant administration bureaucracy. This can be avoided (or at least
diminished) by placing these accounts into tribal contracts and
compacts.
Three years ago, the Committees pressed IHS to return to the prior
practice of transferring these and similar funds through compacts and
contracts.\3\ IHS eventually launched--but then stalled--a tribal
consultation process to explore the issue. In December 2019, the
Committees directed IHS to complete the process by the end of March
2020.\4\ Yet despite all the consultation, nothing ever happened.
Nothing ever changed.
Since IHS has failed to act and to reform the process for awarding
these accounts, the Coalition respectfully requests that the Committee
add bill language for 2022 mandating the transfer of these accounts to
Tribes though their contracts and compacts.
tribal consultation and engagement
Both agencies are required to meet annually with the Tribes under
the auspices of each agency's Contract Support Cost Work Group. The BIA
recently convened a very brief meeting, while the IHS has failed to
reconvene its workgroup for a full agenda since March 2018.
As with reporting, active engagement and consultation is essential
for an effective and open government-to-government relationship. It is
also essential for identifying problems and developing collaborative
tribal--federal solutions.
The Coalition therefore respectfully requests that the Committee
direct IHS and the BIA to convene their respective CSC Work Groups on
an annual basis, as mandated by each agency's Manual.
Thank you for the opportunity to offer this testimony on behalf of
the National Tribal Contract Support Cost Coalition.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ See 164 Cong. Rec. at H2629 (daily ed.) (Mar. 22, 2018) (Joint
Explanatory Statement to the FY 2018 Appropriations Act) (``ISDEAA
Contracts.-The Committees encourage the transfer of amounts provided to
tribal organizations for the Substance Abuse and Suicide Prevention
Program, for the Domestic Violence Prevention Program, for the Zero
Suicide Initiative, for aftercare pilots at Youth Regional Treatment
Centers, and to improve collections from public and private insurance
at tribally--operated facilities to such organizations through Indian
Self-Determination Act compacts and contracts, and not through separate
grant instruments. This will ensure that associated administrative
costs will be covered through the contract support cost process.'')
\4\ 165 Cong. Rec. H10316, H11295 (daily ed. Dec 17, 2019)
(Managers' Explanatory Report on H.R. 1865, the Further Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2020) (``IHS is finishing Tribal consultation for
the substance abuse, suicide prevention, and domestic violence funding
and the Service is urged to complete this phase of the process within
90 days of the date of enactment of this Act so that funds can be
distributed expeditiously.'')
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

______

Prepared Statement of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee, I appreciate this opportunity to present the National
Trust for Historic Preservation's recommendations for Fiscal Year 2022
appropriations. My name is Shaw Sprague, and I am the Vice President of
Government Relations. The National Trust is a privately funded
nonprofit organization chartered by Congress in 1949. We work to save
America's historic places to enrich our future.
Thank you for the FY 2021 Interior Appropriations bill--it
surpassed the FY 2021 bill to become the most preservation friendly
appropriations bill to date. We look forward to continuing our work
with this Subcommittee as you address the ongoing need for investment
to sustain our nation's rich heritage of cultural and historic
resources that generates lasting economic and civic vitality for
communities throughout the nation. In addition to this testimony, we
encourage you to review our report, ``The Preservation Budget: Select
Preservation Priorities for FY 2022 Appropriations,'' which includes
more detailed information about the programs identified below,
including funding levels over time and examples of program successes.
National Park Service.--Historic Preservation Fund. The Historic
Preservation Fund (HPF) is the principal source of funding to implement
the nation's preservation programs. The National Trust is enormously
appreciative of the four successive, increased funding levels the
Committee has provided to the HPF. We are encouraged also by President
Biden's request of $151.8 million, the largest request ever by any
Administration. HPF funding supports fundamental preservation
activities such as survey, nomination of properties to the National
Register of Historic Places, public education, and project reviews
required for federal Historic Tax Credit (HTC) projects. The
competitive grant programs within the HPF have seen remarkable growth
and success over the last several appropriations cycles. We also
appreciate the increases provided to state and tribal historic offices
and note they continue to face significant unmet financial needs.
We respectfully request that Congress approve a total FY 2022 HPF
appropriation equal to the President's request. We are challenged by
supporting the President's budget, which was released after our
preservation coalition agreed to funding requests totaling the
authorized amount of $150 million. Accordingly, within the HPF we
recommend:

--The President's request of $55.675 for State Historic Preservation
Officers (SHPOs) exceeds by $2 million the enacted level but is
less than the $60 million we recommend;
--The President's historic request of $23 million for Tribal Historic
Preservation Officers (THPO) less than the $24 million we
aspire to;
--The President's request of $21.75 million is a historic request for
African American Civil Rights grants, a program the Committee
has consistently supported and enhanced with strong
encouragement by the National Trust. Earlier our coalition had
settled on a request of $19 million, which also exceeded
enacted levels;
--We are gratified by the President's request of $3.375 million for
the newly established ``Equal Rights Grants,'' which confirms
the Administration's support of the Committee's funding of
grants for Civil Rights for All Americans in the past two
appropriations bills. While we had hoped to see a $7 million
appropriation for this well--received and impactful program, we
appreciate the Committee's sustained commitment to ensuring the
stories of all Americans are told and preserved;
--$10 million for grants to Historically Black Colleges and
Universities to preserve and rehabilitate historic buildings;
--We were pleased to see the President's request of $25 million for
Save America's Treasures grants, equal to enacted. The National
Trust has a long supported this program, and we are gratified
by the President's strong request. Working within the
constraints of the authorized level of funding, our coalition
has requested $20 million;
--The National Trust is also a strong supporter of the Paul Bruhn
Historic Revitalization grants and appreciates Senator Leahy's
leadership in creating this impactful program, which has
demonstrated a national reach for main street revitalization.
Again, we are gratified by the President's request of $10
million which exceeds our coalition request of $9 million; and
--$1 million for grants for the survey and nomination of properties
associated with communities currently underrepresented on the
National Register of Historic Places and National Historic
Landmarks; an important start to diversifying our historic
record.

National Park Service: Operation of the National Park System.--The
National Park Service (NPS) is responsible for 423 units of the
National Park System ranging from the battlefields where our ancestors
fought and died to recent additions like the Birmingham Civil Rights
National Monument, the Reconstruction Era National Monument and the
Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument. We encourage the
Committee to provide funding above the $2.688 billion from FY 2021 to
maintain NPS operations, ensure stewardship of historic and cultural
resources, and prevent reductions in visitor services. Within this
funding, we strongly support the Administration's request of $5.375
million for the African American Civil Rights Network and $1.243
million for the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. We
recommend $1 million for the Reconstruction Era National Historic
Network and that some of these funds be made available for grants to
Network sites.
National Park Service: Deferred Maintenance.--The NPS is
responsible for maintaining a system comprised of more than 85 million
acres that tells the stories of remarkable people and events in our
country's history. Unfortunately, after over 100 years of operation and
inconsistent public funding, the National Park System faces a deferred
maintenance backlog estimated at nearly $12 billion, of which 47% is
attributed to historic assets. Deferred maintenance in our national
parks puts historic and cultural sites at risk of permanent damage or
loss, and in the absence of funding, the condition of these assets will
continue to deteriorate and become more expensive to repair and
preserve in the future. The National Trust was deeply engaged in
advocacy for the Great American Outdoors Act, and we look forward to
the historic levels of dedicated funding Congress has committed to
address these issues. We also recommend sustained increases for
specific line items to ensure the maintenance backlog continues to
decrease.

--Construction. We support the President's request of $146.7 million
for Line Item Construction, an increase over FY 21 enacted
levels.
--Repair and Rehabilitation; Cyclic Maintenance. We are enormously
appreciative of the Committee's sustained commitment to
enhancing these accounts with significant investments since FY
2016. We recommend an increase to $150 million for Repair and
Rehabilitation, an increase of $14 million above FY 2021
enacted and $205 million for Cyclic Maintenance, an increase of
$11.8 million above 2021 enacted. The Administration has
requested level funding for these programs.
--Leasing Historic Structures in National Parks. We appreciate the
Committee's long--standing and strong support of expanded use
of historic leasing authorities by the NPS. Leasing is a well--
established tool that can bring non-federal resources to the
rehabilitation and more active use of under--utilized or
abandoned buildings within the parks. The NPS continues to be
slow to advance a successful national leasing program. We are
hopeful that will change and would like to work with the
Committee to avoid missing future opportunities to bring unused
or underperforming buildings into greater public use.

National Park Service: Cultural Programs.--Within its cultural
programs, the NPS manages the National Register of Historic Places and
National Historic Landmarks, certifies federal HTC projects,
coordinates federal archaeology programs, and provides funding through
the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Grants,
Japanese American Confinement Sites Grants, and American Battlefield
Protection Program Assistance Grants. The National Trust recommends $35
million in FY 2022, an increase of $3.06 million from FY 2021 and
roughly $1.6 million more than the request. Additional increases in
this account will enhance modernization of the National Register and
support sustained demands to review and approve federal HTC projects.
We also want to express our enormous appreciation of this Committee's
strong objections to the Trump Administration's proposal to drastically
change NPS regulations guiding the National Register process.
National Park Service: International Park Affairs, Office of
International Affairs.--The National Trust recommends $2.1 million for
the Office of International Affairs to ensure engagement in the World
Heritage Program and support for the dozens of communities and sites
across the country seeking nomination to the World Heritage List. Our
request exceeds enacted by $176K, and the Administration's request by
$175K. This office is responsible for selecting sites for the World
Heritage Tentative List and shepherding them through the detailed
nomination process. Examples of pending sites include Hopewell
Ceremonial Earthworks (Ohio) and Civil Rights Movement Sites (Alabama,
Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi).
National Park Service: National Heritage Areas.--We recommend $32
million for the Heritage Partnership Program and National Heritage
Areas (NHAs). This funding would provide $500,000 for each of the 55
individual NHAs in 34 states, as well as NPS administrative support for
coordination, guidance, assistance, and training. It represents an
increase of $8.1 million over enacted and roughly $9.75 million more
than the Administration's request.
Bureau of Land Management: Cultural Resources Management.--The
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees the largest, most diverse and
scientifically important collection of historic and cultural resources
on our nation's public lands. We deeply appreciate the Committee's
commitment to oversight of the Trump Administration's reorganization of
the agency. The National Trust and many other organizations are very
concerned with the impact of the reorganization and loss of staff
within the Cultural Resources Division.
We are very appreciative of the Committee's support in FY 2020 of a
dedicated increase of $1.5 million, and $1 million in FY 2021, for the
agency to enhance its National Cultural Resources Information
Management System (NCRIMS). This collaboration with state historic
preservation offices is one of the nation's most innovative programs to
support predictive modeling and data analysis to enhance planning for
large--scale, cross--jurisdictional land--use projects. We
enthusiastically support the Administration's request of $21.693
million. This is a significant and too 0ften overlooked preservation
success story.
Bureau of Land Management: National Landscape Conservation
System.--The BLM's National Landscape Conservation System (National
Conservation Lands) includes approximately 37 million acres of
congressionally and presidentially designated lands. In 2019, new
congressional designations added approximately 1.25 million acres to
the system. We encourage the Committee to support the Administration's
proposal of $67.674 million to sharply increase the system's base
program. This would provide a slight increase of funding for this
program over its FY 2006 level. An increase in funding will allow for
greater inventory and monitoring of cultural resources in this growing
system, prevent damage to the resources found in these areas, ensure
proper management, and provide for a quality visitor experience.
Department-Wide: Land and Water Conservation Fund.--The National
Trust has long supported robust funding for the Land and Water
Conservation Fund (LWCF), and we look forward to the Committee's role
in implementing full dedicated funding for the LWCF. Many of the
nation's most significant historic and cultural places have been
permanently protected through LWCF investments, including Martin Luther
King Jr. National Historical Park, Canyons of the Ancients National
Monument, and Dayton Aviation National Historical Park. Recent LWCF
funding will benefit historic parks including Ocmuglee Mounds National
Historical Park, River Raisin National Battlefield Park, Lewis and
Clark National Historical Park and William Howard Taft National
Historic Site. In total, more than $550 million has been invested to
acquire historic sites and 137,000 acres in 162 NPS units.
Independent Agencies: National Endowment for the Arts and National
Endowment for the Humanities.--We urge the Committee to approve the
President's request of $201 million for the National Endowment for the
Arts (NEA) and request consideration of $225 million for the National
Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). NEA and NEH funding is critical to
communities around the country. It has also supported efforts by the
National Trust's Historic Sites and others to tell a fuller American
story and engage visitors with history in compelling ways. For example,
support from the NEA has created programs like Art and Shadows at the
Shadows-on-the-Teche in Louisiana, which put regionally--based artists
in residence at the site, resulting in programming that attracted new
audiences and brought people from around the country to the town's
downtown commercial district. NEH support has brought teachers from
around the country to learn about history in the places that it was
made and to carry those experiences back to their classrooms, including
exploring the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier and
discovering the rich, but largely unknown, African American history in
the President's neighborhood at Decatur House.
Independent Agencies: Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.--
We recommend $8 million million for the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation (ACHP), an increase of $825,000 over enacted. The increase
would enhance the ACHP's performance of its essential roles in ensuring
that the nation's historic and cultural resources are protected while
also advancing timely delivery of major infrastructure projects and
improving consultation with Indian Tribes. The increase would also
support the ACHPs efforts to promote enhanced mapping and digitization
of cultural resources.
Thank you for considering our testimony. We stand ready to assist
the Committee in support of our recommendations.
______

Prepared Statement of the National Wildlife Refuge Association
Chairwoman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee:

I am pleased to submit testimony on behalf of the National Wildlife
Refuge Association. The Refuge Association and its coalition of
representatives from Refuge Friends organizations and concerned
citizens thank you for your support for the National Wildlife Refuge
System, and we request an increase in funding for Refuge System
Operations and Maintenance to $600 million in FY2022.
The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge Association is to
protect, promote, and enhance the National Wildlife Refuge System. We
work closely with System staff in Headquarters, regional offices, and
on refuges themselves. We talk to them about their projects, and what
they need to do their jobs. And the overwhelming response is: we need
more staff, and we need more funding.
Wildlife refuges are economic engines for their communities, yet
the biggest challenge facing the Refuge System is a lack of funding.
Each refuge requires tailored management to protect its rich and
diverse wildlife habitat but faces a stark lack of staff. Since FY2010,
when the budget was the same ($503m) as it is today in FY2021, 3,500
staffers worked to maintain and protect the Refuge System. Today, that
number is under 2,500, an enormous 30% loss in capacity.
Due to years of low budget allocations, the funding gap has
degraded critical wildlife habitat and imperiled important species. The
number of wage grade staff have declined by 50% in the last 20 years to
a level of just 500. These folks move the water, maintain the roads,
and support all the infrastructure involved in refuge management.
Without them, roads are not repaired, wetlands do not receive the
necessary water to grow food for migratory birds, weed management is
neglected, buildings fall into disrepair. The nuts and bolts for refuge
management are lacking.
For years, the Refuge Association has advocated for increases to
various pots of money within the Refuge System budget: law enforcement,
invasive species, urban funding, etc. This year, however, as we speak
with regional staff, we hear an escalating urgency to their cries for
help.
It's not just that law enforcement staff levels are low--entire
species are declining because there are not enough LE staffers present
on refuges to prevent human disturbances.
--250 law enforcement officers cover 850 million acres of land and
water. Even excluding the water acres, each federal wildlife
officer covers, on average, 400,000 acres. In many cases, one
officer alone is responsible for an entire state, with their
refuge units hours away from each other.
It's not just that wage--grade staffing levels are low--it is
impossible to keep up with the work. At the Mid-Columbia Refuge Complex
in central Oregon, invasive species have hammered the sagebrush habitat
that sagebrush lizards depend on. The refuge complex was able to get
help to clear invasive species from a small section of the refuge,
resulting in a return of the lizards. But without additional staff,
they cannot replicate this work anywhere else. For example, one of the
refuges in the complex, Columbia NWR, previously had 13 staff, and they
now have one.
--500 wage grade staffers across the System are responsible for
200,000 acres on average. But this doesn't tell the entire
story. Desert NWR in southern Nevada, for example, is 1.6
million acres, and has zero wage grade staff. Invasive species
projects are huge undertakings, and require multiple staff
working together.
And it's not just that invasives funding is inadequate--current
funding of $11 million is just a drop in the bucket. Kudzu is taking
over the southeast, phragmites are everywhere on refuges, mice are
decimating seabirds at Midway Atoll, feral hogs are destroying habitat
on a number of refuges, and cheatgrass dominates 100 million acres in
the Great Basin (not all of these acres are refuge lands).
--2.4 million Refuge System acres are infested with invasive plants,
and current funding and capacity only allows treatment of 10%
of those acres. Similarly, the Refuge System has 1,749 invasive
animal populations and currently controls 5.3% of those.
The National Wildlife Refuge System is the largest system of public
lands set aside for wildlife conservation in the entire world. Nothing
like the System exists anywhere else. The United States has a
professional workforce of biologists, wetlands managers, foresters,
wildlife officers, and many others who are trained to manage these
lands. We are squandering this opportunity to manage this System of
biologically critical habitat for the future while allowing a lack of
management to overwhelm the staff, who care deeply about their jobs and
this land.
So what have we lost? 1,000 professional staff members in 10 years.
$100 million in capacity in 11 years. Shorebird populations are down
40% in 40 years. There are 715 listed animal species under the
Endangered Species Act, and 942 listed plant species. Pronghorn habitat
has been bisected in the southwest from border wall construction. Law
enforcement capacity is so low that officers can be 1.5-2 hours away
when an issue arises on a refuge, leaving refuges wide open to the
tragedy of the commons.
We are past the point of needing incremental funding increases for
the Refuge System. A dramatic increase to $600 million is essential in
FY2022. We realize that funding caps are lower than ideal, but the
System is desperately in need and the Fish and Wildlife Service has
been decimated through years of under funding.
And in the words of one refuge supervisor: ``We are going down with
the ship.''
There are, of course, huge success stories as well. The urban
program is incredibly promising and a huge priority for the Refuge
Association and the Refuge System. With six designated priority urban
refuges (San Diego, Tualatin, John Heinz, Valle de Oro, Minnesota
Valley, and Detroit River), staff at these refuges have the resources
to build community partnerships, bring local kids and families out to
see wildlife habitat and watch the critters who live there, and teach
the community about nature not far from their own homes.
Although the mouse eradication project at Midway Atoll has been
sidelined due to COVID-19, that project promises to eliminate the mice
infestation that is decimating the seabird populations on the atoll.
Partnerships are ready to go when it is safe, and we anticipate the
success of this project, due to the isolation of the atoll and the
limited geographic scope. Invasives projects in the Lower 48 are not so
lucky, with invasive plants (salt cedar, phragmites, reed canary,
cheatgrass, etc.) so entrenched that they are almost impossible to
fully eradicate. Ongoing funding and staff to keep pace with invasives
is desperately needed.
fy2022 funding versus full funding
The Refuge Association is asking for funding of $600 million in
FY2022, but the real need long term is closer to $1 billion. Current
funding is roughly half that. Refuges have traditionally been havens
for wildlife, and closed off to most visitors. But times have changed,
and people are flocking to the Refuge System-59 million in FY2019, and
we know there was a huge boom in visitors during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Friends Group membership is up, and they are more engaged than ever and
advocating on behalf of their local refuge. Urban partnerships are
exploding, and the demand for visitor services is intense. All refuges
should be staffed with a refuge manager, biologists, wage grade staff,
and visitor services staff, plus any specialists needed, such as
foresters at Umbagog NWR in Maine.
We know that a mere $503 million in O&M funding leads to a Refuge
System that is quickly eroding in habitat maintenance, but also losing
the ability to even keep refuges open. No refuge is fully staffed. More
than half of refuges have zero staff on site. Many refuges are closed
to the public and are completely unmanaged. Lewis and Clark NWR in
Oregon, for example, is closed and unmanaged, despite thousands of
scaup migrating through and an overall decline in the scaup population.
Looking to the future, it is critical that we invest in the Refuge
System today. If this funding shortage continues for much longer, we
will start to see a brain drain in professional capacity and refuges
requiring millions of dollars in restoration work to restore lands that
eroded during these times of lack of management.
The National Wildlife Refuge Association requests funding for
Refuge System O&M at $600 million in FY2022. Room must be made in the
budget for this expense, because without it, wildlife populations will
continue to decline and habitat will erode.
everglades headwaters nwr & klamath nwrs-land and water conservation
fund
EHWNR goals include the protection of 100,000 acres with
conservation easements, which protect the land from development and
conserve its wildlife and water values while keeping the land in
private ownership, privately managed (which reduces public costs), and
on the tax rolls. An additional 50,000 acres will become (if protected)
public conservation lands open to public recreational access, supported
by the sportsmen's community.
EHWNR has 38 federally listed endangered species and is one of
those rare refuges that can hit all of these refuge priorities:
conserves or protects against threats to resources, protects ESA
habitat, ecosystems, water, biodiversity, and cultural and historic
resources, strengthens resilience to climate change impacts, has
recreational access, benefits underserved or at-risk communities, and
demonstrates strong local partner engagement and support.
The National Wildlife Refuge Association requests $20 million in
LWCF funding for the Everglades Headwaters NWR in FY2022.
We also recommend an appropriation of $5 million in LWCF funding to
move water to the six Klamath refuges in northern California and
southern Oregon, to alleviate long-term water shortages on these
refuges.
refuge fund
The Refuge System uses net income derived from permits and timber
harvests to make payments to local communities to offset property tax
revenue lost when the federally--acquired lands are removed from local
tax rolls. The System relies on Congressional appropriations to the
Refuge Fund to compensate for the shortfall between revenues and tax
replacement obligations. However, declining revenues and lack of
appropriations have resulted in the Service paying less than 50% of its
tax--offset obligations since 2001.
Reduced funding threatens the partnerships that are so important
for successful conservation, and the negative impact on local
communities is felt even more starkly in difficult economic times. We
also ask that this Committee consider converting or rolling the Refuge
Fund into the PILT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) program. Some refuge
lands are included in PILT and others are included in the Refuge Fund.
One funding mechanism for all refuge lands makes sense and would
streamline the process of returning funds to local communities.
The Refuge Association requests $50 million for the Refuge Fund in
FY2022.
partnerships--partners for fish and wildlife program
With 75% of all fish and wildlife species dependent upon private
lands for their survival, the Partners Program is one of the most
powerful tools for protecting wildlife where it lives. By building
effective partnerships between public agencies and private landowners
to conserve America's expansive working landscapes, the Partners
Program has implemented nearly 29,000 restoration projects in the past
twenty-five years, restoring over one million acres of wetlands, three
million acres of uplands, and 11,000 miles of streams. The Partners
Program leverages federal dollars, generating nearly $16 in economic
return for every $1 appropriated for projects.
The Refuge Association and the landowner--led Partnerscapes request
$75 million for FY2022. Such a funding level would be leveraged to
result in an additional $400 million worth of conservation across the
nation.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony. We look forward
to working with you to fund these important programs, and to bring the
Refuge System back to a place where it can protect and grow our natural
heritage for the 21st century.

[This statement was submitted by Caroline G. Brouwer, Vice
President.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Native Village of Eyak
Recommendations:

1. Provide full funding and advance appropriations for the Indian
Health Service
2. Increase funding and accepted applications for the Joint Venture
Program
3. Ensure mandatory funding for Contract Support Costs and 105(l)
lease payments
4. Fund Critical Infrastructure investments for the Indian health
system
5. Increase funding and authorize a self-governance funding
mechanism option for the Special Diabetes Program for Indians
6. Increase funding for Preventive Health programs.
7. Reduce dependence on competitive grants for Indian Country

Introduction

Thank you Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members
of the Subcommittee for the opportunity to share our funding priorities
for the FY 2022 federal budget. My name is Mark Hoover and I serve as
the Chairman of the Native Village of Eyak. The Native Village of Eyak
is a federally recognized tribal government located in Cordova, Alaska,
on the southeast shores of Prince William Sound in the North Gulf
Coast. The Tribe is a co-signer to the Alaska Tribal Health Compact
with the Indian Health Service (IHS) and operates a wide range of
health care programs, including primary care services and behavioral
health. The Tribe also has a self-governance compact under the ISDEAA
with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Native Village of Eyak focuses
on self-determination and self-governance as a means of improving the
lives and health of our tribal citizens. We are not only responsible
for providing quality, available health care services, but also for
promoting opportunities and partnerships for our citizens, protecting
our traditional land and natural resources, and for strengthening our
culture.
We are grateful that IHS received over $9 billion supplementary
appropriations to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Those resources have
been critical to ensuring that we had the means to serve our patients
and fight this terrible disease. The pandemic also gives us an
opportunity to make real, sustained investments in the Indian health
system. As we have seen with the remarkable distribution of the COVID-
19 vaccine in Alaska and throughout Indian Country, when given adequate
resources and when tribal sovereignty is honored, tribal communities
demonstrate remarkable success. We believe now time to take the lessons
learned from the COVID-19 pandemic--both positive and negative--to
renew the Indian health system. Annual appropriations are essential to
fulfilling the federal government's trust and treaty obligations by
ensuring critical programs and services receive adequate funding to
fulfill their intended purpose. Therefore, I offer the following
recommendations for your consideration for FY 2022 appropriations for
the IHS:
Provide Full Funding for the Indian Health Service.--We with
support from the IHS, we strive to provide Alaska Natives and American
Indians (AI/AN) with access to high quality and comprehensive medical
services, no more so than during the ongoing pandemic. The Indian
health system has navigated unimaginable hardships related to supplies,
staffing levels, infrastructure and facilities, and high rates of
underlying conditions in serving our people at this time.
The IHS Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup has calculated the need
at $48 billion for full funding. To build toward enacting this change,
in FY 2022, the Workgroup requests $12.759 billion for IHS. We support
their full request and reiterate the top 5 priorities for program
expansion as follows:

1) Hospitals and Clinics: $4.2 billion
2) Purchased/Referred Care: $2 billion
3) Mental Health: $715 million
4) Alcohol and substance Abuse: $778.5 million
5) Dental Services: $649.7 million

Support for Advance Appropriations for IHS.--For many years, tribes
have requested that IHS appropriations be funded on an advance
appropriations cycle. It has unfortunately become the norm that IHS
does not receive its full yearly appropriation until several months
(sometimes longer) after the start of the fiscal year. In the recent
past, IHS, Tribal and Urban health programs have even had to deal with
government shutdowns, when no funding was provided for weeks on end
putting the lives of our patients in jeopardy. These funding delays
make it impossible for IHS and Tribal health programs to plan and
manage their annual budgets. Congress recognized these challenges will
it provided the Veterans Administration with advance appropriations
over a decade ago. Yet, IHS still waits for parity. As you know, health
systems cannot practically operate on a day-to-day or week-to-week
basis without a full understanding of their budgets. Unrelated
political disagreements in Washington, DC should not impede AI/ANs from
receiving the health care they deserve. Full advance appropriations for
the IHS would lead to better stability for our health system, improve
provider recruitment and retention, and improve practices over all.
We thank the leadership of this subcommittee for supporting
legislation that would enact advance appropriations in previous
Congresses. We also appreciate President Biden's support for IHS
advance appropriations in his FY 2022 budget request to Congress. We
urge the Committee to take the necessary steps in the FY 2022
appropriations bill to move IHS to an advance appropriation for FY 2023
and beyond. The time is now to end the delay of health care for AI/ANs.
Support Expansion of the IHS Joint Venture Program.--The IHS Joint
Venture (JV) program provides tribes with a critical opportunity to
build new facilities and to enhance health services for their patients.
Under this project, tribes and tribal organizations build or acquire
the facility with their own or other non-IHS funds, and IHS commits to
fund the additional staffing and operations costs associated with the
new or expanded facility. The program has been a major success, with
close to 40 facilities built, acquired, or renovated since 1992. It has
been a critical, cost-effective mechanism to address the health care
facilities shortage, since funds continue to be limited for the IHS
Facilities Construction Priority List. Yet, despite the remarkable
success of this program, projects like ours remain unfunded by IHS. In
the last round, Native Village of Eyak--along with two other Tribal
health organizations in Alaska--received a high score and were on the
top 10 list of projects, but were not funded, as IHS only funded the
top 5. We request that the Committee direct IHS to fund all high-
scoring applicants for JV construction projects.
Additionally, the JV program currently leaves tribal facilities
without necessary maintenance and replacement funds. The IHCIA requires
that the tribe lease the facility to IHS for 20 years at no cost. The
JV facility is eligible to receive a share of IHS's perennially
insufficient Maintenance and Improvement (M&I) funding, but is not
eligible for a lease under section 105(l) of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA).\1\ This leads to
the anomaly that non-JV facilities can be fully funded under 105(l),
receiving either fair market rental or the cost elements set out in the
regulations, while JV facilities are stuck with nothing but M&I. We
request that Congress amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to
correct this issue. We are happy to provide any technical assistance
you may need.
Mandatory Funding for Contract Support Costs and 105(l) lease
payments.--We appreciate the subcommittee's commitment to ensuring that
Contract Support Costs (CSC) and 105(l) lease costs are fully funded by
including an indefinite discretionary appropriation in FY 2021 for both
of these accounts. However, these line items continue to take up a
larger and larger percentage of the IHS discretionary budget, thereby
leaving little room to expand other services given tight discretionary
appropriations caps. We strongly agree with the subcommittee's words in
the explanatory statement for the Further Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-94) regarding 105(l) costs which said, in part:
``Obligations of this nature are typically addressed through mandatory
spending, but in this case since they fall under discretionary
spending, they are impacting all other programs funded under the
Interior and Environment Appropriations bill, including other equally
important Tribal programs . . . ''
Therefore, we ask you to continue to advocate with your colleagues
on authorizing committees to enact mandatory appropriations for CSC and
105(l) lease costs. Doing so, will ensure that other areas of the IHS
budget are held harmless by these costs and true increases in critical
services line items can move forward. This will enhance care for AI/AN
patients and reduce health disparities.
Fully fund critical infrastructure investments.--As Congress
considers making dramatic investments in the country's infrastructure,
it is critical that the Indian health system not be left behind.
Therefore, we request that the subcommittee allocate funding for full
implementation of interoperable Electronic Health Records (EHR) and
tele-health. This will ensure that IHS can provide services that are
similar to other health providers. IHS recently testified before the
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs that the current EHR ``created
significant barriers to the rapid response needed for COVID-19.'' For
tribes and Tribal health organizations who have committed their own
resources to move away from RPMS and make their systems functional, IHS
should take this into consideration with any new resources and ensure
these programs are not only interoperable, but compensated accordingly.
It is also critical that Congress make significant investments in
Tribal health facilities construction. IHS and tribal facilities are
some of the oldest in the nation, with an average age of 10.6 years.
This creates situations where facilities are out of date, or not
appropriate for the size of the patient populations they serve.
Therefore, consistent with the Budget Formulation Workgroup's request,
we recommend $15 billion for Health Facilities Construction Funding &
Equipment.
Staff Housing Quarters.--We continue to experience challenges
finding adequate housing for staffing for health and other
professionals to serve our community. As you know, health staffing
shortages across the Indian health system are dire, and providing
adequate living spaces for professionals are directly linked with our
ability to recruit and retain staff. We appreciate the Committee's
commitment to provide $10 million for staff quarters in the FY 2021
appropriation. Please continue to provide funding and increase this
line item in FY 2022.
Extend Self-Governance Funding Options to the Special Diabetes
Program for Indians (SDPI) and increase funding to $250 million/year.--
While we understand that SDPI is not under the jurisdiction of the
subcommittee, we appreciate that Congress included a three-year
reauthorization of SDPI in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
(P.L. 116-260). Communities like ours across Indian Country rely on
SDPI resources to address the alarming rates of diabetes and diabetes--
related health complications among our people. SDPI's success rests in
the flexibility of its program structure that allows for the
incorporation of culture and local needs into its services. Consistent
with this model, Congress should authorize SDPI participants the option
of receiving their federal funds through either a grant (as currently
used) or self-governance funding mechanisms under the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act. This would be a natural and
just extension of SDPI in respecting tribal sovereignty.
Additionally, SDPI has not had an increase in funding since FY
2004. Short term reauthorizations also destabilize this health program
and make staffing and program continuity difficult. For this reason, we
recommend permanent reauthorization for SDPI at a minimum base of $250
million per year with annual adjustments for inflationary increases.
Therefore, we urge you to work with your Congressional colleagues to
ensure that SDPI receives a funding increase of at least $250 million
per year.
Plan for the Future with Dedicated Funding for Preventative Health
Services.--Among the many things we have learned from the COVID-19
pandemic is that basic public health functions are critical to
preserving life and overall health of Americans, yet public health
systems in most tribal communities lag far behind systems in other
jurisdictions. Without robust public health systems in place,
responding to public health threats means that tribal communities will
continue to be a challenge. Like other governments, Tribes have the
responsibility to provide public health services for their people. Yet
the federal government provides few resources to tribal communities for
this purpose.
AI/ANs experience health disparities for a variety of health
conditions such as such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and
other largely preventable chronic conditions. Treating these chronic
health conditions imposes unnecessary challenges on Tribal health
systems and IHS. We support long-term, sustained, full investment in
tribal public health infrastructure so that tribal communities have the
resources available to respond quickly when the next crisis hits.
Reduce Dependence on Federal Grants.--In addition to the critical
funding needs that are outlined above, we also support moving away from
competitive grants for federal funding mechanisms. The federal trust
responsibility does not require that we jump through a myriad of hoops
and onerous applications to see that services are provided to our
people. Grants also unfairly pit tribes against tribes, when all are
deserving of critical resources. Therefore, we agree with other tribal
leaders and continue to support broad based funding for our health
systems across all federal agencies. Too often, tribes are under
resourced to apply for federal grants, and to comply with the
associated burdensome reporting requirements which vary from grant to
grant. Applications and reporting requirements force our health system
to divert staff time to apply and report thereby diluting the
usefulness of the resources. Instead, we request wide--spread,
formula--based funding across all programs. Tribes must also be granted
the flexibility needed to respond to the specific needs of their own
communities, not those prescribed by federal grants. This also means
providing enough resources so funds are provided in meaningful amounts
across all tribes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 25 U.S.C. Sec. 5324(l); 25 C.F.R. Part 900, Subpart H.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
______

Prepared Statement of the Natural Science Collections Alliance
The Natural Science Collections Alliance appreciates the
opportunity to provide testimony in support of fiscal year (FY) 2022
appropriations for the Smithsonian Institution and the Department of
the Interior. We encourage Congress to make new investments that
address agency backlogs and secure future efforts for the preservation,
curation, growth and study of scientific and cultural collections
within the Department of the Interior and the Smithsonian Institution.
We request that Congress provide the National Museum of Natural History
with at least $60 million in FY 2022, with new funding to correct for a
lack of adequate increases in recent years. Please provide the United
States Geological Survey (USGS) with at least $1.75 billion in FY 2022,
with increased support for collections related activities.
The Natural Science Collections Alliance is a non-profit
association that supports natural science collections, their human
resources, the institutions that house them, and their research
activities for the benefit of science and society. Our membership
consists of institutions that are part of an international network of
museums, botanical gardens, herbaria, universities, and other
institutions that contain natural science collections and use them in
research, exhibitions, academic and informal science education, and
outreach activities.
Scientific collections, and the collections professionals and
scientists who make, care for, and study these resources, are a vital
component of our nation's research infrastructure. These collections
and their associated experts contribute to the expansion of our
bioeconomy. Whether held at a museum, government managed laboratory or
archive, or in a university science department, these scientific
resources form a coordinated network of specimens, samples, and data
(for example, genetic, tissue, organism, and environmental) that are a
unique and irreplaceable foundation from which scientists are studying
and explaining past and present life on earth.
Preservation of specimens and the strategic growth of these
collections are in the best interest of science and the best interest
of taxpayers. Existing scientific collections that are properly cared
for and accessible are a critical component of the US science
infrastructure and are readily integrated into new research on
significant questions. Specimens that were collected decades or
centuries ago are now routinely used in research in diverse fields
related to genomics, human health, biodiversity sciences, informatics,
environmental quality, and agriculture.
According to the U.S. Interagency Working Group on Scientific
Collections (IWGSC), ``scientific collections are essential to
supporting agency missions and are thus vital to supporting the global
research enterprise.'' A 2020 report by the IWGSC presents a framework
for estimating and documenting the long-term benefits, both monetary
and non-monetary, generated by federal institutional collections.
Additional recent reports have highlighted the value of mobilizing
biodiversity specimens and data in spurring new scientific discoveries
that grow our economy, improve our public health and wellbeing, and
increase our national security.
In 2019, the Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN) issued a
community informed call for the development of an Extended Specimen
Network, or ESN. The report, Extending U.S. Biodiversity Collections to
Promote Research and Education, outlined a national agenda that
leverages digital data in biodiversity collections for new uses and
called for building an Extended Specimen Network: ``Science and
industry rely on physical specimens housed in U.S. biodiversity
collections. Rapid advances in data generation and analysis have
transformed understanding of biodiversity collections from singular
physical specimens, to dynamic suites of interconnected resources
enriched through study over time. The concept of the `extended
specimen' conveys the current perspective of the biodiversity specimen
as extending beyond the singular physical object, to potentially
limitless additional physical preparations and digital resources.''
This endeavor requires robust investments in our nation's scientific
collections, whether they are owned by a federal or state agency or are
part of an educational institution or free--standing natural history
museum or other research centers.
A 2020 report by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and
Medicine (NASEM), Biological Collections: Ensuring Critical Research
and Education for the 21st Century, provided guidance to the NSF
regarding the sustainability of living stock and natural history
collections. The report argued that collections are a critical part of
our nation's science and innovation infrastructure and a fundamental
resource for understanding the natural world.
The NASEM, BCoN, and IWGSC reports, articulate a common vision of
the future of biological collections and define a need to broaden and
deepen the collections and associated data to realize the potential for
biodiversity collections to inform 21st century science. Collections
are a critical resource for advancing the knowledge needed to address
current global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss,
and pandemics. The COVID-19 crisis has illustrated how inextricably
linked humans are to the natural world. Biological collections, their
extended data, and the experts that build and study them are globally
important for understanding where viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 exist in
nature or when they cross from their current hosts to humans.
The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History
(NMNH) is the central federal partner in the curation and research on
scientific specimens. Scientists at the NMNH care for 146 million
specimens and ensure that the institution remains a global leader in
scientific research and public engagement. To increase the availability
of these scientific resources to researchers, educators, other federal
agencies, and the public, NMNH is working on a multi-year effort to
digitize its collections. Funding is required to ensure this work is
completed.
The National Museum of Natural History is also working to
strengthen curatorial and research staffing and to backfill positions
left open by retirements and budget constraints. The current staffing
level is insufficient to provide optimal care for the collections.
Future curatorial and collections management staffing levels may be
further jeopardized given funding cuts at science agencies, such as the
United States Geological Survey that, until recently, supported staff
positions at the National Museum of Natural History. We believe these
changes significantly jeopardize our bioeconomy at a time when there
are critical issues facing the country, where the network of
collections and experts working with these collections are needed.
Interior is an important caretaker of museum collections as well;
the Department has an estimated 206 million items, comparable in size
only to the Smithsonian Institution. Although many of the department's
collections are located in bureau facilities, numerous artifacts and
specimens are cared for in non-governmental facilities, such as museums
and universities.
In addition, the USGS furthers the preservation, inventory, and
digitization of geological scientific collections, such as rock and ice
cores, fossils, and samples of oil, gas, and water. The National
Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation program helps states with
collections management, improves accessibility of collections data, and
expands digitization of specimens to ensure their broader use. One
example of the returns from this program is the potash mineral deposit
discovered in Michigan that is valued at an estimated $65 billion. Rock
samples from Michigan were entered into a national database, where
private companies discovered the deposit's existence and are now
assessing the potential for mining.
USGS supports the documentation and conservation of native
pollinators through its Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab (BIML).
Pollinators, such as bees, are critical components of ecosystems and
play an integral role in wildlife and habitat management and
restoration. Three-fourths of the world's flowering plants and about 35
percent of the world's food crops rely on pollinators to reproduce.
Given that pollinator populations are in decline globally, BIML's work
in developing a nationwide method to inventory and monitor bee
population trends on public lands is crucial.
USGS has more than a million specimens of birds, mammals,
amphibians, and reptiles that are housed at the Smithsonian National
Museum of Natural History. The Biological Survey Unit (BSU) consisted
of USGS scientists stationed at the NMNH, where they conducted research
on USGS--specimens of fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals that are
curated at the NMNH. This arrangement went back to 1889. These
specimens, data, and the research they enable are required to inform
Department of the Interior land and natural resource management
decisions, and often also support decision--making by State and Tribal
governments. It is our understanding that the BSU has now been
eliminated, with the Smithsonian taking over care of these collections.
The work the BSU supported and conducted at the NMNH was important and
in the national interest. There is a lack of clarity and understanding
about how this work is currently being sustained, given the
Smithsonian's own shrinking staff.
The Bureau of Land Management has a large backlog of cultural
resources to inventory on public lands. Currently, only about 11
percent of public lands have been assessed for heritage resources. Such
assessments need to be conducted before unique resources are lost to
looting, vandalism, fire, or environmental change.
The National Park Service must continue its investments in
scientific collections into the future, which means cataloging millions
of museum objects and connecting the resulting databases to national
and global data portals. The National Park Service curates a wide range
of specimens and artifacts, from historical and cultural items to
preserved tissues from protected species and living microorganisms
collected in our National Parks. Several parks have made progress on
addressing planning, environmental, storage, security, and fire
protection deficiencies in museum collections, but much work remains,
and present and future collections will be fundamental for effective
management efforts.
conclusion
Scientific collections are critical infrastructure for our nation's
research enterprise. They are a national treasure that help support the
nation's bioeconomy. Research specimens connect us to the past and are
used to document and solve current problems. They allow us to predict
threats to human health, find successful methods for ensuring food
security, and address the impact of future environmental changes.
Sustained investments in scientific collections are in our national
interest. We also see these investments as critical for our efforts to
grow diversity and inclusion in the scientific workforce.
The budget for NMNH has not seen adequate increases in recent
years. We urge Congress to provide NMNH with at least $60 million in FY
2022 to allow the museum to undertake critical collections care, make
needed technology upgrades, and conduct cutting edge research. Please
support adequate funding for programs within Interior bureaus that
support the preservation and use of scientific collections--a truly
irreplaceable resource. We encourage Congress to provide the USGS with
at least $1.75 billion in FY 2022, with increased support for
collections related activities.
Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of this request.

[This statement was submitted by John Bates, President.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Nature Conservancy
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski and members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to submit recommendations
for fiscal year 2022 (FY22) appropriations. The Nature Conservancy
(TNC) is an international nonprofit conservation organization working
around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for
people and nature. Our mission is to conserve the lands and waters upon
which all life depends.
As the nation continues to struggle with the challenges of COVID-
19, TNC appreciates the Subcommittee's work to address the pandemic's
impacts on our citizens and the economy. Investments focused on
restoring ecosystems and building a low--carbon economy will yield
immediate relief for communities--particularly overburdened, Indigenous
and low--income communities--throughout the country. TNC wishes to
thank this Subcommittee for the final FY21 funding levels for
conservation programs. TNC's budget recommendations for FY22 reflect a
balanced approach, with funding levels consistent with those in FY21.
The effects of climate change require comprehensive policy action,
including investments in natural climate solutions, clean energy
development, natural infrastructure and resilience. TNC supports
funding practical, innovative climate solutions to create an energy
future that is cleaner, more secure and gives consumers greater energy
choices. Likewise, investing in nature brings strong returns for our
security, economy, communities and families. TNC is focused on
supporting programs and investments that ensure economic and
environmental benefits are enhanced today and made sustainable for
tomorrow.
Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).--The passage of the Great
American Outdoors Act means that after more than 55 years, LWCF will be
guaranteed full funding in FY22 and beyond. The legislation carefully
preserved Congress's discretion in deciding how best to allocate those
dollars between the many conservation and recreation needs addressed by
LWCF. TNC supports a healthy balance of LWCF projects and grants across
the country. TNC urges the Subcommittee to provide vigorous oversight
of LWCF to ensure smooth implementation and a strong future for this
incredibly successful program. In addition, TNC asks the Subcommittee
to avoid rescissions of past--year funds that could be used for LWCF
project needs.
Endangered Species.--TNC supports continuing funding of at least
$60 million for the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund.
This funding provides critical matching grants to states and
territories for conservation and species recovery efforts on non-
federal lands. TNC requests the Subcommittee's continued support for
Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) funding and HCP Land Acquisition
Grants.
State and Tribal Wildlife Grants.--TNC supports the president's
request of $82.4 million for state and tribal wildlife grants. Strong
federal investments are essential to support strategic actions by
state, tribal and federal agencies, as well as the conservation
community, to protect wildlife and their habitats and prevent species
from being listed as threatened or endangered. TNC urges Congress to
enact the bipartisan Recovering America's Wildlife Act, which would be
the most significant investment in wildlife conservation in decades.
Wildlife Conservation Programs.--The wildlife conservation programs
at the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) continue a long and successful
tradition of supporting collaborative conservation in the United States
and internationally. TNC urges the Subcommittee to continue funding for
the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, the Neotropical Migratory
Bird Conservation Fund, Migratory Bird Joint Ventures, FWS Migratory
Bird Management Program and FWS Coastal Program at no less than FY21
funding levels. Likewise, TNC supports continued strong funding for the
Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, the Cooperative Landscape
Conservation and Adaptive Science programs and the National Fish
Habitat Initiative.
International Programs.--The international conservation programs
appropriated annually within the Department of the Interior (DOI) and
the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) are relatively small but are effective
and widely respected. They complement U.S. foreign policy and aid goals
for biodiversity and climate change. They encompass DOI's Office of
International Affairs, FWS Multinational Species Conservation Funds,
FWS Wildlife Without Borders regional and global programs, the National
Park Service's International Program and the USFS International
Program. TNC requests modest increases over FY21 funding levels for
these programs.
National Wildlife Refuge System.--Found in every state and
territory, national wildlife refuges conserve a diversity of America's
environmentally sensitive and economically vital ecosystems, including
oceans, coasts, wetlands, deserts, tundra, prairies and forests. TNC
supports stronger funding for the system's operations and maintenance
accounts. TNC requests $600 million for FY22. This represents the
funding necessary to maintain management capabilities for the system.
Investing in Wildfire Resilience.\1\--Congress took major steps
toward stabilizing the USFS budget with the 2018 ``fire fix.'' As new
conversations about the Budget Control Act and disaster funding is
underway, we request that the fire fix remains durable and
comprehensive, as intended by the Congress. In addition, the fire fix
will not be durable and fully successful without substantial
reinvestments in programs that increase forest resilience. TNC
recommends investing in the USFS's Hazardous Fuels Program at $700
million and DOI's Fuels Management Program at $250 million, in addition
to repeating the Subcommittee's FY21 instructions for allocating funds
to priority landscapes in both wildland urban interface and wildland
settings for prescribed burning. TNC also supports fully funding the
Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program at $80 million,
vegetation and watershed management at $210 million, the Water Source
Protection Program at $30 million, dedicating $30 million for a new
ecological reforestation initiative and reinstating and funding the
Legacy Roads and Trails Program at $100 million.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ In the FY2020 appropriations process, Congress directed the
USFS to modernize their budgeting practices. This resulted in programs
appearing differently as cost pools, salaries and expenses have been
removed from programs. TNC is providing funding levels under the old
budget model for USFS programs as the organization continues to gain a
better understanding of the new modern structure. TNC looks forward to
working with the Subcommittee and the agency to develop recommend
funding levels that reflect budget modernization.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research and Joint Fire Science--Found in every state and
territory, national wildlife refuges conserve a diversity of USFS's
Forest and Rangeland Research Program offers the scientific basis for
policies that improve the health and quality of urban and rural
communities. This program is vital to the long-term health and utility
of our forests and rivers. TNC requests funding the program at $315
million. TNC requests the Subcommittee include $8 million for each USFS
and DOI joint fire science programs, which have successfully supported
practical science that reduces fire risk and enhances economic,
ecological and social outcomes.
Sage Grouse Conservation--Found in every state and territory,
national wildlife refuges conserve a diversity of TNC requests
continued investment in ongoing efforts to restore and conserve
sagebrush habitat and the greater sage grouse across federal, state,
tribal and private lands. These resources are needed to implement on-
the-ground projects and monitor habitat treatments, address rangeland
fire and noxious and invasive grasses, fund suppression and restoration
efforts and facilitate the partnership and science necessary for
effective conservation in western states. To do this, appropriated
sagebrush resources should specifically support the Bureau of Land
Management's (BLM) five-year integrated program of work, which
holistically identifies landscapes with the highest likelihood for
conservation and restoration. Congress should consider asking for an
annual report from BLM on acres treated in priority areas for
conservation and restoration in the sagebrush biome and outcomes of
partnerships with federal bodies outside of DOI. TNC requests $85
million to support the implementation of the Greater Sage-Grouse
Conservation Strategy (BLM: $75 million, FWS: $5 million, U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS): $5 million), which includes funding Greater
Sage-Grouse friendly projects such as removal of juniper trees,
eradication of invasive weeds and prescribed burns.
TNC asks for the Subcommittee's continued support as this process
moves forward to ensure the final FY22 spending bill does not contain
the language in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 that bars
FWS from proposing a rule to list the Greater Sage-Grouse under the
Endangered Species Act. This language undercuts good faith conservation
efforts by removing the critical backstop of a listing, should
conditions on the ground warrant such a step.
BLM Land Management and Renewable Energy Development--Found in
every state and territory, national wildlife refuges conserve a
diversity of TNC supports smart planning and management of public lands
through rapid ecoregional assessments, resource management planning,
regional mitigation planning, landscape conservation cooperatives and
the Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring Strategy. Many BLM programs
contribute to these cross--cutting initiatives, including the National
Landscape Conservation System ($44.8 million), the Resource Management
Planning Program ($67 million) and the consolidated Wildlife and
Aquatic Habitat Management budget line ($132.8 million). TNC supports
continued funding for BLM's renewable energy development program at no
less than the FY21 level of $30.5 million. Collectively, these efforts
will help BLM manage its lands efficiently and effectively for energy
development, species and habitat conservation, recreation and other
uses.
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Geographic Programs--Found
in every state and territory, national wildlife refuges conserve a
diversity of EPA's geographic programs, including the Great Lakes
Restoration Initiative and Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound, Long Island
Sound and Gulf of Mexico programs, make significant contributions to
protecting habitat, improving water quality and enhancing resilience in
the large landscapes they encompass. These programs have a proven
record of supporting the states' voluntary restoration efforts. TNC
supports the funding for the geographic programs contained in the FY22
budget request and urges the Subcommittee to continue strong funding in
FY22 for these programs.
Colorado River Basin Recovery Programs--Found in every state and
territory, national wildlife refuges conserve a diversity of The Upper
Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program and San Juan River
Basin Recovery Implementation Program take a balanced approach to
recovering four endangered fish species in the Colorado River basin.
These programs are highly successful, collaborative conservation
partnerships involving New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, in
addition to tribal nations, federal agencies and water, power and
environmental interests. These programs provide critically important
ESA compliance for more than 2,450 federal, tribal, state and private
water projects across the upper Colorado River basin. Through these
efforts, water use and development have continued in growing western
communities in full compliance with the ESA, state water and wildlife
law and interstate compacts. TNC supports robust funding at FWS for the
Colorado River basin recovery programs as well as fish hatchery needs
associated with the recovery plans.
Federal Priority Streamgage (FPS) Network--Found in every state and
territory, national wildlife refuges conserve a diversity of USGS
operates the FPS Network to provide continuous streamflow information
at over 8,400 locations across the country. Water managers, scientists
and other decision--makers rely on data from the FPS Network to plan
for floods, droughts and other extreme events, design infrastructure,
facilitate energy generation, protect aquatic species, restore habitat
and manage federal lands. Budget constraints led to 29 gages being
discontinued last year. TNC supports $28.7 million for the FPS Network
to reinstate lost gages. TNC also requests $33 million in Cooperative
Matching Funds to leverage USGS funding to expand this program to over
5,000 sgages. Lastly, TNC supports the FY22 budget request of $30.9
million for the Next Generation Water Observation System to expand this
program and allow USGS to modernize water data delivery systems across
the United States.
Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) Program--
Found in every state and territory, national wildlife refuges conserve
a diversity of WIFIA provides authority for low--cost credit that can
leverage private investment for water infrastructure. The criteria
include whether a project protects against extreme weather events or
helps maintain the environment. TNC supports the FY22 budget request of
$80 million for WIFIA.
3D Elevation Program (3DEP)--Found in every state and territory,
national wildlife refuges conserve a diversity of As sea levels rise
and extreme weather becomes more frequent, local officials and property
owners need topographical information to keep communities safe and
resilient. 3DEP sponsors satellite topographical mapping, providing
communities high--quality elevation mapping to better understand flood
risks. This mapping is used for management of flood risk, wildfire,
water supply and renewable energy siting. 3DEP provides baseline
mapping at a relatively low cost. Knowledge of flood risks can help
prevent communities from developing in unsafe areas and allow risk
mitigation in developed areas. TNC supports robust funding for 3DEP to
promote resilient communities and environments.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit TNC's recommendations for
the FY22 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations
Bill.

[This statement was submitted by Kameran Onley, Director of North
American Policy and Government Relations.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Nature Conservancy
Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski and members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to submit recommendations
for fiscal year 2022 (FY22) appropriations. The Nature Conservancy
(TNC) is an international, non-profit conservation organization whose
mission is to conserve the lands and waters upon which all life
depends.
America's public forests have tremendous national importance, but
their health puts them at severe risk unless the nation invests in
proper stewardship and forestry. America's forests store and filter
more than half of our nation's water supply, provide jobs to nearly one
million forest product workers, generate $13.6 billion in recreation--
based economic activity from the Department of Agriculture's (USDA)
U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands alone, are habitat to thousands of
forest--dependent wildlife and plant species, offer a million square
miles to sportsmen and families for outdoor recreation and are a major
carbon sink that sequester 15 percent of all fossil fuel emissions in
the United States.
However, megafires, pests and drought, exacerbated by climate
change, place forests at risk. An area larger than the state of Oregon
is in immediate need of restoration, and that is on national forest
lands alone. Unfortunately, forest restoration is significantly
obstructed by ballooning fire suppression costs.
Forests are unique as they are both impacted by climate change and
are a natural climate solution. The United States must invest in them
by:

1. Protecting existing stocks of carbon through the Forest Legacy
Program and other initiatives.
2. Maintaining or enhancing the ability of forests to increase
their carbon storage through improved forest management, reforestation,
avoided conversion and restoration programs such as the Vegetation &
Watershed Management program.
3. Reducing emissions from catastrophic wildfires by increasing the
use of prescribed fire, working to improve forests' climate resilience
and increasing community engagement and collaboration through risk--
reduction programs such as the Hazardous Fuels and the Collaborative
Forest Landscape Restoration programs.

TNC thanks the Subcommittee for its previous work on wildfire
suppression funding in 2018, commonly known as the ``fire fix''.
However, to fully succeed in this effort, TNC encourages the
Subcommittee to sustain and increase the investments gained by the fire
fix in forest resilience efforts that protect communities, reduce costs
and improve habitats and forests.
In the FY20 appropriations process, Congress directed USFS to
modernize its budgeting practices. This has resulted in programs
appearing differently, as cost pool and salary expenses have been
separated from program costs. TNC recommends funding levels under the
old budget model for USFS programs, and, where appropriate, provide an
approximation of that level under the modern structure. TNC looks
forward to working with the Subcommittee and the agency to develop
recommended funding levels that reflect this budget modernization.
Investing in the following USFS and the Department of the
Interior's (DOI) Office of Wildland Fire programs is critical to
meeting forest restoration goals. Effective and durable restoration
requires integrated approaches that address threats and improve forest
health and habitat values while at the same time support forest--
dependent communities.
Fund the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) Program
at no less than $80 million.--The CFLR Program is demonstrating that
forest restoration plans developed collaboratively can be implemented
at a large scale with benefits for people and forests. This is an
approach that brings citizens, local government and federal staff
together to determine effective management that is locally appropriate
and provides jobs, sustains rural economies, reduces the risk of
damaging fires, addresses invasive species, improves wildlife habitat
and decommissions unused, eroding roads. The funding increase will
guarantee the existing signature projects covering over 17 million
acres can continue and additional critical projects across America's
forests can begin.
Fund USFS Hazardous Fuels programs at no less than $700 million
(modern level approximation: $244 million).--Strategic, proactive
hazardous fuels treatments have proven to be safer and more cost-
effective in reducing risks to communities and forests by removing
overgrown brush and trees, leaving forests in a more natural condition
resilient to wildfires. Drought conditions increase the need for
investment in this program to restore and maintain fire--adapted
landscapes and habitats. TNC recognizes the Subcommittee's continued
support for this program through its increased funding levels,
particularly over the last few years.
Create and fund the USFS Burned Area Rehabilitation (BAR)
initiative at $20 million.--Following on direction from the FY21
spending bill, continue to direct the agency to create a BAR initiative
at USFS like the existing program at DOI. This would provide the agency
with the authority to plan longer term, post-fire reforestation.
Fund Wildlife & Fisheries Habitat Management at $145 million
(modern level approximation: $21 million): This would help to restore,
recover and maintain wildlife and fish and their habitats on all
national forests and grasslands.
Fund Vegetation & Watershed Management at $210 million (modern
level approximation: $33 million).--This would promote forest
restoration through watershed treatment activities, invasive plant
species control and reforestation of areas impacted by wildfire and
other natural events.
Fund Legacy Road and Trail Remediation at $50 million.--This would
help restore river and stream water quality by fixing or removing
eroding roads while providing construction jobs, supporting vital
sportsmen opportunities and reducing flooding risks from future extreme
water--flow events.
Fund Land Management Planning, Inventory and Monitoring at $201
million (modern level approximation: $18 million).--This would promote
community and science--based planning when updating forest plans. It
would also increase efforts to appropriately incorporate climate change
into land management planning and project--level documentation under
the National Environmental Policy Act.
Fund Water Source Protection Program at $30 million (modern level
approximation: $10 million).--The 2018 Farm Bill established this new
cost share program authorizing USFS to work with water users to address
watershed restoration plans for national forests, including wildfire
risk reduction activities.
Fund Forest Health at $66 million for Federal (modern level
approximation: $19 million) and $51 million for Cooperative (modern
level approximation: $36 million).--Forest health protection programs
work to protect forests by minimizing the impacts caused by invasive
species. Across the nation, large-scale, non-native insect, disease and
invasive plant outbreaks are damaging forest health. These programs
help reduce invasions of non-native pests that destroy iconic American
trees such as ash, hemlock and California oaks.
Fund State Fire Assistance (SFA) at $87 million (modern level
approximation: $77 million).--SFA provides aid to communities for fuels
treatments, firefighter capacity building, fire prevention education
and pre-fire planning. The SFA program is an important complement to
the Hazardous Fuels program for federal lands.
Fund Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR) at $20 million (modern level
approximation: $20 million).--Through LSR, non-federal lands have
access for competitively selected projects that leverage state funding,
restore forests of national importance and, whenever possible,
complement CFLR and other landscape-scale restoration efforts.
Fund Forest Legacy at $128 million (modern level approximation:
$128 million).--The Forest Legacy Program, in partnership with states,
supports efforts to acquire conservation easements and fee simple
interests on privately owned forest lands from willing sellers. These
acquisitions leverage non-federal dollars and support long-term
sustainable forestry while protecting other ecological, watershed and
recreational values for local communities at risk of development or
conversation to other uses.
Fund Urban & Community Forestry (U&CF) at $45 million.--Working
with the state forestry agencies, the U&CF program provides technical,
financial, research and educational support and services. These
services support local government, nonprofit organizations, community
groups, educational institutions and tribal governments that manage and
steward our nation's urban and community forests. Increased federal
investment should focus on preventing and addressing outbreaks of
devastating pests like the emerald ash borer and sudden oak death as
well as reducing the loss of trees and forests in both urban and rural
areas.
Expand and enhance USFS International Programs at $20 million.--
This program promotes sustainable forest management and biodiversity
conservation globally. This investment also complements domestic
economic and conservation interests through work on combating illegal
logging, protecting migratory species' habitats and controlling
invasive species.
Fund Forest and Rangeland Research at $315 million (modern level
approximation: $41 million), with $87 million for Forest Inventory and
Analysis (modern level approximation: $19 million).--Forest and
Rangeland Research offers vital scientific basis for policies that
improve the health and quality of urban and rural communities. This
program is vital for the long-term health and utility of our American
forests and rivers, particularly as we face an uncertain climatic
future.
Maintain funding for the Joint Fire Science Programs under USFS and
DOI's Office of Wildland Fire at $8 million each.--These programs have
proven great success in supporting practical science that reduces fire
risk and enhances economic, ecological and social outcomes nationwide.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit TNC's recommendations for
funding for USFS and DOI's Office of Wildland Fire in the FY22
Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill.

[This statement was submitted by Cecilia Clavet, Senior Policy
Advisor.]
______

Prepared Statement of the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission
summary
This Statement is submitted in support of Fiscal Year 2022
appropriations for Colorado River Basin salinity control activities of
the Bureau of Land Management. I urge that $2,000,000 be appropriated
for salinity specific projects within the Aquatic Habitat Management
sub-activity of the Bureau of Land Management.
statement
The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum (Forum) is
comprised of representatives of the seven Colorado River Basin States
appointed by the respective governors of the states. The Forum has
examined the features needed to control the salinity of the Colorado
River. These include activities by the states, the Bureau of
Reclamation, the Department of Agriculture, and the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM). The Salinity Control Program has been adopted by the
seven Colorado River Basin States and approved by the Environmental
Protection Agency as a part of each state's water quality standards.
About 75 percent of the land in the Colorado River Basin is owned,
administered, or held in trust by the federal government. The BLM is
the largest land manager in the Colorado River Basin and manages public
lands that are heavily laden with naturally occurring salt. When salt-
laden soils erode, the salts dissolve and enter the river system,
affecting the quality of water used from the Colorado River by the
Lower Basin States and Mexico.
The water quality standards adopted by the Colorado River Basin
States contain a plan of implementation that includes BLM participation
to implement cost effective measures of salinity control. BLM
participation in the salinity control program is critical and essential
to actively pursue the identification, implementation, and
quantification of cost effective salinity control measures on public
lands.
Bureau of Reclamation studies show that quantified damages from
Colorado River salinity to United States water users are about $354
million per year. Modeling by Reclamation indicates that these
quantified damages would increase to $671 million per year by 2040 if
the Salinity Control Program were not continued. Unquantified damages
already increase the total damages significantly.
Control of salinity is necessary for the Basin States, including
New Mexico, to continue to develop their compact--apportioned waters of
the Colorado River. The Basin States are proceeding with an independent
program to control salt discharges to the Colorado River, in addition
to cost sharing with Bureau of Reclamation and Department of
Agriculture salinity control programs. It is important that the BLM
pursue salinity control projects within its jurisdiction to maintain
the cost effectiveness of the program and the timely implementation of
salinity control projects that will help avoid unnecessary damages in
the United States and Mexico.
To continue these efforts in the Colorado River Basin, I request
the appropriation of $2 million in FY 2022 for salinity specific
projects within the Aquatic Habitat Management sub-activity of the
Bureau of Land Management. I appreciate consideration of these
requests. I fully support the statement of the Colorado River Basin
Salinity Control Forum submitted by Don Barnett, the Forum's Executive
Director, in request of appropriations for BLM for Colorado River
salinity control activities.

[This statement was submitted by Rolf Schmidt-Petersen, Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Honorable Members of
the Subcommittee, for the record my name is Lorraine Loomis, and I am
Chairperson of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC). The
NWIFC is composed of the twenty tribes in western Washington that are
party to United States v. Washington, which upheld the tribes' treaty--
reserved right to harvest and manage natural resources on and off-
reservation, including salmon and shellfish. On behalf of the NWIFC, we
are providing testimony for the record on our natural resources
management and environmental program funding requests for the Bureau of
Indian Affairs (BIA), Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) and Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations. These programs
support tribes to carry out their natural resource management
responsibilities including the management of Pacific salmon fisheries,
which contribute to a robust natural resource--based economy and the
continued exercise of tribal treaty rights.
summary of fiscal year 2022 (fy22) appropriations requests
Bureau of Indian Affairs
--Provide $66.0 million for Rights Protection Implementation
(collective request)
--Provide $17.146 million for Western Washington Fisheries
Management
--Provide $3.438 million for Washington State Timber-Fish-Wildlife
--Provide $6.279 million for U.S./Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty
--Provide $2.4 million for Salmon Marking
--Provide $15.0 million for Fish, Wildlife & Parks Projects (non-TPA)
--Provide $953,000 for the Salmon and Steelhead Habitat Inventory and
Assessment Program within the Tribal Management/Development
Program Subactivity
--Fully Fund Contract Support Costs
--Provide $2.0 million within Tribal Management/Development Program
Subactivity for Western Washington Treaty Tribes Wildlife
Management
--Provide $60.971 million for Tribal Climate Resilience
Fish & Wildlife Service
--Provide $8.0 million for Tribal Wildlife Grants
Environmental Protection Agency
--Provide $96.4 million for General Assistance Program
--Provide $50.0 million for Puget Sound Geographic Program
justification of requests
Bureau of Indian Affairs
--Provide $66.0 million for BIA Rights Protection Implementation
Subactivity. The 41 tribes in the Great Lakes and Pacific
Northwest with similar treaty--reserved rights have
collectively identified that no less than $66.0 million for the
Rights Protection Implementation (RPI) subactivity is necessary
to support essential tribal treaty--reserved resource
management. This request is a $21.513 million increase over the
President's FY22 budget request of $44.487 million. A summary
of the accounts of importance to us within RPI are further
identified below. Please note the BIA's Budget Justification
doesn't provide a breakout of the President's FY22 budget
request for these accounts.
--Provide $17.146 million for BIA Western Washington Fisheries
Management. We respectfully request $17.146 million, an
increase of $6.42 million over the FY21 enacted level of
$10.726 million. Funding for this program supports the
tribes to co-manage their treaty--reserved resources with
the state of Washington, and to continue to meet court
mandates and legal responsibilities. For example, funding
supports harvest planning, population assessments, data
gathering for finfish, shellfish, groundfish, and other
natural resource management needs. This funding is critical
to support the day-to-day operations of essential fishery
management. Reduced abundance and increased regulatory
scrutiny of fisheries, coupled with ongoing salmon habitat
loss, increased recreational pressures and climate change
are greatly increasing the difficulty (and cost) of co-
managing salmon and other resources. While we greatly
appreciate the modest increase to RPI, funding for Western
Washington Fisheries Management account has not kept pace
with increasing management obligations and the growing
number of threats to treaty--reserved rights and resources,
including climate changes.
--Provide $3.438 million for BIA Washington State Timber-Fish-
Wildlife (TFW). We respectfully request $3.438 million,
which would maintain the FY21 enacted level. Funding for
this program is provided to improve forest practices on
state and private lands, while providing protection for
fish, wildlife and water quality. This funding supports the
tribes' participation in the Timber, Fish and Wildlife
Agreement--a collaborative intergovernmental and
stakeholder process between the state, industry and tribes.
--Provide $6.279 million for BIA U.S./Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty.
We respectfully request $6.279 million, which would
maintain the FY21 enacted level. This request is consistent
with that of the Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC) and is
necessary to implement the Annex chapters of the Pacific
Salmon Treaty (PST). Tribes assist the U.S. federal
government in meeting its obligations to implement the
treaty by participating in fisheries management exercises,
including cooperative research and data gathering
activities. This funding supports our tribes' participation
in the bilateral PST process.
--Provide 2.4 million for BIA Salmon Marking. We respectfully
request $2.4 million, an increase of $1.057 million over
the FY21 enacted level of $1.343 million. This request
would support ongoing coded wire tagging and adipose fin
clipping (marking) operations at tribal hatcheries. Marking
is used to differentiate hatchery--origin salmon from
natural spawning ones. Since 2003, Congress has required
that all salmon released from federally funded hatcheries
are marked for conservation management purposes. Coded Wire
Tags are used to provide a unique identifier to a
particular hatchery stock, which is then used in salmonid
abundance assessments and catch rates. The NWIFC uses
automated trailers to provide efficient centralized tagging
and marking services to our 20-member tribes. However, an
increasing demand for these important services continues to
increase our costs.
--Provide $15.0 million for BIA Fish, Wildlife & Parks Projects (Non-
TPA) for Hatchery Operations and Maintenance. We respectfully
request $15.0 million for Hatchery Operations and Maintenance
within the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Projects account, an
increase of $44,000 above the President's FY22 budget request
of $14.956 million. More specifically, we request $8.0 million
for Hatchery Operations and $7.0 million for Hatchery
Maintenance. This funding is provided to tribal hatcheries to
support the rearing and releasing of salmon and steelhead for
harvest by Indian and non-Indian fisheries in the U.S. and
Canada. Without hatcheries, tribes would lose their most basic
ceremonial and subsistence fisheries that are central to our
tribal culture. For example, we currently estimate that more
than 80% of the salmon harvested are hatchery-origin fish. Yet
despite the central importance of these facilities, tribes face
millions of dollars in deferred maintenance costs and
significant funding shortfalls in operations.
--Provide $953,000 for BIA Salmon and Steelhead Habitat Inventory and
Assessment Program (SSHIAP) (within the Tribal Management/
Development Program). We respectfully request $953,000 within
the Tribal Management/Development Program for SSHIAP, an
increase of $123,000 above the FY21 enacted level of $830,000.
We are greatly appreciative of Congress's support for this
program in FY20 and FY21 conference reports. SSHIAP is vital to
the western Washington tribes because it provides essential
environmental data management, analysis, sharing and reporting
to support tribal natural resource management. It also supports
our tribes' ability to adequately participate in watershed
resource assessments and salmon recovery work.
--Fully Fund BIA Contract Support Costs. We respectfully request that
Congress fully fund Contract Support Costs (CSC) and reclassify
CSC as mandatory. Funding for CSC ensures tribes and tribal
organizations have the capacity to manage federal programs
under self-determination contracts and self-governance
compacts.
--Provide $2.0 million within Tribal Management/Development Program
Subactivity for Western Washington Treaty Tribes Wildlife
Management. We respectfully request $2.0 million for western
Washington treaty tribes' wildlife management programs within
Tribal Management/Development Program Subactivity. The member
tribes reserved the right to fish, hunt and gather natural
resources throughout their ceded territories. Part and parcel
with the tribes' reserved right to hunt and gather outside of
their reservation boundaries is the need to co-manage wildlife
resources with the State of Washington. Requested funding will
provide capacity to participate in state-tribal co-management
forums, develop wildlife management plans, develop and enhance
tribal hunting codes, and design and implement applied research
projects. These capabilities are fundamental to the protection
of our tribes' treaty rights and there is currently no
dedicated account or funding to support this critical work.
--Provide $60.971 million for BIA Tribal Climate Resilience. We
request $60.971 million for Tribal Climate Resilience,
consistent with the President's FY22 budget request of $60.971
million. Climate change is one of the largest threats to tribal
rights and resources. Funding from this competitive grant
program will support tribal participation in critical issues
that impact treaty--reserved resources, adaptation and promote
natural climate resiliency. The President's proposal also
contains new programs that will greatly benefit the tribes.
Fish & Wildlife Service
--Provide $8.0 million for FWS Tribal Wildlife Grants. We
respectfully request $8.0 million for the nationwide Tribal
Wildlife Grants program, consistent with the President's FY22
budget request of $8.0 million. Funding from this competitive
grant program supports the conservation of wildlife and their
habitat, including species that are culturally or traditionally
important to tribes.
Environmental Protection Agency
--Provide $96.4 million for EPA General Assistance Program (GAP). We
request $96.4 million for the nationwide GAP, an increase of
$18.825 million over the President's FY22 budget request of
$77.575 million We also respectfully request: 1) bill or report
language that would improve flexibility in the GAP to ensure
individual tribal priorities and implementation activities
would be eligible; and 2) $5.0 million for a regional pilot
project that would demonstrate the flexibility needed to
implement individual tribal priorities through a self-
determination model that can benefit tribes, EPA and the
environment. The GAP builds tribal program capacity to address
environmental issues that impact tribes' health, safety and
treaty--reserved resources.
--Provide $50.0 million for EPA Puget Sound Geographic Program. We
request $50.0 million for Puget Sound, an increase of $15.0
million over the President's FY22 budget request of $35.0
million. This Geographic Program provides essential funding
that will help protect and restore Puget Sound--an estuary of
national significance. Funding for this program supports our
participation in a broad range of collaborative Puget Sound
recovery work, including scientific research, resource recovery
planning and policy discussions that affect our treaty rights.
conclusion
We respectfully urge the Subcommittee to continue to support the
protection and restoration of treaty--reserved resources and the
communities and economies dependent upon them. We greatly appreciate
your attention to our requests and thank you for your continued
commitment to the tribes.
______

Prepared Statement of the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board
Greetings Chairman Merkley and Ranking Member Murkowski, and
Members of the Subcommittee. My name is Nickolaus Lewis, and I serve as
Council on the Lummi Indian Business Council, and as Chair of the
Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB or Board). I thank
the Subcommittee for the opportunity to provide testimony on the FY
2022 Indian Health Service (IHS) budget. I thank the Subcommittee for
continuing to support increased funding for IHS every year.
NPAIHB was established in 1972 and is a tribal organization under
the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA),
P.L. 93-638, that advocates on behalf of the 43 federally--recognized
Indian Tribes in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington on specific health care
issues. The Board's mission is to eliminate health disparities and
improve the quality of life of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/
AN) by supporting Northwest Tribes in the delivery of culturally
appropriate, high quality health programs and services. ``Wellness for
the seventh generation'' is the Board's vision. In order to achieve
this vision, I respectfully ask that this Subcommittee consider tribal
sovereignty, traditional knowledge, and culture in all policy
initiatives and funding opportunities.
As NPAIHB Chair, I provide the following testimony to address
Portland Area/Northwest Tribes' long-standing health care needs,
including the need for public health infrastructure:

COVID-19.--Portland Area Tribes appreciate the multiple funding
packages for Tribal Nations to address this pandemic, especially the
$6.094 billion to the Indian health system under the American Rescue
Plan Act of 2021. As you know, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the
lack of public health infrastructure in the Indian health system and
highlighted the stark health disparities among AI/AN people. AI/AN
people had significantly higher rates of COVID-19 cases (3.5x)\1\,
hospitalizations (5.3x), and deaths (1.8x)\2\ than non-Hispanic whites.
In the Northwest, AI/AN people were more likely to be hospitalized, and
account for 2% of COVID-19 deaths while only making up 1% of the
Northwest population. As this pandemic continues into FY 2022,
increased funding across all IHS accounts will be critical to ensure
tribes have the resources they need to address ongoing health care and
service needs.
FY 2021 Funding.--For FY 2021, I thank the Subcommittee for the
first time funding for HIV and Hepatitis C, and continued funding for
the Community Health Aide Program expansion and IT/EHR Modernization.
These initiatives are vital to our tribes to build public health
infrastructure and to expand services.
Provide Advance Appropriations for IHS.--We are in support of the
historical request by President Biden for advance appropriations for
IHS in FY 2023. Previous government shutdowns have caused undue
hardship to Northwest Tribes--from federal employees not receiving a
paycheck to clinics cutting down their hours. Some Northwest Tribes
even considered closing their clinics due to lack of funding. This is
unconscionable and must be prevented in the future. Continuing
resolutions are no better and also impact continuity of services and
create instability. For these reasons, NPAIHB requests that the
Committee support the President's request for Advance Appropriations in
recognition of trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations.
Provide Mandatory Appropriation for ISDEAA Section 105(l) Leases
and Contract Support Costs (CSC).--Portland Area Tribes are
appreciative of the Committee's support in securing an indefinite
appropriation for 105(l) leases at $101 million in FY 2021. For FY
2022, Portland Area Tribes support the request by President Biden to
move 105(l) leases and CSC appropriations to mandatory funding to
ensure that these appropriations are funded year after year without
impacting annual programmatic increases to IHS and Tribal health
facilities. We also recommend funding 105(l) leases at $337 million for
FY 2022 to fully fund this growing expense; and funding for CSC at
$1.142 billion for FY 2022.
Full Funding for IHS.--President Biden and Vice President Harris
have acknowledged the chronic underfunding of IHS and pledged to fully
fund IHS. We request the same pledge from this Committee. Full funding
for IHS is estimated at $48 billion by the National Tribal Budget
Formulation Workgroup,\3\ an amount Portland Area Tribes support. For
FY 2022, funding IHS at $12.8 billion, with a commitment to fund IHS at
$48 billion in FY 2023, will move us towards ending the growing health
disparities and urgent health care needs at IHS, tribal, and urban
Indian facilities (I/T/U).
Increase Purchased and Referred Care (PRC) by $1.046 billion.--In
FY 2021, the PRC subaccount only received a 1.1% increase. This was a
dismal increase given that Portland Area Tribes must purchase all
specialty and inpatient care because there is no IHS hospital in the
Area. Since one-third of the Portland Area IHS budget is allocated to
PRC a more substantial increase is needed to increase PRC services.
When there is a minimal increase and no consideration of medical
inflation and population growth, Northwest Tribes are forced to cut PRC
services.
In addition, with the unknown long-term health care needs of COVID-
19 long--haulers and future COVID-19 variants, we request that this
Committee commit to increased PRC funding in FY 2022. Thousands of our
patients continue to suffer serious, debilitating, and lingering COVID-
19 symptoms many months after their initial bout of infection, with
major social, health, and economic consequences. Experts say 1 in 10
COVID-19 patients are still unwell 12 weeks after their acute
infections, and may suffer for far longer. This is a condition that can
be extremely debilitating. For FY 2022, we request that PRC be
increased by $1.046 billion for a total of $2.022 billion.
Increase Funding for Mental Health by $600 million and Substance
Use by $527 million.--In our Area and nationwide, there are high rates
of depression, anxiety, and relapses attributable to prolonged
isolation during the pandemic. We are particularly concerned about our
AI/AN adolescents and young adults. Suicide is the second leading cause
of death for AI/AN adolescents and young adults. AI/AN suicide
mortality in this age group (10-29) is 2-3 times greater, and in some
communities 10 times greater, than that for non-Hispanic whites. This
data supports Portland Area Tribes' requests to this Committee for
increased funding to address mental health and substance use provider
shortages, expansion of services--particularly youth services, and
training needs for I/T/U staff.
The data also supports funding for new mental health and substance
use programs that are authorized, but never funded, under the Indian
Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA), including Sections 702, 704, 705
and 715. These programs would increase prevention and treatment
services, community mental health workers and behavioral health
research. In order to address our requests, including funding new IHCIA
programs, for FY 2022, NPAIHB recommends a $600 million increase for
mental health and $527 million increase for substance use.
We also recommend that the Committee include report language
directing IHS to provide an option for tribes to receive funding for
IHS Behavioral Health Initiatives, including the new Community Opioid
Intervention Pilot Project, through ISDEAA Title I and Title V compacts
and contracts.
Fund Information Technology Modernization at $1 billion. Health IT
modernization, including replacement of the Resource and Patient
Management System (RPMS), must be a priority of IHS with an expedited
implementation over the next three to five years, not 10 years as
proposed by IHS. Tribes still using RPMS are ready for a new EHR system
so implementation must be a priority. In addition, because all
specialty care is purchased in our Area, some tribes updated their EHR
systems to better manage patient care and streamline referrals. These
tribes have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on new EHR systems.
For FY 2022, NPAIHB recommends funding at $1 billion for health IT
modernization. We also request that the Committee include bill or
report language that EHR subaccount funds can be used for reimbursing
tribes that have purchased, or will purchase, commercial off the shelf
systems, including annual licensing fees, maintenance and training.
Fund Expansion of Community Health Aide Program at $60 million.--
Although we appreciate President Biden's request for $25 million for
national expansion of the Community Health Aide Program (CHAP) in FY
2022, we believe this amount is insufficient and must be increased.
NPAIHB has successfully established the framework for CHAP Expansion in
the Portland Area with 12 working Dental Health Aide Therapists and 11
Behavioral Health Aides in training. Portland Area Tribes are also
currently standing up the Portland Area CHAP Certification Board, the
first to be established in the lower 48. For FY 2022, we request $60
million for continuation of the national expansion with $10 million for
Portland Area to continue to expand CHAP. We also request that any
funding appropriated for CHAP education programs include the Portland
Area to support our education programs for Dental Health Aide
Therapists and Behavioral Health Aides.
Increase Indian Health Professions Funding by $25 million. COVID-19
has exacerbated the recruitment and retention issues our Northwest
Tribal communities face with health care providers. In order to address
these provider shortages, NPAIHB supports an increase for Indian Health
Professions to fully fund scholarships for all qualified applicants to
the IHS Scholarship Program and to support the Loan Repayment Program
to fund all physicians, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants,
nurses and other direct care practitioners.\4\ For FY 2022, we support
the request by President Biden to increase the Indian Health
Professions program by $25 million.
Increase Funding for Small Ambulatory Program, Joint Venture
Construction Project and New Innovative Approaches for Health Care
Facilities Construction by $21 billion. No funds have been allocated to
Portland Area Tribes for new facility construction for at least 20
years. For this reason, Portland Area Tribes only support funding for
specific construction programs and new innovative approaches for health
care facility construction. We request a program increase of $21
billion in FY 2022 to support the Small Ambulatory Program (SAP) with
funding for staffing packages, the Joint Venture Construction Program
(JVCP), and funding for innovative approaches to address unmet
construction needs for health care facilities construction under 25
U.S.C. Sec. 1631(f).
Fund IHCIA Demonstration Projects Construction at $10 billion. In
FY 2022, there must be at least $10 billion in facilities construction
funding that is available outside of the current IHS Healthcare
Facilities Construction Priority System (HFCPS) as a new, equitable
source of funding that will provide access to construction funds for
demonstration projects under 25 U.S.C. Sec. 1637. The Portland Area
Facilities Advisory Committee (PAFAC) completed a pilot study over 10
years ago to evaluate the feasibility of regional specialty referral
centers in the IHS system. This innovative facility would provide
services such as medical and surgical specialty care, specialty dental
care, audiology, physical and occupational therapy as well as advanced
imaging and outpatient surgery for 50,000 users. In FY 2022, $10
billion for demonstration projects construction under 25 U.S.C.
Sec. 1637 would realize Northwest Tribes long standing request for a
regional specialty referral center.
Fund HIV at $60 million and HCV at $600 million. From 2013 through
2017 rates of new diagnosis of HIV for AI/AN people increased to 7.8
per 100,000--although rates of new HIV diagnosis decreased or stayed
stable for all other racial and ethnic groups. We thank the Committee
for the $5 million for HIV and Hepatitis C initiatives in FY 2021. For
FY 2022, NPAIHB requests funding of $60 million for HIV to support
Ending the HIV Epidemic. According to the IHS National Data Warehouse,
it is estimated that there are at least 40,000 AI/AN people with a
current HCV infection being served by IHS, tribal and urban Indian
facilities. For FY 2022, $600 million is needed for IHS to provide the
life--saving HCV treatment to the 40,000 AI/ANs with HCV.
Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI). We request permanent
reauthorization of SDPI at $250 million per year with medical inflation
rate increases annually. We also request that an option be created for
tribes to receive SDPI funds through Title 1 or Title V compacts or
contracts. Specifically, we recommend that 42. U.S.C. Sec. 254c-3(c) be
amended with the addition of the following language: ``(2)
APPROPRIATIONS.--On request from an Indian tribe or tribal
organization, the Secretary shall award diabetes program funds made
available to the requesting tribe or tribal organization under this
section as amounts provided under Subsections 106(a)(1) and Subsection
508(c) of the Indian Self-Determination Act, 25 U.S.C. Sec. 5325(a)(1)
and Sec. 5388(c), as appropriate.''
Thank you for this opportunity to provide recommendations on the FY
2022 IHS budget. I invite you to visit Portland Area Tribes to learn
more about the utilization of IHS funding and health care needs in our
Area. I look forward to working with the Subcommittee on our
requests.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Hatcher SM, Agnew-Brune C, Anderson M, et al. COVID-19 among
American Indian and Alaska Native persons-23 states, January 31-July 3,
2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:1166-9.
\2\ Arrazola J, Masiello MM, Joshi S, et al. COVID-19 Mortality
Among American Indian and Alaska Native Persons--14 States, January-
June 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:1853-1856. DOI: http://
dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6949a3
\3\ National Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup Recommendation, FY
2022 Summary Recommendations, FINAL_FY22 IHS Budget Book.pdf (nihb.org)
(last visited Mar. 31, 2021).
\4\ NPAIHB Resolution18-03-07.
\5\ For more information, please contact Liz Coronado, NPAIHB, at
[email protected] or (559) 289-9964.

[This statement was submitted by Nickolaus Lewis, Chair.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Norton Sound Health Corporation
The requests of the Norton Sound Health Corporation (NSHC) for the FY
2022 Indian Health Service (IHS) budget are as follows:

--Increase funding for behavioral health social detoxification
programs through the Preventing Alcohol Related Deaths (PARD)
program under the Snyder Act or through the creation of a
Special Behavorial Health Program for Indians, similar to the
Special Diabetes Program for Indians
--Amend the new Indian Health Care Improvement Act to make newly
constructed behavioral health centers eligible for staffing
package funding
--Allow behavioral health centers newly constructed during COVID-19,
to be eligible for reimbursement through the American Rescue
Plan
--Move CSC and 105(l) lease costs out of the annual discretionary
budget and over to mandatory funding and reform the 105(l)lease
program to include the leasing of sanitation facilities by
Tribal Health Organizations to support and carry out the
delivery of quality, compliant water programs
--Address funding and policy inequities in IHS sanitation funding
--Increase funding for the small ambulatory clinic fund and expand to
include staffing quarters to assist Norton Sound Health
Corporation for its Wales replacement clinic and housing
triplex for staff
--Direct IHS to use American Rescue Plan funds to designate funding
for a youth treatment facility in Alaska
--Advance Appropriations for IHS to facilitate efficient budget
planning, purchasing, hiring, and innovation for Tribal Health
Organizations

Headquartered in Nome, Alaska, Norton Sound Health Corporation is
owned and managed by the 20 federally recognized tribes of the Bering
Strait region. Our tribal system includes a regional hospital and 15
village--based clinics, which we operate under an Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA) agreement.\1\ Our
rural and remote Arctic region remains unconnected by roads, and we are
500 air miles from Alaska's economic hub of Anchorage. Our service area
encompasses 44,000 square miles.
Recommend the IHS increase funding for behavioral health social
detoxification programs through the Preventing Alcohol Related Deaths
(PARD) program under the Snyder Act or through the creation of a
Special Behavioral Health Program for Indians, similar to the Special
Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI).
As the alcohol and opioid abuse problem intensifies with the wider
availability of heroin, oxycodone, and often--lethal synthuetics such
as fentanyl, the demand for treatment services has grown exponentially.
As a result, national and state entities and governments have openly
recognized and called for the need to arm providers with more resources
and funding; however, despite the evidence of rampant substance use
concerns, back--logged psychiatric facilities, and reimbursements
inadequate to meet the expenses of providing services, there is an
imbalance between the magnitude of the problem and appropriate funding.
The Bering Strait region has many of the same concerns as other
areas of the state and country: high rates of substance use,
depression, anxiety, and suicide. Because our region is in remote
Alaska, resources with which to work are fewer than those in urban
areas; this often results in sending our people to Anchorage or
Fairbanks for higher levels of care. Individuals have a tough decision
to make when considering their options for treatment outside of the
region: leave their families for a facility and community that is not
reflective of their own cultures and values, or, forego treatment.
Unfortunately, the latter is often the choice. Uprooting someone from
their culture and families--two supports used as building blocks in
recovery--is ineffective treatment and an unfair choice; as a result,
further spiraling into addiction and relapses becomes expected. We are
destined to see our people with substance and psychiatric concerns
repeat those patterns of relapse and crisis without a real choice to
access localized treatment.
Amend the new Indian Health Care Improvement Act to make newly
constructed behavioral health centers eligible for staffing package
funding & allow behavioral health centers newly constructed during
COVID-19, to be eligible for reimbursement through the American Rescue
Plan.
In May 2021, Norton Sound Health Corporation (NSHC) is opening a
Wellness and Training Center for behavioral health services. The Center
will provide additional levels of care locally, addressing substance
use and behavioral health treatment options in a culturally--sensitive
manner. The services at the Center will include detoxification,
Outpatient, Intensive Outpatient, Partial Hospitalization, and sober
housing. Services will address mental and behavioral concerns, often
co-occurring with substance use disorders. This project is essential in
the promotion of healing, wellness, and the mitigation of substance
abuse within our region.
Despite best efforts over several years to argue for inclusion as
an eligible project under the Joint Venture Construction Program,
standalone behavioral health facilities remain unsupported. As a
result, NSHC has funded 85% of this project without the benefit of
receiving a staffing package to offset future operational costs. With a
$5.6 million annual operating budget, NSHC will provide these vital
services at a significant loss; however, support through designated
funding from IHS will ensure these services are sustainable and
patients thrive for years to come.
Substance abuse and mental health concerns are healthcare crises;
every opportunity for primary care projects supported through Joint
Venture partnerships must be extended to these treatment facilities.
Between March 2020 and March 2021, the number one diagnosis for people
admitted to the inpatient unit at the NSHC hospital was Suicidal
Ideation accounting for 25.86% of all diagnoses; Alcohol Abuse and
Dependence accounted for 16.59% and 14.22%, the 6th and 7th most often
used diagnoses upon admission. NSHC will continue to ask for a staffing
package and third-party billing authority for this facility, as is the
case with facilities constructed under the IHS Health Facilities
Construction Priority List and its Joint Venture program. We would also
benefit from the reimbursement of construction costs.
Unfortunately, there are further gaps in the continuum of care that
must be developed, none more glaring than the dearth of youth
psychiatric treatment facilities across the state. With increasing
frequency, NSHC is admitting children and adolescents to its inpatient
unit for psychoses, suicidal ideation, and other behavioral concerns.
From March 2020 through March 2021, 35 adolescents between ages 11 and
17 were admitted for suicide--related diagnoses. Alarmingly, those 35
were on the unit for a combined 1,480 days. (Six 17 year-olds were
present for 364 days, an average of one teenager every day of the
year.) This is two times the length of stay totals (702) and almost
three times the total length of stay for any one youth age group (164)
from the same time period from 2019-2020. These 35 youth also account
for 25% of the inpatient census and 943 more days than any other age
group 18 years and older combined.
Unfortunately, NSHC currently does not have the capacity to provide
the level of care many of these youth need. As a result, they languish
on the unit while local staff members try to find a suitable placement
out of region; however, there are only four Residential Psychiatric
Treatment Centers (RPTC) with a combined 86 beds in Alaska. Admissions
to these RPTCs are compromised by bed waits of 30 or more days at
times, and because the escalating behaviors exhibited by some of these
youth result in declined applications, forcing local providers to
search for placements out of state, an unacceptable if not unavoidable
circumstance. Additional appropriations to IHS can stand--up a new RPTC
in Alaska for Alaska Native youth with staff members skilled in
handling a variety of behaviors. This is a priority and a vital need
that will increase the psychiatric bed census and keep our youth home.
NSHC expresses gratitude for the availability of small ambulatory
clinic funding as a source of funding to support replacement clinics in
villages and recommends it be expanded to include staff quarters, when
projects are constructed in tandem. A design for a new clinic and staff
housing quarters for Wales, Alaska is underway at NSHC. There is a
housing shortage in all the villages in the Bering Strait Region. Staff
housing is critical for health aides who work at the local clinics as
well as for traveling providers.
Funding for Water & Sewer Projects.--In the authorizing statute for
IHS, Congress reaffirmed the Indian Health Service as the agency with
``primary responsibility and authority to provide necessary sanitation
facilities'' and furthermore, ``it is in the interest of the United
States and it is the policy of the United States, that all Indian
communities and Indian homes, new and existing, be provided with safe
and adequate water supply systems and sanitary sewage waste disposal
systems as soon as possible"(25 USC 1632). We respectfully urge the
Appropriations Committee to remind and require IHS to recognize and
treat Alaska Native communities as Native communities and eliminate the
contribution requirements for critical sanitation public
infrastructure.
The health impacts of a lack of sanitation and clean water
infrastructure, in combination with a shortage of housing in our
communities remains an ongoing public health crisis. The CDC has noted
that one in three infants from communities without running water are
hospitalized for respiratory infections. The communities of Diomede,
Unalakleet & Wales are on the Environmental Protection Agency's EET
list of water systems out of compliance with federal regulations for
arsenic, uranium, and/or THMs (probable human carcinogen)-levels over
what EPA has deemed to be safe for humans to drink in the long-term.
There remains a $1 billion sanitation need in Alaska, with 30
communities or 3300 homes unconnected. In the Bering Strait region we
face a $261 million sanitation need. Five communities in our region,
Diomede, Wales, Shishmaref, Stebbins, and Teller remain completely
unconnected to running water and sewer. Gambell is 70% served, with 43
homes in the village of Gambell remaining unconnected to Water and
Sewer. Ongoing sewer and water upgrades and maintenance backlogs remain
concerns in seven communities. An estimated 520 homes in the Bering
Strait region have no running water, nor flush toilets.
We are opposed to the decision of the IHS to implement in the
FY2018 Sanitation Facilities Construction appropriation using a
methodology based on the premise that our Alaska Native villages are
`non-Indian'. Our unserved communities average over 90% Alaska Native.
The SDS policy places Indian communities in the same category as ``non-
Indian'' communities requiring that tribes find contributions for
ineligible buildings such as public schools and teacher housing. All
community buildings are for the benefit of the Native community,
including schools which serve as in some cases the primary gathering
place for healthy community activities. Schools and teacher homes are
also often the only facilities connected to sewer and water, creating
significant sanitation inequities in a community.
In order to address the sanitation crisis in our communities, we
urge that Congress remove the regulatory barriers to our unserved
communities, and expand Indian Self Determination compacting with USDA
and EPA sanitation funds to allow tribes and tribal organizations to
establish pathways to service in response to the increasing
environmental threats to our public infrastructure. We urge the
Interior approprations committee to:

--Remove IHS Sanitation Deficiency System ``Cost Caps''. These
arbitrary caps determine a project's feasibility prevents a
path to service in unserved communities. The increased cost of
doing business in Alaska, makes many projects ineligible for
IHS funding.
--Urge full funding for Sanitation Facilities Construction $2.67
billion

Advance Appropriations for IHS.--For several years, Tribal Health
Organizations have requested advance appropriations to facilitate
budget planning, purchasing, hiring, and innovation, similar to the
Veterans Administration enacted advanced appropriation in 2009. It has
become unfortunately normal for appropriations to become chronically
late. We were grateful to see President Biden support IHS advance
appropriations in his FY 2022 budget request to Congress which was
released on April 9, 2021. We urge the Committee to take the necessary
steps in the FY 2022 appropriations bill to move IHS to an advance
appropriation for FY 2023 and beyond.
Thank you for your consideration of the concerns and requests of
the Norton Sound Health Corporation.
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\1\ We serve the communities of: Brevig Mission, Council, Diomede,
Elim, Gambell, Golovin, King Island, Koyuk, Mary's Igloo, Nome, St.
Michael, Savoonga, Shaktoolik, Shishmaref, Solomon, Stebbins, Teller,
Unalakleet, Wales, and White Mountain.

[This statement was submitted by Angela Gorn, President/CEO.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Oceana Offshore Drilling Campaign
Thank you, Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and members of
the Subcommittee for this opportunity to submit testimony. I am the
Federal Policy Manager on Oceana's Offshore Drilling Campaign. Oceana
is the largest international advocacy organization devoted solely to
ocean conservation. I write to urge the Committee to enact moratoria on
expanded offshore drilling and seismic airgun blasting for oil and gas
in the fiscal year 2022 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Appropriations bill.
Prohibiting funding for new offshore oil and gas leasing activities
would effectively ensure a one-year moratorium on the expansion of
offshore drilling. There is longstanding precedent for this, as
Congress--for nearly three decades--heeded concerns from the
communities it represents and restricted spending on offshore federal
oil and gas leasing and drilling activities via the appropriations
process. More recently, such funding restrictions have been part of the
House Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill
for the past two years. Oceana asks the Subcommittee to make it a
priority to include offshore drilling moratoria in your FY2022 bill.
In January 2018, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management (BOEM) released its 2019-2024 Draft Proposed Program
(DPP). This was the initial draft of the Trump Administration's plan to
open more of our coasts to offshore drilling. As proposed, the DPP
threatened to radically expand oil and gas leasing to the Atlantic,
Pacific, and Arctic Oceans, as well as off Florida's Gulf Coast.
Subsequently, President Trump joined Presidents Bush, Clinton, and
Obama in utilizing his executive authority to protect large areas of
the OCS from new offshore drilling by establishing a ten-year
moratorium on leasing for offshore oil and gas off North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. This action further exemplified
the bipartisan nature of offshore drilling protections.
Earlier this year, President Biden signed an Executive Order on
Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which paused all new
oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters, including those
offshore, pending a review of the nation's fossil fuel leasing program.
That review is currently underway. Coastal communities up and down our
shores deserve the peace of mind that drilling protections will bring,
and Congress has an important role to play.
There is a long history of involvement by Congress during the
planning stages of BOEM's five-year programs, regardless of which party
controls the White House. Reinstating offshore drilling moratoria
through the appropriations process would prevent BOEM from leasing
specific areas that Congress wishes to protect from future offshore
drilling. Without moratoria provisions, Congress relinquishes its power
to influence the future of offshore drilling to the Executive Branch.
Offshore drilling threatens the continued prosperity of coastal
communities and states whose economies are directly tied to clean, oil-
free shorelines and waters. The expansion of oil and gas activities in
federal ocean waters poses a real threat to every business and industry
that relies on a healthy marine environment to thrive. A recent Oceana
analysis found that tourism, fishing, and recreation--all major drivers
of coastal economies--in the Atlantic, Pacific, and eastern Gulf of
Mexico support around 3.3 million American jobs and $250 billion in GDP
each year.\1\ If fisheries are properly managed and coastlines are
continuously protected, these jobs can be sustained for generations to
come. This stands in stark contrast to offshore drilling for oil and
gas, which produces finite resources. When the oil and gas run out, so
will the jobs. Coastal communities want a reliable source of revenue--
not more dirty drilling for oil and gas. In fact, as of today,
opposition and concern over offshore drilling activities has been
expressed by:

--East and West Coast governors, including Florida, Georgia, South
Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New
Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Maine, California, Oregon, and Washington
--More than 390 local municipalities
--Over 2,300 local, state, and federal bipartisan officials
--East and West Coast alliances representing over 55,000 businesses
and 500,000 fishing families
--Pacific, New England, South Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic fishery
management councils
--More than 120 scientists
--More than 80 former military leaders
--Commercial and recreational fishing interests including the
Southeastern Fisheries Association, Snook and Gamefish
Foundation, Fisheries Survival Fund, Billfish Foundation, and
International Game Fish Association
--California Coastal Commission, California Fish and Game Commission
and California State Lands Commission
--Department of Defense, NASA, U.S. Air Force and Florida Defense
Support Task Force

Offshore drilling is also fueling the climate crisis, and
communities are already facing the devastating impacts of warming
oceans, rising seas, and increasingly disastrous weather patterns. The
risks posed by new offshore drilling are too great, especially when its
climate impacts are considered. A recent Oceana analysis found ending
new leasing for offshore oil and gas could prevent emissions of more
than 19 billion tons of greenhouse gas, which is equivalent to taking
every car in the nation off the road for 15 years--or almost three
times the entire U.S annual greenhouse gas emissions.\2\ Greenhouse gas
pollution drives climate change, which harms human health and our
ocean.\3\
Climate change is already impacting everyone, including those who
live along the coasts. As a result of increasingly intense and extreme
weather, dangerous storm surges push farther inland, expanding their
deadly and costly impact.\4\ Permanently protecting our coasts from new
oil development can prevent over $720 billion in damages to people,
property, and the environment.\5\ Damages on this scale would be like
losing the entire economy of a major city, like Washington D.C.,
Boston, or Atlanta, for a year.\6\
Developing oil and gas in new areas would require construction and
development along much of the coast. Adding large--scale refineries,
platforms, offshore and onshore pipelines, and other support
infrastructure would drastically transform the character of coastal
towns. Heavy industrialization of many coastlines is also likely to
harm nearby resources and ecosystems.
In addition to permanently altering the landscape of many towns up
and down the East and West Coasts, offshore drilling is a dirty
investment with long-term consequences for the environment. Efforts to
pursue offshore oil have consistently resulted in spills that are
incredibly toxic to living organisms, both physically and
biochemically.\7\ Large--scale catastrophes such as BP's Deepwater
Horizon disaster in 2010 highlight how a single accident can cause
enormous and lasting consequences. The Deepwater Horizon tragedy killed
11 rig workers, spilled more than 200 million gallons of oil, fouled
thousands of miles of coastline, endangered public health, and killed
thousands of birds, dolphins, and fish.\8\ Seaside communities on the
Gulf are still recovering, physically and economically, from the
estimated $36.9 billion in damages caused by the Deepwater Horizon
spill.\9\
Offshore oil development is dirty across the board, beyond the
catastrophic spills that make headlines. Smaller spills happen on a
routine basis during day-to-day rig operations, as well as during
exploration, production, and transportation.\10\ At least 6,500 oil
spills occurred in U.S. waters between 2007 and 2017, and a recent
study found that spills are typically far larger than what is
reported.\11\ During that same time period, hundreds of workers were
injured every year and on average, a fire or explosion erupted on
offshore rigs every three days on the Outer Continental Shelf.\12\
Expanding offshore drilling to new frontiers when the industry remains
dirty and dangerous is both ill--advised and out of touch with the
needs and wishes of those who inhabit the coast.
It is time for Congress to restore the precedent of enacting
appropriations moratoria to protect our oceans and coastal communities.
We ask the Subcommittee and full Committee to protect our coasts from
dirty and dangerous offshore drilling and prohibit the use of any
funding provided to the Department of Interior in the FY2022 Interior,
Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for the purposes
of any new oil and gas preleasing, leasing, and related activities. The
threats to coastal economies, the climate, marine wildlife, and your
own constituents are simply too great to risk expanding the footprint
of offshore drilling. Thank you again for the opportunity to submit
this testimony.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Oceana (Jan. 2021) Offshore Drilling Fuels the Climate Crisis
and Threatens the Economy. Washington, D.C. Available: https://
usa.oceana.org/sites/default/files/2021/01/27/
final_climate_economy_fact_sheet_m1_doi.pdf.
\2\ Oceana (Jan. 2021) Offshore Drilling Fuels the Climate Crisis
and Threatens the Economy.
\3\ IPCC (2014) Climate change 2014: impacts, adaptation, and
vulnerability: Working Group II contribution to the fifth assessment
report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. New York, NY:
Cambridge University Press.
\4\ IPCC (2019) Summary for Policymakers. In: IPCC Special Report
on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate [H.-O. Poertner, D.C.
Roberts, V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, M. Tignor, E. Poloczanska, K.
Mintenbeck, M. Nicolai, A. Okem, J. Petzold, B. Rama, N. Weyer (eds.)].
Available: Available : https://report.ipcc.ch/srocc/pdf/
SROCC_FinalDraft_FullReport.pdf.
\5\ TBD Economics (2021) Producing Oil and Gas on the U.S. Outer
Continental Shelf: CO2e Emissions and the Social Cost of Carbon.
Available: https://usa.oceana.org/sites/default/files/4046/
final_ghg_emissions_and_scc_from_ocs_development_tbd_economics_final0122
21.pdf.
\6\ Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2020, Regional Data. https://
www.bea.gov/.
\7\ 2 NOAA, Office of Response and Restoration, The Toxicity of
Oil: What's the Big Deal? (Aug. 27, 2012), https://
response.restoration.noaa.gov/about/media/toxicity-oil-whats-big-
deal.html.
\8\ 3National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and
Offshore Drilling, Deep Water, The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of
Offshore drilling, (January 2011), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/
GPO-OILCOMMISSION/pdf/GPO-OILCOMMISSION.pdf and Haney, J. C., Geiger,
H. J., and Short, J. W. (2014). Bird mortality from the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill. Inter-Research Marine Ecology Progress Series, 513.
\9\ Lawrence. C. Smith et al., Analysis of Environmental and
Economic Damages from British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon oil spill,
74 Albany L. Rev. 563, 563-85 (2011).
\10\ Cheryl McMahon Anderson et al., BOEM, Update of Occurrence
Rates for Offshore Oil Spills (2012), available: https://www.boem.gov/
uploadedFiles/BOEM/Environmental_
Stewardship/Environmental_Assess ment/Oil_Spill_Modeling/
AndersonMayesLabelle2012.pdf.
\11\ Oceana. Dirty Drilling: Trump Administration Proposals Weaken
Key Safety Protections and Radically Expand Offshore Drilling. (2019),
available: https://usa.oceana.org/sites/default/files/
offshore_drilling_safety_report_final_0.pdf
\12\ Oceana. Dirty Drilling: Trump Administration Proposals Weaken
Key Safety Protections and Radically Expand Offshore Drilling. (2019),
available: https://usa.oceana.org/sites/default/files/
offshore_drilling_safety_report_final_0.pdf

[This statement was submitted by Michael Messmer, Federal Policy
Manager.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Oglala Sioux Tribe
Recommendations:

1. BIA--Not less than $75 million for the BIA Road Maintenance
Program.
2. BIA--$15 million to establish a targeted BIA roads improvement
program.
3. BIA--$200 million increase for BIA tribal law enforcement and
detention services.
4. BIA OJS--Prioritize and expand opioid and drug crisis funding in
Indian Country.
5. BIA--$23 million for the Housing Improvement Program.
6. BIA--$30 million funding for ICWA and child protection services.
7. BIA--Increase support for Welfare Assistance, Social Services,
and the Tiwahe Initiative with dedicated funding in each of these
categories for the Great Plains Area.
8. IHS--Provide full funding and advance appropriations for the
Indian Health Service.
9. IHS--Increase funding for IHS Facilities Construction and
Maintenance with dedicated funding to address outstanding needs in the
Great Plains Area.
10. IHS--Increase support for IHS Sanitation Facilities Maintenance
and Construction.
11. EPA--Increase support for EPA Revolving Funds to complete the
Mni Wiconi Project.
12. BIA--Increase funding for tribal water maintenance departments.
introduction
Thank you Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members
of the Subcommittee for the opportunity to testify on FY 2022 funding
recommendations for programs under your jurisdiction. My name is Kevin
Killer and I serve as the President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, a member
of the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires, known as the Great Sioux
Nation). The chronic underfunding of Indian Country programs and treaty
obligations over the years has taken an enormous toll on our Tribe and
our members. The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 cemented the United
States' obligations to the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and we look to you to
fulfill those obligations through the federal budget process.
We believe that two ways to do this are through reformation of the
budget process so that Department of Interior funds are distributed
based on demonstrated need and full funding of Tribal Priority
Allocations (TPA) identified in Interior programs. Needs--based funding
would more efficiently and effectively make use of federal resources,
while also respecting the diverse needs of Tribal Nations. Together,
needs--based funding and TPA make for a stronger and more responsive
federal budget. In the spirit of advancing the welfare of my Tribe and
other Tribal Nations, I offer the following budget recommendations for
FY 2022.
i. tribal government sub-activities
Not Less Than $75 Million for the BIA Road Maintenance Program; $15
Million for a New Targeted BIA Roads Improvement Program.--Funding for
the BIA Road Maintenance program has been under-resourced for several
fiscal year cycles. In FY 2021, for example, the BIA received only
$36.79 million despite a deferred maintenance backlog exceeding $60
million in the Great Plains Region and almost $300 million nationwide.
Our Tribe is often forced to expend limited tribal funds to cover the
difference in roads maintenance needs--a financial strain that is
compounded by the costs of the ongoing pandemic response and the annual
occurrence of snow and ice control that can consume up to 65% of our
budget each winter. Further, precarious road conditions cause extreme
wear and tear on emergency vehicles, school buses, and personal
vehicles with impacts on response times, school attendance, and
employment and medical care.
Such dire circumstances require immediate solutions. One such
solution is a significant increase of annual appropriations in the BIA
Road Maintenance account so Tribal Nations, such as ours, can receive a
funding amount that is actually viable to get the much needed work done
adequately. The other needed solution is to create a new BIA roads
maintenance account that targets backlogged road and bridge projects by
taking mile inventory, remoteness, and weather conditions into
consideration. An influx of FY 2022 funding for road construction,
maintenance, and equipment would increase public safety, facilitate
economic development, decrease costs, and alleviate the hardships our
members currently endure. We respectfully request Congress provide not
less than $75 million for BIA Road Maintenance along with a separate
appropriation of $15 million to establish a targeted BIA roads
improvement program that accounts for a Tribal Nation's geographic
size, location, and mile inventory.
$200 Million Increase for BIA Tribal Law Enforcement and Detention
Services.--Our Tribe is operating with less than 40% of the police
officers that the BIA agrees are needed to provide adequate police
coverage on our Reservation. They serve in outdated vehicles with no
backup and have not received raises in over three years. In FY 2020,
the Tribe received 139,206 calls of which 74,032 required an officer
response. Because of chronic under-resourcing and unreliable road
conditions emergency response times are deplorable, around 30-40
minutes, which creates a dangerous situation for the victims of
accidents and crime, and for our officers. To reach the staffing levels
required by the BIA's own needs assessment, our Tribe alone needs an
increase of $12 million in federal law enforcement funding.
Public safety facilities and housing construction programs have
critical needs. When the BIA prepared to condemn our Medicine Root
(Kyle) Detention facility in 2010, that building became the last
emergency jail design funded by this Subcommittee. The facility remains
unbuilt today due to a lack of resources. In the interim, we have
prisoners and staff working in a below substandard building that fails
to meet federal safety standards, all while the costs of construction
continue to rise. Please help end the emergency this Subcommittee
declared in 2010 by appropriating the funding necessary to finally
replace this building. We stand ready to work with you and the BIA in
realizing this long overdue goal. We strongly recommend Congress
provide an additional $200 million for tribal law enforcement and
detention services in FY 2022.
Prioritize and Expand Opioid and Drug Crisis Funding in Indian
Country.--We appreciate the continued focus of Congress and federal
agencies on addressing our national substance abuse epidemic--a crisis
that has only grown over the course of the pandemic with no signs of
relenting. Our Tribe has previously declared a State of Emergency due
to the increasing rates of homicide and methamphetamine use on our
lands. Such activities are antithetical to the Lakota way of life and
balance of society. One of our most pressing needs is for on-
Reservation drug treatment facilities. Our existing residential and
outpatient treatment facilities, for example, are in desperate need of
renovations to accommodate additional patients. We would also like to
offer skills--based transitional living facilities to assist patients
with their long-term recovery goals, but we lack the necessary
resources for development and operations. The ability to provide
comprehensive and culturally--appropriate care within our community
would be life--changing for Tribal members. We urge Congress to
maintain funding for the Tribal Opioid Response grants and continue the
expanded scope to include other drugs, such as methamphetamines, that
are causing immeasurable harm.
i. healthcare--the heart of tribal government and human services
Provide Full Funding and Advance Appropriations for the Indian
Health Service.--The IHS strives to provide tribal citizens with access
to high quality and comprehensive medical services, no more so than
during the ongoing pandemic. It has navigated unimaginable hardships
related to supplies, staffing levels, infrastructure and facilities,
and high rates of underlying conditions in serving our people at this
time. Yet, despite its importance to Indian health, it must still
contend with annual uncertainties related to federal funding. This is
unacceptable. The time to change is now. IHS should be given parity
with the Veterans Health Administration with full advance
appropriations on at least a two-year cycle. Full advance IHS
appropriations would promote greater stability in services, personnel
recruitment and retention, and facilities management.
The IHS Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup has calculated this
need at $12.759 billion for full funding. While this represents a
dramatic increase in funding, it is imperative that Congress address
the true needs of the Indian health system. We, thus, strongly urge
Congress to fully fund advance IHS appropriations beginning in FY 2022.
Increase Funding for IHS Sanitation Facilities Construction and
Maintenance.--The IHS has a backlog of at least $2.6 billion in unmet
Sanitation Facilities maintenance and construction needs. It is
critical that these basic resources be increased in tribal communities.
Sanitation facilities are directly related to health and these issues
have become particularly acute during the pandemic, especially on Pine
Ridge. Increased funding for IHS Sanitation Facilities will improve the
daily lives of our people and greatly improve health outcomes in the
short- and long-term. We urgently recommend that Congress provide an
additional increase in the IHS Sanitation Facilities Construction and
Maintenance accounts for FY 2022 and we ask that funding within this
account be directed to address the critical facilities needs of the
Great Plains Region.
Promote Access to Clean Water for Human Health through the Mni
Wiconi Project.--Our Tribe is the lead sponsor of the Mni Wiconi
Project (Pub. L. 100-516, as amended), which provides potable water
from the Missouri River to three reservations and the West River/Lyman-
Jones Water District. Funding is needed to complete the necessary
community systems upgrades on the Pine Ridge Reservation. We are
working with several federal agencies to implement its plan to complete
the upgrades. We need in excess of $25 million to upgrade 19 existing
systems and transfer them into the Mni Wiconi Project, as intended by
the Act. Once transferred, they will be operated and maintained
pursuant to authorized funding under the Mni Wiconi Project Act. We
recommend Congress increase funding for the IHS Sanitation Facilities
Construction account and EPA Revolving Funds to bring this monumental
project to completion. We also recommend that Congress establish a 5%
tribal set-aside for the National Safe Drinking Water State Revolving
Fund and the National Clean Water Act State Revolving Fund.
Increase Funding for Tribal Water Maintenance Departments.--Our
Tribe is in dire need of this funding to ensure our reservation has
adequate and safe water supplies to be a livable homeland and to keep
Reservation residents healthy. We have identified our shovel--ready
potable water projects and specific water system needs that we would be
glad to share with the Subcommittee as additional context for this
request. These include community water systems upgrades, pipe
construction and repairs, water well maintenance, water tank needs, and
associated maintenance equipment. These are all critical for improving
our existing water systems in the pandemic. We recommend Congress
provide $10.5 million for the BIA Water Management, Planning and Pre-
Development Program and $12 million for the BIA Water Resources (TPA)
Program.
ii. human services sub-activities
$23 Million for the BIA Housing Improvement Program (HIP).--Our
Reservation has an acute housing crisis. Our current unmet need is for
over 4,000 new housing units and 1,000 housing repairs--and these
numbers are changing every month as pandemic stressors increase wear-
and-tear on homes and put pressure on our housing market. Many existing
houses in our community are overcrowded, in disrepair, and/or lack the
requisite infrastructure for safe and healthy homes. No individual or
family on Pine Ridge should live in these home situations. We have no
surplus housing to provide temporary housing for victims of violence at
this time. HIP has played a central role in assisting families under
150% of the HHS Poverty Guidelines that live in substandard housing and
have no other resource for housing assistance become homeowners. A
stable living environment translates into improved family conditions,
employment rates, and academic achievement. We recommend that Congress
provide $23 million for HIP in FY 2022.
Increase Funding for Welfare Assistance, Social Services, and the
Tiwahe Initiative.--The unmet needs of our Reservation are alarming and
well-documented. The average Oglala Tribal member must contend with
high rates of infant mortality, chronic illness, intergenerational
trauma, limited to nonexistent economic development, and limited
recreational outlets, among other factors. Social services operated by
the Interior and BIA (along with other federal agencies outside of this
Subcommittee's jurisdiction) are, therefore, essential to meeting our
citizens' complex needs and promoting their personal development and
well-being, particularly in the pandemic. To strengthen the delivery of
social services in Indian Country we recommend that Congress direct the
BIA to develop a 5-year Strategic Plan pursuant to tribal consultation
as a funding condition. We recommend Congress increase support for
Welfare Assistance, Social Services, and the Tiwahe Initiative in FY
2022. We also urge the Subcommittee to provide dedicated funding within
these categories to address the staggering unmet needs in the Great
Plains Area.
Protecting Tribal Youth and Communities under ICWA.--Our Child
Protection Services (CPS) and ICWA program conduct integrated child and
family services on our Reservation. We are challenged by chronic
underfunding that limits our ability to deliver services, manage
caseloads, and to recruit and retain qualified staff. Our CPS and ICWA
programs cost almost $600,000 annually to administer. Additionally, our
Emergency Youth Shelter (EYS) Program is in desperate need of
additional funding. EYS provides emergency shelter to youth age 12-17,
which includes clean bedding, meals, toiletries as well as making
health, vision and dental appointments, meeting with school personnel
for school needs and cultural and entertainment activities. We
currently have one Residential Care Provider, but need a minimum of
four to effectively operate the program. We also need funding for
building repairs, a program van, sufficient groceries and utility
bills. We ask Congress to increase funding for ICWA and child
protection services. We also ask Congress to increase the BIA Social
Services budget to address our EYS program needs.

[This statement was submitted by Kevin Killer, President.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Oregon Natural Desert Association
Honorable Jeff Merkley
Chairman

Honorable Lisa Murkowski
Ranking Member

Dear Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski and Subcommittee
Members:

As your Subcommittee considers its priorities for the Interior,
Environment and Related Agencies budget for fiscal year 2022, we wish
to highlight the need to address comprehensive conservation planning
for the National Wildlife Refuge System. Our national wildlife refuges
are essential for protecting and enhancing biodiversity, wildlife
migration, climate resilient habitats, cultural resources and
recreational opportunities nationwide. Unfortunately, planning for
dozens of national wildlife refuges has fallen behind schedule,
depriving managers, partners and the public of the latest science and
best practices to provide for these values. As part of the $600 million
advocates are recommending for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service) to administer the National Wildlife Refuge System, we urge
you to allocate $15.7 million for Conservation Planning (account 1265)
to support planning on national wildlife refuges.
Allocations for this budget subactivity have dwelled at just four-
tenths of one percent of the Refuge System budget over the past several
years. Meanwhile, refuge plans have become outdated and even expired
under law. The amount recommended here, equal to the sum allocated for
FY 2010 (adjusted for inflation) would allow the Service to revise and
update refuge plans across the country, in accordance with
Congressional direction, with broad public participation, and in
support of local and national conservation goals.
Thank you for your consideration of our request, and for your
important work on the Subcommittee.

Sincerely,

Oregon Natural Desert Association
Defenders of Wildlife
East Cascades Audubon Society
Friends of Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge
Friends of Nevada Wilderness
Natural Resources Defense Council
Portland Audubon
The Wilderness Society

[This statement was submitted by Mark Salvo, Program Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Oregon Water Resources Congress
The Oregon Water Resources Congress (OWRC) is highly supportive of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Water State
Revolving Fund Loan Program (CWSRF) and is requesting appropriations
for this program be increased to at least $3 billion in FY 2022. While
the President's Proposed FY 2022 Budget increases the program to $1.871
billion, the growing backlog of aging infrastructure necessitates a
greater investment. The CWSRF is an effective loan program that
addresses critical water infrastructure needs while benefitting the
environment, local communities, and the economy.
OWRC was established in 1912 as a trade association to support the
protection of water rights and promote the wise stewardship of water
resources statewide. OWRC members are local governmental entities,
which include irrigation districts, water control districts, drainage
districts, water improvement districts, and other agricultural water
suppliers that deliver water to roughly 1/3 of all irrigated land in
Oregon. These water stewards operate complex water management systems,
including water supply reservoirs, canals, pipelines, and hydropower
production facilities.
fy 2022 appropriations
We recognize our country must make strategic investments with
scarce resources, particularly as our economy recovers from pandemic--
related impacts. The CWSRF is a perfect example of the type of program
that should have funding increased because it creates jobs while
benefitting the environment and is an efficient return on taxpayer
investment. CWSRF projects provide much needed construction and
professional services jobs, particularly in rural areas facing economic
hardship. Moreover, as a loan program, it is a wise investment that
allows local communities to leverage their limited resources and
address critical infrastructure needs that would otherwise be unmet.
In Oregon, the CWSRF is administered by the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ), who responsibly maintains the program
through repaid loans, interest, fees, and available federal
capitalization grants. According to EPA, for every $1 of federal
capitalization funding, $3 worth of assistance is provided, leveraging
available funds to maximize benefits for local communities, the
environment, and the economy. Unfortunately, available funding for
water infrastructure projects continues be woefully insufficient to
meet the growing water infrastructure funding needs in Oregon and
nationwide. Funding for the CWSRF needs to be incrementally increased
to support water infrastructure projects that are addressing these
critical needs.
background of cwsrf usage by oregon irrigation districts
Over the course of the program's 30-year history in Oregon, several
OWRC member districts have successfully used CWSRF for projects that
improve water quality and water quantity associated with water delivery
diversions, canals, and pipelines throughout the state. OWRC and our
members are highly supportive of the CWSRF, including promoting the
program to our members and annually submitting federal appropriations
testimony in support of increased funding for the CWSRF. We believe it
is an important funding tool irrigation districts and other water
suppliers are using for innovative piping projects that provide
multiple environmental and economic benefits.
Numerous irrigation districts and other water suppliers need to
pipe currently open canals, which significantly reduces sediment,
improves water temperature, and provides other water quality benefits
to rivers and streams. Piping immediately improves the efficiency of
the water delivery system and helps increase available water supplies
for fish and irrigators alike. These projects also decrease energy
consumption (from reduced pumping) and have opportunities for
generating renewable energy, primarily through in-conduit hydropower.
However, the lack of robust funding for these types of worthwhile
projects has created increased uncertainty for potential borrowers
regarding whether adequate funding will be available in future years.
CWSRF is often an integral part of an overall package of local, state,
and federal funding that necessitates a stronger level of assurance
loan funds will be available for planned water infrastructure projects.
Reductions in CWSRF appropriations could lead to loss of grant funding
and delay or derail beneficial projects irrigation districts have been
developing for years.
The success Oregon districts have had in using the loan program to
design and implement multi-beneficial projects has led to increased
applications to the CWSRF. Now irrigation districts are once again
eligible for a key funding element, principal forgiveness (which was
reinstated with the passage of the WIIN Act in 2016 and related state
rulemaking in 2017), and we expect to see even more interest in the
program. OWRC is hopeful there will be enough funding available to
complete projects that will not only benefit the environment and the
patrons served by the water delivery system, but also benefit the
economy.
cwsrf needs in oregon
The appropriations for the CWSRF program over the past few years
has been far short of what is needed to address critical water
infrastructure needs in Oregon and across the nation. This has led to
fewer water infrastructure projects, and therefore a reduction in
improvements to water quality and water quantity. However, OWRC is
pleased to see a trend of modest increases in appropriations after
several years of decreased funding and hope to see this trend continue
as infrastructure needs have become more expensive and even more time
critical. DEQ's most recent ``Proposed Intended Use Plan--State Fiscal
Year 2022'' includes sixteen loan applications totaling $171,400,305 in
requested funding. Currently, the loan program has $261,526,658 net
available to lend for state fiscal year 2022. DEQ can award a maximum
individual loan amount of $39,228,999.
The following two irrigation district projects are currently ranked
by DEQ in the top four by overall score and also meet the Green Project
Reserve (GPR) requirement. Increased funding will help catalyze many
more projects like the ones below in Oregon and throughout the nation.
North Unit Irrigation District (Deschutes County) $8,150,000
(Ranked #1).--Sec. 319, Design and Construction: Lateral 43 and Juniper
Butte Piping Project. The District's System Improvement Plan (2017)
proposes to pipe the district's open canal network, including the
addition of pressure reducing stations, reuse/retention reservoirs, and
metered turnouts for every water user. The current project proposes to
start in one portion of the district by piping laterals 31, 32, 34 and
43, which represents a total of 8.2 miles of leaky canal and serves
over 9,800 acres of agricultural land. The project will improve water
quality in the lower Crooked River, Lake Billy Chinook, and the lower
Deschutes River by removing canal seepage and minimizing and
eliminating return flow from agricultural lands. Piping of the laterals
will also encourage on-farm efficiency by providing pressurized water,
which enables the switch from furrow irrigation to sprinkler
irrigation, reducing excessive seepage and agricultural runoff from
fields.
Rogue River Valley Irrigation District and Medford Irrigation
District (Jackson County) $24,334,500 (Ranked #4).--Sec. 319, Design
and Construction, Joint System Canal Piping Project. Rogue River Valley
Irrigation District and Medford Irrigation District jointly use the
Joint System Canal to serve several thousand customers with crop
irrigation. Seepage and evaporation are occurring along the canal,
which is resulting in lost water and ultimately less water flowing
through the canal downstream to other water bodies. The proposed
project includes design and construction of piping up to 4.4 miles of
canal and diversions, replacement of siphons, improvements to water
diversion structures and fish passage. The project will address water
quantity and quality for downstream streams, including South Fork
Little Butte Creek, which experience low flow in some seasons. The
project focuses on best management practices for irrigation to improve
water quality from nonpoint sources.
other examples of innovative districts and green project reserves in
oregon
Oregon irrigation districts and other water suppliers are on the
forefront of innovative piping projects that provide and leverage
multiple benefits, including ``green'' infrastructure projects.
Otherwise known as Green Project Reserve (GPR), DEQ is required to use
at least ten percent of annual federal capitalization grants on
projects that promote water and energy efficiency, are environmentally
innovative, or include green infrastructure. In 2009, the first year
GPR was a requirement, four Oregon irrigation districts received over
$11 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA) through the CWSRF for projects which created valuable jobs while
improving water quality. These four projects were essential to DEQ not
only meeting, but exceeding, the minimum requirement that 20% of the
total ARRA funding for the CWSRF be used for GPRs. Without the
irrigation district projects, it is likely Oregon's CWSRF would not
have qualified for ARRA funding. Oregon districts continue to be on the
forefront of water innovations; consistently applying for, and
successfully implementing, a variety of GPR qualifying projects.
In 2019, four GPR projects were financed by DEQ for a total of $13
million, far exceeding EPA's minimum requirement of $1.8 million for
such projects in Oregon. Of those four funded projects, three were
irrigation district projects that met several categories of the GPR
requirements related to improved water and energy efficiency.
In 2020, another three projects received awards totaling $38
million and all met the GPR criteria:
Lone Pine Irrigation District (Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook
counties) $2,000,000.--Sec. 319, Design and Construction, Irrigation
Modernization Project. This project will modernize district--owned
canals and laterals to conserve water, improve operational efficiency,
reduce electrical and energy costs, reduce O&M for farmers through
decreased pumping and improve habitat in the Deschutes River. The
project will achieve these goals by piping all the district's open
canals using HDPE and steel pipe. The existing suspension bridge over
the Crooked River is in disrepair and a new structure is needed to
convey the irrigation water across the river. The district will replace
the bridge with a siphon under the river.
Middle Fork Irrigation District (Hood River County) $20,000,000.--
Sec. 319 Design and Construction, Clear Branch Dam Rehabilitation and
Coe Branch Pipeline. The district will implement multiple projects to
improve water quality and quantity associated with its irrigation
diversions in the Middle Fork Hood River watershed. Specific projects
include installing a new deep--water outlet and improving fish passage
in Laurance Lake; installing new irrigation pipe to alleviate impacts
from current irrigation system and addressing return flows from the
irrigation system; improving the spillway at the Clear Branch Dam; and
improving irrigation efficiency by district patrons.
Swalley Irrigation District (Deschutes County) $16,000,000.--Sec.
319 Design and Construction, Irrigation Modernization Project. This
irrigation piping project includes the installation of pressurized pipe
to eliminate seepage and evaporative loss from open ditches; flow
regulating and metering devices at service connections; pressurized
delivery to eliminate individual pumps system--wide; active education;
and a sprinkler exchange program. Piping and pressurizing the
irrigation canals will result in approximately 1.1 million kWh/year in
energy conservation and conserve up to 16 cubic feet per second of
water during the irrigation season.
Providing increased appropriations for the CWSRF program will help
implement additional innovative and multi-benefit projects like these
in Oregon and across the nation.
conclusion
In conclusion, we are strongly supportive of increased
appropriations to the CWSRF program, allowing Oregon's DEQ to continue
make targeted loans that address Clean Water Act issues and improve
water quality while incentivizing innovative water management solutions
that benefit local communities, agricultural economies, and the
environment. This voluntary approach creates and promotes cooperation
and collaborative solutions to complex water resources challenges. We
respectfully request the appropriation of at least $3 billion for the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water State Revolving Loan
Fund for FY 2022.

Sincerely,

April Snell, Executive Director
______

Prepared Statement of the Osage Minerals Council
Thank you Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski and Members of
the Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior,
Environment and Related Agencies for the opportunity to share the
Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 funding priorities of the Osage Minerals Council.
The Council is the tribal government body recognized under the Osage
Allotment Act of June 28, 1906, 34 Stat. 539, as amended (1906 Act),
and by the Osage Nation Constitution to administer, develop, and
protect the Osage Mineral Estate.
We request your continued support for our well plugging program. We
began seeking funding five years ago in 2016 to address a long-standing
problem with more than 1,600 abandoned and dangerous wells in our Osage
Minerals Estate. In FY 2018, Congress provided $3 million in funding.
This funding was a great start and we ask for $10 million in additional
funding so that we can continue this good work.
We are also pleased to see others joining us in the well plugging
effort. The Biden Administration's FY 2022 Budget Request and bills
recently introduced in Congress show widespread support and the need to
plug abandoned wells. However, until those laws are passed and new
programs are established, the Osage Minerals Council has work to do and
an ongoing need to plug abandoned and dangerous wells in our Osage
Minerals Estate. We ask for your continued support of our program.
fy 2018 funding for plugging abandoned wells
We are grateful for the $3 million in funding provided by Congress
in report language in the FY 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Act. The
abandoned wells within our Osage Mineral Estate fall under the
authority of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), but, for more than a
century, BIA never had the funding to plug abandoned wells in our
Mineral Estate. The funding Congress provided in FY 2018 was the first
time substantial funding was available for this work.
The wells within our Osage Mineral Estate are different than the
wells on all other federal and Indian lands. For other federal and
Indian lands, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has the authority and
funding to plug abandoned wells. This BLM authority does not apply to
our mineral estate and the dangers of abandoned wells were not being
addressed. Thank you for addressing this unique issue with our Osage
Mineral Estate.
progress made with fy 2018 well plugging funding
The funding provided in FY 2018 allowed us to make substantial
progress addressing the dangers of abandoned wells in our Osage Mineral
Estate. Many of these wells are near schools, playgrounds and homes,
and many are leaking oil, gas, salt water or other chemicals into the
air and water. In some cases, these wells also have high fluid levels
that can leak into surface water if the casing is cracked. With this
funding, we have been able to protect our lands and waters and address
the legacy of environmental and health hazards from these abandoned
wells.
We used the funding provided in FY 2018 to organize a Well Plugging
Committee, investigate abandoned wells, hire well plugging crews,
mobilize equipment, and plug 34 wells. We also found 11 wells that are
capable of additional oil and gas production. For the wells that are
capable of more production, we fixed cracks in the well casing, stopped
underground leaking, and secured the wells for future development.
Through all of this we provided jobs for hundreds of people,
including many Osage tribal members, that work for the more than 50
vendors we contract with as a part of our well plugging crews. Each of
these vendors are required to register and be certified by the Osage
Nation which also verifies that they are properly insured. We are
pleased to report that all of our well plugging efforts were completed
without any serious injuries.
In total, we plugged and secured 45 wells using about $1.6 million
of the $3 million provided. We will use up the remaining $1.4 million
over the rest of 2021. We have already identified another 48 wells to
be plugged this year. Each well can take $40,000 to $70,000 to plug,
depending on how hard it is to access the well site and what we learn
when we get onsite.
The work we are doing with this funding is a huge success. We have
plugged wells that were leaking dangerous liquids and gases near
schools, playgrounds, homes, and communities. Surface owners are
delighted with our work and many wish that we had additional funding to
do further remediation of land resources. A couple examples of our well
plugging work are shown here.
The photo to the right is known as the Shambles Well. It cost
$238,000 to plug. In order to plug this well, we had to reroute a creek
and move a hill to get equipment to the site. We also had to avoid
railroad tracks that had been constructed around the well. During our
work plugging the well, oil and gas flowed the whole time. In the photo
you can see the oil leaking from the well on to the ground.

The railroad tracks around the Shambles Well is just one example of
how our communities have grown up around these wells. Oil and gas
development in the Osage Mineral Estate occurs in the same place where
our families live, work, and play.
In the next photo to the right, we are standing in a softball field
at a school where an abandoned well was leaking gas in multiple
locations and needed to be plugged. The photo shows the softball field
after our plugging efforts. However, once plugged, the gas began
leaking from other areas and we had to continue efforts to stop the gas
from leaking. We continue to monitor and address issues at this site to
help keep the softball field safe.

need for additional funding in fy 2022
To continue this good work and address more than a century of
abandoned and dangerous oil and gas wells in our Osage Mineral Estate,
we respectfully request that Congress provide $10 million in funding
for FY 2022. The BIA already has a list of more than 1,600 wells that
need to be plugged in our Minerals Estate and we continue to find new
wells every day. We have identified 713 wells that are ready for
action. We just need the funding to get the job done and to protect the
trust and natural resources of our Mineral Estate and the Osage
Reservation.
We have a proven track record and the crews to get the work done.
With the initial funding provided, we hired inspectors that meet with
surface landowners and oversee the work, hired crews, mobilized
equipment, and got to work plugging and cleaning up abandoned wells
that are human and environmental hazards. We also hired a geologist to
oversee the work and provide daily reports to our Well Plugging
Committee. Our well plugging efforts are shovel ready and we can put
people to work as soon as the funding is available.
The cost to plug any of these abandoned wells can vary greatly. In
our work so far, the most expensive well was over $238,000 and the
least was $4,430. Many wells cost about $40,000 to $70,000 to plug. We
would also like to begin plugging abandoned wells in the bed of the
Arkansas River and in Skiatook Lake that sit atop our Osage Mineral
Estate and are within the Osage Reservation. In 2018, BIA provided the
map below which shows 5 of the 8 abandoned wells that have been
identified so far in Skiatook Lake.

We estimate that the cost of plugging wells under the Arkansas
River and Skiatook Lake to be about $500,000 each. These under water
wells are an environmental and health risk and could cost up to
$1,000,000 each if they start flowing oil.
conclusion
We appreciate the funding provided by Congress in FY 2018 for our
well plugging efforts. We put this funding to work, and it is fully
committed through 2021. We respectfully request that Congress provide
an additional $10 million in funding so that we can continue our work
and begin to address some of the wells under the Arkansas River and
Skiatook Lake. Congressional support for our efforts has addressed a
serious environmental and health hazard that has gone on too long.
Our efforts can even be a ``pilot project'' for the Biden
Administration and Members of Congress proposing to expand funding and
authority for well plugging. We have assembled a team and our well
plugging efforts are ongoing and shovel ready. During this tough
economic time as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been able
to put people to work doing an important job in the oil field with the
funding provided.
We have also been able to address more than a century of neglect in
our Osage Mineral Estate. The Federal government is responsible for
maintaining and properly managing these trust resources. We ask that
Congress to continue supporting these efforts with the funding needed.
Thank you for your continued support and consideration our funding
request.

[This statement was submitted by Everett Waller, Chair.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Pacific Salmon Commission
Chair Jeff Merkley and Honorable Members of the Committee, I am Ron
Allen, the Alternate Tribal Commissioner and Chair of the Finance and
Administration Committee for the U.S. Section of the Pacific Salmon
Commission (PSC). The US Section prepares an annual budget for
implementation of the Pacific Salmon Treaty (PST). The United States
and Canada recently completed the revision of five of the Annex
Chapters to the PST. The Annex Chapters contain the details for
operations of fisheries under the Treaty and will be in operation for
the next ten years.
Funding to implement the PST comes from the Departments of
Interior, Commerce, and State. The integrated budget details program
needs and costs for Tribal, Federal, and State agencies involved in the
Treaty. Tribal participation in the Treaty process is funded within the
Bureau of Indian Affairs budget as a line item within Rights Protection
Implementation.

In order to meet the increased obligations under the Pacific
Salmon Treaty Agreement, the 25 affected tribes identified
costs at $6,330,000 for Tribal research projects and
participation in the U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty process.
This represents no change from FY 2021 levels. The funding for
Tribal participation in the Pacific Salmon Treaty is a line
item in the BIA's budget under Rights Protection
Implementation.

Under U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service programs, the U.S. Section
identified funding needs as follows:

Funding covers USFWS participation in the Treaty process and
support for the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission's
Regional Mark Center (PSMFC) from the USFWS to provide data
services to the PSC process. The recommended total for the two
programs for FY 2022 is $600,000, which represents a decrease
of $160,000 from FY 2021 levels. The USFWS received an
additional $4,700,000 for Pacific Salmon Treaty Implementation
for FY 2021. For FY 2022 the US Section requests $3,040,000 of
this funding be directed to hatchery production to support
Southern Resident Killer whales ($1,810,00), Sound Science
($500,000), and Southeast Alaska Fisheries Mitigation
($730,000). The US Section also requests that $1,556,000 be
directed to support the activities of the Yukon Panel.

The base funding for the USFWS supports critically important on-
going work and participation in the process. The funding for Pacific
States Marine Fisheries Commission's Regional Mark Processing Center is
utilized to meet Treaty requirements concerning data exchange with
Canada. These program recommendations are integrated with those of
participating State and Federal agencies to avoid duplication of effort
and provide for the most efficient expenditure of limited funds.
The U.S. Section of the PSC and the treaty tribes appreciate the
$900,000 increase in FY 2020 for the tribes to implement the revised
chapters of the Pacific Salmon Treaty. Tribal programs are essential
for the United States to meet its international obligations. Tribal
programs have taken on additional management responsibilities over
time. The revised Chinook Chapter includes a new metric for evaluating
terminal area fisheries. The CYER (Calendar Year Exploitation Rate)
metric requires additional data collection and data management by the
affected tribes. All participating agencies need to be adequately
supported to achieve a comprehensive US effort to implement the Treaty.
The US Section of the PSC is recommending an adjustment in funding to
support the work carried out by the twenty-five treaty tribes'
participating in implementation of the Treaty. Programs carried out by
the Tribes are closely coordinated with those of participating State
and Federal agencies.
The USFWS activities are essential, so the U.S. can maintain the
coded wire tag database necessary to implement the Treaty. The work of
the Regional Mark Processing Center includes maintaining and updating a
coastwide computerized information management system for salmon harvest
data as required by the Treaty. This work has become even more
important to monitor the success of management actions aimed at
reducing impacts on ESA--listed salmon populations. Canada has a
counterpart database. The U.S. database will continue to be housed at
the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. The U.S. Section
appreciates the additional $4,700,000 in the USFWS budget to work with
state agencies on producing hatchery fish to mitigate for catch
reductions in the revised Chinook Chapter. The U.S. Section recommends
maintaining that funding for FY 2022 to support additional hatchery
production, Southeast Alaska fisheries, sound science efforts, and
Yukon Panel activities.
Funding to support activities under the Pacific Salmon Commission
comes from the Departments of Interior, State, and Commerce. The U.S.
Section can provide a cross--cut budget summary to the Committee.
Adequate funding from all three Departments is necessary for the US to
meet its Treaty obligations. All the funds are needed for critical data
collection and research activities directly related to the
implementation and are used in cooperative programs involving Federal,
State, and Tribal fishery agencies and the Department of Fisheries and
Oceans in Canada. The commitment of the United States is matched by the
commitment of the Government of Canada.
Mister Chair, the United States and Canada established the Pacific
Salmon Commission, under the Pacific Salmon Treaty of 1985, to conserve
salmon stocks, provide for optimum production of salmon, and to control
salmon interceptions. After thirty-five years, the work of the Pacific
Salmon Commission continues to be essential for the wise management of
salmon in the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, and Alaska. For
example, upriver bright fall Chinook salmon from the Hanford Reach of
the Columbia River are caught in large numbers in Alaskan and Canadian
waters. Tribal and non-tribal fishermen harvest sockeye salmon from
Canada's Fraser River in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and in Puget Sound.
Canadian trollers off the west coast of Vancouver Island catch
Washington coastal Coho salmon and Puget Sound Chinook salmon. In the
Northern Boundary area between Canada and Alaska, fish from both
countries are intercepted by the other country in large numbers. The
Pacific Salmon Commission provides a forum to ensure cooperative
management of salmon populations. The United States and Canada reached
agreements for revised Annex Chapters for management of Chinook, Coho,
Chum and transboundary salmon populations for the next ten years. The
Annex Chapter for management of Fraser River Sockeye and Pink salmon
expires at the end of 2019 and an update is expected to be completed
soon. It is critically important to have adequate resources for US
participants to implement the revised agreements and protect our Tribal
Treaty resources.
Before the Treaty, fish wars often erupted with one or both
countries overharvesting fish that were returning to the other country,
to the detriment of the resource. At the time the Treaty was signed,
Chinook salmon were in a severely depressed state because of
overharvest in the ocean as well as environmental degradation in the
spawning rivers. Under the Treaty, both countries committed to rebuild
the depressed runs of Chinook stocks and recommitted to that goal in
1999 when adopting a coastwide abundance--based approach to harvest
management. Under this approach, harvest management has complemented
habitat conservation and restoration activities undertaken by the
States, Tribes, and other stakeholders in the Pacific Northwest to
address the needs of salmon listed for protection under the Endangered
Species Act. The updated Annex Chapters continue these commitments. The
combination of these efforts is integral to achieving success in
rebuilding and restoring healthy, sustainable salmon populations.
Finally, we urge the Congress to consider that the value of the
commercial harvest of salmon subject to the Treaty, managed at
productive levels under the Treaty, supports the infrastructure of many
coastal and inland communities, as well as the cultural value to the
Indigenous communities. The value of the commercial, recreational
fisheries, and the economic diversity they provide for local economies
throughout the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, is immense. The Commission
funded an economic study of the fisheries and determined that this
resource creates thousands of jobs and is a multi-billion dollar
industry. The value of these fish to the twenty-four treaty tribes in
Washington, Oregon, and Idaho goes far beyond their monetary value, to
the cultural and religious lives of Indian people. A significant
monetary investment is focused on salmon due to the listings of Pacific
Northwest salmon populations under the Endangered Species Act. Given
these resources, we continue to utilize the Pacific Salmon Commission
to develop recommendations that help with the development and
implementation of solutions to minimizing impacts on listed stocks. We
continue to work towards the true intent of the Treaty, and with your
support, we will manage this shared resource for mutual enhancements
and benefits.
Mister Chair, that concludes my written testimony submitted for
consideration by your Committee. I want to thank the Committee for the
support that it has given the US Section in the past. Please feel free
to contact me, or other members of the US Section to answer any
questions you or Committee members may have regarding the US Section of
the Pacific Salmon Commission budget.

[This statement was submitted by W. Ron Allen.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Partnership for the National Trails System
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski and Members of the
Subcommittee:

Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony on behalf
of the Partnership for the National Trails System (PNTS) regarding
Fiscal Year 2022 funding. Use of the National Scenic and Historic
Trails (NSHT) has skyrocketed during the pandemic and increased use is
expected to continue going forward. Increased investment in our
National Trails System (NTS) is required to meet demand and to address
maintenance and improvement needs to ensure high quality experiences,
safety and accessibility to these treasured places for all.
In FY22, PNTS supports an allocation of $900 million for the Land
and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) with at minimum $23.035 million
allocated from the federal land acquisition programs of the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM), the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S.
Forest Service (USFS) for National Scenic and Historic Trails (NSHT)
projects. Additionally, for BLM, PNTS requests at least $10.5 million
specifically designated for NSHT and $65.131 million for National
Conservation Lands. We request $21 million in NPS Operations for the
NSHT. We request $29.35 million for Trails, with $11.521million
specifically for NSHT in the USFS Capital Improvement and Maintenance
(CMTL) account.
Authorized through the 1968 National Trails System Act, the NTS
includes 30 Congressionally designated National Scenic Trails (NST) and
National Historic Trails (NHT) that will eventually preserve 55,000
miles of public trails, traversing 50 states and the District of
Columbia, connecting 84 national parks, 89 national forests, 70
national wildlife refuges, over 100 public land areas and 179 national
wilderness areas. The NTS continues to grow with new trails in the
pipeline to be considered by Congress in 2021 and beyond. They
represent a broad spectrum of our nation's iconic landscapes and its
natural and cultural heritage. From the Southern Appalachian Mountains
to the wildest reaches of Alaska, the San Francisco Bay and the
breathtaking coast of the ``Big Island'' of Hawaii, they connect
diverse ecosystems while shining a light on the stories of our nation
such as the fight for American independence, the trails blazed by
indigenous peoples and pioneers, the forced relocation of Native
Americans, our struggle for civil rights, and much more. NSHT are
collaboratively managed with volunteer based, private nonprofit
partners and federal administrators. In 2020 alone, federal funds
invested in the NSHT leveraged over $23 million in private funding and
volunteer hours valued at almost $26 million.
PNTS is the only national nonprofit focused on NSHT. Our 32
nonprofit members are the primary partners working with the Federal
agencies to construct, maintain, protect, and promote NTS. Our members
also include affiliate members that actively contribute to the
promotion, improvement and activation of NST and NHT.
land and water conservation fund (lwcf)
We thank you for providing ongoing FY21 funding for the NSHT and
all trails administered by the NPS, BLM, and USFS. We are especially
grateful that Congress passed the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA),
which includes funds to tackle deferred maintenance on public lands and
full, permanent funding of the LWCF.
It is now up to Congress to ensure that adequate annual funding for
the NSHT needs are met, and the administration and federal land
managers fully implement the GAOA as Congress intended. These funding
streams are vital if we are to complete and maintain the NTS and
federally managed trails to the necessary, expected and deserved
standard.
With passage of GAOA, we look forward to robust funding as the full
$900 million for LWCF is utilized to protect public lands. PNTS
respectfully requests $23.035 million be allocated to fully fund FY22
LWCF requests submitted by nonprofit trail organizations for projects
on NSHT. Funding for these projects would conserve over 23,000 acres of
precious natural resources and crucial sites and segments along five
Congressionally authorized trails in 11 states while preserving lands
containing high--level biodiversity of plants and animals and
significant old growth forests. Further, given the healthy pipeline of
forthcoming voluntary land preservation projects on National Trails,
over the next three years we ask Congress to increase funding to $50
million per year for LWCF projects on National Trails to complete the
NTS.

FY22 LWCF requests will fund:
Bureau of Land Management: $1.98 million
California National Historic Trail (NV and CA)--$1.98 million
to protect an 11-mile-long portion of trail that would connect
the city of Elko, NV to the California Trail Center.
National Park Service: $3.515 million
Ice Age National Scenic Trail (WI).--$3.465 million to preserve
two properties--a 180-acre property near the Cross Plains
Complex that would add 1.5 miles of National Scenic Trail and
loop or side trails and a 108-acre property at the iconic Table
Bluff that would add 1 mile of National Scenic Trail.
Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (NC and TN).--
$50,000 to preserve three acres of trail and important historic
sites within the Trail corridor.

US Forest Service: $17.540 million
Appalachian National Scenic Trail (VT, ME and TN).--$10.54
million to protect 15,864 acres across three states that would
enhance the Trail and its viewsheds, improve public access and
protect wildlife habitat and connectivity.
Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail (CA).--$7 million to
preserve trail resources, create public access to two alpine
lakes, and conserve 7,600 acres of biologically rich habitat
adjacent to the Trinity Alps and Castle Crags Wilderness Areas.
bureau of land management (blm)
The BLM administers, manages, and protects the NSHT as part of its
National Conservation Lands. BLM currently protects nearly 6,000 miles
of 18 designated trails in 15 States, in addition to thousands of miles
of trails under study for potential designation. The BLM is the trail
administering agency for the Iditarod National Historic Trail and co-
administers the Old Spanish and El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
National Historic Trails with the NPS.
The BLM does not have a specific account in its budget for funding
national trails or trails in general, including the three National
Historic Trails that it is charged by law to administer and the
portions of the 15 other national trails that it manages on public
lands. A trails line item in the BLM budget, including at least $10.5
million for NSHT, will address the fragmented funding allocations
across sub-activity accounts and create consistent funding for trails.
At a minimum, similar to the guidance the Subcommittee provided to the
USFS in FY20, we request that the FY22 bill include language directing
the Bureau to include unit--level allocations within major sub-
activities for each of the scenic and historic trails--as the Bureau
has done for the national monuments, wilderness, and conservation
areas.
The $10.5 million requested for NSHT will be used to administer,
manage, maintain and improve the Trails under BLM jurisdiction on
public lands and also add or improve amenities on Trails. For example,
the Iditarod NHT will use increased funding ($4 million) to improve
sanitary conditions at two public shelter cabins and make necessary
roof and other repairs to shelter cabins. Funding will also support
trail maintenance, marking and construction projects on the northern
segments of the trail, education and outreach projects including
booklets, interpretive panels, historic research, education resource
guides, and contract for a resource inventory project to update INHT's
comprehensive management plan.
PNTS also respectfully requests $65.131 million, an increase of
$19.312 million from FY21, for management of the National Conservation
Lands. Remarkably, this sharp increase would restore program funding to
its FY06 funding level. Such an increase is needed to properly
administer the system's expansion by 18 million acres since 2000, and
will permit increased inventory, monitoring and protection of cultural
resources, enhance proper management of all resources and provide a
quality visitor experience. It reflects the important role the National
Conservation Lands will play in meeting President Biden's goal for
voluntary conservation of ``at least 30 percent of our lands and waters
by 2030.''
national park service (nps)
The NPS has administrative responsibility for 23 NSHTs established
by Congress. Funding at $21 million within the Park Service Operations
account for the NSHTs is essential for keeping these popular trails
accessible to Americans during a time of unprecedented use as more
Americans have enjoyed the social, physical and mental health benefits
of Trails during the COVID-19 pandemic. This request will help the work
of NPS trail organization partners to build, maintain, and interpret
the Trails.
For example, the Juan Bautista de Anza NHT commemorates the route
of the 1775-76 expedition, when he led 240 people on an epic journey to
establish the first non-Native settlement at San Francisco Bay. Today,
the 1,200-mile Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail connects
history, culture, and outdoor recreation from Nogales, Arizona, to the
San Francisco Bay Area. As the it prepares to celebrate the 250th
anniversary of the Anza Expedition, increased funding ($0.904 million)
will be used to add three new NPS Interpretive Rangers to work with
both urban and rural communities and diverse stakeholder voices to plan
and commemorate the anniversary and the Trail's multifaceted history.
The anniversary celebrations are expected to attract visitors to rural
`trail towns' and urban neighborhoods, contributing to local economies.
As another example, the NPS needs significantly more resources to
do their duty, mandated by Congress, to develop America's longest
National Scenic Trail, the North Country, stretching 4,700 miles across
eight states from North Dakota to Vermont and traversing forests and
farmlands, remote terrain and nearby communities. Additional compliance
and land protection staff are needed to ensure the NPS is able to lead
in the planning of this incredible resource and support their many
partners in its development, maintenance and protection ($2.2 million).
u.s. forest service (usfs)
The USFS is the lead federal agency for five National Scenic Trails
(Arizona, Florida, Pacific Northwest, Continental Divide and Pacific
Crest), one NHT (Nez Perce) and manages 16 NSHT in part where they are
on Forest System lands.
Funding for the USFS administered and managed portions of the NSHT
comes out of the CMTL account. In FY22, PNTS respectfully requests an
appropriation of $29.35 million for trails, with $11.521 million
specifically allocated to the NSHT. This funding will allow the USFS to
meet its administering agency responsibilities such as trail--wide
coordination, guidance, technical assistance, and consultation with
National Trail managers. Congressionally designated NSHT are special
places and have specific legislative requirements that are broader than
typical trail construction and maintenance activities on National
Forest System trails. These legislative requirements, particularly the
requirement for volunteer engagement and partnerships with volunteer
organizations, are unique to NSHT programs and form a core component of
their administration. Funding the USFS NSHT at $11.521 million will
assist the Service meet its management responsibilities.
As an example, increased funding for the Pacific Crest National
Scenic Trail ($2 million) will be used to support robust USFS
management staff, forest/project planning and optimal trail location
reviews, trail maintenance, construction, reconstruction, information
for trail users, including Leave No Trace permit applications,
educational materials, management and operations. Funding will also be
used for Youth and Corps trail crew programs and a Challenge Cost Share
Agreement with the Pacific Crest Trail Association and other private
partners to support volunteer trail maintenance and public education
programs.
PNTS and its member organizations stand ready to work with you to
secure full and consistent funding for the LWCF and the other
critically important programs that help fund, maintain and protect the
NSHTs across the nation. The examples provided in the testimony of how
the funding will be used represent a small portion of the work being
done and funding needs of the NTS. Increase investment in the National
Trails System will enable public and private partners to work
collaboratively to protect our landscapes and preserve important
stories of our national heritage while also improving results for
climate resiliency, economic recovery, equitable accessibility and
public health. PNTS will provide additional detailed information as
needed. Thank you for the opportunity to provide this testimony and
your consideration of our request for greater investment in our
National Trails System.

[This statement was submitted by Valerie Rupp, Executive Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe
requests
1. $6.5 million for a ramp and dock for tribal fishers;
2. $6 million for a new natural resources building for the Tribe;
3. $8 million for new tribal justice center for the Tribe;
4. Funding to support the Tribe's Heronswood Botanical Gardens;
5. $1.75 million for the Tribe's sewer project;
6. $3 million for the Tribe's water project; and
7. $300,000 for the Tribe's roads project.
introduction
The Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe is a sovereign Indian nation
comprised of over 1,342 citizens located on the northern tip of the
Kitsap Peninsula in Northwest Washington State. The 1855 Point No Point
Treaty reserved hunting, fishing, and gathering rights for our Tribe,
and the United States agreed to respect the sovereignty of our Tribe
and to protect and provide for the well-being of our Tribe. The United
States, therefore, has both treaty and trust obligations to protect our
lands and resources and provide for the health and well-being of our
citizens. The current COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the need for
more resources and services to provide for the health, safety, and
welfare of our tribal citizens.
overarching comments
Thank you for your commitment to honor and uphold the United
States' trust and treaty obligations, strengthen the government-to-
government relationship between the United States and tribes, and
empower tribes to govern their own communities and make their own
decisions. As you know, federal funding is critical to support strong
tribal governments across the country in various ways. We look to the
Subcommittee to help address the chronic underfunding of unmet federal
obligations and duties owed to Indian Country. This includes providing
funding and support for the delivery of reliable and quality health
care to American Indian and Alaska Native people, ensuring tribal
communities are safe and secure, and expanding economic opportunity and
community development in tribal communities. We ask the Subcommittee
support our congressionally directed spending requests that will
benefit the Tribe and our members for future generations.
Boat Ramp and Dock
The Tribe is poised to begin construction of a new tribal boat ramp
and floating dock, critically necessary for the long-term exercise of
tribal fishing and shell---fishing rights from the tribal homeland. The
$6.5 million project is currently expected to be funded exclusively
with tribal hard dollars, including over $1 million in environmental
mitigation required under a US Army Corps of Engineers permit. The
project is fully designed, permitted and shovel ready. Federal
assistance would be much appreciated for this particular project given
the treaty obligations represented as well as the environmental
mitigation burden imposed by the Corps, the Tribe's limited resources
for its several other needs. The Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe's treaty
rights, as established with the signing of the Treaty of Point No
Point, play a significant role in the day-to-day life of most tribal
members. Like our ancestors before us, we practice the traditional ways
to put food on the table by fishing or harvesting shellfish. A new
tribal boat ramp and floating dock is necessary for the long-term
exercise of tribal fishing and shell--fishing rights from the tribal
homeland.
Natural Resources Building
The Tribe's current Natural Resources Building is crowded and is
jointly used as the Tribe's Tribal Court. The Tribe needs a Natural
Resources Building to house all of its offices in one location. The
Tribe has estimated that a new Natural Resources Building would cost $6
million to construct. Our vision is to provide optimal and sustainable
management of the Tribe's natural and cultural resources for now and
generations to come. We pay special attention to the health and
vitality of subsistence and commercial species populations and their
associated ecosystems, while providing valuable conservation, research,
monitoring, and education to help ensure their health and abundance far
into the future. The Tribe's Natural Resources department is committed
to sustainably managing, protecting, enhancing, conserving, and
restoring culturally--relevant species, landscapes, and seascapes
integral to the unique identity of the S'Klallam People.
Tribal Justice Center
The Tribe has expanded its tribal court programs to include healing
and wellness services, domestic violence advocates, and re-entry
programs. Staff are spread through different buildings. With the growth
of the program and more sophisticated courts, a new tribal justice
center is critical. The Tribe has estimated that a new tribal justice
center would cost $8 million to construct. A new tribal justice center
would allow staff to work in one single building and allow the Tribe to
continue to expand its tribal justice services and programs to improve
the lives of our tribal members.
Heronswood Botanical Gardens
The Tribe owns and operates Heronswood Botanical Gardens, a
botanical garden located in Kingston, Kitsap County, Washington. The
Tribe is committed to maintaining the garden for the local community as
well as gardening enthusiasts. The garden showcases an impressive
collection of plants, trees, shrubs, and flowers from around the world
and is recognized internationally for its environmentally friendly and
creative use of plants and garden design. Heronswood Botanical Gardens
boasts a unique collection of planting from Asia, Central and South
America, Eastern Europe, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The
garden, however, is in need of several new updates, including fire
mitigation/safety, sewage system attached to the Tribes system,
drainage system upgrades, emergency shelter buildings/warming center to
use of a new event center at Heronswood and or/new administration
building, broadband at Heronswood campus, and improvements to parking
at the garden. The Tribe anticipates that the project would create job
opportunities as well as volunteer opportunities. The Tribe has not yet
determined an estimated cost to make the improvements to Heronswood
Botanical Gardens.
Sewer Project
The Tribe is currently planning to a sewer project that is
estimated to cost $1.75 million to complete. Federal assistance would
be greatly appreciated in light of the Tribe's limited resources for
its several needs. The Tribe is scheduled to replace three mainline
sewer lift stations, vitally important to the health and well--being of
the community. These three sewer lift stations replace three existing
lift stations that have exceeded their life expectancy. The request
funds would be spent on materials and construction for the sewer
project. A well--functioning sewer system for the Tribe is essential,
and is without question a worthy use of taxpayer dollars for the long-
term investment of the project.
Water Project
The Tribe is currently planning to water project that is estimated
to cost $3 million to complete. A breakdown of the components involved
with this water project include making the following improvements:
upsizing piping at three separate sections, additional reservoir
capacity, and replacement of aging hydrants. The Tribe provides water
to the majority of the reservation via two existing wells and 50,000 +
feet of water distribution piping. A third well is slated to go on line
in the next year. However, there are additional improvements identified
by an engineering firm that will be needed to accommodate future
population growth and meet fire flow needs for the community. Water is
basic necessity for all within our Reservation, and is without question
a worthy use of taxpayer dollars.
Roads Project
The Tribe has plans to improve its roads within its Reservation,
which is estimated to cost $300,000. The requested funds would be spent
on pothole report and/or re-paving of roads within the Tribe's
reservation. The Tribe manages the maintenance of many community roads
on the Reservation. Several of these roads are in need of pothole
repair and/or re-paving. The roads in need of most repair are:
S'Klallam Hill Lane, Salmonberries Lane, and Eaglewood Lane. On a basic
level, the economic and well--being of our tribal members are dependent
upon tribal transportation infrastructure. Without safe and reliable
roads, we are unable to adequately provide essential services to our
members.
conclusion
Thank you for the opportunity to share our interests regarding FY
2022 congressionally directed spending requests that will greatly
benefit our Tribe. On behalf of the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe, we
thank you and your dedication and continued hard work in protecting the
tribal interests. We know that you will be fighting for Indian Country
in the appropriations process.

[This statement was submitted by Chairman Jeromy Sullivan.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe
requests and recommendations
1. Full funding in the amount of $12.75 billion and advance
appropriations for the Indian Health Service (IHS) budget;
2. Increase in the overall funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA) budget to a minimum of at least $2.8 billion;
3. Increase funding for the BIA Public Health and Safety and
Criminal Investigations and Police Services accounts over the FY 2021
enacted levels, especially for tribal courts and criminal investigation
and police services; and
4. Increase funding and support for environmental programs
benefiting Indian tribes, including at least $60 million for the BIA
Rights Protection Implementation Program, $100 million for the Tribal
General Assistance Program, a tribal set--aside of at least 20 percent
for the Pollution Control (Section 106) Grant, and at least $33.75
million for the Puget Sound Geographic Program.\1\
introduction
The Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe is a sovereign Indian nation
comprised of over 1,342 citizens located on the northern tip of the
Kitsap Peninsula in Northwest Washington State. The 1855 Point No Point
Treaty reserved hunting, fishing, and gathering rights for our Tribe,
and the United States agreed to respect the sovereignty of our Tribe
and to protect and provide for the well--being of our Tribe. The United
States, therefore, has both treaty and trust obligations to protect our
lands and resources and provide for the health and well--being of our
citizens. The current COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the need for
more resources and services to provide for the health, safety, and
welfare of our tribal citizens as well as American Indian and Alaska
Native (AI/AN) people across the United States.
overarching comments
Thank you for your commitment to honor and uphold the United
States' trust and treaty obligations, strengthen the government-to-
government relationship between the United States and tribes, and
empower tribes to govern their own communities and make their own
decisions. As you know, federal programs and services are critical
components of building strong tribal governments, economies, and
communities. We look to the Subcommittee to help address the chronic
underfunding of unmet federal obligations and duties owed to Indian
Country. This includes providing funding and support for the delivery
of reliable and quality health care to AI/AN people, ensuring tribal
communities are safe and secure, and expanding economic opportunity and
community development in tribal communities. We ask the Subcommittee to
support increased funding for critical Indian programs and the
inclusion of helpful report language on many significant issues
impacting Indian Country.
indian health service
We appreciate the President's proposed funding increase of $2.2
billion for the FY 2022 IHS budget, however, more funding is needed.
Appropriations for the IHS budget are needed to, among other things,
address the significant health disparities that persist among AI/AN
people, treat chronic diseases that plague tribal communities, update
and improve tribal health clinics, and modernize equipment and health
information technology within Indian Country. Our Tribe has
administered health services to its members for several years, and was
one of the first tribes to join the Tribal Self-Governance Project in
1990. We are the only Indian health care provider of both primary and
behavioral health services in Kitsap County. Our health programs aim to
provide the highest quality medical care and treatment to individuals
within our tribal community, but we still face significant challenges
related to funding, facilities, and program administration. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, our health programs have run short of resources and
need additional funding to support the services we provide. To
strengthen our health programs, we ask for the following in the FY 2022
appropriations:
Full and Advance Appropriations.--We ask for full funding for the
IHS to fulfill the United States' obligation to provide Indian health
care. We strongly support the National Congress of American Indians'
request for $12.75 billion in total funding for the IHS budget. We also
ask for advance appropriations for the IHS, as this would ensure that
health care to Indian people is exempt from government shutdowns,
avoids the need to enact continuing--resolutions to fund the IHS
budget, and is on par with the advance appropriations currently
provided to the Veterans Health Administration. We request your support
for the enactment this important legislation.
Opioid Funding.--Indian Country, including our Tribe's Reservation,
has been severely affected by the opioid epidemic. However, tribes and
tribal organizations received only $50 million under the State Opioid
Response Grant Program in FY 2021. Our Tribe strongly supports
increased funding for the State Opioid Response Grant Program to fund
our Tribal Healing Opioid Response (THOR) program, which is a
multifaceted, cross--governmental approach to address increasing rates
of opioid dependence, overdose, and other negative consequences
stemming from opioid use. Funding for THOR and related programs is
essential to combat the opioid crisis that imposes threats to Indian
Country.
Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI).--While Congress
recently reauthorized SDPI for a 3-year renewal, which will now expire
on September 30, 2023, the funding level did not increase. SDPI,
currently funded at $150 million annually, has not had an increase
since FY 2004. An increase in SDPI funding is long overdue. For the
stability of the program, we advocate for an increase in SDPI's
mandatory funding to $200 million annually to help account for medical
inflation and expansion.
Community Health Representatives.--Our Tribe asks that you
encourage adequate funding for the Community Health Representatives
(CHRs) Program, the Health Education Program, and the National CHAP
program. CHRs are at the forefront of much of the preventive health
that needs to be emphasized in Indian health programs. CHRs are
critical in our community: they provide linkage for our most vulnerable
tribal members and patients and clinical care. Our CHRs do home visits,
assist with nurse case management of elder and diabetes patients, as
well as transport home--bound elders to life--saving treatment like
dialysis. They also conduct community education, informal counseling,
and advocacy. We ask that you support CHRs in the appropriation
process.
Bureau of Indian Affairs Budget.--We greatly appreciate the
President's request to provide $2.7 billion, more than $600 million
over the FY 2021 enacted level, to fund a range of critically important
tribal programs within the Department of the Interior. For FY 2021, the
overall BIA budget was approximately $2.1 billion. An increase in
funding for all BIA program is much needed as BIA programs delivery
community services, restore tribal homelands, fulfill commitments
related to water and other resources, execute trust responsibilities,
support stewardship of energy and other natural resources, and create
economic opportunity. We support the President's request for FY 2022,
and ask Congress to ensure at least this level is enacted.
Environmental Protection/Rights Protection Programs.--We strongly
support funding increases in key environmental and rights protection
programs that are dedicated to preserving the unique resources and
natural environment within tribal communities. Our Tribe is situated
within the Puget Sound region and our Tribe relies heavily on the
natural resources within this ecosystem in many ways. In particular,
the harvesting of fish, shellfish, wildlife, and plants for subsistence
and commercial purposes is at the heart of our Tribal culture and who
are as S'Klallam people. Our Tribal members (many of whom are at
poverty level) engage in these harvesting activities for their
livelihood and to support their families as well as their physical and
mental well--being.
The Treaty of Point No Point promised tribal rights to harvest fish
at ``usual and accustomed grounds and stations.'' Subsequent court
decisions affirmed our right to continue harvesting salmon and other
fish in the region. Our Natural Resources Department works to
sustainably manage, protect, enhance, conserve, and restore
culturally--relevant species, landscapes, and seascapes to the uniquely
identity of the S'Klallam people. The functions of our Natural
Resources Department include protection of treaty rights of the natural
and cultural resources of the Treaty of Point No Point. Further, the
Natural Resources Department pays special attention to the health and
vitality of subsistence and commercial species populations and their
associated ecosystems, while providing valuable conservation, research,
monitoring, and education to help ensure their health and abundance far
into the future. Nearly one-third of our Natural Resources Department's
funding comes from the EPA either directly or through other
partnerships. We depend on EPA funds for 22% of our Natural Resources
Department staff. Adequate funding for EPA and BIA programs to support
our natural resources is necessary for the United States to satisfy its
trust obligation and treaty obligations owed to our Tribe and the
S'Klallam people.
BIA Rights Protection Implementation Program.--We appreciate the
President's request of $44.5 million to support the Rights Protection
Implementation Program, but more is needed. This program provides
important resources to tribes in various rights protection issues,
including protecting tribal treaty rights, addressing tribal land
trespass concerns, defending tribal cultural resources, and issues. The
benefits of this program accrue not only to tribes, but to surrounding
communities as well. We request a total funding level of at least $60
million for this program.
Tribal General Assistance Program (GAP).--The Tribal GAP provides
base environmental funding to assist tribes in the building of their
environmental capacity to assess environmental conditions, utilize
data, and build their environmental programs to meet their needs.
Tribes, including ours, need more funding to maintain our critical
environmental programs. For FY 2022, we request a total funding level
of at least $100 million for the Tribal GAP.
Pollution Control (Section 106) Grant.--The Tribe requests an
increase in funding for the Tribal Clean Water Program, which provides
grants to tribes under Section 106 of the Clean Water Act to protect
water quality and aquatic ecosystems. We also request a tribal set--
aside in the Water Pollution Control Grants of at least 20 percent.
Puget Sound Geographic Program.--The Puget Sound Geographic Program
provides funding to state, local, and tribal governments to implement
projects to improve water quality, enhance fish passage, increase
salmon habitat, and protect shorelines. The Puget Sound is an economic
and cultural engine for our Tribe and many other tribes within the
region, and all tribes within the region benefit from the federal
funding made available under the program. For FY 2022, we request at
least the President's FY 2022 request of $35 million in funding for
this program.
Community Projects.--We recommend that the Subcommittee appropriate
funding to support the development of community projects that would
greatly benefit the Tribe and our citizens. This includes $6.5 million
for a new boat ramp and floating dock for tribal fishers to exercise
our treaty--protected fishing rights, $6 million for a new natural
resources building, $8 million for a new tribal justice center to house
our expanded programs and sophisticated courts, $1.75 million for the
construction of a sewer project, and $3 million for a water project.
Public Safety, Justice and Tribal Courts.--We ask for an increase
in funding for the BIA Public Safety and Justice and Criminal
Investigations and Police Services accounts over the FY 2021 enacted
levels. Our justice system is key to addressing increasing levels of
violent crime, methamphetamine and opioid abuse, and the community
impacts that result. Our Tribal Court hears approximately 350 cases a
year involving child dependency, child support, divorce, domestic
violence, vulnerable adults, as well as criminal prosecutions. Our
Court Services staff also provide numerous services to the community,
including: assistance for juveniles and their families with Court--
ordered services; support for children of abuse and their families;
help for victims of domestic violence; and aide for addicts who want to
get their lives back on track.
Despite our successes, our Tribal Court requires additional
resources to continue functioning efficiently and to address our
challenges related to facilities and court administration. To
strengthen our Tribal Court and Court Services programs, we encourage
you to maintain a commitment to public safety and justice on tribal
lands, and ask for at least $200,000 to support our tribal courts. The
Tribe also requests $1.5 million in funding to support our Police
Department in providing adequate staffing for response and security to
our tribal lands and housing and commercial development areas.
conclusion
Thank you for the opportunity to share our interests regarding FY
2022 appropriations for programs and services that will greatly benefit
us as well as other tribes across the United States. On behalf of the
Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe, we thank you and your dedication and
continued hard work in protecting the tribal interests. We know that
you will be fighting for Indian Country in the appropriations process.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ We also support the National Congress of American Indians' FY
2022 budget requests. See NCAI, Indian Country FY 2022 Budget Request:
Restoring Promises, https://www.ncai.org/resources/ncaipublications/
NCAI_IndianCountry_FY2022_BudgetRequest.pdf.

[This statement was submitted by Chairman Jeromy Sullivan.]
______

Prepared Statement on Behalf of The Nature Conservancy, American
Forests, and National Wildlife Federation
programs under the u.s. forest service for fiscal year 2022
Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski and members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to submit recommendations
for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 appropriations.
American Forests, National Wildlife Federation, and The Nature
Conservancy are partnering to support a substantial increase in the
pace and scale of ecologically appropriate and climate--informed forest
restoration on national forests.
American Forests is the nation's first forest conservation
organization, founded in 1875. Our mission is to create healthy and
resilient forests from cities to wilderness that deliver essential
benefits for climate, people, water and wildlife. We advance our
mission through forestry innovation, place--based partnerships to plant
and restore forests, and movement building.
The National Wildlife Federation, founded in 1936, is America's
largest conservation organization with more than 6 million members and
52 state and territorial affiliates. The National Wildlife Federation
works across the country to unite Americans from all walks of life in
safeguarding our wildlife, clean water and air, and public lands for
future generations.
The Nature Conservancy works to protect ecologically important
lands and waters for nature and people. Guided by science, we create
innovative, on the ground solutions and use collaboration to engage
local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners.
Our mission is to conserve the lands and waters upon which all life
depends.
America's forests are as essential for our wildlife and quality of
life as they are iconic. The United States' unparalleled forest
ecosystems are home to a tremendous diversity of wildlife habitat and
protect critical watersheds and treasured landscapes. Forest lands also
are vital for
U.S. efforts to reduce climate emissions and address climate
change. The 193 million-acre National Forest System alone encompasses
approximately a quarter of all U.S. forests. These lands provide a net
carbon sink in forest sequestration and forest products equivalent to
113 million metric tons of carbon per year, equivalent to taking more
than 24 million cars off the road.
Our forests and all the benefits they extend, however, are at risk.
An estimated 80 million acres of national forest lands are now in need
of restoration due to the impacts of drought, pests, disease, and
wildfire--each of which have been exacerbated by our changing climate.
Five million of these acres need reforestation.
Congress has made important progress to protect U.S. forests from
the effects of climate change, support reforestation efforts, prepare
for the new normal of modern megafires, and promote resilience. Our
three organizations strongly recommend that Interior allocations that
are now covered by the wildfire disaster cap adjustment be reallocated
to USDA Forest Service (USFS) and Department of the Interior (DOI)
wildfire risk reduction and restoration purposes. The ``Fire Fix'' is
not a complete success without these important reinvestments.
Our FY2022 requests represent an incremental increase to key forest
and wildlife programs that would begin to address the breadth of
restoration and wildfire risk reduction work on national forests that
will improve forest carbon, adaptation and resilience outcomes both on
federal lands and across boundaries. We would further recommend
direction to the USFS to identify and prioritize projects based on best
available climate vulnerability, watershed condition, and fire risk
assessments.
In 2019, Congress directed the USFS to modernize their budgeting
practices. However, we are continuing to ascertain how the modern
levels work and, therefore, we provide funding levels reflecting the
agency's old budget model, while also providing approximations for
those levels under the modern budget structure.
programs and funding levels
Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR)--$80 million
(approximately $25 million under modern budget structure).--The CFLR
program is demonstrating that collaboratively--developed forest
restoration plans can be implemented at a large scale with benefits for
people and the forest. This is a model approach that brings citizens,
local government and federal staff together to determine effective
management that is locally appropriate and provides jobs, sustains
rural economies, reduces the risk of damaging fires, addresses invasive
species, improves wildlife habitat, and decommissions unused, eroding
roads.
USFS Hazardous Fuels program--$700 million (approximately $244
million under modern budget structure).--Strategic, proactive hazardous
fuels treatments have proven safer and more cost-effective in reducing
risks to communities and forests by removing overgrown brush and
thinning unnaturally dense forests, leaving forests in a more natural
condition resilient to wildfires. Climate--driven drought conditions
particularly increase the need for investment in this program to
restore and maintain fire adapted landscapes and habitats. We
additionally recommend funding for programs that support effective and
durable restoration, which requires integrated, climate--informed
approaches that address threats, improve forest health and habitat
values, and encourage climate--adaptation of forest--dependent
communities.
Vegetation & Watershed Management--$210 million (approximately $32
million under modern budget structure).--Successful vegetation
management ensures that national forests are conserved, restored, and
made more resilient to climate change while enhancing water
resources.--This program promotes restoration through watershed
treatment activities, invasive plant species control, and reforestation
of areas impacted by wildfire and other events. We further recommend
establishing a new reforestation initiative funded through the
Vegetation & Watershed Management program that complements and
leverages the Reforestation Trust Fund and post-fire rehabilitation and
restoration to achieve the goals of reforestation.
Post-fire Rehabilitation and Restoration Activities--$20 million
for DOI and USFS.--After a fire, the Forest Service has the funding to
implement emergency treatments to conduct stabilization activity for
one year. However, funding is needed for ecologically appropriate post-
fire rehabilitation and restoration activities for up to three years on
lands unlikely to recover without human assistance. The Department of
the Interior's Office of Wildland Fire has a Burned Area Rehabilitation
and Restoration (BAR) program that accomplishes these activities over a
longer timeframe. For USFS, we look forward to the agency's report on
developing a new BAR program, as directed in the FY21 Omnibus
Appropriations bill and look forward to the establishment of the
program for national forests.
Water Source Protection Program--$30 million (approximately $10
million under modern budget structure).--The 2018 Farm Bill established
this new cost share program authorizing the Forest Service to work with
water users to address watershed restoration plans for national
forests, including wildfire risk reduction activities.
Wildlife & Fisheries Habitat Management--$145 million
(approximately $21 million under modern budget structure).--
Understanding fish, wildlife and their habitats helps to inform land
management and address existing and emerging threats, including climate
change and habitat fragmentation. The Wildlife & Fisheries Habitat
Management program works to restore, recover, and maintain wildlife and
fish and their habitats on all national forests and grasslands,
including the ecological conditions necessary to sustain populations of
native species and provide for their use and enjoyment by current and
future generations.
Legacy Road and Trail Remediation (LRT)--$100 million
(approximately $30 million under modern budget structure).--The
national forest roads system is extensive and in dire need of repair.
The Legacy Roads and Trails program focuses on those roads with direct
impact to water quality and fish passage. As climate change continues
to exacerbate weather events, the impact to water from problem roads
increases. These roads impede public lands access, damage habitat, and
force water quality problems onto downstream communities. This program
works to restore river and stream water quality by fixing or removing
eroding roads, while providing construction jobs, supporting vital
sportsmen opportunities, and reducing flooding risks from future
extreme water--flow events.
Land Management Planning, Inventory and Monitoring--$201 million
(approximately $16 million under modern budget structure).--The Forest
Service must update many more outdated forest plans, and increase their
efforts to appropriately incorporate climate change into land
management planning and project--level NEPA documentation focusing both
on how management may influence climate change and how climate change
affects the national forest system. As more is discovered about climate
change science, the agency will need to update its application to
adaptation and mitigation strategies, and appropriate analysis at the
unit and project scales.
Federal Forest Health program--$66 million (approximately $16
million under modern budget structure).--Forest health protection
programs work to protect forests by minimizing the impacts caused by
invasive species. Across the nation large--, non-native insect,
disease, and invasive plant outbreaks are damaging forest health. These
programs help reduce invasions of non-native pests that destroy iconic
American trees such as ash, hemlock, and California oaks, providing
effective climate mitigation services by maintaining carbon stocks.
Forest & Rangeland Research--$315 million (approximately $38
million under modern budget structure), with $87 million for Forest
Inventory & Analysis (approximately $18 million under modern budget
structure).--Robust scientific data is critical to manage national
forests in a changing climate--from baseline data that describes carbon
stocks and helps illuminate fluxes and trends to applied scientific
information such as vulnerability assessments that reveal climate--
driven threats. The Forest and Rangeland Research program offers vital
scientific basis for policies that improve the health and quality of
urban and rural communities. This program is critical for the long-term
health and utility of our forests and rivers, particularly as we face
an uncertain climatic future.
Joint Fire Science--$8 million each for USFS and DOI.--As wildfires
have more and more impact on society and nature, applied science and
knowledge sharing becomes more important. The small investments in the
Joint Fire Science program have led to an exceptionally successful
program for science and science delivery. This program is unique among
federal research programs in its focus on applied fire science through
inter-agency partnerships. Re-establishing this program's historic
funding level will bring competitive and focused applied science
solutions to improve the management of forests and watersheds while
protecting communities, water and air.

TABLE OF RECOMMENDED FOREST & WILDFIRE RESILIENCE LEVELS
(in millions of dollars)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table includes old and approximate new budget structure Enacted FY20 Final FY20 Enacted FY21 Recommended
levels for USFS (old) (modern) (modern) FY22 (old)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

USDA Forest Service

Hazardous Fuels......................................... 445 155 180 700
Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration.............. 40 13 14 80
Wildlife & Fisheries Habitat Management................. 138 20 21 145
Vegetation & Watershed Management....................... 162 28 29 210
Burned Area Rehabilitation.............................. n/a n/a n/a n/a
Land Mgt Planning, Inventory & Monitoring............... 180 16 17 201
Legacy Roads & Trails................................... 0 0 0 100
Forest Health--Federal.................................. 56 16 15 66
Forest & Rangeland Research......................... 305 39 259 325
Forest Inventory & Analysis......................... 77 20 18 87
Joint Fire Science...................................... 0 3 n/a 8
Water Source Protection Program......................... 0 0 0 30

Department of the Interior

Fuels Management (aka Hazardous Fuels).................. 194 n/a n/a 228
Burned Area Rehabilitation.............................. 20 n/a n/a 21
Joint Fire Science...................................... 3 n/a n/a 8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[This statement was submitted by Cecilia Clavet, Senior Policy
Advisor, Forest Restoration and Fire; Alexandra Murdoch, Vice President
of Conservation Finance & Policy; and Mike Leahy, Director of Wildlife,
Hunting & Fishing Policy.]
______

Prepared Statement of Preservation Action
Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski and Members of the
Subcommittee, on behalf of Preservation Action's thousands of members
and supporters, representing nearly every state, I appreciate the
opportunity to present written testimony on the Department of
Interior's FY 2022 Appropriations for the National Park Service and its
historic preservation programs. My name is Russ Carnahan and I'm the
President of Preservation Action. Founded in 1974, Preservation Action
is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization created to serve as the national
grassroots advocacy organization for historic preservation. We
represent an active and engaged grassroots constituency from across the
country, and we appreciate the opportunity to provide their
perspective.
On behalf of members and supporters across the country, I'd like to
thank the subcommittee for their strong support of historic
preservation programs and priorities in the past several Interior
Appropriations bills, and especially for the FY21 Interior
Appropriations bill which provided record funding for historic
preservation priorities. Thanks to your support, programs that have a
proven track record of saving places American's value, revitalize
communities, combat climate change by reusing infrastructure, and help
tell the story of historically marginalized and underrepresented
groups; continue to benefit all Americans.
Preservation Action's mission is to make historic preservation a
national priority. For 47 years we've advocated for sound preservation
policy, including two of the most important tools for historic
preservation- the Historic Preservation Fund and the Federal Historic
Rehabilitation Tax Credit (HTC).
national park service: historic preservation fund
The Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) is the principal source of
funding to implement the nation's historic preservation programs. Since
1976 the HPF has helped to recognize, save, revitalize and protect
America's historic resources. Preservation Action is extraordinarily
grateful for the strong support Congress and especially this Committee
have shown for the HPF in recent years, including FY 2021's $143.3
million, the highest level of HPF funding in history. The HPF provides
funding to states and tribes to carry out their federally mandated
duties and supports critically important competitive grant programs. We
especially appreciate this committee's continued support of programs
like the African American Civil Rights Grant Program, the History of
Equal Rights grant program, the Underrepresented Communities Grant
Program, and others that are helping to tell a more diverse and
inclusive American story.
Preservation Action urges this subcommittee to continue their
strong support of historic preservation by appropriating the fully
authorized $150 million in funding for the Historic Preservation Fund
in FY22's Department of Interior budget. Including funding at the
following levels:

--$60 million for State Historic Preservation Officers (SHPOs) for
heritage preservation and protection programs that create jobs,
economic development, and community revitalization. In
partnership with the federal government, SHPOs carry out the
primary functions of the National Historic Preservation Act
including -finding and documenting America's historic places,
making nominations to the National Register, providing
assistance on rehabilitation tax credit projects, reviewing
impacts of federal projects, working with local governments,
and conducting preservation education and planning.
Additionally, states are required to match at least 40% of the
money they receive from the HPF.
--$24 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs).
THPOs are designated by federally recognized tribal governments
that have entered into an agreement with the Department of the
Interior to assume the federal compliance role of the SHPO on
their respective Tribal lands. Tribal historic preservation
plans are based on traditional knowledge and cultural values,
and may involve projects to improve Indian schools, roads,
health clinics and housing. Funding levels have not kept pace
with the growing number of Indian Tribes with THPO programs,
resulting in a lower average grants per tribe.
--$19 million for the African American Civil Rights Initiative
Competitive Grants. A competitive grant program to preserve the
sites and stories of the African American struggle to gain
equal rights in America.
--$7 million for the History of Equal Rights Grant Program. A
competitive grant program to preserve the sites and stories
related to the struggle of all people to achieve equal rights
in America.
--$20 million for Save America's Treasures Program. Save America's
Treasures grants program helps preserve nationally significant
historic properties and collections that convey our nation's
rich heritage to future generations of Americans.
--$10 million for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Funding would provide grants to Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs) to preserve and repair historic buildings
on the campuses of HBCUs.
--$9 million for the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Subgrants.
Supports the rehabilitation of historic properties and fosters
economic development of rural communities through subgrants.
--$1 million for the Under-Represented Communities Grant Program.
These competitive grants support the survey and nomination of
properties to the National Register of Historic Places and as
National Historic Landmarks associated with communities
currently under-represented.
--Semiquincentennial Grants. We strongly support funding for the
competitive grant program to preserve publicly owned historical
sites commemorating the upcoming 250th anniversary of the
founding of the United States.
total historic preservation fund request: fy 2020 $150 million
National Park Service: National Heritage Areas
We'd also like to express our support for the Preservation
Partnership Program which supports National Heritage Areas nationwide.
Designated by Congress, National Heritage Areas (NHAs) are community--
driven sites that weave cultural, natural, and historic resources
together to tell nationally significant stories. NHAs rely on public--
private funding where every federal dollar allocated is matched with an
average of $5.50 in public and private funds.
While we appreciate Congress's support of NHAs, funding has not
kept pace with the need and popularity of the program. Since 2004 the
number of NHAs have more than doubled while funding for the program has
only increased by 33%. To bring funding in line with the increased
number of NHAs, Preservation Action requests, in accordance with the
National Alliance of National Heritage Areas, $32 million for National
Heritage Areas through the Preservation Partnership Program in the FY22
Department of Interior's budget. Preservation Action also supports the
bipartisan National Heritage Area Act of 2021 (H.R. 1316) which
establishes standardized criteria of NHAs and ensures long term
sustainability.
national park service: proposed changes to the national register of
historic places
Preservation Action would like to thank the subcommittee for
including report language in the FY20 Interior Appropriations bill and
the FY21 Interior Appropriations bill expressing concern over the
previous Administration's proposed rule changes to the National
Register of Historic Places. The proposed rule changes would have had a
devastating impact on how historic resources are nominated to the
National Register and determined eligible. We were very pleased that
the Department of Interior announced they would be withdrawing the
proposed rule changes.
advisory council on historic preservation
The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) is an
independent federal agency that promotes the preservation, enhancement,
and sustainable use of the nation's diverse historic resources, and
advises the President and Congress on national historic preservation
policy. We appreciate the continued support of this important agency
and urge the Committee to support $8 million for the ACHP in the FY
2022 Interior Appropriations Bill. In the coming year, the ACHP will
implement the findings of its ``Digital Information Task Force'' to
utilize mapping tools to identify and protect historic resources and
advance timely delivery of major infrastructure projects. An increase
in funding will enhance the critical functions of the agency in
ensuring the nation's historic and cultural resources are protected,
while advancing tribal consultation and finding efficiencies in federal
reviews.
federal historic rehabilitation tax credit
The Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit (HTC), administered by
SHPOs, THPOs and the National Park Service, is the most significant
federal investment in historic preservation. The HTC has been a
catalyst for development, rehabilitating of more than 45,000 historic
buildings across the nation and leveraging over $173 billion in private
investment. Since inception, the HTC has created nearly 3 million jobs
and produced over 172,000 affordable housing units. In addition to
revitalizing communities and spurring economic growth, the HTC returns
more to the Treasury than the cost of the program. The HTC has helped
to rehabilitate historic structures and revitalize communities in all
50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin
Islands.
The Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R 2294) would
increase the value of the HTC, improve access to the credit, and make
the credit more appealing for smaller projects. The legislation also
includes a temporary increase in the credit that would help address
pandemic related challenges the industry is facing. Preservation Action
and its national members urge Congress to pass the HTC-GO Act and
continue to support the Historic Tax Credit by sufficiently funding
SHPOs, THPOs and the National Park Service who administer the program.
conclusion
Preservation Action appreciates the opportunity to provide our
views on the FY22 Department of Interior budget. We work closely with a
broad cross--section of preservation professionals from the state and
local level and are pleased to be able to add their perspective.
Preservation Action continues to value the dedicated work of
National Park Service employees, the partnership of the Advisory
Council on Historic Preservation as well as the instrumental work of
SHPOs and THPOs in preserving America's cultural heritage.
Thank you for valuing the input of the preservation community as
you consider the FY22 Department of Interior budget and your past
support of vital historic preservation programs. We look forward to
working with the committee and are happy to answer any questions you
may have.
______

Prepared Statement of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians
The Puyallup Tribe is an independent sovereign nation having
historically negotiated with several foreign nations, including the
United States in the Medicine Creek Treaty of 1854. This relationship
is rooted in Article I, Section 8, of the United States Constitution,
federal laws and numerous Executive Orders. The governing body of the
Puyallup Tribe of Indians is the Puyallup Tribal Council which upholds
the Tribe's sovereign responsibility of self-determination and self-
governance for the benefit of the 5,427 Puyallup tribal members and the
25,000 plus members from approximately 355 federally recognized Tribes
who utilize our services.
The Puyallup Tribe operates healthcare, social services, law
enforcement and corrections, education, and a myriad of other programs
and services for our Tribal citizens and individuals within our program
and service areas. These programs depend on continued resources and
support through federal appropriations--which reflect the federal trust
and treaty obligations to American Indian and Alaska Native people and
tribes.
department of health and human services--indian health service
The Puyallup Tribe strongly supports the Administration's
unprecedented $2.2 billion requested increase for the Indian Health
Service.
The Puyallup Tribe has operated a healthcare program since 1976
through the Indian Self-Determination Act, P.L. 93-638. The Puyallup
Tribal Health Authority (PTHA) operates a comprehensive ambulatory care
program serving the Native American population in Pierce County,
Washington. The current patient load exceeds 9,000, of which
approximately 1,700 are Tribal members.
There are no Indian Health Service hospitals in the Portland Area,
so all specialties and hospital care have been paid for out of our
contract care allocation. This the full funding of the Purchased and
Referred Care (PRC) program is critical to ensuring that Indian people
in the Northwest receive adequate health care. The Pandemic highlighted
this need, because the hospitalized care our COVID-19 patients needed
was paid for by PRC.
On this note, I want to take the time to celebrate our clinic staff
who worked tirelessly throughout the Pandemic to provide care, keep our
people safe, and when it was time, delivered vaccinations. The fact
that COVID-19 did not destroy our community is because of the dedicated
health care workers in our clinic.
The Puyallup Tribe strongly supports the Administration's proposal
for advance appropriations for the Indian Health Service in 2023. The
FY 2020 government shutdown underscored the need for this change. The
delays in funding had deeply--felt impacts in tribes' ability to
provide health care to our people. We also strongly support the
initiative to make contract support costs and 105(l) lease costs
mandatory costs so that they do not continue to stress the limited
funding allocation that the Subcommittee receives. This is the first
important step to making all the Indian Health Service's funding
mandatory.
department of interior--bureau of indian affairs
We strongly support the Administration's $600 million requested
increase for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian
Education. This funding is to focus on the most critical needs of
Indian country the safety of: our children, our families, and our
environment.
Public Safety & Justice.--The Tribe's top priority is public safety
and justice. The lack of financial resources is a significant barrier
to the provision of effective public safety services in Indian country.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs only provides $588,000 for our Tribal law
enforcement services contract, this amounts to 8% of the Tribe's total
level of need. The Tribe can supplement these resources, so that we are
able to have a Chief of Police, and thirty commissioned officers and
two (2) reserve officers.
These officers are charged with the service and protection of the
entire 40 square miles of the Reservation and the usual and accustomed
areas where we exercise our Treaty protected hunting and fishing
rights. The Puyallup Reservation encompasses most of the City of
Tacoma, as well as parts of five other different municipalities (Fife,
Milton, Puyallup, Edgewood and Federal Way). Furthermore, Interstate 5
runs through the Puyallup Reservation and is a known drug and human
trafficking corridor. Our officers are tired, and they need
reinforcements.
Detention and corrections funding remains of critical importance to
the Puyallup Tribe. The Puyallup Tribe has a 28-bed adult corrections
facility. Again, we worked closely with the OJS on an agreed upon
operating cost of this facility at $2.7 million. However, the BIA
provides only $725,000, approximately 26% of what the Tribe needs to
run the facility.
In addition, we operate a Tribal Court program. Our base BIA
funding for this program has remained at $194,996 since FY 2015. Like
the Law Enforcement and Detention funding, this amount represents only
a small amount of the Tribe's needs to fully operate the Tribal Court
program.
Natural Resources Management.--The Puyallup Tribe is the steward
for the land and marine waters of our homeland, including our usual and
accustomed fishing places and shellfish and wildlife areas. The United
States has treaty, trust, and governmental obligations and
responsibilities to manage natural resources for uses that are
beneficial to the tribal membership and regional communities. Our
resource management responsibilities cover thousands of square miles in
the Puget Sound with an obligation to manage production of anadromous,
non-anadromous fish, shellfish and wildlife resources. Unfortunately,
despite our diligent program efforts, the fisheries resource is
degrading, causing economic losses on Native and Non-native fishermen,
as well as the surrounding communities.
Existing levels of appropriations are simply inadequate to reverse
the trend of resource/habitat degradation in Puget Sound and other
areas. A minimum funding level of $17.146 million is necessary for the
BIA Western Washington (Bolt) Fisheries Management program, and we urge
the Subcommittee to meet or exceed this amount for FY 2022
appropriations. Any increase in funding would provide new monies for
shellfish, groundfish, enforcement, habitat, wildlife and other natural
resource management needs. As the aboriginal owners and guardians of
our lands and waters, it is essential that adequate funding is provided
to allow Tribes to carry out our inherent stewardship of these
resources.
The Puyallup Tribe also operates several salmon hatcheries in our
territory. These hatcheries benefit both Indian and non-Indian
commercial and sport fisheries. We work cooperatively with the
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, neighboring tribes, federal
agencies and state fishery managers to ensure the success and
sustainability of our hatchery programs. We urge Congress to increase
funding to these important facilities. And finally, the Timber, Fish
and Wildlife (TFW) Supplemental and U.S./Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty
programs have allowed for the expansion of Tribal participation in the
state forest practice rules and regulations, as well as allowed Tribes
to participate in inter--tribal organizations to address specific
treaties and legal cases relating to multi-national fishing rights,
harvest allocations, and resource management practices. This funding
must be continued.
One area of critical importance is the need to provide additional
resources to fund natural resource infrastructure to ensure that our
Natural Resource Programs have the facilities they need to operate. We
submitted a directed funding request of $11.2 million to construct a
Natural Resources building to ensure that our world renown program can
continue to do the work that it has been doing for decades.
Operations of Indian Programs & Tribal Priority Allocations.--The
Tribal Priority Allocations (TPA) account within the Operations of
Indian Programs include the majority of funding used to support ongoing
services at the ``local tribal'' level, including natural resources
management, child welfare, education, and other Tribal government
services. These functions have not received adequate and consistent
funding to allow Tribes the resources to fully exercise self-
determination and self-governance. Further, the small increases TPA has
received over the past few years have not been adequate to keep pace
with inflation. The Puyallup Tribe requests that the Subcommittee
increase funding at least at the President's request for the Operation
of Indian Programs and TPA.
bureau of indian education
We celebrate the Administration's emphasis on the Tribal Schools.
It has been too long since BIE schools received any substantial
increase in funding. The Puyallup Tribe operates the pre-K to 12 Chief
Leschi School, including the ECEAP and FACE programs, with an
enrollment of 640 + students. The costs of operating this school--
including staff, supplies, and student transportation--continue to
increase. Unfortunately, the amounts that Congress has appropriated are
not keeping--up with inflation, let alone sufficient to allow us to
dedicate additional resources to improving the education outcomes for
our children. We are treading water and if more assistance is not
provided, we may begin to drown. This why the Administration's
unprecedented support for BIE programs is so important.

[This statement was submitted by Bill Sterud, Chairman.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Ramah Navajo School Board, Inc.
Honorable Chair, Ranking and Subcommittee Members, Ya'aht'eeh. My
name is Maxine Coho, President of the Ramah Navajo School Board, Inc.
(RNSB, Inc.) Together with the other four members of the Board of
Trustees and on behalf of the Ramah Navajo people, we are grateful to
all the Members of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House Appropriations
Subcommittees on Interior for the opportunity to share our testimony.
RNSB, Inc. oversees different programs, services and initiatives on
Ramah Navajo Land. RNSB. Inc. is incorporated by the State of New
Mexico and authorized by the Ramah Navajo Chapter to operate the K-12
Pine Hill Schools, Head Start and Early Intervention Programs and
services (including FACE), the Pine Hill Health Center, Behavioral
Health and Social Services, Higher Education Program, and a Scholarship
Program. Due to our remote location in a mountainous region of New
Mexico, opportunities for employment and education outside the campus
are very limited and the poverty level is high. The people are in dire
need of quality services and different programs to address their needs
and uplift their economic conditions.
In order to address these needs, the Board of Trustees must provide
adequate infrastructure for our people. We need paved roads, internet
connectivity for all the families, dependable electrical systems,
building and classroom ventilation, Computer Science Technology
Classrooms, a gymnasium for Elementary and Middle School Students,
Vocational Classroom for Students, a sustainable water system
(Reclamation and Recycling), gas lines for heating, and reliable sewer
systems, as well as a Community Services Division building complex. A
lot of this infrastructure was built fifty years ago. There is
immediate need for repair and replacement for sustainability of
operations as maintenance in many parts of the infrastructure has been
deferred for too long due to budgetary limitations. The federal funding
received is not enough for all the needs of the Navajo people to live
as human beings. All these affect the Navajo peoples' lives and these
issues will continue to exist until we get help from the Federal
Government.
We, the people of the Ramah Navajo Community in the State of New
Mexico, represented by the RNSB, Inc. Board of Trustees Members, are
here today to ask the Congressional Subcommittees to assist us in
funding the immediate needed repairs or replacement of the community's
infrastructures. Our priority budget line items in the Bureau of Indian
Education (BIE) budget are ISEP formula funds, Students'
Transportation, Education IT (access to broadband) as well as the BIE
Education Construction budget line items for Facilities Improvement and
Repair, and School Facility Replacement Construction. On the following
pages we provide an estimated cost breakdown of our Priority Projects
as well as our priorities for inclusion in the Pending Infrastructure
Legislation; Teacher Pay Parity; and DFMC Oversight.
Estimated Costs for Priority Projects. In 2019, the Board of
Trustees came to Washington, DC to testify before the House Interior
Appropriations Subcommittee about the appalling conditions of RNSB
Community facilities and to meet with our Congressional Delegation, the
Director of the BIE, and the Director of the Office of Facilities,
Property and Safety Management (which oversees the Division of
Facilities Management and Construction, DFMC). RNSB was able to reach
an agreement with the DFMC to address critical facilities issues,
including the need for the Gymnasium for the Elementary and Middle
School, the need to Replace, Renovate and Repair certain existing
infrastructure, and address Road paving and construction. The RNSB
Community has identified the following as our most pressing needs and
we include estimated costs:

1. Gymnasium for Elementary and Middle School. For more than 50
years now, the elementary and middle school students have not had the
benefit of a gymnasium for their physical education classes.
--Estimated Cost--$20 million
2. Water System, Reclamation, and Recycling needs immediate repair.
--Estimated Cost--$20 million
3. Completing the Electrical System Repair and Replacement Project.
--Estimated Cost--$3.5 million (see discussion below)
4. Internet Connectivity for families in Unit 1, Unit 3, and Unit 5
to support students in virtual learning.
--Estimated Cost--$500,000
5. Paved Road Construction.
--Estimated Cost--$10 million
6. Community Services Division Complex (Radio Station, Housing
Office, Scholarship Building, and Community Complex).
--Estimated Cost--$2.5 million
7. RNSB Building Needs (Dental Expansion, Wellness Center, Clinical
Admin Support, and Behavioral Health Building, with sustainable
utilities).
--Estimated Cost--$30 million
8. Career and Technical Education Facility to provide those
students who may not be pursuing college with a space to attend classes
in construction, woodworking, and welding--for which we have a program
grant from New Mexico State University.
--Estimated Cost--$3 million

Inclusion in the Federal COVID-19 Response and the Pending
Infrastructure Legislation.--We would like to extend our tremendous
gratitude to the Subcommittees for the role you played in ensuring that
schools in the BIE school system were included in the COVID-19 relief
laws in a robust and equitable manner. Thank you. As Congress now turns
its attention to our Nation's infrastructure needs, we ask that you
similarly ensure that schools in the BIE school system are included.
Progress has been made on persistent inequities at BIE system schools
because the Subcommittees continue to prioritize funding to address
them on a fiscal year basis. This pending infrastructure package
provides an opportunity to make significant headway on the tremendous
backlog you have been working so hard to address each fiscal year.
Teacher Pay Parity.--We would also like to specifically thank the
House Subcommittee for the oversight and FY 2021 report language
requesting reports from the BIE on teacher pay parity. The BIE's
failure to appropriately request fixed cost increases to provide pay
parity for teachers and counselors in the BIE school system with their
counterparts in the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA)
puts us and other schools at a competitive disadvantage because it
erodes the spending power of our budgets year after year and impedes
our efforts to attract and retain quality teachers. We look forward to
reading this report and seeing the BIE adjust its subsequent budget
requests to comply with federal law.
Ensure Proper Oversight of DFMC regarding Facilities Improvement
and Repair.--RNSB's experience with the catastrophic failure of its
electrical system demonstrated significant concerns about the DFMC's
emergency repair and reimbursement program. RNSB expects there will be
important lessons learned from our experience that will enable tribally
controlled schools and the DFMC to better respond to emergency facility
repairs and improvements. We provide some background on our experience
followed by our request to the Subcommittee for a formal program
evaluation.
Our electrical system powers the Pine Hill Schools' campus,
community health clinic, and water treatment plant. This electrical
system is over 50 years old. As the electrical system had not benefited
from periodic inspections or maintenance by the BIA, many of its
components were at the end of their lifespan, had deteriorated past the
point of restoration and/or were not code--compliant. The conductor,
which permits electricity to flow throughout the system, is at the end
of its useful life and must be replaced entirely. Several components of
the system are ineffectively grounded--any person who comes into
contact with the lid of a manhole may be electrocuted. Further, many of
the transformers are dilapidated (i.e., leaking oil, rusted housing,
improper grounding, excess internal dirt) and will expose any person to
full, live voltage if the transformer doors are opened. As a result,
the electrical system is in violation of several occupational, health,
and safety codes, including the National Electrical Safety Code.
Despite RNSB's repeated requests following the power outage in June
2020, the DFMC declined to conduct a site visit due to the COVID-19
pandemic. Yet, the DFMC did send a contractor, who conducted a cursory
visit. Based on the contractor's report, DFMC determined that the
electrical system did not qualify as an emergency repair situation.
RNSB views the DFMC determination as a significant error. DFMC's
determination is directly contradicted by licensed, professional high
voltage electrical system engineers and contractors. Indeed, given the
urgent and dangerous situation, RNSB hired a professional engineering
and surveying firm to conduct an independent review of the electrical
system. That firm developed a Preliminary Engineering Report (PER),
final system maps, cost estimates, and other work product. The
engineering firm determined the system required extensive upgrades and
recommended that the entire system be replaced and upgraded (estimated
at $7.0 million).
RNSB secured $3.5 million in funding from the Navajo Nation
(approximately 50% of the total cost of the electrical system
replacement project). RNSB contracted with a high voltage electric
system contractor to begin constructing the replacement system and
hired an independent inspector. RNSB requested that the DFMC provide
matching funds to the project pursuant to an amendment to RNSB's
Tribally Controlled Schools Act grant in order to complete the project.
RNSB understood that DFMC had allocated funding for the electrical
system.
Months later, however, DFMC informed us that it had contracted with
a different private firm to provide an electrical system design. DFMC
took this action without consulting with RNSB, in violation of 25
C.F.R. Sec. 900.119, which prohibits the agency from ``spending any
funds for a planning, design, construction, or renovation project''
without first consulting with the tribe or tribal organization
affected. Had DFMC consulted, as required by law, it would have
confirmed that RNSB's engineer had already prepared preliminary
engineering report and design for the electrical system replacement
project. DFMC's actions served to duplicate work that was already
completed, added unnecessary delays and costs, and resulted in RNSB
having to suspend the project due to lack of funding. Currently,
several RNSB facilities are operating on generators with funding from
the DFMC--a costly, impermanent solution to a large--scale
infrastructure problem.
Thanks to support from our congressional delegation, over the past
two months, DFMC has started to communicate more transparently and RNSB
hopes to have a more productive dialogue and to achieve the completion
of the electrical system project in the near future. RNSB has proposed
to complete the project through an Indian Self-Determination Act
construction contract in which DFMC would contribute $3.5 million (50%)
to match the amount RNSB has already contributed. Through the contract,
RNSB and DFMC can assure the electrical system upgrade is completed in
a safe, effective and efficient manner according to applicable
electrical system standards and codes at the best value to the federal
government.
Another issue we encountered with DFMC is that when creating the
program of requirements (POR) for our gym, DFMC inexplicably used
incomplete enrollment numbers and made calculations counter to even
their own policies. The gym facilities of the RNSB Pine Hill K-12
Schools provide some of the only opportunities in this remote area that
our students have for physical education and recreation. Having
adequate, appropriately sized facilities for our students is critical
but DFMC continues to shift their position on this without a path
forward.
In light of our experiences, RNSB asks the Subcommittees to
consider a Government Accountability Office evaluation of the DFMC's
emergency repair and reimbursement program. That evaluation should
consider whether the $100,000 maximum funding threshold should be
abandoned. It should also explore whether it would be appropriate for
the BIE to establish an electrical system inspection and maintenance
program, with licensed personnel performing those inspections. Finally,
we hope that the evaluation would consider the advantages of greater
transparency, coordination and collaboration between tribal schools and
the federal agencies in assessing and managing facility repairs and
renovations.
conclusion
The RNSB, Inc. was established to carry out its mission with self-
determination in providing for the needs of our people in the Ramah
Navajo Community. The RNSB, Inc. has demonstrated the capacity to
govern and educate our own people and provide services to three
Counties in an inter-governmental and collaborative way. As we continue
to provide a safe and promising future of our people, we would like to
express our heartfelt gratitude for the dependable and trusted leaders
in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.
______

Prepared Statement of the Recording Academy
As the only trade association in Washington representing all music
creators--songwriters, performers, and studio professionals--the
Recording Academy is pleased to offer testimony to the House Committee
on Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related
Agencies in support of a substantial funding increase for the National
Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in Fiscal Year 2022 of no less than $201
million in alignment with President Biden's 2022 Budget Request. The
Recording Academy is proud to support the NEA and the important work it
has done to enrich American culture, particularly following a year
where the agency went above and beyond to support the arts and culture
industry in need.
The NEA remains an integral part of the cultural bedrock of the
United States, working to bring music and the arts to towns and
communities across the country. Its mission has never been more
important, and as the creative arts look to recover from the COVID-19
pandemic, the agency will prove to be a key lynchpin in the resumption
of arts throughout America. As such, the Recording Academy supports a
substantial increase in funding so that the agency can maximize its
mission in as many communities as possible.
Through supporting music and the arts, the NEA empowers local
communities, improves student development, and advances cultural
achievements. Considering that NEA grants yield more than $500 million
in matching support--leveraging outside funds at a ratio of 9:1-it is
financially one of the smartest investments the government can commit
to. In the music industry, the NEA supports more than $50 million in
music related grants each year. From Chamber Music Northwest ($20,000,
2018) in Portland to the Yellow Barn ($10,000, 2018) in Vermont; and
from the Sitka Summer Music Festival in Alaska ($15,000, 2018) to the
Tallahassee Youth Orchestra ($10,000, 2017) in Florida, the NEA has
proven to support and foster local music communities and opportunities.
For the coming fiscal year, a substantial increase in its annual
budget will expand the NEA's grant--making capabilities leading to an
increase in arts participation across all 50 states. Increased funding
will also promote more equitable access to music and the arts, enabling
the agency to bring programming to more demographic groups. After a
year without art, Congress should strive to enable the NEA to expose as
many Americans to music and the arts as possible.
As you finalize appropriations for FY22, please make a strong
commitment to the arts and music with robust funding for the NEA.

[This statement was submitted by Daryl P. Friedman, Chief Advocacy
Officer.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians
Chair Merkley and Ranking Member Murkowski, thank you and the other
distinguished Subcommittee members for this opportunity to testify for
the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. Red Lake has 15,090 members, and
our 840,000 acre Reservation is held in trust by the United States.
While diminished in size over time, our Reservation was never broken
apart or allotted, and we are exempt from P.L. 83-280. Thus, we are
responsible for a large land area over which we exercise full
governmental authority and control, in conjunction with the United
States. Due in part to our remote location, there are few job
opportunities available. While unemployment in Minnesota is 11 percent,
ours remains close to 40 percent. The lack of good roads, reliable
communications systems, and other necessary infrastructure impedes
economic development and job creation at Red Lake. Appropriations are
the key way in which the United States fulfills its trust
responsibility and honors its obligations to tribes. We request an
additional $5.5 million in FY 2022 funding for Red Lake programs as
described below.
Covid-19 Pandemic.--In March 2020, Red Lake declared a Public
Health Emergency due to Covid-19. We prepared an Emergency Response
Plan and implemented a 3-step progressive process to delay its arrival.
These steps were based on evolving data and included a curfew, a
shelter-in-place order, and Medical Martial Law, which was declared in
April 2020, effectively sealing off the reservation. Blockades were
established at all entry points, with border security stationed 24/7.
Red Lake may have been the only government in the U.S. to impose
Medical Martial Law to protect its citizens from Covid-19. Exceptions
were allowed to obtain food and medicine, for medical care, and to
check on the elderly and vulnerable. Most of our revenue--generating
businesses, including gaming, were closed. We had our first Covid-19
case in May 2020. Native Americans suffer greater hospitalization and
death rates from Covid-19 than any other group. Red Lake's positive
cases, hospitalizations, and deaths were kept very low. We attribute
this to several things: Our 3-step process to protect the reservation,
including Medical Martial Law; Ongoing efforts of our emergency
response and health care teams; Establishment of Covid-19 testing
sites; Shuttering of our businesses; Communications with tribal members
to follow CDC guidelines; Red Lake members' adherence to CDC
guidelines; and, a highly successful vaccination effort in partnership
with IHS. The measures were very costly, but the resulting low number
of hospitalizations and deaths were worth it.
Provide Robust Funding for BIA, BIE, and IHS.--We greatly
appreciate your rejection of the prior Administration's proposed budget
cuts, and instead providing much--needed increases for BIA/BIE.
President Biden's FY 2022 budget request provides robust investments in
Indian Affairs, including increases of $610 million for BIA, $111
million for BIE, and $2.2 billion for IHS. We support these needed
funding increases.
Rescissions, Sequestration, and Pay Cost Cutbacks Have Eroded
Tribal Program Funding.--Since FY 2000 there were 20, across-the-board
rescissions to tribes' government programs, totaling 9.5 percent,
including for things like Hurricane Katrina recovery. The needs of the
rescissions were met long ago, but the funding cuts continue. Since FY
2013 our programs were cut another 5 percent from Sequestration. These
cuts greatly eroded program funding and our ability to maintain public
safety. To make things worse, inflation since FY 2000 totaled 50
percent. Pay Costs are the only increase many tribal programs receive
and are vital to maintain staff. Since FY 2001, Interior agencies lost
more than a billion dollars from the partial funding of Pay Costs. Each
of the last three Administrations and OMB have been guilty of this, and
Congress has previously stated the Administration should request full
funding for Pay Costs in all future budgets. We ask that you renew the
call to fully fund Pay Costs, and we ask for $2.5 million for Red Lake
to restore what Red Lake has lost since FY 2001.
Fully Fund and expand the BIA Tiwahe and Recidivism Reduction
Initiatives (RRI).--The Tiwahe Initiative was established in 2015 to
improve the health and wellbeing of families in tribal communities by
reducing poverty, substance abuse, domestic violence, and associated
outcomes such as youth suicide. Tiwahe includes two components: (1) a
recurring funding increase for all tribes that operate Social Services
and ICWA programs and (2) additional funding for a demonstration
program at 6 tribal locations (representing 61 tribes and Alaska Native
villages). Tiwahe funding includes BIA programs of Social Services,
ICWA, Courts, Housing (HIP), Job Placement & Training, and Public
Safety RRI program. Upon completion of the 5-year demonstration period,
BIA promised if tribes evidenced success through performance measures
identified in their Tiwahe plans, the program and funding would
thereafter be recurring. Congress has supported the Tiwahe Initiative
since it began, citing the importance of providing culturally--
appropriate services with the goals of empowering individuals and
families through health promotion, family stability, and strengthening
tribal communities as a whole.
Tiwahe has improved coordination of and strengthened our youth
suicide prevention efforts at Red Lake. We had one youth suicide in the
last three years, and only two youth suicides in the last 67 months.
Although one suicide is too many, for Red Lake this represents a major
reduction, and we have made great progress towards our goal of ending
youth suicide.
Tiwahe funding has been essential for us to continue to operate our
Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court and our Family Drug Court. These
courts were initially established through DOJ grants, but those funds
ran out, and it is Tiwahe funding that has allowed us to keep our judge
and case managers for these courts employed, and the courts
functioning. We've had successes with these alternative courts. Just
recently, through intervention of the Tiwahe alternative court judge,
we were able to get a juvenile at high risk of harming herself into the
Hazelton drug treatment program, with IHS agreeing to cover the costs,
which is something IHS normally would not fund. Our alternative courts
were also able to take in and nurture several drug addicted young
mothers-to-be, with a result that the newborns were born drug free.
Tiwahe Job Placement/Training funds allowed us to develop and offer
several training programs to take advantage of current and emerging job
needs in our area. During one recent period, we held three CNA classes
for 28 students, with 95% receiving their certification. Half of these
were immediately employed by our tribal nursing home, increasing the
number of elders we were able to serve. One of the CNA classes
consisted of all TANF clients, thereby reducing dependency on TANF.
Tiwahe and RRI enabled us to open the Red Lake Children's Healing
Center (CHC), a juvenile facility that sat vacant for a decade due to
lack of funding. The CHC provides vital mental health, substance abuse,
domestic abuse, and recidivism reduction services to youth in a
culturally--sensitive way. Despite Covid-19 delays, we've completed
needed renovations and have staffed--up the facility to implement a 24/
7 youth residential treatment program for rehabilitative mental health
and substance abuse services. The facility is now serving youth in
need, a great achievement for our Tribe and our youth.
The Tiwahe pilot sites have recently completed a comprehensive
Tiwahe report, including measures of success and guidelines for other
tribes to implement the model. We believe the report validates the
success of Tiwahe and justifies program expansion and making Tiwahe a
permanent program. The BIA is also nearing completion of its report on
Tiwahe, which we believe will further validate its success. It is in
the interest of all tribes who operate Social Services and ICWA
programs, the tribal demonstration sites, and all of the children and
families benefitting, that you fully fund Tiwahe in FY 2022, and we ask
consideration that 6 new pilot sites be added in FY 2022, at a total
cost of $9 million. And also, that you consider providing an additional
amount of $5 million each for Tiwahe Social Services and Tiwahe ICWA
programs, with such increases distributed Across-the-Board for tribes
that operate Social Services and ICWA programs. Finally, we believe the
existing pilot sites' funding should be made permanent, and Tiwahe
should be designated a permanent Indian Affairs Policy and Program. We
also ask that you continue the Tiwahe explicit language in FY 2022,
``with funding distributed in the same amounts to the same recipients,
including the funding to support women and children's centers''.
BIA Justice Services.--Law Enforcement, Courts, and Community Fire
Protection. The Tribal Law and Order Act (TLOA) intended to give tribes
the resources needed to fight crime. But since TLOA began, BIA law
enforcement funding has shrunk, hindering our ability to reduce crime
and protect lives. Our greatest need is for funding increases for more
tribal officers. The BIA is obligated to provide full funding to meet
basic public safety needs but has repeatedly failed to do so. We are
understaffed and undersupplied relative to BIA safety standards. Last
year, we had to expend $5 million more than the BIA provided, by taking
funds from other critical tribal programs that are already underfunded,
just to maintain minimal public safety.
In 2017 Red Lake declared a Public Health Emergency because of the
sharp increase in opioid overdoses. I'm sad to report that we are once
again in the midst of an almost incomprehensible increase in the number
of opioid and fentanyl related overdoses and deaths on our reservation.
This year we've experienced more than 100 overdoses, and 11 deaths. We
are certain that the various consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic have
contributed to this increase. These losses are heartbreaking and we
continue our struggle to help our members in fighting this disease. To
address this crisis, we've formed a Community Overdose Response Task
Force, which is working hard to protect our people. We appreciate your
support for BIA funding increases for more tribal police officers to
focus on stopping the flow of drugs coming onto our reservation.
Red Lake has waged a fierce war on drugs, and we are holding drug
dealers accountable. But we need more resources to end this epidemic.
We request an additional $60 million in FY 2022 specifically for tribal
law enforcement personnel and operations, $15 million more for tribal
detention, and an additional $3 million for Red Lake Law Enforcement to
combat our opioid crisis.
Tribal Courts are a top priority for tribes but are severely
underfunded. We appreciate the increases in Court funding you provided
the last three years, totaling $8.5 million. We ask that you provide an
additional $25 million in FY 2022 for Tribal Courts. Community Fire
Protection has been neglected for decades. We are responsible for
fighting fires on our reservation and protecting lives, on a yearly
BIA--funded budget of only $42,500. We ask that you provide $10 million
for Community Fire Protection in FY 2022.
Financing for 105 (l) Leases.--Thank you for including ``indefinite
appropriations'' authority for Section 105(l) leases in FY 2021. This
is essential for BIA and tribes to negotiate and fund leases without
impacting other tribal programs. We ask that you continue this
authority in FY 2022.
Housing Improvement Program (HIP).--HIP provides housing assistance
for our poorest and elderly members. Thank you for funding HIP in FY
2021, and for providing $1.7 million for Tiwahe pilot tribes. We
request an additional $30 million for HIP in FY 2022.
Trust Natural Resources.--Thank you for providing recent increases
for tribal natural resource programs. Most tribal natural resources
base programs, which fund our day-to-day conservation responsibilities,
had not been increased for years. As a result, tribes have been unable
to adequately manage their resources (e.g., Red Lake must manage the
6th largest freshwater lake in the U.S. on less than $1 per acre). We
support the President's FY 2022 request for more funding for climate
resilience and adaptation. Most tribal resource management activities
are funded under the BIA budget categories of Tribal Management
Development, Natural Resources TPA, Wildlife and Parks TPA, and
Forestry TPA. We urge you to increase funding for each of these
programs by at least $10 million above FY 2021 enacted levels.
Indian Health Service (IHS).--There is a tremendous unmet need for
IHS and tribal health programs, stemming from years of chronic under
funding. IHS mandatory increases for inflation, population growth, pay
costs, and CSC surpass enacted increases. Per capita expenditures for
IHS healthcare in 2018 were only $3,779 person, compared to $9,409 for
the general population, a great disparity. We appreciate the
President's request for a FY 2022 increase of $2.2 Billion, for a total
IHS budget of $8.5 billion. However, we support the IHS Tribal Budget
Formulation Workgroup request, and ask that you provide $12.8 billion
for IHS to begin redressing long--standing health inequities
experienced by American Indians and Alaska Natives. In addition, we
also support the President's request to include advance appropriations
for IHS in FY 2023.
EPA Programs.--Our Tribe has 60% of the Indian trust land in EPA
Region 5. We span a geographic area the size of West Virginia. Our
water, wetlands, animals, and plants are vital to us. Vital EPA
programs like General Assistance (GAP), Clean Water Act Sections 106
Pollution Control and 319 Nonpoint Source, Brownfields, and Clean Air
Act Section 105, provide only 50 percent of the staff and support
needed. We support the President's FY 2022 request for additional
tribal resources, including Air Quality grants to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
Thank you for allowing me to present, for the record, some of the
most immediate needs of the Red Lake Nation in FY 2022, and for your
consideration of these needs.

[This statement was submitted by the Honorable Darrell G. Seki Sr.,
Chairman.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Regional Air Pollution Control Agency Serving
Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery and Preble Counties
Senator Merkley:

The Regional Air Pollution Control Agency (RAPCA) and other state
and local clean air agencies across the country are charged with
operating essential air quality programs that protect public health.
Unfortunately, these programs have been underfunded for many years and
need significant increases in resources. Federal grants to state and
local air quality agencies under Sections 103 and 105 of the Clean Air
Act last year were $229.5 million, which is approximately the same as
they were over 15 years ago in FY 2004, even while their
responsibilities have increased dramatically. If this amount were
adjusted for inflation, level funding would be about
$321.5 million for FY 2022. Therefore, while the need is far
greater, we ask Congress to increase state and local air grants by $92
million above FY 2021 levels, for a total of $321.5 million (equal to
the Administration's budget request).
Air pollution still causes tens of thousands of early deaths in
America. It is still a serious public health problem that causes
adverse health impacts to millions every year, including cancer and
damage to respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological and reproductive
systems. These impacts especially affect overburdened and environmental
justice communities. State and local air quality agencies are tasked
with putting in place and operating the programs required by the
federal Clean Air Act to improve and protect air quality. These
responsibilities include, among others, monitoring, planning, modeling,
compiling emission inventories, adopting regulations, analyzing data
and inspecting facilities. In southwest Ohio, for example, we are
particularly concerned about ozone pollution and assuring compliance of
high--profile facilities such as the Cargill, Inc.--Dayton and the
Fairborn Cement Plant, in addition to being responsive to industry
business needs with regards to assisting facilities with obtaining
requisite construction air permits. Accordingly, we work with the local
Multi-Jurisdictional Planning Organization (MPO), the Miami Valley
Regional Planning Commission to issue ozone air quality alerts to the
public when needed, as well as performing enhanced inspections and
ambient air monitoring of high--profile facilities, in addition to
meeting ``routine'' Clean Air Act requirements.
Federal grants for state and local air quality agencies have been
inadequate for many years. They have not even kept up with inflation
and our costs have increased. Because of these deficits, state and
local agencies struggle to continue critical air quality programs.
Maintaining adequate staffing levels to manage these critical air
quality programs requires sufficient funding. Without the funding and
the staff, the community will experience longer response times for
requisite air permits to be issued, complaint investigations and
compliance assurance efforts, all of which are in place to reduce air
pollution in the community. Additionally, this could result in having
the most negative effect on businesses looking to expand or modify
their operations, because they are left to wait on the issuance of the
construction air permit to move forward. This is especially critical as
businesses diligently work to ramp up operations following the Covid-19
pandemic emergency.
We at RAPCA work hard to improve air quality, but sufficient
federal funding is critical. Please ensure that federal grants to state
and local air quality agencies are increased at least to keep pace with
inflation. Specifically, grants in the amount of $321.5 million would
constitute merely level funding from FY 2004 levels, adjusted for
inflation. I would be glad to answer any questions you have or provide
more information. Thank you for any assistance you can offer.

[This statement was submitted by The Honorable Jeff Merkley,
Chair.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Rocky Boy Health Center
Recommendations:

1. Provide full funding and advance appropriations for the Indian
Health Service (IHS).
2. Ensure mandatory funding for Contract Support Costs and 105(l)
lease payments
3. Fund Critical Infrastructure investments for the Indian health
system
4. Increase funding and authorize a self-governance funding
mechanism option for the Special Diabetes Program for Indians
5. Increase funding for Preventive Health programs.
6. Reduce dependence on competitive grants for Indian Country

Introduction:

Thank you, Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members
of the Subcommittee for the opportunity to share our funding priorities
for the FY 2022 federal budget. My name is Joel Rosette and I serve as
CEO of the Rocky Boy Health Center. In 1993 the Chippewa Cree Tribe was
one of the first tribes to achieve self-governance under a pilot
program that led to the 1994 law. The outcome of this was that Chippewa
Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation's tribal governing body
was able to take over administration of all the programs, and their
associated funds, that were previously under the management of the
federal government (or Dept of Health and Human Services).
The Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation, home of the Chippewa Cree Tribe
(CCT).--The Rocky Boy Health Center (RBHC), the sole health care
facility on the reservation, has the responsibility for providing
primary health care (including behavioral health and substance abuse
services) to all American Indian people within the catchment area. The
reservation is the smallest of seven Indian reservations in Montana.
The total number of enrolled tribal members is 6,862 of whom 4,031
reside on the Reservation. Our community is isolated, and the nearest
supermarket is in Havre, 30 miles from Rocky Boy, and the nearest
international airport and major shopping facilities are located in
Great Falls, 110 miles away.
We have been grateful that IHS has received significant
supplementary appropriations to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Those
dollars have been critical in ensuring that we have the means to serve
our patients and fight this deadly disease. The historic funding
provided to IHS will translate into real lives saved. It is critical
that we use this crisis as an opportunity to make real, sustained
investments in the Indian health system. As we have seen with the
remarkable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in Indian Country, when
given adequate resources and when tribal sovereignty is honored, tribal
communities can rise to the challenge. It is now time to take the
lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic--both positive and
negative--to renew the Indian health system. Annual appropriations are
essential to this effort and in fulfilling the federal government's
trust and treaty obligations by ensuring critical programs and services
receive adequate funding to fulfill their intended purpose. To further
these goals, I offer the following recommendations for your
consideration for FY 2022 appropriations for the IHS.
Provide Full Funding for the Indian Health Service.--The IHS and
its tribal partners under the Indian Self-Determination and Education
Assistance Act strive to provide tribal people with access to high
quality and comprehensive medical services, no more so than during the
ongoing pandemic. We have navigated unimaginable hardships related to
supplies, staffing levels, infrastructure and facilities, and high
rates of underlying conditions in serving our people at this time.
The IHS Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup has calculated this
need at $48 billion for full funding. While this represents a dramatic
increase in funding, it is imperative that Congress address the true
needs of the Indian health system. In FY 2022, the Workgroup requests
$12.759 billion for IHS. We support their full request and reiterate
the top 5 priorities for program expansion as follows:

1) Hospitals and Clinics: $4.2 billion
2) Purchased/Referred Care: $2 billion
3) Mental Health: $715 million
4) Alcohol and substance Abuse: $778.5 million
5) Dental Services: $649.7 million

Support for Advance Appropriations for IHS.--For many years, tribes
have requested that IHS appropriations be funded on an advance
appropriations cycle. It has unfortunately become the norm that IHS
does not receive its full yearly appropriation until several months
(sometimes longer) after the start of the fiscal year. In the recent
past, IHS, Tribal and Urban health programs have even had to deal with
government shutdowns, when no funding was provided for weeks on end.
These funding delays make it impossible for IHS and Tribal health
programs to plan and manage their annual budgets. As you know, health
systems cannot practically operate on a day to day or week to week
basis without knowing what funding will be provided in the future.
Unrelated political disagreements in Washington, DC should not impede
American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) from receiving the health
care they deserve. Full advance appropriations for the IHS would
promote greater stability in services, medical personnel recruitment
and retention, and facilities management.
We thank the leadership of this subcommittee for supporting this
important change in previous Congresses. We were also grateful to see
President Biden support IHS advance appropriations in his FY 2022
budget request to Congress which was released on April 9, 2021. We urge
the Committee to take the necessary steps in the FY 2022 appropriations
bill to move IHS to an advance appropriation for FY 2023 and beyond.
Fully fund critical infrastructure investments: As Congress
considers making dramatic investments in the country's infrastructure,
it is critical that the Indian health system not get left behind.
Therefore, we request that the subcommittee allocate approximately $3
billion for full implementation of interoperable Electronic Health
Records (EHR) and tele-health. This will ensure that IHS can provide
services that are similar to other health providers. As you are aware,
this investment is especially critical as the Veterans' Administration
and Department of Defense move to modernize their systems.
It is also critical that Congress make significant investments in
Tribal health facilities construction. IHS and tribal facilities are
some of the oldest in the nation, with an average age of 10.6 years.
This creates situations where facilities are out of date, or not
appropriate for the size of the patient populations they serve.
Therefore, consistent with the Budget formulation Workgroup's request,
we recommend $15 billion for Health Facilities Construction Funding &
Equipment.
Sanitation Facilities Construction.--During the pandemic, we were
told to socially distance and wash our hands to keep COVID-19 from
spreading. Yet, we still do not have access to clean, potable water.
This creates significant health risks for the tribal members living on
the Rocky Boy reservation. Yet, with a backlog of almost $3 billion the
IHS Sanitation Deficiency list cannot keep pace with need. We urge
Congress to prioritize Sanitation Facilities Construction funding in FY
2022 and any infrastructure package moving through Congress.
Mandatory Funding for Contract Support Costs and 105(l) lease
payments.--We appreciate the subcommittee's commitment to ensuring that
Contract Support Costs (CSC) and 105(l) lease costs are fully funded by
including an indefinite discretionary appropriation in FY 2021 for both
of these accounts. However, these line items continue to take up a
larger and larger percentage of the IHS discretionary budget, thereby
leaving little room to expand other services given tight discretionary
appropriations caps. We strongly agree with the subcommittee's words in
the explanatory statement for the Further Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-94) regarding 105(l) costs which said, in part:
``Obligations of this nature are typically addressed through mandatory
spending, but in this case since they fall under discretionary
spending, they are impacting all other programs funded under the
Interior and Environment Appropriations bill, including other equally
important Tribal programs...''
Therefore, we ask you to continue to advocate with your colleagues
on authorizing committees to enact mandatory appropriations for CSC and
105(l) lease costs. Doing so will ensure that other areas of the IHS
budget are held harmless by these costs and true increases in critical
services line items can move forward. This will enhance care for AI/AN
patients and reduce health disparities.
Extend Self-Governance Funding Options to the Special Diabetes
Program for Indians (SDPI) and increase funding to $250 million/year.--
While we understand that SDPI is not under the jurisdiction of the
subcommittee, we appreciate that Congress included a three-year
reauthorization of SDPI in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
(P.L. 116-260). Communities like ours across Indian Country rely on
SDPI resources to address the alarming rates of diabetes and diabetes--
related health complications among our people. SDPI's success rests in
the flexibility of its program structure that allows for the
incorporation of culture and local needs into its services. Consistent
with this model, Congress should authorize SDPI participants the option
of receiving their federal funds through either a grant (as currently
used) or self-governance funding mechanisms under the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act. This would be a natural and
just extension of SDPI in respecting tribal sovereignty.
Additionally, SDPI has not had an increase in funding since FY
2004. Short term reauthorizations also destabilize this health program
and make staffing and program continuity difficult. For this reason, we
recommend permanent reauthorization for SDPI at a minimum base of $250
million per year with annual adjustments for inflationary increases.
Therefore, we urge you to work with your Congressional colleagues to
ensure that SDPI receives a funding increase of at least $250 million
per year.
Plan for the Future with Dedicated Funding for Preventative Health
Services.--Among the many things we have learned from the COVID-19
pandemic is that basic public health functions are critical to
preserving life and overall health of Americans, yet public health
systems in most tribal communities lag far behind systems in other
jurisdictions. Without robust public health systems in place,
responding to public health threats means that tribal communities will
continue to be a challenge. Like other governments, Tribes have the
responsibility to provide public health services for their people. Yet
the federal government provides few resources to tribal communities for
this purpose.
AI/ANs experience health disparities for a variety of health
conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other
largely preventable chronic conditions. Treating these chronic health
conditions imposes unnecessary challenges on Tribal health systems and
IHS. We support long-term, sustained, full investment in tribal public
health infrastructure so that tribal communities have the resources
available to respond quickly when the next crisis hits.
Reduce Dependence on Federal Grants.--In addition to the critical
funding needs that are outlined above, we also support moving away from
competitive grants for federal funding mechanisms. The federal trust
responsibility does not require that we jump through a myriad of hoops
and onerous applications to see that services are provided to our
people. Grants also unfairly pit tribes against tribes, when all are
deserving of critical resources. Therefore, we agree with other tribal
leaders and continue to support broad based funding for our health
systems across all federal agencies. Too often, tribes are under--
resourced to apply for federal grants, and to comply with the
associated burdensome reporting requirements, which vary from grant to
grant. Applications and reporting requirements force our health system
to divert staff time to apply and report, thereby diluting the
usefulness of the resources. Instead, we request wide--spread,
formula--based funding across all programs. Tribes must also be granted
the flexibility needed to respond to the specific needs of their own
communities, not those prescribed by federal grants. This also means
providing enough resources so funds are provided in meaningful amounts
across all tribes.
______

Prepared Statement of the Sac and Fox Nation
Chairman Jeff Merkley and distinguished Members of this
Subcommittee, on behalf of the Great Sac and Fox Nation, I submit
testimony of our Tribal priority requests for funding in the FY 2022
Budget for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Bureau of Indian
Education (BIE) and Indian Health Service (IHS). The Sac and Fox Nation
(the Nation) is the home of Jim Thorpe, one of the most versatile
athletes of modern sports who earned Olympic gold medals for the1912
pentathlon and decathlon. The Nation would like to thank Congress for
providing relief that is allowing Tribes to begin the recovery process
from the pandemic that will remain as prominent in the minds of the
world as the name Jim Thorpe.
The Nation would like to focus primarily on the Law Enforcement
account in the BIA to provide what we deem essential personnel and
equipment in response to what will be a direct response to McGirt vs.
Oklahoma for the Nation. We believe the impact of the McGirt v.
Oklahoma ruling goes beyond the borders of the Five Civilized Tribes.
Geographically several other Tribes, including the Sac & Fox Nation,
share a boundary with at least one of the Five Civilized Tribes and sit
in what is considered eastern or east central Oklahoma. The Sac and Fox
Nation is a Self-Governance Tribe headquartered in Stroud, Oklahoma.
Our Tribal jurisdictional area covers all or parts of Lincoln, Payne,
and Pottawatomie counties. Of the over 4,038 enrolled Tribal members,
2,600 live in Oklahoma.
The western boundaries of the Five Civilized Tribes are the end of
reservation jurisdiction, but Federal jurisdiction does not end there.
Although the Dawes Act was intended to cut reservation lands in to
parcels for individual Indians, it did not give the State of Oklahoma
jurisdiction on allotted lands. The Federal government maintains title
to all Indian Allotments held in trust status, therefore leaving
jurisdiction to Tribal Law Enforcement and Federal Law Enforcement
Agencies.
In a post McGirt ruling, the Sac and Fox Nation Police Department
(SFNPD) has been giving a lot of thought as to the repercussions of
becoming the primary jurisdictional responding agency should a
challenge case be presented in the Nation. As we understand it, any
Native offender committing a crime within our Federally recognized
jurisdictional boundaries would become our primary jurisdictional
burden regardless of location of offense. To that end, we are already
seeing confusion from some counties and municipalities regarding their
ability to enforce and prosecute, despite it not being the case at the
moment. Should a challenge case be upheld, the current thinking of some
of these agencies that ``not our problem'' would be valid, and to be
blunt, the SFNPD currently has neither the manpower nor resources to
respond to every single offender in the entirety of the Federally
recognized jurisdictional boundaries. In areas of dense population
centers such as the cities of Shawnee or Cushing, we will need to
expand the force by quite a bit to provide the necessary response with
regards to proper rotational shifts.
The Nation has prepared a basic needs assessment with regards to
manpower and equipment to address this issue moving forward. This is an
initial assessment and may have to grow as population and call volume
increases in the years to come. The Nation Law Enforcement funding
request in FY 2022 is as follows:

1. $241,800--Centralized Dispatch Area at Headquarters in Stroud,
OK--Our jurisdictional area spans three counties, a centralized
dispatch area at our headquarters in Stroud would be necessary. A
rotational shift of dispatchers and a dispatch supervisor would be
necessary to intake calls and coordinate with field officers and
multi--agency dispatches to determine correct officer routing to ensure
correct and efficient officer response.
2. $4.375 million--Officers and Equipment--To meet the demands of
call response in dense population centers, at a minimum I anticipate a
need for an additional 8 officers per shift in the Shawnee,
Pottawatomie County area, and 3 per shift to split Lincoln and Payne
counties:

a. $2.263 million--Officers, Wages and Fringes
b. $72,000--Uniforms and equipment (weaponry)
c. $2.040 million--Vehicles up-fitted with emergency equipment and
cages
total startup for mcgirt response: $4,616,800 million
The Sac and Fox Nation operates a Juvenile Detention Center (JDC)
which provides services to 46 Tribes in Oklahoma, Kanas and Texas, as
well as the state of Oklahoma with 66 beds which houses juveniles who
have come before the court for committing offenses that caused them to
be adjudicated ``delinquent''. These offenses could be related to
school, substance abuse or criminal offenses. Sometimes they are placed
because they are a runaway risk. The Nation recently entered into an
agreement with the U.S. Marshall Service and although our agreement is
specific to juvenile offenders, our facility could see a significant
increase in the number of juvenile detainees as a result of the McGirt
ruling.
Juveniles are placed at the Center in a safe and secure environment
until they return to court or to placement. At the Center, their basic
needs are met. They attend school in an alternative setting. They
receive substance abuse counseling, if needed. They are provided with
the opportunity to examine why they are in a juvenile center and are
given the opportunity to gain social skills that might prevent them
from re-offending.
The JDC employs approximately 25 people who are trained to work
with the Juveniles. The standard ratio of one staff member to eight
residents is a requirement per detention regulations. It is anticipated
that our staff size would see an increase once the impact of the McGirt
rulings is finally resolved. Our facility is the closest and only
juvenile facility adjacent to the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation.
The Sac and Fox Nation supports the following National Requests:
Bureau of Indian Affairs
1. Fully Fund Fixed Costs and Tribal Pay Costs. We strongly urge
full funding of fixed costs and Tribal payCosts. Most Federal agencies
receive annual increases to their Fixed Costs rates each year to
addressinflationary costs associated with Fringe Benefits and Pay
Costs. Historically, Tribes have been disadvantaged because they have
never received Fringe Benefit Fixed Cost adjustments.
2. Increase Tribal Base Funding (instead of through grants).
Provide increases via Tribal base funding instead of through grants to
Tribal governments. Grant funding, particularly inside the BIA, is not
consistent with the intent of Indian self-determination. Tribal leaders
have grown increasingly frustrated by the increase in Indian Affairs
funding offered through grants. Allocating new funds via grant
opportunities marginalizes and impedes the exercise of Tribal self-
determination. New BIA funding should be distributed via formulas
developed through consultation with all Tribes.
3. Law Enforcement. Provide for the following investments and
increase in funding for Tribal law enforcement, including Tribal Courts
and Detention/Corrections. In 2020, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
submitted a report to Congress estimating that to provide a minimum
base level of service to all federally recognized Tribal nations, $1.3
billion is needed for Tribal law enforcement, $1.2 billion is needed
for Tribal courts, and $240.6 million is needed for existing detention
centers. Based on its latest report, the BIA is funding Tribal law
enforcement, detentions/corrections, and Tribal courts at a dismal 14.7
percent of estimated need.
4. BIA Social Services Program--Provide $100 million to fortify
child protective services and ensure meaningful technical assistance to
Tribal social service programs across Indian Country. The Social
Services Program provides a wide array of family support services
filling many funding gaps for Tribal programs and ensuring Federal
staff and support for these programs. Importantly, the Social Services
Program provides the only BIA and Tribal--specific funding available
for child protective services for both children and adults in Indian
Country. It ensures that Native people living on or near reservations
have the support necessary to access the maze of services provided by
states and the Federal government.
5. Welfare Assistance--Provide $100 million. The Welfare Assistance
program provides five important forms of funding to AI/AN families: (1)
general assistance, (2) child assistance, (3) non-medical institution
or custodial care of adults, (4) burial assistance, and (5) emergency
assistance. We strongly urge Congress to increase the funds for this
program, as the needs are much greater than previously appropriated
amounts. For example, in FY 2016, based on BIA Financial Assistance and
Social Service Reports (FASSR), actual Welfare Assistance expenses were
$93 million, leaving Tribal nations with an out-of-pocket shortfall of
$18 million. We know that this shortfall has grown since, especially
recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This leaves families in poverty
and caregivers to take children who have been abused or neglected into
their homes without sufficient financial support. Funds should be
increased to $100 million to provide Tribal nations the resources they
need to support families and children in crisis.
6. Office of Self-Governance (OSG): Provide increased funding to
the OSG to fully staff the office for the increase in the number of
Tribes entering Self-Governance.
7. ISDEAA Section 105(l) Lease Agreements: Provide such sums as may
be necessary through mandatory spending and continue to make this a
separate line item.
8. ISDEAA Contract Support Costs: Provide such sums as may be
necessary through mandatory spending.
bureau of indian education
1. Provide $1 billion for system-wide Bureau of Indian Education
(BIE) education construction.
2. Provide $230million for Johnson O'Malley
3. Provide $73 million for Student Transportation in the BIE
system.
4. Provide $90 million for Tribal Grant Support Costs for Tribally
controlled schools.
5. Provide $109 million for BIE facilities operations.
6. Provide $725 million for BIE facilities maintenance.
7. Provide $473 million for the Indian School Equalization Formula.
8. Provide $120 million for Education IT.
9. Provide $5 million for BIE immersion programs.
10. Reinstate $620,000 for juvenile detention education in BIA--
facilities.
indian health service
1. IHS mandatory funding (maintaining current services
2. Other IHS Program Services & Facilities Increases:

--Hospital and Clinics: Increase of $569.6 million
--Purchased and Referred Care: Increase of $460.3 million
--Dental Services: Increase of $207.2 million
--Mental Health: Increase of $308.8 million
--Alcohol and Substance Abuse: Increase of $255.0 million
--IHS Facilities: Increase of $266.7 million

3. ISDEAA Section 105(l) Lease Agreements: Provide such sums as may
be necessary through mandatory spending and continue to make this a
separate line item.
4. Health IT: Take immediate action on repeated requests to allow
the IHS to fully fund critical infrastructure investments which
directly impact patient care and safety, similar to that afforded to
the VA and DoD, specific to: Health IT for full implementation of
interoperable EHR systems and tele-health capacity at approximately $3
Billion estimate based on 25% of Veteran's Affairs cost estimates for
FY 2022.
5. Support the preservation of Medicaid, the Indian Health Care
Improvement Act and other Indian--specific provisions in the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148), or any subsequent
replacement bill, and provide dedicated funding to begin implementing
the new authorities and provisions of the Indian Health Care
Improvement Act (IHCIA), which have not yet been implemented and funded
(approximately $100 Million in FY 2022).
6. Office of Tribal Self-Governance. Provide an increase of $6
million to the IHS Office of Tribal Self-Governance. In 2003, Congress
reduced funding for this office by $4.5 million, a loss of 43% from the
previous year. In each subsequent year, this budget was further reduced
due to the applied Congressional rescissions. As of 2020, there are 363
Self-Governance (SG) Tribes operating $2.4 billion in funding. This
represents 64% of all Federally recognized Tribes. The Self-Governance
process serves as a model program for Federal government outsourcing,
which builds Tribal infrastructure and provides quality services to
Indian people.
We support the requests of the National Congress of American
Indians (NCAI), National Indian Education Association (NIEA), and the
National Indian Health Board (NIHB).
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony.

[This statement was submitted by Honorable Justin F. Wood,
Principal Chief.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Seattle Indian Health Board
Members of the Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, my name is Abigail Echo-
Hawk, and I am an enrolled citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma,
currently living in an urban Indian community in Seattle, Washington. I
am the Executive Vice President of the Seattle Indian Health Board and
Director (SIHB) of the Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI), an Indian
Health Service (IHS) designated Tribal Epidemiology Center, where I
oversee our policy, research, data, and evaluation initiatives. To
ensure adequate resources and research can be conducted by Tribal
Epidemiology Centers I request $24 million to the IHS Hospitals and
Clinics: Tribal Epidemiology Center line item to improve culturally
attuned research, data, and evaluation services for the 5.2 million
American Indian and Alaska Native people across the country.
I am an American Indian health researcher with more than 20 years
of experience in both academic and non-profit settings, and am part of
numerous local, state, and federal efforts to support and American
Indian and Alaska Native communities in research, including serving on
the Tribal Collaborations Workgroup for the National Institutes of
Health All of Us precision medicine initiative. I am co-author to four
groundbreaking research studies on sexual violence and Missing and
Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) where I have called
national attention to the institutional barriers in data collection,
reporting, and analysis of demographic data that perpetuate violence
against American Indian and Alaska Native people. Most recently, I was
a committee member for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering,
and Medicine: Framework for Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine.
As the only representative from the Native community, I worked to
ensure the needs of our Indian Healthcare System and tribal and urban
Indian communities were appropriately included in the framework that is
informing states and policymakers nationwide.
advancing indigenous health equity
I would like to thank the Subcommittee for the FY 21 appropriations
which included a $5 million increase to the Tribal Epidemiology Centers
line item (now $10.4 million total). This increase in funding has
disrupted the flat line in funding experienced by the 12 Tribal
Epidemiology Centers for the last fifteen years. I would also like to
thank the Subcommittee for the COVID-19 supplemental funding which
included $24 million for Tribal Epidemiology Centers to mobilize and
disseminate information regarding COVID-19 to tribes, tribal
organizations, urban Indian organizations, and government agencies; and
I am encouraged to see the President's discretionary funding budget for
FY 22 proposing a $2.2 billion increase for the IHS, however, lacking
investments for Tribal Epidemiology continues with only a $360,000
increase. Increased investments to Indian healthcare are an important
step in advancing health equity for American Indian and Alaska Natives
and honoring federal trust and treaty obligations.
We must continue to increase investments in Tribal Epidemiology
Centers. Since their inception, Tribal Epidemiology Centers have been
at the forefront of gathering, interpreting, and disseminating American
Indian and Alaska Native data at the tribal, local, state, and federal
level. With increased and sustainable investment Tribal Epidemiology
Centers can fully function in their role as public health authorities
tasked with managing information systems, investigating diseases of
concern, managing disease prevention and control programs, and
responding to public health emergencies like COVID-19 in tribal and
urban Indian communities. While supplemental resources and proposed FY
22 funding support Tribal Epidemiology Centers efforts, they fall short
of supporting long-term sustainability and capacity building of our
tribal public health authorities.
culturally attuned public health
Before receiving supplemental COVID-19 funding, Tribal Epidemiology
Centers mobilized to monitor, evaluate, and respond to COVID-19 on a
national level through contract tracing, primary collection and
secondary analysis of epidemiological data, and development of
culturally attuned public health resources for Indian Health Care
Providers. UIHI has released a series of COVID-19 resources, including
a recently launched site For the Love of our People and Best Practices
for American Indian and Alaska Native Data Collection, COVID-19
toolkits for Indian Health Care Providers, COVID-19 Vaccine Factsheets,
and our national culturally attuned COVID-19 Vaccine Posters Series
called ``VacciNATION''. In January 2021, UIHI released Strengthening
Vaccine Efforts in Indian Country which is the only national COVID-19
vaccination survey focused on American Indian and Alaska Native
communities. This survey found seventy-four percent of American Indian
and Alaska Native people are willing to be vaccinated because of our
cultural responsibility to protect Elders and the next generation.
These resources have given Indian Country a trusted messenger during a
time of uncertainty and have informed decision--making among tribal and
local public health jurisdictions.
The success and unreplicated services of Tribal Epidemiology
Centers efforts demonstrate the need for significantly increased
funding. Additional funding will allow Tribal Epidemiology Centers to
continue groundbreaking work to address and reduce health disparities
experienced in American Indian and Alaska Native communities and build
capacities to engage in additional public health services from the
local to national level ranging from documenting and addressing
epidemiological impacts, improving data--driven decision--making, and
addressing gaps in services through culturally attuned and regional
specific services.
continued institutional barriers to public health data access
In June 2020, UIHI brought national attention to the longstanding
barriers Tribal Epidemiology Centers experience when accessing public
health data from Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Congressional
authorization in the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) allows
Tribal Epidemiology Centers access to any HHS data as a public health
authority, yet institutional barriers in accessing public health data
have persisted for decades. The continued failure to grant data access
perpetuates systemic health inequities in American Indian and Alaska
Native communities as Tribal and urban Indian communities plan for both
current and future surges of COVID-19 cases and led successful
vaccination programs. Our Native communities must be equipped with the
right information to implement data--driven decision--making.
Through Congressional oversight, Tribal Epidemiology Centers were
able to gain access to a small portion of the COVID-19 case
surveillance data for analysis and dissemination to tribes and Urban
Indian Health Programs nationwide. Yet, our Tribal Epidemiology Centers
continues to lack full access to other public health surveillance data
collected through the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System
(NNDSS) that is routinely provided to many other public health
authorities. Congressional oversight has also brought a United States
Government Office of Accountability (GAO) study on public health data
access and Tribal Epidemiology Center and a HHS Office of Inspector
General (OIG) evaluation on how CDC uses race, ethnicity, and
socioeconomic data to respond to disparities in COVID-19 testing,
cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. I ask that this Congress continue
to engage in Congressional oversight activities to ensure federal
compliance and parity for our tribal public health authorities across
all agencies in your jurisdiction and through collaboration with the
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Related Agencies.
a national data failure
Tribal Epidemiology Centers have co-authored two Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR) on COVID-19 documenting the
disproportionate rates of COVID-19 infection for American Indians and
Alaska Natives that are 3.5 times higher than non-Hispanic Whites with
COVID-19 mortality rates that are 1.8 times higher among American
Indians and Alaska Natives than non-Hispanic Whites. However, the MMWR
reports on COVID-19 infections note the authors were only able to
include 23 states in the analysis, as they were the only states that
had collected at least 70% or more of race and ethnicity data. Data
challenges like this highlight the need for Tribal Epidemiology Centers
to advise for the improvement of data collection and reporting
practices of American Indian and Alaska Native data by local to federal
agencies.
On September 16, 2020, the CDC reported 50% of all COVID-19 cases
were missing race and ethnicity data, with some states, such as New
York, reporting no racial data on their state dashboard. Months later,
the collection of race and ethnicity data has only improved marginally.
As of June 14, 2021, the CDC reported 43% of COVID-19 cases were
missing race and ethnicity with incomplete racial data ranging from 13-
92% depending on health jurisdiction. The data failures found in COVID-
19 case data are spilling over into COVID-19 vaccination data. A CDC
study, found that 48% of COVID-19 vaccination data is missing race/
ethnicity.
In February 2021, UIHI, released a national report card, Data
Genocide, which analyzes the current status of collecting and reporting
COVID-19 case surveillance data on American Indians and Alaska Natives
by state. The report revealed a national grade of D+ for our ability to
track and report on racial demographic COVID-19 data for American
Indians and Alaska Natives. The data issues with our national COVID-19
data are not uncommon for Native people. UIHI's work has highlighted
the on-going undercount, misclassification, and gaps of information
collected on American Indians and Alaska Natives signifying the erasure
of health inequities experienced in Indian Country. To value and uplift
the stories across Indian Country told through data, I recommend
Congress address the improvement of data collection on race and
ethnicity across health agencies, including IHS.
Many of the issues related to the poor collection of data is the
chronic underfunding of public health infrastructure across the country
and especially in our Native communities. The lack of investment in
data modernization effects the quality of data reported out and limits
our ability to better understand the health needs of our most impacted
communities. I recommend increased funding for data modernization
across the Indian healthcare system that will increase inter-
operability of data systems and advance data standards so that
information care be shared across public health systems.
missing and murdered indigenous women and girls (mmiwg) and covid-19
Over the course of the pandemic there has been horrific murders and
numerous Indigenous women and girls who have gone missing. One leading
organization reports they have seen a spike in requests for assistance
to find missing people and increased need for support services to
families of murder victims. These finding echo what many advocates have
been sharing, that there is a national increase in violence as COVID-19
continues to increase stress on every American. For those unable to
leave, they are now in quarantine with their abusers increasing the
likelihood of more violence. This violence impacts entire families and
children who are not yet in school and would have normally escaped
violence while attending in person schooling.
In May 2021, UIHI released Supporting the Sacred: Community
Resources for Native Survivors of Sexual Violence, which captures the
experience of 121 Native femme--identifying survivors of sexual
violence. The study assesses the availability of culturally appropriate
services and resources outside of law enforcement for Native survivors
on gender--based violence, intimate partner violence, domestic
violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and MMIWG. UIHI found that
20% of the respondents were experiencing an increased lack of physical
safety due primarily to domestic violence and 90% of respondents asked
for culturally specific services citing their struggles with non-
Indigenous methodologies for healing. The soon to be released report
builds off UIHI's previous reports on MMIWG, including a first of its
kind data report titled Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls.
UIHI current series Our Bodies, Our Stories is the only national
analysis of MMIWG data from 71 urban areas and highlights gender--based
violence issues through culturally attuned data, evaluation, and
research. Our work is guided by the voices of our community and the
resiliency of these survivors.
To address the on-going violence against American Indian and Alaska
Native people, we ask for increased investment in culturally attuned
research and evaluation with explicit grant inclusivity to urban Indian
organizations and increased resources to our tribal and Urban Indian
Health Programs offering culturally attuned gender--based violence
prevention and response services. The underfunding to address violence
against Native women and girls perpetuates co-occurring health
disparities experienced in Indian Country. Expanded grant eligibility
to urban Indian organizations, Indian Health Care Providers, and Tribal
Epidemiology Centers, support the culturally attuned gender--based
violence research, prevention, intervention, and response efforts for
Indian Country.

[This statement was submitted by Abigail Echo-Hawk, Executive Vice
President, Director of the Urban Indian Health.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Seattle Indian Health Board
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and members of the Senate
Committee on Appropriations--Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and
Related Agencies, my name is Esther Lucero. I am Dine, and of Latino
descent and as the third generation in my family to live outside of our
reservation, I strongly identify as an urban Indian. I serve as the
President & CEO of the Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB), one of 41
Urban Indian Health Programs nationwide. I have had the privilege of
serving SIHB for five years. I am honored to have the opportunity to
submit my testimony today, including a request Advanced Appropriations
for Indian Health Service (IHS) to ensure Indian healthcare systems are
not subjugated to government shutdowns or automatic sequestration cuts.
indigenous resilience in action
I would like to thank the Subcommittee for the FY 21 appropriations
which included a $5 million increase to the Urban Indian Health line
item ($62.6 million total). I would also like to thank the Subcommittee
for the COVID-19 supplemental funding which has included at least $426
million for Urban Indian Health Programs to mobilize and respond to
COVID-19 amongst the urban American Indian and Alaska Native community.
This funding is demonstrating how successful and resilient our Indian
healthcare system can be when properly resourced. I would also like to
acknowledge the President's Budget for FY 22 which includes a $2.2
billion increase for the IHS and a $37 million increase to Urban Indian
Health ($100 million total) to promote health equity for American
Indians and Alaska Natives. We hope President Biden's proposed increase
to IHS will support significant investments in Urban Indian Health
Programs that will allow us to expand services to meet the demand of
the 71% of American Indian and Alaska Native people living in urban
areas nationwide.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our Indian healthcare system has
mobilized to respond to emergent healthcare and public health needs of
Indian Country. While our community continues to be disproportionately
impacted by COVID-19 infections, related hospitalization and mortality,
we are also demonstrating our resilience to respond through culturally
attuned and community driven care. As an Indian Health Care Provider,
we have been able to exercise sovereignty alongside our tribal partners
to respond to the needs of our community. In Washington State, the
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, Lummi Nation, Suquamish Tribes, and SIHB have
demonstrated the success of a community--driven vaccine distribution
model to ensure Native Elders and health providers are vaccinated and
many of our Native communities supported the vaccination of local
teachers to expedite the reopening of schools. The autonomy to exercise
sovereign authority and the investments of Congress in the federal
trust responsibility are proving that when resourced, our Indian
healthcare system drives equitable and efficient culturally attuned
health care that benefits both our Native and surrounding communities.
I must also thank the Biden Administration for directly resourcing
Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) with the COVID-19 vaccination
when many FQHCs were left without access to these critical resources
for months.
SIHB is an example of how our Urban Indian Health Programs have
adapted to emergent issues and championed local COVID-19 prevention and
response efforts. As home to a tribal public health authority--the
Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI), we have a unique perspective and
experience providing culturally attuned direct service and public
health services during this pandemic. In December 2020, SIHB was the
first organization in Seattle to receive a shipment of the Moderna
vaccine and has since vaccinated over 12,500 individuals. Locally, we
created a low--barrier walk-up testing clinic for individuals
experiencing homelessness in downtown Seattle; we implemented
telehealth services and onsite telehealth kiosks to serve our relatives
experiencing homelessness and/or without stable broadband access; we
installed ultra-violet (UV) ventilation system across our clinic to
safely re-open dental services and increase facility sanitation; we
expanded our nutrition services to elders and families with young
children to address growing food insecurity; we have kept our Elders
program open to provide a safe space; we have distributed rental
assistance and moved people into long-term affordable housing; we are
developing an intensive outpatient culturally attuned behavioral health
program that complements our Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)
services.
Our research division and Tribal Epidemiology Center, UIHI, is
leading a national conversation on improved data quality and access of
COVID-19 case data. UIHI has released dozens of factsheets and
resources for Indian Health Care Providers and collected and analyzed
the only national data on perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccine among
American Indian and Alaska Native people. This data has informed a
national culturally attuned public health campaign titled
``vacciNATION'' that addresses vaccine hesitancy and cultural strengths
among Native communities and has informed a centralized resource
website in partnership with Illuminative: For the Love of our People.
commitment to addressing federal trust and treaty obligations
We thank the Appropriations Committee and Subcommittee on Interior,
Environment, and Related Agencies for continued support to the Indian
healthcare system. We are especially grateful for the recent two-year
temporary extension of 100% Federal Medical Assistance Percentage
(FMAP) to urban Indian organizations under the American Rescue Plan of
2021. This commitment to honoring federal trust and treaty obligations
to provide healthcare services to American Indian and Alaska Native
people will have a significant positive impact in Washington State.
Thanks to our work with tribal and state partners, the new state cost
savings that will be reinvested backing our Indian healthcare system,
allowing us to provide exemplary healthcare services while maintaining
our cultural integrity as an Urban Indian Health Program. In support of
this work, we encourage you to support H.R. 1888 to permanently extend
100% FMAP to Urban Indian Organizations and address the CMS ``Four
Walls'' issue at tribal facilities.
continued gaps in investments
Advance Appropriations
The Indian healthcare system is vulnerable to government shutdowns
which destabilizes health delivery and access to health care providers
for American Indian and Alaska Native people. In 2018, the Government
Accountability Office released Indian Health Service: Considerations
Related to Providing Advance Appropriation Authority. The report found
government shutdowns impacted provider recruitment and retention,
conduced administrative burdens and cost, and had financial effects on
tribes. As part of the treaty and trust responsibility of the federal
government to provide health, human services, education, and other
basic services we ask for advance appropriations for IHS and Bureau of
Indian Affairs. IHS Advance Appropriations would allow for greater
planning, efficient spending, long-term health initiatives, and result
in higher quality of care for American Indian and Alaska Native people.
Advance Appropriations not only mitigates the funding uncertainties
experienced by Indian healthcare providers, it improves program
efficiency and ensures parity across federal health programs.
Healthcare Infrastructure
While the historic investment in the Indian healthcare system is
making meaningful progress towards Indigenous health equity, the COVID-
19 pandemic has revealed the extensive gaps in our nation's public
health and healthcare infrastructure. Infrastructure gaps include
poorly kept public health data systems that compromise our
understanding of the health disparities among racial and ethnic
minority populations and our severely aged healthcare facilities that
have had to rapidly adapt to COVID-19 prevention and response while
continuing to address the growing healthcare needs of our tribal and
urban Indian communities.
It is well known that there is no national level data on the
infrastructure needs of the Urban Indian Health Program and a decades
long backlog of facilities needs at IHS and tribal health facilities.
Urban Indian Health Programs do not access to the Health Care
Facilities Construction line item in the IHS budget and do not have
priority for equipment replacement. A study from UIHI, titled COVID-19
Impact on Urban Indians in Washington State, found that urban Indian
organizations were hindered in their ability to respond to COVID-19 due
to the limitations of their facilities. The chronic underinvestment of
infrastructure in the Indian healthcare system stymies our abilities to
address underlying health conditions that contribute to the
disproportionate impact of COVID-19 among American Indian and Alaska
Native people. Federal funding opportunities have allowed for minor
infrastructure improvements to address COVID-19. For example, SIHB
transformed a portion of our facility to act as our vaccine
distribution site that would not disrupt our clinical operations to
provide COVID-19 testing and routine care.
In support of our long-term prevention and recovery from COVID-19,
we have developed infrastructure plans for our main clinical site--the
Leschi Center and our 95-bed in-patient Substance Use Disorder (SUD)
center--Thunderbird Treatment Center. We are in need of significant
Congressional infrastructure investments to fulfill our vision of fully
implementing our Indigenous Knowledge Informed Systems of Care (IKISC)
model to provide integrated and patient--centered care. Our Urban
Indian Health Programs around the country share similar visions to
modernize and improve healthcare delivery through new construction,
renovations, and equipment upgrades.
We ask that when appropriate, and not to detriment tribal
resources, Congress nclude urban Indian organizations in infrastructure
funding opportunities to support the federal trust responsibility to
American Indians and Alaska Natives, regardless of where they reside.
Maternal and Child Health
The effects of the pandemic have disrupted routine care for many
households that found it challenging or dangerous to access routine
healthcare due to changes in clinical operations and personal safety
concerns of commuting and accessing health care services. An internal
analysis at SIHB found a 13% drop in our relatives seeking prenatal
care and a 38% decrease in relatives seeking pediatric immunizations in
2020 compared to 2019. According to the U.S Department of Health, there
were 30% fewer pediatric vaccines given in 2020, compared to 2019. The
concerns of mothers and families visiting health facilities and
potentially exposing themselves and their children to COVID-19 is felt
across the nation and among Native communities.
To meet the preventative health care needs of our pediatric and
prenatal patients, SIHB created a Saturday clinic--open exclusively to
pediatrics and prenatal patients and staffed with integrated care teams
for wrap around health services. Staffed by residents, medical
providers, dental team, nutrition and case management in an initial
launch, SIHB attended to many of the critical elements of health for
our families. Recently, SIHB expanded this model, by integrating
Traditional Indian Medicine and behavioral health services. This work
continues to evolve as SIHB gains a better understanding of the demand
and needs of the local urban Indian community and patient population.
To align with these programmatic efforts, we ask for meaningful
investment in research and programs to address maternal and infant
mortality in our communities and support of maternal and infant health
programming offered by Indian Health Care Providers.
Social Determinants of Health
Like many communities, we have had to respond to complex co-
occurring issues exacerbated by COVID-19 including homelessness,
substance use, and gender--based violence. In King County, WA, American
Indians and Alaska Natives make up 1% of the population, but account
for 15% of the population experiencing homelessness. In response, SIHB
has enhanced our decades long partnership with a Native--led human
service agency focused on eradicating urban Native homelessness to
provide culturally attuned healthcare at a permanent supportive housing
development that will include a 3,000 sq. ft. satellite SIHB clinic
site. We anticipate serving over 1,200 patients annually beginning in
January 2022 and continuing to grow our cross--agency collaboration to
address the social determinants of health among our relatives.
Looking at our experiences as a model, I ask that this committee
leverage federal resources and support to develop braided funding
strategies to resource Native organizations to address social
determinants of health through culturally attuned services. As our
federal partners, you are uniquely positioned to increase mobilization,
prevention efforts, and response efforts to improve the health and
wellness of American Indian and Alaska Native people through essential
human services across IHS and in collaboration with Department of
Health and Human Services. As an urban Indian organization, we would
like to see more multi--agency cross--systems approaches between IHS,
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Health
Resources and Services Administration, National Institutes of Health,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention to provide braided funding strategies that bring
flexible and robust funds to tribes and urban Indian organizations. By
working across federal systems, federal partners can reflect a united
and multiagency front to address persistent health disparities through
direct services, data, research and evaluation, and workforce
development.
Thank you for your support and consideration of the requests. We
look forward to our continued work to improve the health and well-being
of American Indian and Alaska Native people.
______

Prepared Statement of the Secure the Grid Coalition
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, Chairman Leahy, Vice Chairman
Shelby, and Members:

In years past, the Secure the Grid Coalition and its members have
submitted both outside witness testimony and in-person testimony to
both Houses of Congress. David Jonas Bardin (a retired member of Arent
Fox LLP who previously served as Deputy General Counsel to U.S. Federal
Power Commission [now FERC]) has testified in writing as an individual.
Thomas J. Waller Jr. has previously submitted written testimonies
representing the Secure the Grid Coalition. Thomas Popik has previously
submitted testimonies representing the Foundation for Resilient
Societies. And I have previously submitted testimonies as a private
individual. There are likely others associated with the Secure-the-Grid
Coalition who have made past and current submissions on behalf of the
USGS Geomagnetism Program.
The purpose of this letter is to fully endorse the communications
provided to this subcommittee by Mr. David Jonas Bardin, which in turn
fully supports the FY 2022 REQUEST of appropriation of $5,673,000 and
14 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions for the USGS Geomagnetism
Program, to continue the magnetotelluric (MT) survey, to operate
ground--level geomagnetic observatories, and to begin adding
observatories (for which the Administration requests $1.5 million and
two FTEs).
And moreover, to show the materiality and relevance of the USGS
Geomagnetism Program and the specifications and intentions of two
presidential executive orders:

--Executive Order 13744 of October 13, 2016, titled, Coordinating
Efforts To Prepare the Nation for Space Weather Events https://
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-10-18/pdf/2016-25290.pdf
(accessed June 21, 2021).
--Executive Order 13865 of March 26, 2019, titled, Coordinating
National Resilience to Electromagnetic Pulses https://
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-03-29/pdf/2019-06325.pdf
(accessed June 22, 2021). Portions of this Executive Order was
codified into law by section 1740 of the National Defense
Authorization Act of 2020

The two Executive Orders, President Obama's EO 13744 and President
Trump's EO 13865 acknowledge the severe impacts of Geomagnetic
Disturbances on Society and Critical Infrastructure and order urgent
moves to enhance preparedness. Both Executive Orders--Section 7(a) of
EO 13744, and Section 2(e) of EO 13865--define preparedness using
precisely the same words:

`` . . . actions taken to plan, organize, equip, train, and
exercise to build and sustain the capabilities necessary to
prevent, protect against, mitigate the effects of, respond to,
and recover from those threats that pose the greatest risk to
the security of the Nation.'' [Emphasis added.]

The purpose of the magnetotelluric (MT) survey is to determine the
electrical conductivity of the earth's crust. Electrical conductivity/
resistivity is not uniform region by region; indeed, there are vast
differences in such characteristics over remarkably short distances
(separations of less than 50 miles). Having a working model of these
variances and mapping them to geographical areas is vital and necessary
in order to identify specific places most susceptible to ground induced
currents from geomagnetic disturbances and to prioritize protective
measures. This purpose is thus in full accord with the desires of the
previous two Administrations.
about the coalition
The Secure-the-Grid Coalition (Coalition) is a national network of
non-profit organizations and experts drawn from the policymaking,
science, engineering, military, and intelligence communities. These
include multiple retired personnel--including numerous flag officers--
of the U.S. military, two former Ambassadors and a former Director of
Central Intelligence. Members also include citizens from nearly every
U.S. state and territory stretching from Puerto Rico/US Virgin Islands
to the state of Alaska. The primary objective of the Secure the Grid
Coalition is to help private industry, policy makers, and governments
secure the electric power grid, the nation's most critical
infrastructure, against all hazards, since a long-term widespread
electric power blackout would spell disaster for our society.
The Coalition applauds the USGS for its work and has faith that
this Subcommittee will grant the Administration's Request.
The Coalition welcomes any requests of the Subcommittee for
assistance. Please contact at [email protected]

Truly,

Douglas. Ellsworth
Acting Director
______

Prepared Statement of the Self-Governance Communication & Education
Tribal Consortium (SGCETC)
On behalf of SGCETC, I am submitting this written testimony which
identifies national funding priority requests in the FY 2022 budgets
for the Departments of the Interior's (DOI) Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA) and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) and the Health and Human
Services' Indian Health Service (IHS).
We support the President's FY 2022 proposed discretionary requests
for Tribal specific funding. As Tribal Nations continue to confront the
challenges of recovery from COVID-19, an event that has altered life
for the world, we thank you for the investment that you have made to
help in the recovery for Indian Country.
Life for Tribes during the pandemic, while challenging because of
our unique differences to other sovereigns in the U.S., has revealed
many of the similarities we share. It was unfortunate that in Indian
Country, we incurred the greatest impacts of all with so much
unrecoverable loss. Yet, we cannot afford to keep looking back when
there is so much to do going forward. We aspire to recover, reconnect
and rebuild our homelands and our Country.
advance parity in funding for indian programs
Indian programs face significant disparities compared to similar
programs for non-Indians when it comes to adequate funding, program
equity and the delivery of services. The failure of the U.S. to provide
sufficient and timely funding for these programs undermines the ability
of Tribal governments to provide adequate services to their citizens
and provide for the general safety and well-being of their communities.
For example, IHS's annual per capita spending level (around $4,000) is
significantly less than the Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
(around $11,000). In the United States Commission on Civil Rights
(USCCR) report ``Broken Promises'' it was recommended that ``Congress
should provide increased, non-discretionary, and advance appropriations
for IHS to bring it to parity with other Federal health programs''.\1\
Similarly, advanced appropriations should be provided to the BIA so
that critical public safety and justice programs are able to continue
to provide services and address the staggering rates of violent crime
and victimization that continue to plague Tribal communities. And, for
the BIE that funds and operates a total of 183 elementary, secondary,
residential, and peripheral dormitories across 23 states, we need to
ensure it fulfills the Federal trust relationship and supports the
approximately 48,000 American Indian students in Bureau--funded schools
across the country.
Tribes need to stabilize costs for distance learning and have a
strong voice in shaping their education to provide pathways to access
programs that will make them competitive in the learning environment.
We need to be able to recruit and retain teachers in schools with high
Native populations. American Indian and Alaska Native children should
have the same learning opportunities as non-Indian students and access
to programs like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM) to prepare them for tomorrow. We need consistent, reliable
funding to keep pace with non-Indian schools.
increase base budgets and recurring funding for indian programs and
reduce reliance on grant funding
The authority Tribal Nations have to take over the administration
of Federal programs is proven successful to the extent that adequate
funds are made available to the Tribes to operate these programs and
services. Across the board, Federal Indian programs are significantly
underfunded. The lack of adequate funding puts the lives of Tribal
citizens at risk and limits what services Tribal governments can
provide their citizens. Increases to base budgets for Indian Programs
will allow Tribal Nations to fund core government programs that serve
their citizens and communities and will provide an opportunity for
additional Tribal Nations to participate in Self-Governance.
SGCETC supports the growing sentiment expressed by Tribal leaders
that we do not want our funding sources to be increasingly supplemented
by grants. Short-term competitive grants hinder Tribal Nations'
inherent right to self-govern because it creates uncertainty in
planning, imposes extensive regulations and reporting requirements, and
restricts the use of indirect costs. The signers of the over 400
treaties between Tribal Nations and the United States did not sign with
the intent of being dependent on grants. Lives were not lost, nor land
ceded for our needs to be dependent on a successful grant application
package review.
advance appropriations for the bia, bie and ihs
The Federal budget process has been broken for decades. Since FY
1998, there has been only one year (FY 2006) when the Interior,
Environment, and Related Agencies budget, which contains the funding
for BIA, BIE and IHS, has been enacted by the beginning of the fiscal
year. The lateness in enacting a final budget during that time ranged
from 5 days (FY 2002) to 197 days (FY 2011). It is even worse when
budget inaction causes the government to shut down the longest being in
2018-19 for 35 days. Delayed appropriations mean American Indians and
Alaska Natives do not get health care, Tribal governments cannot
operate programs for the benefit of their citizens and the education of
our children is compromised.
Currently, critical Federal programs at the Department of
Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of
Labor, and the Department of Veterans Affairs are authorized for
advance appropriations. This process prevents funding lapses and other
unintended consequences associated with short-term funding deals from
disrupting critical services provided by the Federal government.
To begin an advanced appropriations cycle there must be an initial
transition appropriation which contains (1) an appropriation for the
year in which the bill was enacted (for instance, FY 2021) and (2) an
advance appropriation for the following year (FY 2022). Thereafter,
Congress can revert to appropriations containing only one-year advance
funding. If the BIA, BIE and IHS funding was on an advance
appropriations cycle, Tribes and the respective Federal agencies would
know the funding a year earlier than is currently the case and would
not be subject to continuing resolutions or government shutdowns.
In the absence of authority for advance appropriations for BIA, BIE
and IHS, we ask that the Committee includes report language that this
request is feasible and under consideration and for Committee staff to
confer with the respective authorizing committees on potential
legislation that will explore and/or support this request.
maintain indefinite appropriation and separate line item for 105(l)
leases in ihs and bia
Thank you for listening to our requests for an indefinite
appropriations and separate line item for 105(l) leases in IHS and BIA.
More than 360 Tribal Nations participate in Self-Governance and have
entered into agreements with the DOI and/or IHS to transfer Federal
resources and programs from Federal to Tribal administration to better
serve the needs of their citizens and communities. Tribal Nations that
elect to participate in Self-Governance know that increased Tribal
control and decision--making authority results in improved social and
economic well-being at the local level.
Tribal Nations assuming administration over programs once
administered by Federal agencies does not abrogate the Federal
government's treaty and trust obligations. It empowers Tribal
governments as sovereign nations to best determine the needs of their
citizens and communities while bolstering Tribal economies and job
creation for Indian country and surrounding non-Native communities.
increase funding for tribal governance capacity building
In 2019, GAO reported that the capacity of a Tribe to administer a
Federal program is a crucial factor that can affect a Tribe's decision
to enter into a Self-Governance compact. GAO also noted the need for
sustained and consistent funding over time since developing capacity is
an ongoing effort. EPA's General Assistance Program (GAP) has proven
successful at building Tribal governments capacity.
Ccapacity building is more effective when the Federal government
provides funds to Tribal organizations for implementation. Tribal
governments work collaboratively sharing best practices and learning
from one another about how to address challenges that are unique to
Tribes. Federal agencies are often unable to comprehend the obstacles
Tribes face and Federal agencies often attempt to implement the one-
size-fits-all approach that does not work for many Tribes. SGCETC is an
example of a non-profit Tribal consortium that builds capacity by
creating and sustaining a Tribal--based community.
Thank you for this opportunity to submit this testimony.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Broken Promises: Continuing
Federal Funding Shortfall for Native Americans, December 2018

[This statement was submitted by the Honorable W. Ron Allen,
Chairman, and Tribal Chairman/CEO, Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe
Recommendations:

1. Provide increased funding for climate change mitigation efforts
including community relocation programs in FY 2022
2. Work with others in Congress and the Administration to
facilitate the mandatory trust acquisition of fee lands where a tribe
is undergoing forced relocation due to climate change and other threats
3. Create funding opportunities for tribal and intergovernmental
agreements for infrastructure between federal, state, local and tribal
governments
4. Provide full funding and advance appropriations for the Indian
Health Service (IHS).
5. Fund Critical Infrastructure investments for the Indian health
system
6. Ensure mandatory funding for Contract Support Costs and 105(l)
lease payments

Thank you Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members
of the Subcommittee for the opportunity to share our funding priorities
for the FY 2022 federal budget. My name is Charlene Nelson, and I am
the Chairwoman of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe which is located
2,800 miles west by northwest of Washington, D.C., and we are on the
beautiful north shore of Willapa Bay, facing out to the Pacific Ocean.
Similar to most coastal tribes, we are stewards of the great ocean. As
the Chairwoman of the Tribe, and in my former career as an educator and
commercial fisherman, I have learned firsthand that vibrant and
successful Indian communities are not possible without first attending
to the human health of the community members and also ensuring the
health of the environment. I appreciate that this Committee is also
responsible for those same priorities, and it is in that shared spirit
of community responsibility that I speak to you today. The following
testimony will provide information about our community's urgent need to
relocate in the face of the climate crisis, and support additional
funding for climate resiliency programs. The testimony also outlines
priorities for the IHS budget in FY 2022.
Like many tribal communities we continue to be impacted by the
growing challenge of climate change on our environment. Threats such as
flooding, erosion, ocean acidification, increased wildfires, extended
drought, and changes in seasons all contribute to the serious
challenges that tribal communities currently face. We are forced to
reduce emissions, mitigate and adapt, but we need additional support,
and we need it urgently. We encourage the committee to provide
increased funding for climate change activities targeted at tribal
communities in FY 2022.
We have been encouraged by the commitment to addressing the
negative impacts of climate change in tribal communities that the
subcommittee has exhibited in its committee reports. For example, we
were especially pleased to see language in House Report 116-448 that
noted the federal government's treaty and trust obligations and
encouraged a whole of government approach to ``working with at-risk
tribes to identify and expedite the delivery of resources and technical
assistance necessary to support mitigation and relocation efforts.'' We
also appreciate continued funding for Tribal Climate Resilience at the
Bureau of Indian Affairs. However, while these opportunities are
worthwhile, we urge this Committee to engage in increased funding for
climate change resilience and mitigation in FY 2022.
shoalwater bay tribe and climate change
Indian tribes and Alaska Natives are on the front lines of climate
issues because, unlike many others in our society, we are rooted to our
ancestral homelands. Our lands are us, and we are our lands and waters.
If things change due to climate instability--flooding, habitat loss,
diminished drinking water, incapacity to engage in subsistence
activities--we have nowhere else to go. That is both a challenge, and
an opportunity. For the Shoalwater Tribe, the threats are real, we face
them every day. But we see the opportunity to now build our community
with long-term resilience.
We are a Pacific Northwest coastal Tribe and all of our housing and
government buildings are just 15 feet above sea level. Partial federal
funding, and a tribal relationship with the Army Corps of Engineers,
has led to construction of an embankment in the tidal zone portion of
our Reservation, and adjoining lands, but was constructed using native
sand and earthen materials, and is now washing away. The erosion
follows historic patterns. Our reservation will soon be gone, and yet
we are told that with the advent of climate change, and the varying
weather patterns and tidal effects, everything has been sped up. A
single tsunami event would take out every home, our government, our
economic development opportunities, and what defines us as Shoalwater
people.
We need to move to higher ground to survive as a Tribe. Other
coastal tribes in our region have been in similar circumstances and
Congress has come through with funding for relocation, recognizing the
federal trust responsibility. We have committed a lot of our limited
resources--both financial and time--to planning for and preparing for
the necessary changes to keep our people alive. Fortunately, some of
the land adjacent to our reservation is suitable for this. Using Tribal
funding, we have purchased 1,200 acres of land at 250 feet above sea
level for the relocation of our Tribal village. But this is raw land
and there are only dirt roads. We are tapping out our only reserves to
meet these exigent needs. We need financial and technical support to
build the infrastructure necessary to move uphill. Based on erosion and
other projections, this needs to happen immediately.
This support will not just impact our Tribal community, but will
support the two counties in our area, both of which have some of the
highest rates of poverty in the state. The Shoalwater Bay Tribe is now
one of the biggest employers in the county, so support for our Tribe
equals support for the entire area. Many of the current key roads are
merely a few feet above sea level, so planning for alternate roads is
already a critical need for the whole area.
I would urge the Committee to consider the federal trust
responsibility to tribes and make a commitment that there if and when
there are tribal climate refugees--dispossessed of their lands and
waters by climate change--Congress will use its plenary power over
Indian and Alaska Native matters to rebuild ancestral homelands. The
Shoalwater Tribe can be a test case, establishing how tribal and
federal resources can relocate a tribal community to a new, more
resilient location.
congressional assistance
Our Tribe does not have the land base we will need to support us
indefinitely. We will need federal funding for land acquisition,
replacement of roads, utilities, three essential government buildings,
and 80 homes. In total, we believe the project would cost approximately
$120 million. This total includes $70 million for roads and utilities,
$17 million for government buildings and $33 million for homes.
But we do not just need funding. We urge you to work with your
colleagues in Congress and the Administration to facilitate the
mandatory trust acquisition of fee lands where a tribe is undergoing
forced relocation due to climate change, erosion, flooding, tsunami,
and other threats to its existing Reservation and trust land base.
Tribes should not have to go through a lengthy and expensive fee to
trust process for relocation land acquisition, which, by definition
will be an off--reservation acquisition for most tribes.
Congress can also create legislation and funding opportunities for
tribal and intergovernmental agreements for infrastructure between
federal, state, local and tribal governments to make the changes needed
to help our communities survive in the face of climate change. The
Department of Transportation, for example, will often not release
emergency funding for road infrastructure until an existing road
completely fails. If that occurs with Washington SR 105, which runs
through our Reservation, it will cut the Tribe off from its schools,
banks, closest groceries, and many of its employees from their homes,
among other impacts. Congress can change these rules to allow for
substantial road replacement funding in advance of an existing route
becoming impassable. Any funding of this nature should be non-
competitive, and be provided directly to tribal governments without
matching fund requirements.
Infrastructure investment for land acquisition, road and building
construction, and rebuilding economic development opportunities will
not only assist the Tribe, but will also support the local economies of
Pacific and Grays Harbor counties. A new road system will be a
resilient, and necessary coastal connection for the two counties, so it
will be a true investment that will create returns.
The cost of us not finding the support to relocate our village is
the highest cost any community can pay--sea level rise will mean the
annihilation of our Tribal community and culture. Even if we physically
survive as individuals by relocating off of traditional lands, it will
mean the erasure of our Tribal culture. My Tribe continues as a whole
on our traditional lands or we do not survive. I want to thank you for
your time and attention and I invite you to come visit us at
Shoalwater, our doors are open and we look forward to sharing with you
our continued strength and resilience as a sovereign Indian nation.
indian health service priorities
In addition to the critical climate change priority outlined above,
we also would like to express strong support for increasing the Indian
Health Service (IHS) budget. We were pleased to see President Biden
recommend $2.2 billion increase in his FY 2022 budget request to
Congress. The IHS Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup has calculated
this need at $48 billion for full funding. It is imperative that
Congress address the true needs of the Indian health system. In FY
2022, the Workgroup requests $12.759 billion for IHS. We support their
full request.
We have also been encouraged by several recent comments from senior
House members who have expressed the support in moving the IHS budget
to mandatory spending. Indeed, the federal trust responsibility for
health is a mandatory obligation and should be treated as such. No
other federal health program is funded exclusively on discretionary
appropriations in the way that IHS is. We encourage the subcommittee to
work with your Congressional colleagues on a bipartisan basis to move
IHS to mandatory funding.
Support for Advance Appropriations for IHS.--For many years, tribes
have requested that IHS appropriations be funded on an advance
appropriations cycle. It has unfortunately become the norm that IHS
does not receive its full yearly appropriation until several months
(sometimes longer) after the start of the fiscal year. In the recent
past, IHS, Tribal and Urban health programs have even had to deal with
government shutdowns, when no funding was provided for weeks on end.
These funding delays make it impossible for IHS and Tribal health
programs to plan and manage their annual budgets. As you know, health
systems cannot practically operate on a day to day or week to week
basis without knowing what funding will be provided in the future.
Unrelated political disagreements in Washington, DC should not impede
American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) from receiving the health
care they deserve. Full advance appropriations for the IHS would
promote greater stability in services, medical personnel recruitment
and retention, and facilities management.
We thank the leadership of this subcommittee for supporting this
important change in previous Congresses. We were also grateful to see
President Biden support IHS advance appropriations in his FY 2022
budget request to Congress. We urge the Committee to take the necessary
steps in the FY 2022 appropriations bill to move IHS to an advance
appropriation for FY 2023 and beyond.
Fully fund critical infrastructure investments.--As Congress
considers making dramatic investments in the country's infrastructure,
it is critical that the Indian health system not get left behind.
Therefore, we request that the subcommittee allocate approximately $3
billion for full implementation of interoperable Electronic Health
Records (EHR) and tele-health. This will ensure that IHS can provide
services that are similar to other health providers. As you are aware,
this investment is especially critical as the Veterans' Administration
and Department of Defense move to modernize their systems.
It is also critical that Congress make significant investments in
Tribal health facilities construction. IHS and tribal facilities are
some of the oldest in the nation, with an average age of 10.6 years.
This creates situations where facilities are out of date, or not
appropriate for the size of the patient populations they serve.
Therefore, consistent with the Budget formulation Workgroup's request,
we recommend $15 billion for Health Facilities Construction Funding &
Equipment.
Mandatory Funding for Contract Support Costs and 105(l) lease
payments.--While we support moving the whole IHS budget to mandatory
spending, we also believe that in the short term, we can greatly
improve funding available for IHS services by reallocating other line
items to mandatory. We appreciate the subcommittee's commitment to
ensuring that Contract Support Costs (CSC) and 105(l) lease costs are
fully funded by including an indefinite discretionary appropriation in
FY 2021 for both of these accounts. However, these line items continue
to take up a larger and larger percentage of the IHS discretionary
budget, thereby leaving little room to expand other services given
tight discretionary appropriations caps. We appreciate the
subcommittee's words in the explanatory statement for the Further
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-94) regarding 105(l)
costs which stated, in part: ``Obligations of this nature are typically
addressed through mandatory spending, but in this case since they fall
under discretionary spending, they are impacting all other programs
funded under the Interior and Environment Appropriations bill,
including other equally important Tribal programs . . . '' Therefore,
we ask you to continue to advocate with your colleagues on authorizing
committees to enact mandatory appropriations for CSC and 105(l) lease
costs. Doing so will ensure that other areas of the IHS budget are held
harmless by these costs and true increases in critical services line
items can move forward. This will enhance care for AI/AN patients and
reduce health disparities.
______

Prepared Statement of the Society for American Archaeology
The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) appreciates this
opportunity to present its recommendations for Fiscal Year 2022
cultural resources program appropriations at the Department of
Interior.
The SAA is an international organization that, since its founding
in 1934, has been dedicated to research about and interpretation and
protection of the archaeological heritage of the Americas. With nearly
7,000 members, SAA represents professional and avocational
archaeologists, archaeology students in colleges and universities, and
archaeologists working at Tribal agencies, museums, government
agencies, and the private sector. SAA has members throughout the U.S.,
as well as in many nations around the world.
The SAA wishes to thank the subcommittee for its key role in
supporting record levels of funding for cultural resources preservation
over the past several years. The federal and federally--supported
historic preservation programs included in the annual spending bill
help carry out many of the nation's activities that preserve and
promote our irreplaceable historic, archaeological, and cultural
resources for present and future generations. The following are the
SAA's requests for key heritage programs in FY2022.
department of interior: increased archaeologist staff: $6.75 million
As noted in the Secretary of Interior's 2004-2007 report to
Congress on the federal archaeology program, ``The Federal government
has too few archeologists to support the Federal Archeology Program.
Additional support for agency archeologists and archeological programs
is necessary for Federal agencies to accomplish all of their
responsibilities regarding the stewardship of Americans' archeological
heritage.'' What was true in 2007 is even more true today.
Federal archaeologists perform a large number of important tasks.
These include, but are not limited to, surveys of land for historic and
archaeological resources under Section 110 of the National Historic
Preservation Act (NHPA); review of undertakings on federal land under
Section 106 of the NHPA; protection of archaeological materials under
the Archaeological Resources Protection Act; preparation of nominations
of historic properties to the National Register of Historic Places;
development of contracts or cooperative agreements between Federal
agencies and private firms or universities for historic preservation
activities; technical assistance on archaeological matters;
coordination and management of volunteers helping to preserve cultural
sites; curation of federal archaeological collections; preservation of
sensitive cultural and spiritual tribal objects under the Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act; and managing the grant
program for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices.
Yet today's federal archeology workforce cannot meet all of its
current responsibilities because that workforce continues to shrink.
Due to attrition from retirement and transfers, and these positions not
being back--filled, archaeological staffing throughout the federal
government is in fact approaching a critical low level. The table on
page four demonstrates the significant erosion of staff capable of
carrying out Section 106 compliance work and decision--making at the
National Park Service.
In fact, the NPS has nearly 60 fewer archaeologists on staff than
it did in 2004. The losses are especially severe at the GS-12 level and
above, where the archaeologists have the most experience and the
highest levels of education, and thus are best able to oversee Section
106 reviews.
The situation will undoubtedly get worse if new staff persons are
not hired in the very near future. Projects authorized under the Great
American Outdoors Act, which the SAA and numerous other organizations
strongly supported, will require activities necessary for compliance
with Section 106 of NHPA if projects are to go forward. This is on top
of the work that is already confronting department personnel. At
present, Interior does not have a sufficient number of archaeologists
on staff to carry out its current statutorily--required
responsibilities, not to mention those that will arise in the future,
such as projects authorized by a new infrastructure bill. The SAA
recognizes that correcting this situation will require a multi-year
effort. As a start, we request an additional $6.75 million in FY2022 to
fill open NPS archaeologist positions.
national park service: national recreation and preservation cultural
programs: $33.5 million
NPS National Recreation Programs are vital for the technical
assistance and other support they provide for resource protection
within parks, to other federal agencies, and to state, tribal, and
private sector stakeholders. These programs assist communities in
preserving their significant historical and archaeological properties.
The archaeological component identifies, documents, and inventories
archaeological resources in parks; produces archaeological technical
and programmatic publications; implements regulations for protecting
archaeological resources; and assists other agencies through program
development and training. The SAA requests a total of $33.2 million for
FY2022, an increase of $2.34 million.
national park service-historic preservation fund: $150 million
The Historic Preservation Fund provides crucial support to state
and tribal historic preservation offices and matching grants to
numerous recipients to catalog and preserve historic resources. Local
communities rely on these grants for historic preservation projects as
a means of promoting tourism and economic development. Without the HPF,
the preservation system established by the National Historic
Preservation Act--particularly with regards to the Section 106 system--
simply would not function. SAA endorses the recommendations put forward
by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National
Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers, the National
Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, and others: a
total of $150 million for FY2022, which would be the first time in its
history that the HPF is funded at its fully authorized level. The funds
would be allocated as follows:

--$60 million for State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs);
--$24 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs);
--$20 million for the Save America's Treasures grant program;
--$10 million for competitive grants for Historically Black Colleges
and Universities;
--$9 million for the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization grants;
--$1 million for a competitive grant program to survey and document
historic resources;
--$19 million for African American Civil Rights Initiative
Competitive Grants; and
--$7 million for the newly established competitive grants programs to
preserve the sites and stories associated with securing civil
rights for All Americans.
bureau of land management (blm)--cultural resources management: $21.8
million
The BLM manages the largest and most diverse body of land in the
U.S. These lands contain an enormous number of known and as--yet
undiscovered cultural resources. To date, only 10 percent of BLM lands
have been surveyed for cultural resources. It is important that the BLM
be given the resources it needs to fulfill its statutory requirements
to research, inventory and protect the cultural resources under its
control. In the FY2021 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies
Appropriations bill, the BLM cultural resources program received $20.3
million. The SAA respectfully requests an increase of $1.5 million, to
an overall amount of $21.8 million. This additional funding will enable
BLM staff archaeologists to continue their work to survey BLM lands,
conserve archaeological sites and materials, and integrate cultural
resources data through the National Cultural Resources Information
Management System. While the BLM is experiencing similar staffing
shortages to those facing the NPS, perhaps of greatest concern is the
longstanding disruption and dysfunction that occurred in the cultural
resources program because of the reorganization of the BLM central
office in Washington, DC, and the subsequent relocation of staff to
Grand Junction, Colorado, and other offices in the West that resulted
in the retirement or resignation of many staff members.
bureau of land management-national landscape conservation system: $65.1
million
The National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS), first
established in 2000, now contains more than 37 million acres of
National Monuments, Wilderness Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, and other
lands. They contain an extensive and diverse array of the nation's
archaeological and cultural resources. The funding needed to carry out
sound stewardship of the lands in the system, however, is lacking.
Since 2006, when Congress provided $65.1 million for the system,
funding has declined repeatedly, to $45.6 million in FY2021, in spite
of the system expanding by more than 11 million acres. There has also
been a significant increase in visitor traffic. In order to provide
adequate management of these lands and the archaeological resources
they contain, the SAA strongly supports an allocation of $65.1 million
for the program, an increase of $19.5 million over FY2021. This
substantial increase would restore the NLCS to its FY2006 funding
level, and allow the BLM to bring to bear the resources necessary to
carry out its mission.
native american graves protection and repatriation act grants: $2
million
As we've stated in previous years, the NAGPRA Grants Program serves
a crucial purpose. The funding it provides is often the only resource
available to Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and museums
to facilitate repatriation of culturally affiliated human remains,
funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony
under the NAGPRA statute. Unfortunately, funding for the Grants Program
has usually fallen short of demand. In FY2019 the total number of grant
proposals totaled more than $3 million, while only $1.65 million could
be awarded. The amount of requests for FY2020--$1.95 million--was
smaller, possibly because of the COVID outbreak, and $1.9 million in
grants was awarded. The SAA believes that another increase in grant
funding is needed, assuming an increase in requests in 2021 and 2022 as
the pandemic eases. We request that the National NAGPRA Grants Program
receive $2 million for FY2022, an increase of $100,000.
The SAA greatly appreciates your time and consideration of these
important issues. Please contact us at 202-559-5115 or
[email protected] if you have any questions or concerns.

______

Prepared Statement of the Society of American Foresters
The undersigned organizations are strong supporters of the Forest
Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program funded by the USDA Forest Service
(Forest Service). We rely on the inventory data and analysis of
America's forests provided by the program, which make up the backbone
of scientific knowledge on the current state of the nation's forests.
This critical information is needed to support sound policy and forest
management decisions, both public and private, and is increasingly
important for decisions regarding carbon stocks, sustainability, and
new and expanding markets. We feel that the needs of our nation's
forests coupled with the policy priorities of this Congress make this
an ideal time to significantly increase investment in this critical
program.
With this in mind, we urge Congress to support FIA at no less than
$93.5M in total funding in FY22. Beginning in FY21, Congress
restructured the Forest Service program budgets, separating out
appropriations for cost pools, salary & expenses, and program funding.
Commensurate with this restructuring, we urge Congress to fund FIA
program dollars at no less than $32.4M in FY22. This will ensure that
state and academic cooperators who partner in the critical data
collection and delivery of the FIA program through grants and
agreements that help realize programmatic operational efficiencies are
fully funded to do their critical work. However, we request that this
increase not be realized at the expense of other critical Forest
Service Research & Development or State and Private Forestry programs
that also support our nations forests.
In 2015, the Forest Service released an updated FIA Strategic Plan,
which outlines a variety of potential program deliverables at various
funding levels. Recent analysis done by the Forest Service estimates
that $93.5M is the funding level needed to deliver ``Option C'', which
includes enhanced timber products monitoring, improved carbon and
biomass estimates, enhanced landowner studies, research into land cover
and land use change, and urban forest inventory.
These additional items add immense value to the understanding of
our nation's forests but are not possible at current funding levels.
The data and information collected by FIA is utilized by a large
set of diverse stakeholders and serves as the basis for: identifying
trends in forest ownership; measuring carbon stocks; assessing fish and
wildlife habitat; evaluating wildfire, insect, and disease risk;
predicting the spread of invasive species; determining capital
investment in existing forest products facilities and selecting
locations for new forest product facilities; and identifying and
responding to priorities identified in State Forest Action Plans.
While we are supportive of at least $93.5M in funding for FY 2022,
Option D of the 2015 Strategic Plan--which calls for additional
investment to implement the five-year annualized program called for in
the 1998 Farm Bill and to respond to other emerging needs--would
necessitate a funding level of $106M. With the current policy focus on
forest carbon monitoring and projection, reducing the cycle length in
areas where it would provide more timely carbon data, combined with
enhanced remote sensing capabilities, would provide more accurate data
to support important forest resource decisions. We look forward to
working with Congress to find ways to support funding additional FIA
data collection in support of delivering on forest carbon inventory
needs.
In addition to more accurate information regarding carbon stocks,
there is also a need to make FIA data more robust and useful for other
emerging uses, such as forest sustainability monitoring, wildlife
habitat assessments, and much more. Furthermore, additional
opportunities exist to direct investments in tools to quantify carbon
sequestration in forests, forest soils and long--lived forest products.
These should include additional investments in the Timber Products
Output survey and in new technologies that enhance the core data
collection program.
As engaged partners, we are interested in working with Congress and
the Forest Service to make program delivery as efficient as possible
and to realize additional federal investment to implement many of the
useful tools outlined in the FIA Strategic Plan. Further, the 2018 Farm
Bill called for ``finding efficiencies in the program operations
through the use of remote sensing technologies, where appropriate.'' We
look forward to working with the Forest Service as this direction is
implemented.
Finally, we are concerned that under the new budget structure there
is not a dedicated salary and expenses budget line for FIA, presenting
challenges for the Forest Service R&D program to ensure it is spending
an appropriate amount of salary and expenses funding on FIA across the
agency, and hiring critical positions to ensure program delivery. We
request you to work with the Forest Service to establish a budget line
item for FIA for salaries and expenses.
Given the increasing pressures facing our forests--climate impacts,
wildfire, insects and disease, and development--the FIA program is more
important now than ever before. We look forward to working with
Congress and the Forest Service to ensure the accurate and timely
inventory of America's forests.

Supported by 50 Organizations

Alabama Forestry Association
Ecological Society of America
Allegheny Hardwood Utilization Group
Empire State Forest Products Association
American Forest & Paper Association
Florida Forestry Association
American Forest Foundation
Forest Industry National Labor Management Committee
American Forest Resource Council
Forest Investment Associates
American Loggers Council
Forest Resources Association
American Wood Council
Forestry Association of South Carolina
American Woodcock Society
Georgia Forestry Association
Arkansas Forestry Association
Hardwood Federation
Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho
International Society of Arboriculture
Association of Consulting Foresters
Louisiana Forestry Association
California Forestry Association
Mississippi Forestry Association
Composite Panel Association
Montana Wood Products Association
Decorative Hardwoods Association
National Alliance of Forest Owners
National Association of Forest Service Retirees
Resource Management Service, LLC
National Association of State Foresters
Ruffed Grouse Society
National Association of University Forest Resources Programs
Society of American Foresters
National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative
South Carolina Timber Producers Association
National Wooden Pallet and Container Association
Southeastern Wood Producers Association
National Woodland Owners Association
Southern Forestry Consultants, Inc.
New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association
Tennessee Forestry Association
Ohio Forestry Association
Treated Wood Council
Oregon Women In Timber
Washington Forest Protection Association
Public Lands Foundation
West Virginia Forestry Association

______

Prepared Statement of the Soil Conservation and Water Quality Division,
Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship
My name is Susan Kozak and I serve as the Director of the Soil and
Conservation and Water Quality Division of the Iowa Department of
Agriculture and Land Stewardship. I am providing this statement on
behalf of the National Association of Abandoned Mine Land Programs
(NAAMLP), for which I currently serve as President. NAAMLP represents
32 states and tribes, of which 29 implement federally approved
abandoned mine land reclamation (AML) programs authorized under Title
IV of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). My
address is 502 E. 9th Street, Des Moines, IA 50319. My phone number is
(515) 281-7043. My email is [email protected]
The 2006 amendments to Title IV of SMCRA significantly changed how
state and tribal AML grants are funded. Beginning in FY 2008, these
grants are funded primarily by mandatory appropriations consisting of
receipts from a fee on coal production held in the AML Trust Fund, a
portion of the Secretary's discretionary share in the Fund, and
Treasury funds. As a result, and based on current OSMRE projections,
the states and tribes should receive approximately $155 million (before
sequestration) in FY 2022, which we strongly support. OSMRE's proposed
budget includes a discretionary appropriation request of approximately
$28 million to fund the agency's own AML work, its administration of
the AML Fund, and other activities in support of the AML program.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has requested an amount of
$65.3 million to fund its own AML and hazardous materials program
related to hardrock mining.
SMCRA has been successful largely as a result of the cooperative
federalism model that it employs. While the states and tribes
understand and appreciate OSMRE's role in the AML program under SMCRA,
we caution against using limited OSMRE funding for unproductive ends,
for example OSMRE oversight that second--guesses state/tribal
assessments or requires unnecessary levels of supplemental information
that does not advance program purposes. Rather than having OSMRE engage
in more oversight, the states and tribes would benefit from a more
collaborative relationship with OSMRE in completing the challenging
work associated with AML program requirements. For example, we believe
that funding for technical assistance and applied science projects
related to AML work is particularly important. We also urge the
Subcommittee to maintain necessary funding for OSMRE's training program
and TIPS, including moneys for state/tribal travel. These initiatives
are central to the effective implementation of state and tribal AML
programs as they provide necessary training and continuing education
for state/tribal agency personnel, as well as critical technical
assistance.
We also strongly support maintaining funding for the Watershed
Cooperative Agreements in the amount of $1.5 million. This funding
serves an important role in facilitating state and local partnerships,
thereby helping to leverage outside sources of funding and preserve
precious reclamation grant funding.\1\
NAAMLP strongly recommends an increase in annual funding available
to minimum program states. These states often have very significant AML
inventories but funding under the current grant distribution formula is
not enough to make efficient progress with their AML inventories.\2\ In
the interest of enabling these AML programs to fulfill their potential,
NAAMLP believes an increase in minimum program funding to an annual
grant amount of at least $5 million would be very beneficial. In this
regard, we support provision in recent legislation that has been
introduced in the 117th Congress (S. 1455) that would increase minimum
program funding.
Further to the goal of efficiency in the use of limited AML grant
funding, sequestration of AML grants under the Budget Control Act of
2011 is an increasing concern to the state and tribal AML programs. In
FY 2021, a sequestration reduction of 5.7% translated to $9.2 million
withheld for a total of approximately $144.7 million withheld since FY
2013.\3\ If coal production further declines, thereby reducing fee
collections, the funding lost to sequestration becomes increasingly
important to maintain strong AML programs.
NAAMLP recommends that Congress consider exemption of the AML fund
from sequestration a priority as it pursues legislative initiatives
related to AML, as the benefits are patent and every dollar of AML
funding is needed. Because the AML fee is paid by the coal mining
industry for the exclusive purpose of AML remediation, withholding that
funding does not actually reduce the federal budget deficit--but it
does mean less money returned to local economies to remediate local
safety and environmental hazards. NAAMLP also recommends that the
Subcommittee explore mechanisms to release the growing balance of
withheld AML moneys related to sequestration as part of the
appropriations process.\4\
NAAMLP also recommends attention be given to the way AML
emergencies are handled under Title IV. Responding to sudden
emergencies such as sinkholes and landslides is one of the AML
programs' most important functions. Starting in 2010, OSMRE instituted
a policy whereby state and tribal AML programs must fund AML
emergencies from their regular AML grants. This change has proven
problematic, especially in that it diverts grant funding away from
progress with current AML inventories.\5\ NAAMLP recommends a return to
the pre-2010 system wherein AML programs received reimbursement from
the OSMRE discretionary share for emergency projects. This will
encourage efficient progress with reclamation as well as ensure that
the state and tribal AML programs are well equipped to fulfill their
important public safety role.
The Committee's recognition of the important role played by the AML
program is evidenced by the ongoing provision of funding for the AML
Economic Revitalization (AMLER) Program. The projects underway due to
this pilot program exhibit potential economic as well as safety and
environmental benefits, though the types of projects undertaken and
benefits they hope to achieve have varied among the states. The pilot
has also served to inform potential future economic development--
focused reclamation efforts. NAAMLP therefore supports OSMRE's increase
of $50 million in funding for the pilot program in OSMRE's FY 2022
proposed budget (for a total of $165 million). We note that these
grants are not redundant to regular AML grant funding; pilot funding
has a distinctly economically--focused purpose, whereas regular AML
grant funding is focused on human safety and environmental health.
While the pilot program has been generally successful so far, and
OSMRE's guidance documentation has been helpful, the states involved
with the pilot program urge OSMRE to address a series of
recommendations for improving program effectiveness and efficiency,
particularly in the areas of project vetting, the application of 2 CFR
Part 200 requirements related to sub-recipients versus contractors, and
performance reporting. We recommend that OSMRE's project vetting
process be more efficient. Several states are awaiting approvals from
OSMRE for their pilot project proposals, which could cause delays if
construction seasons are allowed to expire before projects can get
underway.
Beyond the coal sector, NAAMLP represents many states with
significant hardrock AML problems within their borders.\6\ In the
absence of a hardrock AML funding source comparable to Title IV funding
for coal AML, state and tribal hardrock AML programs struggle to
maintain adequate funding and make consistent progress. There is no
comprehensive account of the scale of the hardrock AML problem, but it
is often cited as being in the tens of billions of dollars. In light of
the disparity between available funding and the scale of the problem,
NAAMLP expressed concern with significant reductions to hardrock AML
funding contained in BLM's FY 2019 proposed budget. We were therefore
encouraged by the proposed $35 million increase for FY 2022 for the
combined AML and hazardous materials programs for a total of $65.3
million.
BLM hardrock AML funding is one of very few resources available for
hardrock AML reclamation. Hardrock AML problems occur on both private
and federal lands, meaning that the BLM AML program is the primary
means of addressing public safety and environmental impacts. What's
more, BLM cooperates closely with the state and tribal AML programs to
conduct this work, meaning that any cut to BLM funding will have a
cascading negative effect on the state level programs. NAAMLP
recommends BLM's hardrock AML program funding be maintained going
forward.
Returning to discussion of coal AML--with the AML fee on which the
Title IV program relies set to expire this September, NAAMLP has been
in engaged in serious discussions regarding the program's future. It is
clear that the continuing need for the program is strong. The AML pilot
highlights the fact that AML work is especially important to the
struggling communities in Appalachia who have been hit hardest by
downturns in coal related employment--the mitigation of which has been
a congressional and Administration priority in recent years. AML sites
endanger public health and safety, degrade the environment, and dampen
economic prospects, which severely constrains well-being and growth in
AML--impacted communities nationwide. AML programs have been contending
with these issues for over 40 years and have learned much about the
true depth and scale of AML impacts over that time, as well as the
health and economic benefits these projects bring to nearby
communities. See www.ourworksnotdone.org
Despite the progress that has been made, the time and money
allotted to the AML programs to restore impacts from more than two
hundred years of unregulated coal mining has not been adequate to
complete that mission by the time the AML fee expires in September.
Current OSMRE estimates project that over $10 billion in reclamation
costs will remain, and NAAMLP believes the true costs are even higher.
There can be little question that if the AML program is to complete its
mission, and if its fundamental contributions to living conditions and
economic circumstances in coalfield communities are to continue,
additional AML funding will be required beyond 2021. If the AML fee is
not reauthorized, consideration must be given to how the more than $10
billion in public liability represented by remaining coal AML costs
will be addressed going forward.
NAAMLP is encouraged that discussions around reauthorization of the
AML program have now come to the forefront with the introduction of S.
1447. Important questions are being asked about how much and what type
of AML work is being accomplished and what types of AML problems
remain. It should be noted that the AML accomplishments data furnished
by OSMRE through its budget justifications document and the e-AMLIS
database represent only a selective portion of the work that is being
accomplished through AML grant funding. This is mainly due to the fact
that e-AMLIS only records construction costs and does not include data
on costs such as program administration, project management, and most
importantly, project design. NAAMLP has been working with OSMRE to
examine data related to the AML program in order to more accurately
tell the story of the AML program. As an example of what has so far
been produced by that effort, the NAAMLP 2018 Accomplishments report
can be found in the footnote below.\7\ The state and tribal AML
programs have been in the lead role in conducting reclamation and
tracking progress for the last 40 years. We look forward to working
closely with the Committee as it considers the future of the AML
program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Funding for these agreements will also potentially be a key
support for Good Samaritan programs and projects should Congress adopt
legislative language supporting Good Samaritan clean--up activities
such as H.R. 1146.
\2\ At the current rate, some minimum program states have AML
inventories that would literally take hundreds of years to reclaim
completely.
\3\ For minimum program states only receiving $3 million per year
the loss is especially problematic.
\4\ According to OSMRE, the specific amounts that have been
withheld from each state or tribe are being tracked so that, once OSMRE
has authority to distribute those funds, they could be repaid to the
state and tribal AML programs for which they were originally intended.
According to OSMRE, there is no authority to distribute withheld funds
unless so provided by Congress.
\5\ This is a particular problem for minimum program states that
have limited annual grant. One emergency project can preempt an entire
years' worth of progress against the AML inventory in such states.
\6\ For example, Arizona alone estimates that they have in excess
of 50,000 hazardous historic--mining hazards. More information about
remaining AML reclamation costs and reclamation accomplishments can be
found in NAAMLP's 2018 Update of the ``Safeguarding, Reclaiming,
Restoring'' booklet.
\7\ http://naamlp.net/includes/
SafeguardingReclaimingRestoringBooklet%202018_web_
version.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

______

Prepared Statement of the Southcentral Foundation
My name is April Kyle and I am the interim President/CEO for the
Southcentral Foundation (SCF). SCF is the Alaska Native tribal health
organization designated by Cook Inlet Region, Inc. and eleven
Federally--recognized Tribes--the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island,
Igiugig, Iliamna, Kokhanok, McGrath, Newhalen, Nikolai, Nondalton,
Pedro Bay, Telida, and Takotna--to provide healthcare services to
beneficiaries of the Indian Health Service (IHS) pursuant to a
government-to-government contract with the United States under
authority of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act
(ISDEAA), P.L. 93-638. SCF is a two-time recipient of the Malcolm
Baldrige National Quality Award for health (2011 and 2017).
SCF, through our 2,600 employees, provides critical health
services, including pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, Native men's
wellness, dental, behavioral health and substance abuse treatment to
over 65,000 Alaska Native and American Indian people. This includes
52,000 people living in the Municipality of Anchorage and the
Matanuska-Susitna Borough to the north, and 13,000 residents of 55
rural Alaska Native villages. Our service area encompasses over 100,000
square miles, an area the size of Wyoming. More so than any other
affiliation of tribes, Alaska Native people have assumed the broadest
responsibilities under the ISDEAA to own and manage healthcare systems
which, together with the Alaska Public Health System, serve 150,000
Alaska Native and American Indian people and thousands of non-Native
residents in rural Alaska.
I want to take the time to acknowledge the nation--leading COVID-19
vaccine rollout that SCF had. To date we have vaccinated over 24,000
people. We opened our facility to all Alaskans aged 16 and older
earlier than any other provider in the state of Alaska. We were nimble
in our vaccine distribution program. We were able to fill in the cracks
when federal, state, and local political considerations could not fully
protect the health of marginalized populations. We pro-actively
launched vaccination campaigns, for both IHS beneficiaries and other
community members, in homeless shelters and prisons, and opened our
vaccine allocation up to local teenagers before the state government
could lower their minimum age for doses. As a Tribal health
organization, we are committed to healing trauma, and stopping that
vicious cycle before it starts. Every life saved, or a lesson learned
in a classroom is a chance for healing to begin anew. The customer--
owners we serve live in relationship with so many other community
members--we felt it our duty to protect those folks as well.
I want to express my strong support for the Administration's
historic proposed $2.2 billion increase in Indian Health Service
funding. I also strongly support the proposal to advance appropriations
for the Indian Health Service. My remarks today are simple, this
requested unprecedented increase in federal funding for IHS programs
and services is necessary to address the ongoing and deadly health
disparities that exist between Alaska Native and American Indian people
and other Americans. This disparity was on high display this last year
with the pandemic,
where Alaska Native and American Indian people died from this
horrible disease at unprecedented rates. Most tragically, we lost the
most sacred among us, far too many elders perished including some of
our last fluent language speakers. This disease is a threat to our
culture, our livelihood, and our future. There should never be a time
again in history, where Tribal people must bear the weight of this
Nation's failed health care system.
1. advance appropriation is critical to the stability of the tribal
health care delivery system.
SCF strongly supports the Administration's proposal for advance
appropriations of the Indian Health Service in 2023. The FY 2020
government shutdown underscored the need for this change. The delays in
funding had deeply--felt impacts in Alaska Native and American Indian
communities across the country. As Congresswoman McCollum has said,
``[d]uring the government shutdown, basic everyday needs like health
clinics, tribal justice services, and social services for children,
families, and seniors went unfunded, putting Native American
communities at risk.'' We completely agree that ``[t]hese programs are
critical to life, health, and safety in these communities, and the
federal government has a legal and moral responsibility to ensure
funding for our trust and treaty responsibilities is not interrupted.
Advance appropriations for Indian Country is a promising avenue for
making good on our commitments to our Native American brothers and
sisters.''
Much has been said in this Subcommittee, year after year, about how
the programs and departments subject to this appropriations process are
reflections of the trust relationship the Federal Government has with
American Indian and Alaska Native people. The problems that arise from
shutdowns and other delays in the context of a lack of advance
appropriations exacerbate the problems caused by the funding shortfalls
and disparities discussed above.
2. continue to provide increases for behavioral health programs
We cannot state strenuously enough how important it is to increase
available funds for behavioral health. Alaska Native and American
Indian people are disproportionately represented in substance abuse,
especially opioid addiction, and suicide statistics. According to the
Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and confirmed by IHS Chief Medical
Officer, Rear Admiral Michael
E. Toedt, Alaska Native and American Indian people ``had the
highest drug overdose death rates in 2015 and the largest percentage
increase in the number of deaths over time from 1999-2015 compared to
other racial and ethnic groups.'' During that time, deaths rose more
than 500% among Alaska Native and American Indian people. The CDC also
found that the suicide rate among Alaska Native people is almost four
times the U.S. general population rate and at least six times the
national average in some parts of the State.
Behavioral health funds are critical to our most vulnerable
population--our youth. SCF runs several programs that provide mental
health care for Alaska Native youth which focus on building academic,
vocational and leadership skills through culturally--appropriate
methods. It is our firm conviction that only by addressing the root
causes that drive individuals to drug misuse and addiction--domestic
and child abuse, poverty and unemployment--can we help them heal.
We also support specific appropriations for an Opioid Prevention,
Treatment and Recovery program for Alaska Native and American Indian
people. We recommend that these funds be distributed among tribes and
tribal organizations as additions to our self-governance compacts and
contracts. Alaska Native healthcare providers, like SCF, recognize that
the size of the opioid and substance abuse problem in Alaska demands
resources.However, with insufficient funds to address behavioral health
challenges, we cannot adequately reach those who suffer from substance
abuse, those struggling with PTSD, our military veterans, or victims of
violent crime. Prevention, education, and timely medication--assisted
treatment (MAT) programs remain our most potent tools to raise a new
generation of Alaska Native people who practice positive, life--
affirming behavioral traits and who will, in turn, pass on these life
skills to their children and grandchildren.
With our available funds, we established The Pathway Home, a
voluntary, comprehensive, and individualized mental health program for
adolescents aged 13 to 18 years. The Pathway Home teaches life skills
to these Alaska Native youths so that they discontinue harmful
behavior. Many of these youths have already experienced childhood
trauma or have seen family members struggle with drug and alcohol
dependency, which puts them at greater risk of turning to drugs and
alcohol. The Pathway Home creates a loving and supportive community
environment and it is heartwarming to see how proud the graduates of
this program are to go back out into the world with these new skills
and new hope. This kind of transitional opportunity must be made
available to more tribes.
Unfortunately, the FY 2021 appropriations measure provided only a
modest increase of $5 million for mental health, and it did not
increase funding for the behavioral health integration initiative or
for suicide prevention, or the amount available for alcohol and
substance abuse programs. More is needed. We look forward to learning
how much of the President's $2.2 billion increase will be directed to
mental health care.
We do know that the President proposes $1.6 billion for the
Community Mental Health Services Block Grant and $10.7 billion to
combat the Opioid epidemic. We ask this Subcommittee to work with your
colleagues on the Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee
to ensure that Indian country receives an appropriate allocation of
this funding, as well.
3. integrating oral health care into our customer--owner's primary
health system
The medical community has finally recognized that oral health care
impacts a person's overall health. We now know that oral health can be
a leading indicator of heart disease and some cancers. Thus, SCF has
established as part of our Nuka System of Care (which is a
relationship--based, customer--owned approach to transforming health
care, improving outcomes and reducing costs) a goal of including on
every customer--owner's primary health care team, an oral health care
provider.
This expansion to include oral health as a part of primary care
requires an expansion of the SCF's dental clinic to allow for a
seamless integration for our customer--owners. We ask the Subcommittee
to increase funding the dental program to support this innovative
integration of oral health into primary health care.
4. section 105(l) lease payments
We appreciate the Committee's careful attention to the issue of
105(l) leases in the FY 2021 funding measure, including the inclusion
of $101 million for 105(l) leases. We also continue to strongly support
that these costs remain an indefinite appropriations, but with the goal
to make sure these costs (along with contract support costs) are made
mandatory costs so that they do not continue to stress the limited
funding allocation that the Subcommittee receives.
5. conclusion
Thank you again for the opportunity to provide testimony on behalf
of Southcentral Foundation and the people we serve.
______

Prepared Statement of the Squaxin Island Tribe
On behalf of the Squaxin Island Tribal Leadership and citizens, it
is an honor to provide our funding priorities and recommendations for
the FY 2022 Budgets for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Bureau of
Indian Education (BIE) and Indian Health Service (IHS) and related
agencies. We request that Tribal program funding throughout the Federal
government be exempt from future sequestrations, rescissions, and
disproportionate cuts. We support Advance Appropriations for the IHS,
BIA and BIE to prevent funding lapses and other unintended consequences
associated with short-term funding deals from disrupting critical
services provided by the Federal government. We were one of the first
30 Federally recognized Tribes to enter a Compact of Self-Governance
with the United States in both BIA and IHS.
We appreciate that Congress continues to fully fund Contract
Support Cost (CSC) in the BIA and IHS without impacting direct program
funding and further request that the BIA and IHS CSC be reclassified to
mandatory (permanent) funding.
The Squaxin Island Tribe supports the indefinite line item and full
funding of t 105(l) leases in the President's FY 2022 discretionary
funding. We ask this Committee to ensure that the United States honors
its trust and treaty obligations to American Indians and Alaskan
Natives by providing stable Federal funding for essential Tribal
services.
Squaxin Island Tribe Specific Requests
1. $1.8 million--Water Connection Project
2. Northwest Indian Treatment Center (NWITC) Residential Program in
IHS
A. $1.5 million--Medicine Building
B. $250,000--Sustain Operations
3. $500,000 Shellfish Management Program--BIA
National Requests and Recommendations--Bureau of Indian Affairs
1. BIA Rights Protection--Increase funding to $66 million for the
BIA Rights Protection Implementation
2. Increase Tribal Base Funding (instead of through grants)
Nation Requests and Recommendations--Bureau of Indian Education
1. Provide $1 billion for system--wide Bureau of Indian Education
(BIE) education construction
2. Provide $230million for Johnson O'Malley
3. Reinstate $620,000 for juvenile detention education in BIA--
funded facilities
National Requests and Recommendations--Indian Health Service
1. Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI) has been
reauthorized through December 18, 2023 we want to receive these funds
through existing ISDEAA funding mechanisms
2. IHS mandatory funding (maintaining current services)--Provide a
total of $12.78.4 billion for the Indian Health Service in FY 2022
3. Mental Health Services increase of $500 million
4. $255 million for Opioid Funding--Increase funding and include
Tribal set asides in any funding decisions to states
squaxin island tribe background
We are native people of South Puget Sound and descendants of the
maritime people who lived and prospered along these shores for untold
centuries. We are known as the People of the Water because of our
strong cultural connection to the natural beauty and bounty of Puget
Sound going back hundreds of years. The Squaxin Island Indian
Reservation is located in southeastern Mason County, Washington and the
Tribe is a signatory to the 1854 Medicine Creek Treaty. Our treaty--
designated reservation, Squaxin Island, is approximately 2.2 square
miles of uninhabited forested land, surrounded by the bays and inlets
of southern Puget Sound. Because the Island lacks fresh water, the
Tribe has built its community on roughly 26 acres at Kamilche,
Washington purchased and placed into trust. The Tribe also owns 6 acres
across Pickering Passage from Squaxin Island and a plot of 36 acres on
Harstine Island, across Peale Passage. The total land area including
off-reservation trust lands is 1,715.46 acres. In addition, the Tribe
manages roughly 500 acres of Puget Sound tidelands.
Our Tribal governance combines our sovereign powers as well as U.S.
Congressional acts related to treaties, statutes, and public law.
Squaxin Island Tribe, like all Tribal Nations, continue to work through
the impacts of the pandemic. Prior to COVID-19, the Tribal government
and our economic enterprises constituted the largest employer in Mason
County with over 1,250 employees. The Tribe has a current enrollment of
1,040 and an on-reservation population of 426 living in 141 homes.
Squaxin has an estimated service area population of 2,747; a growth
rate of about 10%, and an unemployment rate of about 30% (according to
the BIA Labor Force Report). We continue to need the assistance of
Congressional relief funds to mitigate the ongoing challenges to
recovery. We are grateful for the support we have received so far.
squaxin island tribe specific requests/justifications
1. $1.8 million--Water Connection Project--IHS
New Water Source connection project is critically essential to
provide for the safety and health of the Squaxin Island Tribal
Community. As the largest employer in Mason County, we impact the
economy of Grays Harbor, Thurston, and Kitsap Counties. Families rely
on the jobs created by the Tribe. This water source allows for us to
maintain and build thriving economy that positively impact the
businesses in the greater region. When we thrive the State of
Washington benefits as well. With this water capacity we would be able
to create new jobs for hundreds of families. Our current water source
is at capacity and diminishing every year. Along with Taylor Shellfish
we have obtained a water right that sits on Land owned by Taylor. This
is approximately 1.5 miles away this project would allow for connection
to the Squaxin Island Tribe water system. A new water connection study
has been completed with pre-engineering design and costs of the
connection. We are near shovel ready and could complete in FY 2022.
This new water source will allow the tribe to build much needed
housing. We have a large waiting list and overcrowding with
multigenerational household composition. The pandemic has shown those
households create a high-risk situation. Taylor Shellfish fully
endorses this project in true collaboration with the Squaxin Island
Tribe.
2. $1.750 Million Increase for Northwest Indian Treatment Center
(NWITC) Residential Program--IHS--H"D3WXbi Palil'' meaning
``Returning from the Dark, Deep Waters to the Light"
The Squaxin Island Tribe's Northwest Indian Treatment Center, D3f
bi Pa lil, is a residential treatment facility that serves American
Indians with chronic substance abuse patterns related to unresolved
grief and complex trauma, including generational trauma. The Center is
CARF accredited and a recognized national model of treatment for
treating trauma in the presence of addiction, uniquely integrating the
Best Practice of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) with Plant
Medicines. This culturally infused use of a Best Practice, based on
this NWITC program, has been adapted in many tribal communities since
its development. DBT is a model of treatment with good research results
for the treatment of substance above and mental health conditions.
In recognition of NWITC's unique model of treatment, the State of
Washington Health Care Authority has requested NWITC to create a video-
documentary describing the key elements. They have provided over
$82,000 to fund this video-documentary so the model can be used by
other tribes and to be used to help others understand the requirements
of the facility. NWITC has several urgent needs:

A. Medicine Building--this project is shovel ready cost estimated at
$1.5 million. This building will support and expand the reach
of the activities of the DBT/Plant Medicine program. It will be
a place of medicine making, but also have video capacity
linking this program to other tribal medicine programs and
creating a library available to tribal behavioral health
programs and NWITC alumni. The result will be better support
for alumni, but also will help build capacity in tribal
communities in the Northwest.
B. Because of the pandemic, the relapse rate in tribal communities
served by NWITC are high. To better support NWITC alumni, it is
necessary to provide more support. Even though NWITC has a
Recovery Support Team who actively support alumni for one-year
post treatment, in the current environment this is
insufficient. NWITC requires a position to provide the DBT/
Plant Medicine training/coaching in the tribal communities in
which alumni live. Costs include a position to implement this,
plus expenses of alumni to participate, including hotel, food,
etc. In past events NWITC has verified this as the most
successful approach for teaching/coaching alumni. Budget for
this is $250,000.
3. $500,000--Shellfish Management--BIA
The Squaxin Island Tribe faces an ongoing budget deficit to
maintain and operate the shellfish program at its current level of
operation--a level that leaves 20% of treaty--designated state lands
and 80-90% of private tidelands unharvested due to lack of funding. To
address this shortfall and enable effective growth and development of
the program, an annual minimum increase of $500,000 is requested.
Shellfish have been a mainstay for the Squaxin Island people for
thousands of years and are important today for subsistence, economic
and ceremonial purposes. The Tribe's right to harvest shellfish is
guaranteed by the 1854 Medicine Creek Treaty. Today, we are unable to
fully exercise our treaty rights due to lack of Federal support for our
shellfish management program.
national requests and recommendations--bureau of indian affairs
1. BIA Rights Protection--Increase funding to $66 million for the
BIA Rights Protection Implementation This sub-activity Account has a
clear and direct relationship with the Federal trust obligation to
Tribes. This program ensures compliance with Federal court orders by
implementing effective Tribal self-regulatory and co-management
systems. In addition, this program supports implementation of the
United States/Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty.
2. Increase Tribal Base Funding (instead of through grants)--Grant
funding, particularly inside the BIA, is not consistent with the intent
of Tribal self-determination. Tribal leaders have grown increasingly
frustrated by the increase in Indian Affairs funding offer through
grants. Allocating new funds via grants marginalizes and impedes Tribal
Self-Determination and Self-Governance. Provide increases via Tribal
base funding instead of through grants to Tribal governments.
nation requests and recommendations--bureau of indian education
1. Provide $1 billion for system--wide Bureau of Indian Education
(BIE) education construction
2. Provide $230million for Johnson O'Malley
3. Reinstate $620,000 for juvenile detention education in BIA--funded
facilities
national requests and recommendations--indian health service
1. Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI) has been
reauthorized through December 18, 2023 we want to receive these funds
through existing ISDEAA funding mechanisms--Increase to $200 million
annually. Oppose moving SDPI funds into discretionary spending from
mandatory spending.
2. IHS mandatory funding (maintaining current services)--Provide a
total of $12.79 billion for the Indian Health Service in FY 2022 to
include:

a. Increase of $337 million for full funding of current services
b. Increase of $474.5 million binding fiscal obligations
c. Increase of $2.7 billion for program increases for the most
critical health issues (30% above FY2021 recommendations)
3. Other HIS Program Services: Mental Health Services increase of
$500 million
REGIONAL Requests and Recommendations:

Squaxin Island Tribes supports the Regional Budget Requests of the
Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI), the Northwest
Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB) and the Northwest
Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC)
NATIONAL Requests and Recommendations:

Squaxin Island Tribe supports the National Budget Requests of the
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the National Indian
Health Board (NIHB) and the National Indian Education Association
(NIEA)
Thank you for this opportunity to provide the Squaxin Island Tribe
funding priorities for FY 2022 and support for the National and
Regional recommendations.

[This statement was submitted by Kristopher Peters, Chairman.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Standing Rock Sioux TribeTestimony of
On behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, I submit this testimony
concerning the President's FY 2022 budget for the Indian programs
within the Department of the Interior, including Tribal Historic
Preservation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian
Education, and the Indian Health Service. I would like to express our
appreciation to this Subcommittee for its support of Indian tribes.
The Standing Rock Sioux Reservation encompasses 2.3 million acres
in North and South Dakota. The Reservation's population--approximately
8,500 Tribal members and 2,000 non-members--reside in eight districts,
and in smaller communities. The Tribe's primary industries are cattle
ranching and farming. The Tribe struggles to provide essential
governmental services to our members. It is the Tribe's desire to
provide jobs and improve the economic standard of living on our
Reservation.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has a government-to-government
relationship with the United States of America, reflected in our
Treaties which were signed in 1851 and 1868. We ask the government to
honor its commitments in these treaties by adequately funding these
federal programs enacted for our benefit, so that our members may enjoy
a standard of living comparable to that enjoyed by the rest of the
Nation. Despite the Tribe's best efforts, our unemployment rate remains
above 50%. In fact, over 40% of Indian families on our Reservation live
in poverty--more than triple the average U.S. poverty rate. The
disparity is worse for children, as 52% of the Reservation population
under age 18 lives below poverty, compared to 16% and 19% in North and
South Dakota, respectively. The federal programs established and
promised by treaty to aid tribes and their members are essential.
Indian Health Service.--We strongly support the Administration's
historic requested $2.2 billion increase in IHS funding. We depend on
IHS to care for our 15,500 enrolled Tribal members, many of whom suffer
from diabetes, heart disease and hypertension.
The COVID-19 Pandemic has brought into stark reality the impact of
the lack of adequate health care in Tribal Communities. Standing Rock
has suffered significantly, losing not only our most sacred elders, but
young people as well. Moreover, many of our people who survived COVID-
19 are now dealing with the ``long haul'' conditions that are
associated with it, including depression, fatigue, and diminished
cognitive ability. No one knows how long these conditions will last.
This nation must do better for Indian country. The federal health care
delivery system should have been better prepared to combat the
Pandemic.
For example, the Indian Health facility at Fort Yates was built in
1960s and is in need of a facility upgrade. Tragically because of a
lack of capacity too many of our people who caught COVID-19 were
transported to facilities in Bismarck or Fargo and were far away from
family when they passed. In fact, the Tribe had an opportunity to
receive a donation for some medical imaging equipment, but the hospital
did not have the space to accept the modern imaging equipment. We
currently only have 8 dialysis stations. There is a critical need for
more. But again, because of space limitations, the Indian Health
Service cannot expand these services.
We are thankful the Covid-19 vaccine was developed and has been
rapidly disseminated at Standing Rock. But we fear that once we have
the virus under control, we will be faced with mental health crisis
epidemic. The virus has taken so many family members so quickly that
our people have not had the proper time to grieve as they were burying
loved ones consecutively for weeks. We fear that this grief will
manifest in unhealthy behaviors including increased substance abuse and
suicide.
We need to be prepared for the next epidemic. We must ensure that
increased mental health and behavioral funding is available. Congress
must work to ensure that counseling is accessible directly in each
service unit or at the very least via telehealth. Already, too many of
our people are locked in addiction or are dealing with childhood or
other trauma, which impacts their ability to be healthy and productive
members of our Tribe. The trauma from surviving the COVID-19 pandemic
will only add to the burden our people are carrying.
BIA Child Social Services and ICWA.--In North Dakota Indian
children make-up approximately 40% of the children in the foster care
system and in South Dakota Indian children make-up approximately 50% of
the children in the foster care system. According to the Department of
Justice, Indians have the highest rate of victimization in the country.
Unfortunately, the BIA Child Social Services and ICWA funding to
support these children has not been increased in a number of years. We
have a 638-contract with the BIA for this program, but Tribal Council
has had to supplement this program with tribal funds. However, this is
not sustainable for the Tribe. We have asked the BIA for assistance and
they have offered nothing but that their hands are tied--that it is up
to Congress to provide more funding. We have one child whose special
needs requires care in a facility that costs $500 a day. Again, we are
talking about the most vulnerable of our community, and we are worried
that a tragedy will happen because we do not have the resources to
prevent it, so we are asking for your help.
Again, the Tribe's Child Protection Service program works very hard
to address the needs of our children. But there are too few
investigators for this program to protect our children in eight widely
scattered communities across our Reservation. The CPS program is
outstanding, but it is overwhelmed by the scope and magnitude of the
problems it must address. Where child victims need to be placed in a
different environment for their safety, there are far too few
alternatives. We do not have enough approved foster homes on the
Reservation. These homes are always at capacity, so we have no choice
but to place some of these children--who have faced the trauma of
violence in the home--off the Reservation, generally on a temporary
basis, again adding trauma and victimizing the victim. There is simply
an inadequate supply of safe housing alternatives for children who must
be moved for their own safety.
We urge the Committee to increase funding for both the BIA social
services program and for the ICWA programs. Without these resources, we
will not be able to meet the needs of our most vulnerable population.
Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).--We request a substantial
increase in funding for Bureau of Indian Education programs. We
appreciate the Biden Administration's focus on the BIE and improving
the outcomes for our students. Standing Rock relies on BIE funding for
three Tribal grant schools--the Standing Rock Community School (K-12),
Sitting Bull School (K-8), and Rock Creek School (K-8). We also have
five state public schools on the Reservation (Cannonball, Selfridge,
McLaughlin, McIntosh, and Wakpala). These schools depend on federal
impact aid to cover the costs of the public school's share of the
school operations. The children in the schools on the Reservation are
among the most at-risk students in the Nation. At Rock Creek,
Cannonball, Selfridge, and Wakpala schools, 100% of the students
receive free or reduced--price school lunches because their families
live at or below poverty. At other schools, the percentage of children
receiving free or reduced--price lunch is comparable--Sitting Bull,
98%; McLaughlin, 85%; Fort Yates, 80%; Standing Rock, 80%. These
statistics tell us that it is incumbent on our schools to provide much
more to these children than an education.
The recent years' near flat line funding for virtually all aspects
of BIE programs did not account for population growth, increased costs,
or inflation. Student Transportation funding, intended to cover the
costs of buses, fuel, maintenance, vehicle replacements, and drivers,
has stayed almost constant for several years. The substantial increases
in fuel costs alone make it impossible to cover these costs. For
Standing Rock, funds are further strained because we are a rural
community, where bus runs for many of our students may take 11/2 to 2
hours each way and can include travel on unimproved roads.
Law Enforcement.--The Tribe has seen firsthand that adequate law
enforcement funding was key to reducing crime. A number of years ago,
the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe was selected to participate in the High
Priority Program Goals initiative, which dramatically increased law
enforcement positions on our Reservation. This had a significant
positive impact in reducing crime. Increased numbers of police officers
allowed pro-active policing rather than reactive policing. This
initiative enabled officers to be assigned within each Reservation
community, which meant quicker response time to calls and more positive
relationships between law enforcement officers and the communities they
served. The increased law enforcement presence and patrols deterred
crime and resulted in our members feeling safer. The data confirms
this. When compared to the number of violent crimes (homicide, rape,
robbery, assault) that occurred between 2007 and 2009, the additional
staffing reduced such crimes by approximately: 7% in 2010, 11% in 2011,
and 15-19% in 2012. This initiative demonstrated the critical
importance that adequate law enforcement staffing can have in our
community. However, HPPG ended after FY 2013 and the Tribe's law
enforcement personnel were reduced from the numbers that served us so
well. Now six years later, we are grappling with increased violence,
drug trafficking, and human trafficking in our community. We strongly
support an increase in funding for law enforcement personnel. It makes
no sense that these programs would not be funded in perpetuity since
they have been demonstrated to work to reduce crime in Indian country.
Tribal Courts We support an increase in funding for the Tribal
Courts Program. The Standing Rock Tribal Court is an independent branch
of government consisting of a Supreme Court, Civil Court, Criminal
Court, and Children's Court. Key positions in the Tribal Court require
licensed attorneys--the Chief Judge; Associate Chief Judge; Chief
Prosecutor; and Public Defender. Our Tribe cannot effectively support
these courts with our small BIA allocation, even when heavily
subsidized by the Tribe. And yet in order to use our Tribe's
authorities provided under the Violence Against Women Act of 2013, Sex
Offender Registration and Offender Act, and the Tribal Law and Order
Act, we must continue to meet appropriate standards. Our Tribal courts
are also crowded, even when spread across three separate buildings. The
main courthouse outgrew its ability to meet our needs years ago and the
lack of space severely limits our ability to adequately handle the
Tribal Court case load of 2,000 to 3,000 cases per year. Funding is
critical to providing a safe and secure center to house justice
programs.
Tribal Roads Funding.--Thousands of tourists visit the Standing
Rock Sioux Reservation each year and help contribute to our economy.
They expect and deserve to travel on properly engineered and well-
maintained roads and bridges to safely transport them from destination
to destination. In order for us to attract and maintain businesses and
to help our members transport farm produce and cattle to nearby
markets, we require infrastructure, including safe drinking water,
utilities, telecommunications and all--season roads and bridges.
Dialysis patients, students, their parents and grandparents rely on our
road system to get them to health centers, jobs and schools.
In July, 2019, we had a tragedy on Reservation. After a heavy storm
a culvert on BIA Road 3 washed--out in the middle of the night. In the
early morning hours when it was still dark, four cars drove into to the
chasm that resulted from the washout. Two people--an Indian Health
Service nurse and a UPS driver died. Two people were rescued, including
a bus driver for Sitting Bull College, who is still recovering from his
injury. Beyond the tragedy of losing two lives and a man having to
struggle now to heal and still support his family, is the fact that
this culvert was on the list for repair if only we had sufficient money
to do this work.
Tribal Historic Preservation Office.--The Tribe supports the
National Tribal Historic Preservation Officers Association's request
for $20 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPO). The
current level of funding means that a THPO receives approximately
$64,000 to carry-out the critical job of protecting this Nation's
historic and cultural resources that are in tribal territories. This
work requires trained and experienced archeologists, historians,
anthropologists, and Tribal cultural specialists, who must assess and
evaluate every federal action that takes place in our territories. If
this work is not done, we risk losing sites and resources that are
critical to not only my Tribe's history and culture but the Nation's.
conclusion
We thank the Subcommittee for the opportunity to present this
testimony.

[This statement was submitted by Mike Faith, Chairman.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Sustainable Urban Forests Coalition
The undersigned organizations, many of which are members of the
Sustainable Urban Forests Coalition (SUFC), urge you to continue
championing robust funding for programs that support and protect
neighborhood and community trees and green infrastructure. SUFC
comprises more than 35 national organizations and corporations
representing hundreds of thousands of professionals--and millions of
supporters--who are passionate about trees and green infrastructure in
our nation's communities.
Our nation's current and expanding 138 million acres of urban trees
and forests are vital to creating and maintaining healthy, livable
communities of all sizes by providing many scientifically proven
social, economic, and environmental benefits to people. The ability to
reduce air pollution and stormwater runoff, decrease energy
consumption, mitigate the heat island effect, and improve human health
are just a few of the essential services trees provide to communities.
In fact, every year community trees and forests provide $18.3 billion
in cost savings related to reductions in air pollution, energy use, and
greenhouse gases.
usda forest service: state and private forestry
Urban and Community Forestry Program (U&CF)
U&CF directly assists state government, nonprofit organizations,
and partners that manage and steward our nation's urban and community
forests. Working with the state forestry agencies, the program provides
technical, financial, research, and educational support and services to
local government, nonprofit organizations, community groups,
educational institutions, and tribal governments.
In FY 2020, U&CF assisted 7,589 urban and rural communities and
over 203 million people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, US
Territories, and affiliated Pacific Island Nations.
U&CF is a high--impact program and a smart investment, as federal
support is often leveraged 2:1 (or in many cases up to 5:1) by states
and partner organizations. For example, over 1.3 million volunteer
hours were documented for the program in 2020. U&CF engages residents
in cities and towns, brings together diverse partners with public and
private resources, and demonstrates that federal investment can have
huge and lasting impacts on communities of all sizes. Despite
pandemic--related shutdowns, cancellations and postponements, U&CF
found new, creative, and innovative ways of delivering the program in
2020, for the well-being and quality of life of residents in cities and
towns across the nation, territories, and islands.
The undersigned deeply appreciate appropriator's strong support and
understanding of the program's diverse and unique benefits. The
programmatic increase provided in FY 2021 is actively helping to
prevent and address outbreaks of devastating pests--like the emerald
ash borer and sudden oak death--and reducing the loss of trees and
forests in both urban and rural areas. The undersigned are committed to
the success and growth of this program in FY 2022 and beyond. For
context, we would like to highlight the National Urban and
Community Forestry Advisory Council Ten-Year Urban Forestry Action
Plan, which estimated annual funding needs in the range of
approximately $85 million to maintain current levels of service and
manage future increases in our urban forests.
Forest Health Management--Cooperative Lands
To be most effective, the USDA Forest Health Management program
must address pests where they are first found, which is almost always
in urban or semi-rural forests. This pattern means that the initial
responsibility for countering non-native pests falls primarily to the
Cooperative Forest Health Management program. This program supports
partners' efforts to prevent, monitor, suppress, and eradicate insects,
diseases, and invasive plants through technical and financial
assistance to state forestry agencies who deal directly with private
forest owners. Funding for this partnership has seen a 50% cut from
FY10 despite rising numbers of pests. For example, during this period
the spotted lanternfly and beech leaf disease have been introduced to
the Mid-Atlantic region and rapid ohia death pathogen to Hawai`i.
Once established in cities, the non-native pests and pathogens
spread to forests in rural and wildland areas and threaten National
Forests. For example, since its introduction a century ago, white pine
blister rust has spread throughout the West; 74 percent of the nation's
threatened whitebark pine grows within National Forests. Since the
1950s, hemlock wooly adelgid has spread to forests from Georgia to West
Virginia and now threatens Manistee National Forest in Michigan. Within
20 years of its first detection, the emerald ash borer has spread from
the Detroit area to kill trees in many forests across the Northeast and
Midwest. Over an even shorter period, the polyphagous and Kuroshio shot
hole borers have entered the Cleveland National Forest.
We are pleased that the FHP program has established an ``emerging
pest'' line, which in FY2021 is funded at $500,000. There will be steep
competition to fund projects addressing, among others, the invasive
shot hole borers in California, the coconut rhinoceros beetle in
Hawaii, and new beech leaf disease killing beech trees from Ohio to
Connecticut. The undersigned recommend $51 million for Cooperative
Lands under the Forest Health Management program in FY 2022.
Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR)
National priority Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR) projects are a
key tool that states, in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service and
other partners, address critical forest priorities across the
landscape. LSR projects focus on the most critical priorities
identified in each state's Forest Action Plan and on achieving national
goals as laid out in the State and Private Forestry national themes.
The competitive grant process ensures innovative approaches to
restoration work are proposed and priority is given to projects that
further the advancement of State Forest Action Plans. Therefore, LSR
contributes to achieving results across the landscape and making
meaningful local, regional, and national impacts. The undersigned
recommend $20 million for the Landscape Scale Restoration program in FY
2022.
Community Forests and Open Space Conservation Program (CFP)
CFP helps local government entities, tribes, and nonprofit
conservation organizations purchase forestland for local ownership and
management. Since FY 2014, Congress has appropriated $20.3 million to
the program and a total of 63 projects have been awarded in 21 states,
Puerto Rico, and to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. In total, CFP
funds have been used to conserve over 16,000 acres through 2019. CFP
prioritizes projects that meet locally identified community needs for
natural resource protection, forest--based economic development, and
public access. Local residents play the lead role in conservation,
stewardship, and governance of any lands acquired with CFP funds. The
undersigned recommend at least $5 million for CFP in FY 2022.
usda forest service: forest and rangeland research
Improving the health--and maximizing the economic, social, and
environmental benefits--of our nation's trees requires a strong
investment in USDA Forest Service Research and Development (R&D). The
undersigned recommend at least $320 million for the overall R&D program
for FY 2022.
Urban and Community Forestry Research
The Forest Service R&D program provides critical financial support
for urban forestry research activities to develop information and tools
for understanding conditions and trends in our nation's urban and
community forests. USDA Forest Service researchers have made huge
strides in recent years through collaborative efforts to develop new
tools--such as i-Tree-for mapping current tree cover, assessing trends,
developing local strategies, and building greater understanding of the
environmental, economic, and social services that trees and forests
provide to communities. The undersigned urge you to continue including
language in Interior Appropriations reports encouraging the USDA Forest
Service to maintain a strong and vibrant urban forest research program.
Non-Native Insects and Diseases Research
Funding for research conducted by USFS on ten non-native pests
decreased from $10 million in FY 2010 to just $2.5 million in FY 2020-
more than 70 percent. As a result of these reductions, the USFS's
ability to develop and implement effective tools to manage the growing
number of pests threatening the health of the nation's forests has been
crippled. Programs targeting hemlock woolly adelgid, white pine blister
rust, and the Sirex woodwasp were cut in recent years.
Programs targeting several other high--impact pests, including the
Asian longhorned beetle, emerald ash borer, goldspotted oak borer,
thousand cankers disease, laurel wilt, and sudden oak death have been
funded at a steady rate. Effective measures depend on an understanding
of both the pest's biology and factors that motivate people to avoid
activities that facilitate pests' spread. The undersigned urge you to
include language in the Interior Appropriations report encouraging the
USDA Forest Service to increase funding for research targeting non-
native insects and pathogens.
Urban Forests in Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA)
The collaborative efforts between SUFC and the USDA Forest Service
brought urban forest data into the mainstream of the agency's national
data--collection program. FIA has long provided the nation's forest
census, but it had not historically included urban areas because of its
definition of forests. The undersigned recommend at least $93.5 million
(with no less than $32.4 million in program funding) for the FIA
program in FY 2022, based on ``Option C'' from the 2015
FIA Strategic Plan. With that funding level, we ask you to
encourage the USDA Forest Service to continue and strengthen its
efforts to integrate urban forest data into FIA so that its critical
data--collection efforts address all our nation's forests. We also urge
this subcommittee to ensure that funding increases for FIA do not come
at the expense of other Forest Service R&D programs.
national park service
Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program (ORLP)
The State and Local Assistance Program provides matching grants to
states and localities for protection and development of parks and
recreation resources. It is the primary federal investment tool to
ensure that families have easy access to urban forests in parks and
open space, as well as neighborhood recreation resources. This
nationally competitive program complements the existing state and local
assistance program by creating opportunities for outdoor play while
developing or enhancing outdoor recreation partnerships in cities. The
undersigned request robust funding for the state and local assistance
program, which includes $125 million for ORLPP in FY 2022.
environmental protection agency
Clean Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRF)
Green infrastructure, including urban forests, can be a cost--
effective and resilient approach to managing stormwater. The use of
green infrastructure for stormwater control also provides many
community co-benefits enumerated above. We are pleased that EPA
supports the use of green infrastructure for stormwater management and
that green infrastructure is an eligible use under the CWSRF--a
critical financing program for local communities investing in water
infrastructure. The undersigned support robust funding for CWSRF, along
with efforts to expand the use of green infrastructure to 20% to meet
Clean Water Act goals.

Supporting Organizations

Alliance for Community Trees
American Forests
American Society of Consulting Arborists
Arbor Day Foundation
California ReLeaf
Casey Trees
Center for Invasive Species Prevention
City Parks Alliance
Corazon Latino
Davey Tree Expert Company
Green Infrastructure Center
International Society of Arboriculture
Maryland Forestry Foundation
Minnesota Shade Tree Advisory Committee
National Association of Clean Water Agencies
National Association of Landscape Professionals
National Association of State Foresters
National Recreation and Park Association
NativeScapes
The Nature Conservancy
Openlands
Outdoor Power Equipment Institute
Sacramento Tree Foundation
SavATree LLC
Society of American Foresters
Society of Municipal Arborists
Tree Care Industry Association
Water Environment Foundation
Wildlife Habitat Council

[This statement was submitted by Members.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Texas Mid-Coast NWR Complex
Members of the Subcommittee:

Thank you for inviting public input, and I am delighted to submit
testimony to your subcommittee in support of my local refuges of the
Texas Mid-Coast NWR Complex. The Refuges are the Brazoria, San Bernard,
and Big Boggy in Brazoria and Matagorda Counties in Texas. I am asking
that the entire Refuge System be funded for fiscal year 2022 for $600
million. Without funding in that amount, the entire System, which is
vital to our country in so many ways, will continue to be underfunded.
There are negative consequences to my Refuges, as well as the Refuge
System nationwide if they don't have the funds necessary for operations
and maintenance.
Although I am a Board Member for Friends of the Brazoria Wildlife
Refuges, I present my testimony as a USFW volunteer. I see a lot on the
Refuges when I volunteer, so these are my observations.
My local Refuges benefit not only the flora and fauna that make
their home, but human kind as well. I live in Lake Jackson in Brazoria
County, Texas. My county is directly on the Gulf of Mexico which is to
our south. We have Harris County (Houston) to the north, Fort Bend
County to the northwest, Matagorda County to the west, and Galveston
County to the east. You may have read about the extensive flooding that
as occurred over the last few years in Harris and surrounding counties.
Our three refuges absorb a tremendous amount of flood water. They not
only take in water from inland flooding, but absorb storm surge waters
from a storm in the Gulf of Mexico. The flooding problems in this area
are the result of many factors. So it is vital that my Refuges have the
funds necessary to maintain the reduction of flooding they provide, or
a very bad problem will be much worse. In addition, our wetlands do
more than help control floods. They also remove pollutants from flood
waters.
My Refuges encourage many types of recreation, including hunting,
fishing, and birding. The economic impact in my area is significant
from birders and hunters. They spend their dollars here.
on the brazoria nwr
The Discovery Environment Education Program (DEEP) provides a field
trip during the school year for all 4th and 7th graders in the
Brazosport Independent School District (BISD), as well as any other
school who asks for a field trip. Five different subjects are taught by
volunteers. The subjects taught are age appropriate with curriculum
that is approved by BISD. The students are provided with a booklet that
has questions to answer and educational information on each subject.
The kids take their booklet home with them. We get students who have
never been to a park or refuge of any kind. They are so excited to see
a turtle, much less an allegator. They are taught, depending on age and
the weather, everything from seining, bird watching (each student is
loaned some binoculars for the day), reptiles, fresh water pond life,
mammal skull identification, bird flight and other topics.
The Refuges also have open house weeks, during spring break and
between Christmas and New Years. Volunteers provide numerous activities
at our Discovery Center, such as touching allegators, snakes, box
turtles, and lizards. They learn about animal tracks, scat, pelts and
skulls. They can look at various invertebrates that live in a fresh
water pond under a microscope. They can hike the boardwalk across Big
Slough, and spot a mama allegator with her babies. They can walk a
trail that has interpretative signs along the way.
I always see fisherman at the Clay Banks area of this refuge. They
are all along the road into the area and at the boat ramp into Bastrop
Bayou. I have also spotted bobcats in this area. Many species of birds
are a given.
A new unit, Cannon Bend, was recently the added to this Refuge. It
has a lake stocked with fish, with kayaking, hiking, and bird watching
opportunities. It will open to the public later this year.
on the san bernard nwr
The Refuge has Migration Celebration, which is a two-day event
every April that provides education as well as fun for kids and adults.
Visitors can kayak, fish, trail walk, ride a marsh buggy, shoot an air
rifle, learn archery, and kids can play in the sand pile. The Birds of
Prey is a must--see program where these magnificent birds fly above the
crowds and return to their handler, with a speaker that provides
information on how each bird uses its senses to hunt prey. A tent with
butterflies is provided in which kids and adults can hold a Monarch and
other butterflies on their finger. It takes at least 100 volunteers to
make this event happen.
This Refuge has wonderful hiking trails. The San Bernard Oak Trail
ends with a view of one of the largest live oaks in Texas. It is
massive. Improvements are planned to the trail in the near future.
The Bobcat Wood Trail has recently been completely rebuilt. It has
benches for resting, overlooks for birders, and interpretative signs.
The Texas Mid-Coast NWR Complex has many volunteers, but they can't
manage the Refuges. The funds that Friends of Brazoria Wildlife Refuges
has raised and volunteer labor have assisted with recent trail
improvements. But it takes professionals for fire fighting and control
burns, education programing and events, issuing permits, management of
water levels, trail and other infrastructure maintenance, and
documenting both plants and animals on the Refuges. That is the short
list. It pains me that positions have been unfilled due to lack of
funding. We have a lovely Discovery Center that is closed most days due
to lack of staff. I have seen the benefit to visitors when a USFW
employee is at the Center and educates visitors the options available
for their enjoyment.
I have seen the impact of my Refuges on us humans. I saw the flood
waters from Hurricane Harvey along Bastrop Bayou which was most likely
from inland flooding.
I also see the protection and preservation of wildlife that my
Refuges provide. They are a major flyway for migrating birds and
Monarch butterflies. The Refuges provide fresh water and food after the
long trip over the Gulf of Mexico. They provide bottom land forest that
provide shelter. They provide nesting sites for birds that are in need
of protection, most recently the black rail. They are part of the
estuary system along the Gulf Coast, which is the nursery for salt
water fish, and vital to the fishing industry. They are unique
ecosystems with estuaries, fresh water ponds, coastal prairie, and
river bottomlands.
I look at our nation's entire Refuge System and appreciate that the
areas they preserve and protect are all vital. Please appropriate the
$600 million that our National Refuge System needs for operations and
maintenance. The positive impact on humans and wildlife is
extraordinary. It is an investment in our future. Dividends are
guaranteed.

Respectfully submitted,

Kim Richardson
120 Daffodil Street
Lake Jackson, Texas 77566
[email protected]
______

Prepared Statement of the Tribal Law and Policy Institute (TLPI)
On behalf of the Tribal Law and Policy Institute (TLPI), this
testimony addresses important programs in the Department of Interior
(DOI). First, TLPI joins the American Bar Association (see attached
letter) in requesting substantially increased funding for tribal courts
in response to the $1.2 billion annual shortfall for tribal courts as
identified in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) 2020 report to
Congress, Report to the Congress on Spending, Staffing, and Estimated
Funding Costs for Public Safety and Justice Programs in Indian Country,
2018.
Secondly, TLPI joins the National Congress of American Indians
(NCAI) in requesting:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Program NCAI FY 2021 Request
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOI: Base funding for tribal courts and $123,000,000
the Indian Tribal Justice Act, including
courts in Public Law 280 jurisdictions.
DOI: Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Law $527,400,000
Enforcement and Detention.
DOI: BIA Funding to Tribal Governments.... Provide increases via tribal
base funding instead of
through grants.
DOI: BIA Indian Child Protection and $93,000,000
Family Violence Prevention Act.
DOI: BIA Welfare Assistance$.............. 100,000,000
DOI: Indian Child Welfare Act Program..... $30,000,000
DOI: BIA Social Services Program.......... $70,000,000
DOI/Indian Health Service................. $12.75 billion
DOI/Indian Health Service: ISDEAA Section Provide such sums as may be
105(l) Lease Agreements. necessary through mandatory
spending.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

TLPI is a 100% Native American operated non-profit corporation
organized to design and deliver education, research, training, and
technical assistance programs which promote the enhancement of justice
in Indian country and the health, well-being, and culture of Native
peoples.
The federal government's trust responsibility to Tribal nations is
at the heart of TLPI's recommendation to follow NCAI's FY 2022 Indian
Country Budget Request. Like all other governments, Tribal nations are
responsible for the protection and care of their citizens, residents,
and visitors on their lands. Through treaties and other agreements,
tribal lands were ceded in exchange for the promise of protected self-
governance and adequate resources from the United States. Those
promises are the foundation of the government-to-government
relationship that exists today.
Core to Tribes exercising those responsibilities of protection and
care is sufficient federal government funding resources provided in
fulfillment of its trust responsibility. The primary DOI agencies
through which the federal government can provide funds critical to the
health and safety of tribal citizens and residents of tribal lands are
the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Indian Health Service (IHS). The
BIA and IHS provide essential services including hospitals, schools,
law enforcement, and social services among others. Programs and
services through these agencies affect the lives of around two million
people across the country.
Unfortunately, both agencies have been drastically underfunded for
decades. Chronic underfunding allows systemic harm to be perpetuated
against tribal citizens and residents of tribal lands. The inability of
the federal government to live up to its trust responsibility is long--
documented, most notably by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (the
Commission). The Commission has released three reports since the 1990s
chronicling the continued underfunding of Indian country. Most
recently, in 2018, the Commission in Broken Promises: Continuing
Federal Funding Shortfall for Native Americans found that ``Federal
funding for Native American programs across the government remains
grossly inadequate to meet the most basic needs the federal government
is obligated to provide . . . Since 2003, funding for Native American
programs has mostly remained flat, and in the few cases where there
have been increases, they have barely kept up with inflation or have
actually resulted in decreased spending power.'' \1\
Chronic underfunding also affects tribal justice systems. Tribal
courts in particular need resources to protect women, children, and
families, address substance abuse, and rehabilitate offenders. In 1991,
the Commission found that ``the failure of the United States Government
to provide proper funding for the operation of tribal judicial systems
. . . has continued for more than 20 years.'' \2\ In 2018, the
Commission in Broken Promises found that there continues to be
``systemic underfunding of tribal law enforcement and criminal justice
systems, as well as structural barriers in the funding and operation of
criminal justice systems in Indian Country.'' \3\ Finally in 2020, the
BIA submitted a report to Congress, Report to the Congress on Spending,
Staffing, and Estimated Funding Costs for Public Safety and Justice
Programs in Indian Country, 2018. The total annual estimated need for
tribal public safety and justice programs included $1.3 billion for
tribal law enforcement, $1.2 billion for tribal courts, and $240.6
million for existing detention centers. According to the same report,
BIA funding only meets 14.7 percent of estimated need. Leaving tribes
to fight for short-term funds via competitive grant processes.
It is time for this history of underfunding to change, especially
as the world continues to battle a global pandemic. TLPI urges this
committee to support the requests outlined in this testimony and
included in the NCAI's FY 2022 Indian Country Budget Request.
Increase base funding for tribal courts and the Indian Tribal
Justice Act, including courts in Public Law 280 jurisdictions.--Along
with the IHS, the BIA is one of the primary agencies responsible for
providing services throughout Indian Country, either directly or
through compacts or contracts with tribal governments. One of the most
fundamental aspects of the federal government's trust responsibility is
the obligation to protect public safety on tribal lands. Congress and
the United States Supreme Court have long acknowledged this obligation,
which Congress reaffirmed in the Tribal Law and Order Act expressly
``acknowledging the federal nexus and distinct federal responsibility
to address and prevent crime in Indian Country.''
According to the BIA, the minimum base level of funding needed for
tribal courts is $1.2 billion.\4\ For FY 2021, funding for tribal
courts (generally) was $38.9 million and $15 million for tribal courts
in PL 280 jurisdictions. This gap between identified need and recent
appropriations calls for an increase in base funding for tribal courts,
including courts in PL 280 jurisdictions.
Fund BIA Law Enforcement and Detention efforts.--The BIA has also
reported on the minimum base level of service needs in the areas of law
enforcement and maintaining existing detention centers. The report
found that $1.3 billion is needed for tribal law enforcement, and
$240.6 million is needed to adequately fund existing detention
centers.\5\ Again, the same report found that Congress is funding
tribal law enforcement, detention/corrections, and tribal courts at a
mere 14.7 percent of estimated need.
Again, the gap between identified need and level of appropriation
is wide. Further, recent experience demonstrates that addressing the
lack of justice funding can make rapid and dramatic strides toward
improving public safety.\6\ Tribal justice systems simply need the
resources to put their tools to work to protect tribal citizens,
residents, and visitors on tribal lands.
Fund BIA Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention
Act.--The ICPFVPA authorizes funding for two tribal programs: (1) the
Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Program, which
funds prevention programming, investigations, and emergency shelter
services for victims of family violence; and (2) the Treatment of
Victims of Child Abuse and Neglect program, which funds treatment
programs for victims of child abuse. The ICPFVPA also authorizes
funding for the creation of Indian Child Resource and Family Service
Centers in BIA regions. Child abuse prevention funding will assist
Tribal nations in protecting one of their most vulnerable and most
sacred populations. Tribes, like states, need adequate resources to
effectively prevent and respond to child abuse and neglect in their
communities. However, unlike states, Tribes do not have meaningful
access to HHS Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act Program (CAPTA)
grant programs. The ICPFVPA was enacted to fill this gap, but without
appropriations for ICPFVPA programs, Tribes are left without funding
for child protection and child abuse prevention services.
Fund BIA Welfare Assistance and Social Services.--The Welfare
Assistance line item provides five important forms of funding to AI/AN
families: (1) general assistance, (2) child assistance, (3) non-medical
institution or custodial care of adults, (4) burial assistance, and (5)
emergency assistance. The Social Services Program provides a wide array
of family support services filling many funding gaps for tribal
programs and ensuring federal staff and support for these programs.
Importantly, the Social Services Program provides the only BIA and
tribal specific funding available for child protective services for
both children and adults in Indian Country. TLPI supports NCAI's
recommended appropriations for both programs.
Fund the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Program.--ICWA funding is
the foundation of most tribal child welfare programs. Current funding
levels fall far short of estimates made in 1978 when ICWA was passed,
which with inflation would be $193 to $459 million in today's dollars.
Funding for off-reservation programs has completely stopped since 1996.
TLPI supports NCAI's recommendation to increase the ICWA Program
appropriation to $30 million.
Fund the Indian Health Service.--In permanently authorizing the
Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA), Congress reaffirmed the
duty of the federal government to provide all the necessary resources
to ensure the highest possible health status for AI/ANs, declaring that
``it is the policy of this Nation, in fulfillment of its special trust
responsibilities and legal obligations to Indians.'' \7\ Unfortunately,
IHS has never received sufficient funding to fully honor its
obligations. ``Funding for the IHS and Native American health care is
inequitable and unequal. IHS expenditures per capita remain well below
other federal health care programs, and overall IHS funding covers only
a fraction of Native American health care needs, including behavioral
health needs to address the suicide epidemic in Indian Country.'' \8\
In accordance with National Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup
recommendations, representing all twelve IHS Areas, TLPI supports a
total appropriation of $12.75 billion. Further, TLPI supports American
Bar Association policy calling for IHS to be exempt from government
shutdowns and federal budget sequestrations.\9\
Fund Indian Self Determination Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA)
Section 105(l) Lease Agreements.--Ensuring tribal nations have the
tools and resources for effective governance is critical to fulfilling
the promise of the ISDEAA (P.L. 93-638) ISDEAA promotes self-
determination and self-governance, and this nation's trust and treaty
obligations, by enabling tribal nations to enter into contracts and
compacts with the federal government to operate certain federal
programs. Those tribal shares of federal programs make up the ``base
funding'' for tribal governments and provide certainty and security to
those governments. Congress must support tribal self-determination by
increasing tribal base funding, providing funding directly to tribal
nations as opposed to passing funds through states, providing formula
based funding rather than difficult to navigate competitive grant
programs, and promoting accurate data collection so that funding can
better target the needs of Indian Country. Additionally, funding for
Section 105(l) lease agreements must be provided through mandatory
spending that does not affect discretionary spending caps on tribal
programs.
conclusion
Thank you for considering this testimony.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ United States Commission on Civil Rights, Broken Promises:
Continuing Federal Funding Shortfall for Native Americans, 4 (December
2018).
\2\ United States Commission on Civil Rights, The Indian Civil
Rights Act: A Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights 71
(June 1991).
\3\ Supra note 1, at 32.
\4\ Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services. ``Report
to Congress on Spending, Staffing, and Estimated Funding Costs for
Public Safety and Justice Programs in Indian Country, 2018,'' July
2020.
\5\ Id.
\6\ Michael S. Black, Acting Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs,
U.S. Department of the Interior, Testimony, Briefing Transcript, p.
136; see also Dep't of the Interior, press release, March 4, 2014.
\7\ Indian Health Care Improvement Act, 25 U.S.C. Sec. 1602.
\8\ Supra note 1, at 8.
\9\ 2019A115A.

[This statement was submitted by Gerald Gardner, Executive
Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc.
Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for opportunity to provide testimony regarding
the federal government's chronic failure to fully uphold its fiduciary
trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations and the President's
Budget Request for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. The following testimony is
submitted on behalf of United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty
Protection Fund (USET SPF), and will focus on funding for federal
Indian programs at the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Indian
Health Service (IHS), and beyond. Broadly, the President's Budget
Request for FY 2022 is positive for USET SPF member Tribal Nations and
Indian Country generally. After years of requests that neglected trust
and treaty obligations, we welcome the more substantial increases, as
well as the policy change proposed by this Administration. It is also
important to remember, however, that centuries of neglect and hostile
federal policies cannot be undone in a single request. In addition to
our advocacy for the highest discretionary increases possible each FY,
we are seeking a long-term commitment to federal fulfillment of trust
and treaty obligations--including full and mandatory funding for
federal agencies and programs serving Tribal Nations.
USET SPF advocates on behalf of 33 federally recognized Tribal
Nations from the Northeastern Woodlands to the Everglades and across
the Gulf of Mexico. USET SPF member Tribal Nations are within the
Eastern Region and Southern Plains Region of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs and the Nashville Area of the Indian Health Service, covering a
large expanse of land compared to other regions. Due to this large
geographic area, USET SPF Tribal Nations have great diversity in
cultural traditions, land holdings, and resources.
With hope on the horizon as we look toward recovery from COVID-19,
Indian Country finds itself at an inflection point in our centuries--
long relationship with the United States. The global pandemic and
social injustice brought extreme challenges, sorrow, and upheaval to
Tribal Nations and the whole of America. As COVID-19 tore through our
communities, our country engaged in a reckoning with its past and
looked toward a more honorable future. USET SPF has consistently called
upon the United States to deliver and fulfill its sacred promises to
Tribal Nations and to act with honor and honesty in its dealings with
Indian Country. But the global pandemic has exposed for the world to
see the extent to which generations of federal neglect and inaction
have created the unjust and untenable circumstances facing Tribal
Nations. The time is long overdue for a comprehensive overhaul of the
trust relationship and obligations, one that results in the United
States finally keeping the promises made to us as sovereign nations in
accordance with our special and unique relationship.
As the Subcommittee is well aware, Native peoples have endured many
injustices as a result of federal policy, including federal actions
that sought to terminate Tribal Nations, assimilate Native people, and
to erode Tribal territories, learning, and cultures. This story
involves the cession of vast land holdings and natural resources,
oftentimes by force, to the United States out of which grew an
obligation to provide benefits and services--promises made to Tribal
Nations that exist in perpetuity. These resources are the very
foundation of this nation and have allowed the United States to become
the wealthiest and strongest world power in history. Federal
appropriations and services to Tribal Nations and Native people are
simply a repayment on this perpetual debt.
At no point, however, has the United States honored these sacred
promises; including its historic and ongoing failure to prioritize
funding for Indian country. The chronic underfunding of federal Indian
programs continues to have disastrous impacts upon Tribal governments
and Native peoples. As the United States continues to break its
promises to us, despite its own prosperity, Native peoples experience
some of the greatest disparities among all populations in this country
and have for generations. It is no surprise, then, that the failures of
the federal government are coming into horrifyingly sharper focus due
to the global pandemic. Decades of broken promises, neglect,
underfunding, and inaction on behalf of the federal government have
left Indian Country severely under--resourced and at extreme risk
during this COVID-19 crisis.
In December 2018, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued the
Broken Promises Report, following years of advocacy from Tribal Nations
and organizations seeking an update to the 2003 Quiet Crisis report.
The Commission concluded that the funding of the federal trust
responsibility and obligations remains ``grossly inadequate'' and a
``barely perceptible and decreasing percentage of agency budgets.'' The
report confirms what we in Indian Country already know--with the
exception of some minor improvements, the U.S. continues to neglect to
meet its ``most basic'' obligations to Tribal Nations. Though these
chronic failures have persisted throughout changes in Administration
and Congress, it is time that both the legislative and executive
branches confront and correct them.
Above all, the COVID-19 crisis is highlighting the urgent need to
provide full and guaranteed federal funding to Tribal Nations in
fulfillment of the trust obligation. While we unequivocally support
budget stabilization mechanisms, such as Advance Appropriations, in the
long-term, USET SPF is calling for a comprehensive reexamination of
federal funding delivered to Indian Country across the federal
government. Because of our history and unique relationship with the
United States, the trust obligation of the federal government to Native
peoples, as reflected in the federal budget, is fundamentally different
from ordinary discretionary spending and should be considered mandatory
in nature. Payments on debt to Indian Country should not be vulnerable
to year to year ``discretionary'' decisions by appropriators.
Recently, some in Congress, as well as the Biden Administration,
have called for mandatory funding for specific agencies serving Indian
Country. USET SPF strongly supports this proposal, which is more
consistent with the federal trust obligation, and urges that this be
realized via an entirely new budget component--one that contains all of
the funding dedicated to Indian Country. Not only would this streamline
access to these dollars, but this mechanism would also reflect true
prioritization of and respect for America's trust obligation to and
special relationship with Tribal Nations. While some will quickly
dismiss this as unrealistic and untenable, when compared against the
value of the land and natural resources the United States gained as
part of the exchange, both voluntarily and involuntarily, it becomes
evident that this is only a matter of will and desire.
Reforming the Office of Management and Budget.--The Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) asserts that over $21 billion in federal
dollars is appropriated to Indian Country annually. From the
perspective of Tribal advocates, this number seems to be widely
inflated, with far less actually reaching Tribal Nations and Tribal
citizens. We suspect that OMB arrives at this figure by tallying the
amount for which Tribal Nations and entities are ``eligible'',
regardless of whether these dollars actually reach Indian Country.
Regardless, this represents less than 1/10 of 1% of the annual value
that the U.S. enjoys from federal lands and the natural resources
derived off of these lands, which once belonged to Tribal Nations. Both
USET SPF and the Tribal Interior Budget Council (TIBC) have asked OMB
for a full, detailed accounting of federal funding distributed to
Indian Country. To date, OMB has not responded to this request, though
after holding its first--ever Tribal consultation we are hopeful that
the agency will work to compile this document. This information is
absolutely essential to the measurement of the federal government's own
success in meeting its obligations and the work of Tribal Nations.
Congress must hold OMB accountable and require the agency to provide
the necessary detail to support this funding claim on an annual basis.
In the long-term, we are seeking reforms to OMB that would include a
consultation requirement, a dedicated Tribal Affairs department, and a
Tribal advisory committee.
Invest in and Rebuild Tribal Infrastructure-A Marshall Plan for
Indian Country.--For generations, the federal government--despite
abiding trust and treaty obligations--has substantially under--invested
in Indian Country's infrastructure. While the United States faces
crumbling infrastructure nationally, there are many in Indian Country
who lack even basic infrastructure, such as running water and passable
roads. Now, the nation and world are witnessing the deadly consequences
of this neglect, as COVID-19 has spread through Tribal communities that
are unable to implement such simple public health measures as frequent
hand washing. As Congress and the Administration turn the focus to a
once-in-generation infrastructure, jobs, and social reform package, the
United States must commit to supporting the rebuilding and restoration
of the sovereign Tribal Nations that exist within its domestic borders.
Much like the U.S. investment in the rebuilding European nations
following World War II via the Marshall Plan, the legislative and
executive branches should commit to the same level of responsibility to
assisting in the rebuilding of Tribal Nations, as our current
circumstances are, in large part, directly attributable to the shameful
acts and policies of the United States. In the same way the Marshall
Plan acknowledged America's debt to European sovereigns and was
utilized to strengthen our relationships and security abroad, the
United States should make this strategic investment domestically.
Strong Tribal Nations will result in a strengthened United States. At
the same time, any infrastructure build--out, in Indian Country and
beyond, must not occur at the expense of Tribal consultation,
sovereignty, sacred sites, or public health.
Mandatory Funding for Binding Obligations.--While USET SPF
celebrates the achievement of separate, indefinite appropriations for
both 105(l) leases and Contract Support Costs, we note that likely
continued growth in these areas threatens future increases for other
IHS and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) lines. While we contend that all
federal Indian agencies and programs should be subject to mandatory
funding, in recognition of perpetual trust and treaty obligations, we
strongly support the Administration's proposal to transfer these lines
to the mandatory side of the federal budget. This will ensure that
funding increases are able to be allocated to service delivery, as
opposed to the federal government's binding legal obligations.
Promote Self-Governance through Interagency Transfer Authority.--
USET SPF is working toward a future in which all federal dollars are
eligible to be contracted or compacted under the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA). In the meantime,
we urge this Subcommittee and the full Appropriations Committee to
ensure all federal Indian funding can be transferred between federal
agencies, so that it may be received through contracts and compacts. We
cite the unnecessary delays and barriers to the receipt of urgently
needed COVID-19 relief funding as an example of why this authority must
be confirmed.
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).--USET SPF is pleased to note that
President Biden's request for the BIA is $2.7 billion, which is a $610
million increase over the FY 2021 enacted level. We support the
targeted investments the proposal makes in for teachers and students in
Tribal schools, clean energy development, and tribal law enforcement
and court programs to improve safety. We also note the historic and
continued unmet funding obligations with regard BIA's diverse line
items and are encouraged by the nearly across-the-board increases
provided under the FY 2022 request. After years of budget requests
proposing deep cuts to BIA, we urge Congress to work with the Biden
Administration's to enact substantial increases across the agency.
Working in partnership with the BIA, the yearly budget formulation
process now offers a much more comprehensive look at the priorities of
Tribal Nations across the many lines and accounts found within the BIA
budget. However, we remain focused on the addition of a component or
calculation of BIA's unfunded obligations in order to measure
performance. Due to space constraints, we offer the Eastern Region's
top priority in eight different strategic funding categories, all of
which have received increases, many substantial, under the President's
FY 2022 proposal. We urge Congress to maintain or exceed these
increases:

--Strengthening Tribal Communities: Social Services (TPA)--+$12
million or a 23% increase
--Trust-Natural Resources Management: Natural Resources (TPA)--+$10
million or a 125% increase
--Trust-Land & Water Rights Management: Trust Services (TPA)--
+$274,000 or a 3% increase
--Public Safety & Justice: Tribal Courts (TPA)--+$4.2 million or an
11% increase
--Economic Development: Economic Development (TPA)--+$7 million or a
213% increase
--Education: Scholarships & Adult Education (TPA)--+$10 million or a
29% increase
--Construction: Public Safety & Justice Facilities Replacement/New
Construction--+$5 million or a 20% increase
--Resource Management Construction: Federal Power Compliance [FERC]--
+$9,000 or a 1% increase

Indian Health Service (IHS).--USET SPF is similarly pleased to see
the proposed funding amount of $8.5 billion, a substantial increase of
$2.2 billion over FY 2021 enacted. We are further encouraged that, for
the first time, the President will include an advance appropriations
request for IHS in FY 2023. We support advance appropriations as an
important mechanism to provide certainty in funding to Tribal Nations
and urge the Subcommittee to support this mechanism for all federal
Indian programs. Finally, USET SPF strongly supports the Biden
Administration's commitment to consulting with Tribal Nations on the
possibility of mandatory funding for IHS. We hope that this
Subcommittee will support these efforts for IHS--all federal Indian
agencies and programs--as this, in combination with full funding,\1\ is
the only way to truly uphold fiduciary obligations to Tribal Nations.
In addition to providing a robust funding stream for current
operations that reflects medical inflation, Nashville Area Tribal
Nations identified our top 6 priority line items for increases in FY
2022, all of which receive increases under the President's proposal. We
urge Congress to maintain or exceed these increases: Hospitals and
Clinics (+ $465 million or 21% increase), Purchased/Referred Care (PRC)
(+$216 million or 22% increase), Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program
(+$16 million or 6% increase), Mental Health Services (+$9.5 million or
8% increase), Dental Health (+$73 million or 34% increase), and
Electronic Health (+$250 million or 726% increase). Nashville Area
priorities and hot issues also include funding for Maintenance &
Improvement, Sanitation Facilities Construction, Health Education,
Urban Indian Health Program Support, continued support for newly
federally recognized Tribal Nations, culturally appropriate substance
abuse treatment aftercare and housing programs, Hepatitis C prevention
and treatment, constitutionality challenges, increases in SDPI funding,
and parity in group payor authorities when sponsoring patients on
insurance plans.
Other Selected Lines and Programs.--Though not an exhaustive list,
USET SPF strongly supports the continued funding and increases for the
following lines and programs: Good Health and Wellness in Indian
Country (CDC), Rural Community Facilities (ACF), Tribal Opioid Response
Grants (SAMHSA), Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
grants, the Indian Community Development Block Grant, USDA Rural
Business Development grants, EPA state and Tribal assistance grants,
BIA Tribal Climate Science Centers, Tribal Historic Preservation
funding, the 5% Tribal set aside from the Crime Victims Fund, and
Native American Housing Block Grants. We also strongly support the
Biden Administration's proposed $450 million investment to facilitate
climate mitigation, resilience, adaptation, and environmental justice
projects in Indian Country.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Current estimates put full funding for IHS at approximately $48
billion.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
______

Prepared Statement of the WateReuse Association (WRA)
Thank you for the opportunity to present our FY 2022 funding
requests for programs administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). The WateReuse Association (WRA) is a not-for-profit trade
association for water utilities, businesses, industrial and commercial
enterprises, non-profit organizations, and research entities that
engage in and on water reuse. WRA and its state and regional sections
represent more than 200 water utilities serving over 60 million
customers, and over 300 businesses and organizations across the
country. WRA's mission is to engage its members in a movement for safe
and sustainable water supplies, to promote acceptance and support of
recycled water, and to advocate for policies and funding that increase
water reuse.
As climate change accelerates, and its associated adverse impacts
on water resources increase, it is vitally important that the nation
invest in water recycling to build resilience, manage energy demands,
support public and environmental health, and ensure America's economic
prosperity. Investments in water recycling ensure reliable and
resilient community water supplies, support sustainable economic
development, and help protect our rivers, lakes, streams, aquifers and
wetlands.
In Virginia's tidewater region, Hampton Roads Sanitation District
is pursuing a multi--benefit water reuse program called the Sustainable
Water Initiative for Tomorrow (SWIFT). HRSD's SWIFT project treats
wastewater effluent to drinking water standards and reuses it to
recharge the regional aquifer. The investment of $1.1 billion in
capital outlays provides critical public health, environmental and
economic benefits by replenishing the overdrawn Potomac Aquifer,
recharging 100 million gallons per day (MGD) of fresh water at full
implementation, providing a reliable safe water supply to support the
region's population and the nation's critical military assets, and
generating nutrient credits that HRSD can trade--providing an estimated
savings of $1.5 billion for 11 counties across the region. EPA
investment programs have provided critical capital to help move this
large project forward.
In Florida's Tampa Bay Region, Hillsborough County's Saltwater
Intrusion and Aquifer Recharge Program (SHARP) is creating a hydraulic
barrier to saltwater intrusion between the Bay and the region's
drinking water aquifer. At a cost of $20 million, SHARP is yielding
significant climate--resiliency benefits by protecting the region's
freshwater aquifer from sea level rise and saltwater intrusion,
reducing pumping costs and energy use by raising groundwater levels and
increasing pressure in the potable freshwater aquifer, generating water
supply credits that offset the project's cost, and supporting seagrass
and fishery recovery efforts by reducing nutrient and other effluent
loadings.
In Texas, El Paso Water is using water recycling and saline
groundwater desalination to produce a drought--resilient, cost-
effective, and reliable water supply to support a vibrant local
economy. Compared to the next best alternative (importing groundwater),
El Paso's water reuse program is reducing energy use by 3.6 million MWH
over the planning period, shrinking the agency's carbon footprint by
nearly 700,000 MT of carbon emissions over a 50-year period, and
addressing affordability challenges related to imported water by saving
more than $1.2 billion, or 74 percent.
In Southern California's Chino Basin, local leaders developed the
Optimum Basin Management Program (OBMP) to address the region's water
challenges. At its core, the OBMP is a water reuse program with other
key components facilitated by water recycling. The OBMP generates
energy savings in excess of 5.8 Billion kWh over 30 years by relying on
local resources rather than energy intensive water imports, saves
ratepayers an estimated $2.4 billion in water supply costs (a 153
percent return on investment), and restores instream flows and water
quality in the Santa Ana River, returning a surface water supply to
downstream Orange County and replenishing and improving water quality
in the Chino Groundwater Basin.
These are just a few examples of innovative, successful water
recycling projects from around the country. As you begin the FY 2022
appropriations cycle, we urge you to make the following investments to
support water recycling as a resource management tool:

Programs Authorized in America's Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) of
2018
Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Account: State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG)

We request the following amounts for FY 2022 for three programs
authorized in AWIA:

--$5 million for SEC. 2005--Drinking Water Infrastructure Resilience
and Sustainability Program
--$5 million for SEC. 2007--Innovative Water Technology Grant Program
--$60 million for SEC. 4106--Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse
Municipal Grants

These three programs were created in the America's Water
Infrastructure Act of 2018. In FY 2020, Congress provided first-time
funding for all three programs: $3 million for Sec. 2005, $1 million
for Sec. 2007, and $28 million for Sec. 4106. Congress increased
funding for each the following year. We thank you for these important
investments, and urge you to build upon them in FY 2022.
These programs will provide tools and resources to support
innovation in addressing unique local challenges in water supply and
water quality, including practices involving the use of recycled
wastewater effluent, captured stormwater, and other alternative water
sources in all states.
Clean Water State Revolving Fund
Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Account: State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG)

The successful Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) program is
the primary source of federal financing assistance for clean water
infrastructure. The CWSRF is an important tool used across all 50
states and in communities of all sizes to help communities make
investments more affordably. Our nation's water infrastructure faces
significant infrastructure investment challenges with utilities
challenged to maintain and upgrade aging infrastructure, comply with
federal obligations, protect public health and serve as environmental
stewards in their community--all while maintaining affordable rates for
critical services. A significant increase in funding for the CWSRF
would help communities meet these growing needs. We therefore request
$3.4 billion in FY 2022.
Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program
Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Account: Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Fund

The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program accelerates
investment in our nation's water infrastructure by providing long-term,
low-cost supplemental loans for regionally and nationally significant
projects. EPA estimates that a $50 million Water Infrastructure Finance
& Innovation Act (WIFIA) appropriation can be leveraged into $5 billion
in low-interest federal loans and $10 billion in new water
infrastructure projects. A small increase in appropriated dollars for
this program can go a very long way toward advancing water reuse and
recycling across the country. Already, WIFIA has made major investments
in innovative water recycling projects, and we expect to see this trend
continue into the future. We therefore request a $5 million increase to
$70 million in FY 2022 for the Water Infrastructure Finance and
Innovation Program.
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Account: State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG)

Following the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act,
Congress demonstrated its commitment to safe drinking water and
economic growth by investing more than $19 billion into 13,800 drinking
water improvement projects nationwide. These investments have been
matched nearly 2:1 with non-federal dollars. Despite the large
investment, the need for drinking water infrastructure improvements far
exceeds available dollars. An increase in FY 2022 would support the
development and modernization of critical infrastructure to meet
America's future drinking water needs. We therefore request $2.32
billion in FY 2022 for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.
National Priorities Water Research Grant Program
Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Account: Science & Technology

The water sector in the United States is vital for supporting
healthy families and thriving communities. Today, the water sector is
facing unprecedented challenges, including extreme drought,
catastrophic flooding, failing infrastructure, emerging contaminants,
and dramatic changes in population. Water research will play a critical
role in developing cost-effective solutions to these challenges to
ensure thriving, resilient communities, create jobs, and support
healthy families. In recent years, Congress has appropriated hundreds
of millions of dollars for EPA research, but less than 15 percent of
EPA's Science and Technology Account funding is dedicated to water
related research. Less than 1 percent of these funds supports applied
research for water utilities. We therefore request an increase in
funding to $20 million for the National Priorities Water Research grant
program in order to better reflect the urgent research needs of the
water sector.

[This statement was submitted by Greg Fogel.]
______

Prepared Statement of WESTAF and the Western Arts Advocacy Network
Dear Senator Merkley, Senator Murkowski, and Interior, Environment, and
Related Agencies Subcommittee Members:

Thank you for providing the opportunity to submit outside witness
testimony as you consider investments in vital federal agencies,
including the National Endowment for the Arts (Arts Endowment). The
Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), a regional partner of the Arts
Endowment, and the Western Arts Advocacy Network (WAAN) write to affirm
the integral role the Endowment plays in communities throughout the
region. Through innovative programming, advocacy, research, technology,
and grantmaking, WESTAF encourages the creative advancement and
preservation of the arts in the West, serving the states of Alaska,
Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawai'i, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New
Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. WAAN brings together
leaders from state arts advocacy organizations and other key advocates
from across the West to network, share best practices, and inform
WESTAF's support of arts advocacy.
We know that arts and creativity strengthen our nation. Arts and
creativity make us stronger--as individuals, families, communities,
states and as a country. They are a backbone of innovation, prosperity,
and thriving people and places. Public funding for arts and creativity
is a high return investment that benefits every American in every city,
town and rural community nationwide.
We urge you to support the proposed increase of the Arts
Endowment's budget to $201 million. Because of the leadership of
Congress, this increase will mean expanded support of arts and culture
across the West driven by decisions made at the community level. We
also urge Congress to continue bipartisan support and substantially
increase National Endowment for the Arts funding in the FY 2022
Interior Appropriations Bill in order to broaden access to the
cultural, educational, and economic benefits of the arts and to advance
creativity and innovation in communities across the United States. We
further request you to support the recovery of the arts sector by
allowing the Arts Endowment to provide more and larger grants, suspend
matching requirements, and allow for additional general operating
support funding to be provided to arts and cultural organizations that
continue to struggle to adapt to the impact of the pandemic.
We deeply understand the importance of the Arts Endowment's
leadership in the West and would like to point out the following:

1. The Arts Endowment is a significant funder and a positive force
for arts development in the West, a fast growing and exceptionally
diverse region that is home to nearly a quarter of the U.S. population.
2. Arts Endowment funds reach every congressional district in the
West and throughout the United States (435 congressional districts).
Arts Endowment support is a critical component in ensuring that arts
funding reaches every community in the U.S.
3. In the West, the Arts Endowment has awarded more than $25
million in grants annually to arts efforts in recent years. In 2021,
the Arts Endowment awarded $10.7 million to support state arts agencies
in the West, and across the region the Endowment's federal-state
partnership is absolutely essential.
4. Every dollar of federal funding invested in the National
Endowment for the Arts leverages $9 of additional funding nationally.
Investment into state arts agencies in our region alone provides an
over 7:1 return on investment (see table below).

National Endowment for the Arts Contribution to State Arts Agency Revenue in the West
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Agency Revenue Arts Endowment funds % of Total Funding From
State ($) ($) Arts Endowment
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alaska............................... 2,723,331 736,000 27%
Arizona.............................. 1,966,250 889,600 45.2%
California........................... 42,209,600 1,231,600 2.9%
Colorado............................. 2,157,937 772,100 35.8%
Hawai'i.............................. 7,257,667 727,600 10%
Idaho................................ 1,713,912 834,100 48.7%
Montana.............................. 1,888,554 853,000 45.2%
Nevada............................... 1,892,082 752,100 39.7%
New Mexico........................... 2,229,600 747,000 33.5%
Oregon............................... 5,648,040 775,500 13.7%
Utah................................. 7,854,300 774,900 9.9%
Washington........................... 5,927,493 893,000 15%
Wyoming.............................. 1,700,217 752,500 44.3%
WESTAF region........................ 85,168,983 10,739,000 12.6%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, 2021

Based on 2019 data, the arts and culture sector represents 4.3
percent of the nation's gross domestic product at $919.7 billion, and
the sector trades at a surplus of more than $33 billion annually
(Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2019). The nonprofit arts industry alone
supports 5.2 million jobs in the arts and related industries. In the
West, jobs in creative occupations, creative industries earnings, and
cultural nonprofit revenues were all on an upward growth trajectory
prior to the pandemic according to WESTAF's Creative Vitality Suite
data.

Helping the creative economy to get back on track will reap rewards
for the region and the nation as a whole. The National Endowment for
the Arts acts as the flag bearer for this vital industry in our nation
that in the West alone grew by 78% between 2011 and 2019 (Creative
Vitality Suite, 2021).
Arts and creativity are an American economic engine. They provide
people with the foundation for creativity, equipping an innovative
workforce, generating new ideas in every field, and keeping our nation
globally competitive. Arts and creativity strengthen economic health by
creating jobs in multiple industries, driving tourism, and providing
opportunities for young people. New research shows that the arts can
accelerate state and local economic turnarounds. A first-of-its-kind
empirical analysis conducted by Douglas Noonan at Indiana University
studied the role of the arts in economic recovery after the Great
Recession, and the data reveals that the creative sector grew more
quickly than the general economy in those years. Unlike conventional
industrial supply chains, the arts often grow independently from other
sectors, which helps to diversify state economies. States with varied
arts ecosystems (including the performing, visual, media, design and
publishing subsectors) posted bigger economic gains after the Great
Recession than their less--diversified neighbors. Creativity stimulates
economic development while bolstering civic engagement, making the arts
a powerful catalyst for building economic strength, as shown in
companion research produced by WESTAF.
Recent examples of the Arts Endowment's direct support in the West
ranges from ongoing support of Alaska's Sitka Fine Arts Camp for middle
and high school students that features Alaska Native arts to a series
of community--centered mural projects in rural Missoula, Montana. The
Arts Endowment invests in projects that represent all communities in
the West, but the agency's support has been particularly important to
engaging rural communities, indigenous communities, young people, and
the full range of communities that make up the West in terms of race
and ethnicity. The Endowment's long standing focus on the
``underserved,'' prompted in part by Congressional leadership, inspires
the work of state arts agencies across the West and the work of WESTAF.
Public funding for arts and creativity is a high--return investment
in every town and rural community nationwide, not only in the biggest
cities. It improves the lives of all Americans, equips an innovative
workforce, and keeps us competitive globally. It is a great example of
government done right that fuels public--private partnerships,
leverages considerable additional public and private investment far
surpassing the required federal match of 1:1, and puts tax dollars and
decision--making authority into state and local hands. In FY21, the
budget of the NEA was $167.5 million, only .0004 percent of the federal
budget (49 cents per person). A more robust agency budget would not
only help to support the recovery of one of the most devastated
industries emerging from the pandemic but also move us toward ensuring
that the arts contribute to the present and future strength, pride,
cohesion and economic success of every community in the United States.

Sincerely,

Tamara Alvarado,Chair
Christian Gaines, Executive Director
David Holland, Director, Impact & Public Policy

Western Arts Advocacy Network
Julie Baker Co-Chair, Executive Director
California Arts Advocates Californians for the Arts

Manny Cawaling Co-Chair, Executive Director
Inspire Washington

Norm Campbell, President
Alaska Arts & Culture Foundation

Joseph Benesh,Executive Director
Artizona Citizens for the Arts

Christin Crampton Day, Executive Director
Colorado Business Committee for the Arts

Benjamin Brown, Chair
Alaska State Council on the Arts

Paul Stahl, Chair
Montana Cultural Advocacy

Tia Flores, Chair
Cultural Alliance Nevada

Jim Patterson, Chair
Creative New Mexico

Sue Hildick, Executive Director
Cultural Advocacy Coalition of Oregon

Crystal Young-Otterstrom, Executive Director
Utah Cultural Alliance

Wendy Bredehoft, Chair
Wyoming Arts Alliance
______

Prepared Statement of the Western Governors' Association
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee, the Western Governors' Association (WGA) appreciates the
opportunity to provide written testimony on the appropriations and
activities of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (FWS), National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Forest
Service (USFS) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). WGA is an
independent organization representing the Governors of the 22
westernmost states and territories. The Association is an instrument of
the Governors for bipartisan policy development, information--sharing
and collective action on issues of critical importance to the western
United States.
The agencies within the Subcommittee's jurisdiction wield
significant influence over vast areas of the American West. Ninety-four
percent of all federal lands are located in the western states, and the
federal government owns over 46 percent of the land within active WGA
states. The work of this Subcommittee is of vital importance to Western
Governors, as it affects public lands management and federal agency
interaction with other levels of government and the public.
There is a natural tension between state and federal governments
that is embedded in the fabric of the U.S. Constitution. These
sovereign governments must have a close and productive working
relationship to promote efficiency and maximize returns on taxpayer
investments. Improving the partnership between states and the federal
government is central to the mission of WGA and is reflected in WGA
Policy Resolution 2021-01, Strengthening the State-Federal
Relationship.
In last year's House committee report accompanying the Interior,
Environment, and Related Agencies Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 appropriations
bill (H. Rpt. 116-448), the federal agencies funded by the Interior
bill were directed to provide appropriate feedback on tribal input
received by agencies through meaningful consultation in their
decision--making processes. Similar direction to federal agencies for
government-to-government consultation with states, which is required
pursuant to Executive Order 13132, Federalism, would improve the co-
sovereign relationship between states and the federal government.
WGA continues to create opportunities for a more productive state--
federal relationship. For example, Governors are proud of the 2018
Shared Stewardship Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between WGA and
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The MOU has allowed Western
Governors and USDA to collaboratively engage on several cross--
boundary, cross-jurisdictional concerns, including post--wildfire
interagency coordination, cheatgrass infestations, and vegetation
management in utility corridors. This has also led to positive
engagement between individual states and the agency: USDA has now
executed Shared Stewardship agreements with 25 states, 15 of which are
within the WGA footprint. These agreements provide states a useful tool
to discuss land management priorities with USDA and coordinate on
priority management projects across a broad range of needs, from
wildfire mitigation to habitat improvement to watershed protection.
Western Governors consider the WGA-USDA Shared Stewardship MOU an
effective framework to establish shared state--federal priorities for
forest and rangeland management, and encourage the development of
similar MOUs with other Executive Branch agencies for other areas of
cooperative endeavor.
Responsible land management can only occur when federal, state and
local stakeholders collaborate to improve the health and resilience of
our lands. Likewise, proactive fish and wildlife conservation is most
effective when leveraging the cooperative efforts of state and federal
officials across multiple disciplines. To this end, Western Governors
support all reasonable proactive management efforts to conserve
species, including engaging stakeholders to implement early, voluntary
conservation measures. WGA also believes the Services should explore
expanded use of detail positions and shared staff between state and
federal agencies to increase interagency coordination.
States possess primary authority to manage most fish and wildlife
within their borders, and they receive economic benefits associated
with healthy species and ecosystems. At the same time, species listings
can dramatically affect the efforts of western states to promote
economic development, accommodate population growth, and maintain and
expand infrastructure. Western Governors believe that states should be
full partners in listing, critical habitat designations, recovery
planning, recovery efforts, and delisting decisions. State agencies
often have the best available science, expertise and other scientific
and institutional resources such as mapping capabilities, biological
inventories, biological management goals, state wildlife action plans
and other important data. All listing, recovery and delisting decisions
made by the federal government should recognize, consult, and employ
these vast state resources and utilize objective, peer--reviewed
scientific literature and scientific observations.
Fish and wildlife migration corridors and habitat are necessary to
maintain healthy populations of species in the West. Western Governors
request additional funding for federal agencies to advance state--
supported programs and projects promoting voluntary migration corridor
and habitat conservation. Governors note that any federal efforts to
identify, regulate or conserve wildlife migration corridors through
administrative or legislative action must involve coordination and
consultation with states and should advance collaborative, locally
driven initiatives to conserve key wildlife corridors and habitat.
WGA applauds the full funding for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes
(PILT) program administered by DOI for FY21 and recommends the
enactment of a permanent and stable funding mechanism for the program.
PILT funding does not represent a gift to local jurisdictions; rather
it provides important compensation for the disproportionate measure of
non-taxable federal lands in the West. Similarly, payments under the
Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (SRS)
compensate communities whose timber industries have been negatively
affected by actions and acquisitions of the federal government. Western
Governors request that you continue to appropriate full funding
annually for both PILT and SRS in the future.
Western Governors continue to be concerned about the number of wild
horses and burros on BLM lands. This number is presently estimated to
be more than triple the current Appropriate Management Level (AML).
Overpopulation can degrade rangeland, negatively affecting wildlife and
domestic livestock, as well as the habitat of threatened and endangered
species. WGA supports a process to establish, monitor and adjust AMLs
for wild horses and burros that is transparent to stakeholders,
supported by scientific information (including state data), and
amenable to adaptation with new information and environmental and
social change. Western Governors recognize BLM's 2019 Path Forward for
Management of BLM's Wild Horses and Burros and 2020 Analysis of
Achieving a Sustainable Wild Horse and Burro Program as examples of
sensible alternatives to current wild horse and burro management
practices. WGA encourages the Subcommittee to support the BLM's use of
the recommendations contained in these proposals and to implement the
provisions most likely to lead to attainment and maintenance of AMLs.
WGA remains concerned about the spread of invasive mussels in the
West and has highlighted this issue through the Western Governors'
Biosecurity and Invasive Species Initiative. Of particular concern are
invasive quagga and zebra mussels, which continue to be a major threat
to western water resources. To combat this threat, Western Governors
request that the BLM, FWS and NPS be provided with the resources
necessary to implement mandatory inspection of all high--risk
watercraft and decontamination of watercraft infested with quagga and
zebra mussels leaving waterbodies under their jurisdiction. Outside the
jurisdiction of the Subcommittee but relevant to this matter, Western
Governors support legislation that would clarify federal authority to
conduct inspection and decontamination procedures and manage invasive
species on lands and waters under their jurisdiction.
Western Governors applaud NPS for its efforts to preserve iconic
landscapes, habitats and cultural resources. WGA is concerned, however,
about the significant maintenance backlog affecting National Parks. WGA
appreciates the funding authorized by the Great American Outdoors Act
for priority deferred maintenance projects administered by federal land
management agencies and supports ongoing NPS operations to address
critical infrastructure needs.
Data for water management and drought response planning is critical
to western states. Western Governors request adequate funding levels
for the Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program administered by
the U.S. Geological Survey. The data generated by the program is
integral to water supply management decisions of states, utilities,
reservoir operators and farmers. It is also essential for risk
management, disaster mitigation, and drought and flood forecasting
throughout the West.
Infrastructure management is another crucial element of drought
response, and federal investments in our nation's aging water and
wastewater facilities are essential to our nation's continued economic
prosperity and environmental protection. EPA'S Clean Water and Drinking
Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) provide necessary support for
communities to maintain and enhance their water infrastructure. Western
Governors' Policy Resolution 2018-12, Water Quality in the West,
encourages adequate funding for SRFs. Western Governors similarly
support the funding of federal programs that promote non-federal water
infrastructure investment, such as the Water Infrastructure Finance
Innovation Act program. This important program provides flexible long-
term, low-cost supplemental credit assistance for projects of national
and regional significance.
States have exclusive authority over the allocation and
administration of rights to groundwater located within their borders
and are primarily responsible for protecting, managing, and otherwise
controlling the resource. The regulatory reach of the federal
government was not intended to, and should not, be applied to the
management and control of groundwater resources. WGA encourages
Congress to include express and unambiguous language protecting states'
authority over groundwater resources in any water--related legislation,
as well as clear direction to administrative agencies to respect such
authority. WGA appreciates the language included by the Subcommittee in
prior Appropriations Acts addressing existing statutory authorities for
groundwater protection. Federal agencies should work within existing
state authorities to address their groundwater--related needs and
concerns. WGA urges you to ensure that federal efforts involving
groundwater recognize and respect state primacy and comply with all
statutory authorities.
States also possess delegated authority from EPA to manage air
quality within their borders. Congress and EPA should recognize state
authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA) and accord states sufficient
flexibility to create air quality and emissions programs tailored to
individual state needs, industries and economies. State CAA programs
require financial support from Congress, yet funding has declined since
the CAA's enactment. In addition, given the unique character of the
West and the region's attainment challenges, funding should be
appropriated for EPA to assist western states in research on
background, interstate and transported ozone. This is especially
critical as more frequent and intense wildfires are steadily reducing
the West's gains in air quality improvement. Smoke from wildfires
causes exceedances under National Ambient Air Quality Standards for
particulate matter and ozone, negatively affecting public health,
safety and transportation. Prescribed fire can reduce these effects but
is currently underused in many areas due to concerns about how it may
affect compliance with CAA State Implementation Plans.
Western Governors and federal land management agencies deal with a
complex web of interrelated natural resource issues. It is an enormous
challenge to judiciously balance competing needs in this environment,
and Western Governors appreciate the difficulty of the decisions this
Subcommittee must make. The foregoing recommendations are offered in a
spirit of cooperation and respect, and WGA is prepared to assist you in
discharging these critical and challenging responsibilities.

[This statement was submitted by James D. Ogsbury, Executive
Director.]
______

Prepared Statement of the Western States Water Council
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee, on behalf of the Western States Water Council (WSWC) we
welcome the opportunity to provide written testimony on federal agency
activities and appropriations under the subcommittee's jurisdiction.
The WSWC is a government entity an instrumentality of each and every
participating state advising western governors of water policies and
programs. Members are appointed and serve at the pleasure of their
respective governors.
department of the interior
Indian Water Rights Settlements
The Council reiterates its support for encouraging negotiated
settlements of disputed Indian water rights claims as the best solution
to the critical problem of limited resources to fulfill tribal and non-
tribal water needs that affects almost all of the Western States. We
urge the Subcommittee to support Indian water rights settlements with a
strong fiscal commitment for meaningful federal contributions that
recognizes the trust obligations of the United States government.
Indian water rights settlements are not and should not be defined as
Congressional earmarks. Indian water rights settlements, once
authorized by the Congress and approved by the President, should be
funded without a corresponding offset, including cuts to some other
tribal or essential Interior Department programs.
General State Stream Adjudications
The States are primarily responsible for the allocation,
administration, management and protection of the water resources and
rights to the use of water within their borders. The western states use
general stream adjudications to determine and document the quantity and
priority dates of water rights within basins, including rights to
waters claimed by the United States under either state or federal law.
General stream adjudications give certainty to water rights, provide
the basis for water right administration, reduce conflict over water
allocation and water usage, and incidentally facilitate important
market transactions for western water rights. As a matter of policy,
federal agencies should pay a fair share of the administrative costs
associated with adjudicating their often--numerous claims in state
court adjudications. Further, federal agencies should be given policy
direction to ensure that federal claims filed in state court
adjudications have a sound basis in fact and law. States continue to
encounter questionable claims that can be very costly to evaluate, thus
diverting limited state resources from completing general stream
adjudications.
WaterSMART
Maintaining and delivering sufficient water supplies of suitable
quality is key to the West's economic prosperity, environmental needs,
and our quality of life, both now and in the future. As recognized in
the Science and Engineering to Comprehensively Understand and
Responsibly Enhance (SECURE) Water Act, `` . . . States bear the
primary responsibility and authority for managing the water resources
of the United States.'' Western water law and policy are based on the
reality of scarcity and the need to use water wisely. Western states
have made great strides in increasing efficiency and reducing water
use, but continued investments and sacrifices are needed to maintain
our quality of life and to protect our environment. The SECURE Water
Act also recognizes that ``the Federal Government should support the
States, as well as regional, local and tribal governments . . . '' and
authorizes a number of important programs to provide this much--needed
support. The Council supports technical and financial assistance to
states, local watershed groups and water districts as an appropriate
federal role, consistent with authorized federal programs. Section 9504
of the SECURE Water Act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to
provide grants or enter into cooperative agreements to assist states
and other non-federal entities in carrying out a range of water use
efficiency improvements to address crucial water supply issues, stretch
limited water supplies, and improve water management.
U.S. Geological Survey
Real-time water resources data are critical for timely actions in
response to droughts, flooding, and other extreme weather events. The
lack of federal capital investments in water data programs has led to
the discontinuance, disrepair, or obsolescence of vital equipment
needed to maintain existing water data gathering activities. The lack
of timely and accurate streamflow information threatens to put human
life, health, welfare, property, and environmental and natural
resources at a considerably greater risk of loss. The data is integral
to water supply management decisions of states, utilities, reservoir
operators and farmers. It is also essential for risk management,
disaster mitigation, and drought and flood forecasting throughout the
West.
Many WaterSMART programs have largely been underfunded or remain
dependent on year-to-year appropriations. Section 9507 of the SECURE
Water Act authorizes enhancements to the U.S. Geological Survey's
(USGS) National Streamflow Information Program (NSIP) in order to
provide an improved national backbone focused on national needs and
interests. The Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program (GWSIP)
and USGS' cooperative matching funds within the Water Availability and
Use Science Program (WAUSP), together provide vital water data that
States and other public and private entities and individuals rely on in
making day-to-day planning and management decisions. Section 9508(c)
authorizes the USGS to ``provide grants to State water resource
agencies to assist in developing water use and availability datasets''
and has led to initiation of the Water-Use Data and Research (WUDR)
program, in support of the Water Use Data for the Nation publication
and the National Water Census. USGS' GWSIP, WAUSP, and WUDR together
will provide vital water data that States and other public and private
entities may rely on to make day-to-day planning and management
decisions.
The Council expresses our strong support for implementation of the
SECURE Water Act, and encourages the Subcommittee to ensure that the
Act's authorized activities receive support and appropriations that are
adequate to fulfill their stated purposes as a dedicated line item.
Water Resources Research Institutes
The USGS Water Resources Research Act program promotes,
facilitates, and conducts research that helps resolve state and
regional water problems, promotes technology transfer, facilitates
dissemination and application of research, trains scientists through
participation in research, and awards competitive grants. Water
resources research, the dissemination and application of research
results or research to operations (R2O) and technology transfer are
increasingly important to meeting our present and future water needs.
The Water Resources Research Act of 1964 authorizes a program that
includes the establishment of state water resources research institutes
(WRRIs) or centers in each state to address our water resources
challenges. Today's institutes and centers provide a research
infrastructure that uses the capabilities of universities to greatly
assist and provide important support to western state water agencies in
long-term planning, policy development, and management of the
increasingly complex water challenges. These challenges are exacerbated
by the uncertainty surrounding population growth, climate, and economic
and environmental water demands.
The Council and its member states continue to work with the
institutes/centers and the academic community to ensure research
investments are relevant to our most pressing water problems and allow
each state to use methods most appropriate for its own situation. The
institutes/centers' outreach and information transfer services and
activities are very valuable to the water communities in the various
western states. This is a very worthwhile federal--state partnership
that promotes collaboration, cooperation and the conservation of
limited physical, financial and personnel resources. We urge the
Subcommittee to maintain appropriate financial support for the state
WRRIs.
We appreciate the opportunity to provide written testimony.
______

Prepared Statement of the Western States Water Council
Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the
Subcommittee, on behalf of the Western States Water Council (WSWC) we
welcome the opportunity to provide written testimony on federal agency
activities and appropriations under the Subcommittee's jurisdiction.
The WSWC is a government entity advising western governors of water
policies and programs. Members are appointed and serve at the pleasure
of their respective governors.
environmental protection agency
Federal-State Relations
Federal agencies' coordination and collaboration with States is a
key element of the Clean Water Act's (CWA) regulatory federalism.
States are partners and not stakeholders. When it comes to protecting
the Nation's water quality, we strongly urge continuing appropriations
to support interagency coordination and consultation at the federal,
state, and tribal levels.
States are primarily responsible for managing water resources and
water quality within their borders, and most States employ delegated
authority under the CWA. This state--federal relationship is especially
important in light of the announced review of the CWA Section 401
Implementation Rule and the definition of ``Waters of the United
States'' (WOTUS) under the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR).
While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outreach regarding NWPR
development was unprecedented, similar involvement by States regarding
implementation of State 401 Certification authority was lacking. The
Council maintains that state engagement and meaningful state
consultation regarding the review and implementation of these rules,
and any potential changes to these rules, is critical.
The Council has been involved in a support role with EPA and the
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in efforts to improve mapping of the
Nation's waters and wetlands, and we urge the Subcommittee to provide
the resources necessary to develop the data needed for decisionmaking.
Some of the friction regarding WOTUS is due to the lack of common
baseline data and definitions for the Nation's waters. We strongly
support mapping efforts. We recognize the importance of science and the
interconnected nature of surface water, groundwater, and wetlands,
while also recognizing the Congress and Supreme Court have limited the
scope of federal CWA jurisdiction. States have authority to protect all
waters within the State. EPA support for state programs, delegated or
otherwise, should not be affected by questions related to federal
jurisdiction.
States maintain primacy over groundwater management and protection.
As continued drought forces many States to rely more heavily on
groundwater resources, the nexus between groundwater and surface water
is becoming increasingly apparent and important. The Council asserts
that any federal strategy to protect groundwater quality must recognize
and respect state primacy and be built as a genuine federal/state
partnership. States recognize the importance of effective groundwater
management and are in the best position to protect groundwater quality,
as well as allow for the orderly and rational allocation and
administration of the resource through state laws and regulations that
are specific to their individual circumstances. Working cooperatively
with their federal partners, states have shown that they have the
ability and authority to address federal needs regarding groundwater
within existing legal frameworks.
Infrastructure
Water infrastructure improvements are a continuing chronic need
across the country, and especially in rural and tribal areas across the
West. Federal funding is critical for the Clean Water and Drinking
Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs), the Water Infrastructure Financing
and Innovation Act (WIFIA), and State and Tribal Assistance Grants for
ensuring communities have access to clean, safe and reliable drinking
water and wastewater services. The Council supports adequate funding
for these programs to carry out their intended purposes.
EPA's SRF programs provide states with capitalization grants that
are leveraged with state contributions to offer financial assistance to
cities, towns, communities, and others for the planning, design,
construction and rehabilitation of built and green water and
wastewater--related infrastructure to improve source and drinking water
quality. These programs are one of the principal tools that states use
to pursue the goals of the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act.
The Nation's wastewater and drinking water infrastructure is aging and
in need of repair and replacement. To the extent federal law has
established certain nationwide levels of treatment for drinking water
and wastewater, the federal government has a corresponding obligation
to provide states with the necessary financial and technical assistance
needed to comply with such requirements, including the appropriation of
adequate funding for SRF capitalization grants.
New competing water and wastewater infrastructure funding programs
should not come at the expense of the SRFs, which are a proven model
for addressing water and wastewater infrastructure needs. We urge the
Subcommittee to ensure that stable and continuing federal
appropriations are made for SRF capitalization grants, WIFIA loans and
State and Tribal Assistance Grants at levels that are adequate to help
States address their water infrastructure needs and protect public
health and the environment for the benefit of the people.
Congress has approved a several requirements on the states'
management and use of SRF funds, including but not limited to mandating
the use of a percentage of appropriated funds for principal
forgiveness, negative interest loans, grants, or a combination thereof.
Funding is also set aside for green infrastructure, water or energy
efficiency, or other environmentally innovative activities. These and
other requirements, often well--intended, are generally aimed at
advancing policy objectives that are unrelated or contrary to the SRFs'
primary purpose of providing funding for basic water infrastructure.
They also reduce the flexibility of the States to manage SRFs in a
cost--effective manner and represent unfunded federal mandates that
impose significant regulatory burdens, make state SRF programs less
attractive to local entities, and reduce the capacity of a State to
leverage their SRF programs and address infrastructure needs. SRF
programs should allow States greater flexibility and require fewer
restrictions.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide written testimony.
______

Prepared Statement of the Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) would like to thank
Chairman Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski, and the members of the
Subcommittee for providing this opportunity to submit testimony in
support of funding in the FY22 Interior, Environment and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act for the Multinational Species Conservation
Fund (MSCF), Office of International Affairs (IA), Office of Law
Enforcement (OLE), and Cooperative Landscape Conservation (CLC) Program
accounts at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the International
Forestry program (FS-IP) at the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and the
Climate Adaptation Science Centers at the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS).
WCS was founded with the help of Theodore Roosevelt in 1895 with
the mission of saving wildlife and wild places worldwide. Today, WCS
manages the largest network of urban wildlife parks in the United
States, led by our flagship, the Bronx Zoo. Globally, our goal is to
conserve the world's most important wild places, focusing on 14
priority regions that are home to more than 50% of the world's
biodiversity. We have offices and field programs in more than 60
countries and work with our partners to manage more than 200 million
acres of protected areas around the world, employing more than 4,000
staff including about 200 Ph.D. scientists and 100 veterinarians.
The United States needs to reengage in advancing environmental and
conservation solutions as the world faces existential crises all caused
by humankind: the loss of biodiversity, climate change, and the threat
of pandemic disease. These crises are interrelated, with many of the
same causes and solutions. We know that pandemics of zoonotic origin
(passed between animals and people) such as COVID-19 are directly tied
to wildlife trade and the breaching of the human--wildlife interface
through deforestation and forest degradation. We also know that
deforestation and forest degradation are major causes of carbon
emissions, and that more than a third of the answer to climate
mitigation can come from nature--based solutions. Protected and
conserved areas are at the heart: they protect biodiversity, mitigate
climate change, and prevent future pandemics of zoonotic origin.
Further, they support the livelihoods and well-being of millions of
people and are critical to achieving the UN Sustainable Development
Goals. Additional funding in the FY22 Interior appropriations bill for
international conservation programs will be critical to address these
crises and reassert U.S. leadership in the world.
FWS--Multinational Species Conservation Fund--$30 Million.--Global
priority species, such as tigers, rhinos, African and Asian elephants,
great apes, turtles, and tortoises, face constant danger from poaching
(particularly for illegal trade purposes), habitat loss and
degradation, and other serious threats. MSCF programs have helped to
sustain and recover wildlife populations by combating poaching and
trafficking, reducing human--wildlife conflict, and protecting
essential habitat--all while promoting U.S. economic and security
interests across the globe. These programs efficiently use taxpayer
dollars, granting them an outsized impact because they consistently
leverage two to four times as much in matching funds from organizations
like WCS, foreign governments, local NGOs, and private foundations.
Funding from the MSCF provides front--line protection against
zoonotic disease by supporting projects that prevent or reverse the
conditions that lead to pathogen spillover events. These events
increase when humans come into closer contact with wildlife through the
destruction and degradation of wildlife habitats, particularly forests,
or at live wildlife markets where animals are crowded for sale and
slaughter. In both situations, wildlife is likely to be severely
stressed, which further increases the potential for pathogen spillover
to occur and for human disease outbreaks. Biodiversity loss, in itself,
can also contribute to zoonotic disease spillover by removing buffer
species that protect against diseases jumping into human populations.
WCS has had great success on projects using funds from the MSCF.
One ongoing Great Ape award to WCS is supporting a 5-year project to
secure the Cross River gorilla population in Nigeria and Cameroon. WCS
has established an effective network of core protected areas and
corridors linking habitat between the two countries and is working with
local communities to protect the intact, old growth forest that is
their home and critical to the survival of the fewer than 300 remaining
gorillas.
FWS--International Affairs--$30 Million.--The FWS IA program
supports efforts to conserve our planet's rich wildlife diversity by
protecting habitat and species, combating illegal wildlife trade, and
building capacity for landscape--level wildlife conservation. The
program provides oversight of domestic laws and international treaties
that promote the conservation of plant and animal species by ensuring
that international trade and other activities do not threaten their
survival in the wild. Within IA, the FWS Regional Programs for Africa,
Eurasia, and the Western Hemisphere seek to address grassroots wildlife
conservation problems from a broad, landscape perspective, building
regional expertise and capacity while strengthening local institutions.
The IA program works with the MSCF, supporting the conservation of
species that are not specifically addressed by the Fund and funding
conservation of entire habitats, even in cases where they cross
political boundaries.
As with the MSCF, WCS asks that the subcommittee increase funding
for the program to $30 million, similar to the amount requested in
President Biden's budget proposal, so that it can continue to support
efforts to conserve landscapes and vulnerable species and better
address the crises facing the planet. In addition to this, increased
funding is also needed to mitigate the impacts that the pandemic is
having on revenues that normally fund conservation, particularly those
from ecotourism. Some of the most highly successful wildlife
conservation programs, including those that the U.S. has supported for
decades, work with developing countries and local communities to
combine sustainable management and conservation of wildlife with new
economic opportunities and incomes derived from wildlife--based
tourism. In some African countries, parks and protected areas are a
major driver of tourism and a substantial contributor to their national
GDP and sustainable development. In many of these countries'
community--managed ``conservancies'' wildlife is the foundation of
tourism models that have generated millions of dollars in benefits for
local communities and supported successful, locally run conservation.
With these revenues having evaporated due to the pandemic, support is
needed to ensure conservation activities can continue in these areas
and prevent a steep rise in poaching that might otherwise result.
The final FY20 and FY21 appropriations bills included report
language directing the Department of the Interior to develop policies
and procedures for the execution and oversight of international
conservation programs to ensure that grant recipients have policies in
place that safeguard the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the human
rights of individuals and communities in and around protected areas
supported by grant monies. WCS supports the development of these
guidelines and urges the Committee to include funding to support their
implementation and enforcement.
FWS--Office of Law Enforcement--$115 Million.--The U.S. remains one
of the world's largest markets for wildlife and wildlife products, both
legal and illegal. A small group of dedicated officers at OLE are
tasked with protecting fish, wildlife, and plant resources by
investigating wildlife crimes--including commercial exploitation,
habitat destruction, and industrial hazards--and monitoring
international trade to intercept illegal products like wildlife and
timber and facilitate legal commerce. As the United States developed
and implemented a comprehensive strategy to combat the growing crisis
of wildlife trafficking over the last several years, most of the new
responsibilities placed on FWS are enforced by OLE, and WCS supports
increasing funding for the agency to $115 million. A primary need for
additional funding is to strengthen OLE's presence at the U.S. border
to protect against the importation of wildlife that may serve as a host
of pathogens that could cause dangerous diseases of zoonotic origin.
Recent increases in the OLE budget have enabled the agency to
deploy 12 FWS attaches in targeted U.S. embassies overseas in
countries, including Tanzania, Gabon, Peru, China, and Thailand, where
wildlife trafficking has proven to be a serious problem. Law
enforcement attaches are experienced criminal investigators who
specialize in wildlife and natural resource investigations and have
provided extensive support to local authorities engaged in wildlife
trafficking investigations. Several investigations of transnational
organized crime networks involved in the trafficking of elephant ivory,
rhino horn, reptiles, and other wildlife and wildlife parts between
Africa and Asia have been initiated as a direct result of attache
intervention, and attaches have assisted extensively in fostering
intelligence sharing and investigative support between affected
countries. In addition to their law enforcement functions, attaches
have also been involved in building the capacity for wildlife law
enforcement in the countries and regions in which they are placed, and
WCS has worked successfully in partnership with many of these attaches
through our program to combat wildlife trafficking. Additional funding
to provide support for each of these attaches is important to expand
and maximize their effectiveness.
FWS--Cooperative Landscape Conservation--$17 Million.--Many of the
domestic conservation programs in this bill provide funding to states
to implement their conservation goals. But wildlife does not recognize
political boundaries, and scarce conservation dollars can best be spent
when effective planning and coordination takes place across entire
ecosystems--particularly as the nation plans for and reacts to the
effects of climate change. The CLC Program funds a network of 22
Landscape Conservation Cooperatives in the U.S. and Canada, which use a
collaborative approach between Federal, State, Tribal and local
partners to identify landscape scale conservation solutions and work
collaboratively to meet unfilled conservation needs, develop decision
support tools, share data and knowledge, and facilitate and foster
conservation partnerships. The final FY19 appropriations bill cut
funding for this program to $12.5 million, which has been maintained
since. WCS encourages the Committee to meet the President's request of
$17 million for this program to boost support for landscape planning
and design that will improve coordination and resilience to climate
change for U.S. communities.
USFS--International Forestry--$20 Million.--The U.S. economy has
lost approximately $1 billion per year and over 200,000 jobs due to
illegal logging, which is responsible for 15-30% of all timber by
volume. FS-IP works to level the playing field by reducing illegal
logging and improving the sustainability and legality of timber
management overseas, translating to less underpriced timber
undercutting U.S. producers. Through partnerships with USAID and the
Department of State, FS-IP helps to improve the management of resources
in countries of strategic importance to U.S. economic and national
security. This work maintains ecological biodiversity in important
natural strongholds and helps some of the world's last intact forests
continue to play a key role in sequestering carbon, reducing the
effects of climate change.
With technical and financial support from FS-IP, WCS has been
working to conserve a biologically rich temperate forest zone called
the Primorye in the Russian Far East for over a decade, focusing on the
Amur tiger and Far Eastern leopard and their habitat, species with
approximately 400 and 35-40 individuals remaining the wild,
respectively. Human encroachment, illegal logging, and widespread use
of agricultural burning fracture and threaten the habitat of these
endangered animals and increase human wildlife conflicts. Since the
Amur tiger and Far Eastern leopard are dependent on large tracts of
intact, functional forest ecosystems, WCS has been focusing on these
two species as a means to address larger biodiversity conservation and
scientific--technological capacity building goals throughout the
region.
USGS--Climate Adaptation Science Centers--$84.4 Million.--The USGS
Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs) collaborate with cultural
and natural resource managers and other stakeholders of public lands to
develop research, data, and scientific resources to respond to the
effects of climate variability and change on fish, wildlife,
ecosystems, and the communities they support. The National CASC manages
nine Regional CASCs, which serve every state in the nation and connect
decision makers to science by educating and conducting actionable
research to answer common concerns about how climate extremes and
trends affect human populations, wildlife, forests, grasslands, rivers,
coastlines, and other natural resources.
Sea-level rise, changing water temperatures, and extreme weather
events are causing government, businesses, and Indigenous peoples to
face new damages and incur new costs to prepare for new conditions. As
the challenges faced by these entities worsen, CASCs are deploying
their research, education, and outreach capacities to provide science
and data to make strong decisions. But given accelerating demands,
additional resources are required to provide the assistance to
anticipate and adapt to these changing circumstances. Looking to the
future, there are opportunities for CASCs to: expand strategic
partnerships with other government offices and agencies, private--
sector partners, and community groups to increase understanding and
implementation of new practices informed by sound science; expand CASCs
role in generating knowledge and the future workforce to build the
capacity of DOI managers and their partners to access and apply climate
science; increase development of data and research that addresses the
increasing needs of natural and cultural resource managers; and better
inform the DOI strategic priorities and mission areas. WCS urges the
Subcommittee to support the President's request of $84.4 million.
WCS appreciates the opportunity to share its perspective and to
make a case for increases in federal investments in conservation in the
FY22 Interior, the Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
Conservation of public lands is an American tradition and, as far back
as 1909, Theodore Roosevelt recognized that the management of our
natural resources requires coordination between all nations. Continued
investment in conservation will reaffirm our global position as a
conservation leader, while improving national and global security and
building capacity and good governance in developing countries.

[This statement was submitted by Colin Sheldon, Assistant Director
for Federal Affairs.]
______

Prepared Statement of the World Wildlife Fund
Thank you for the opportunity to provide written testimony on the
Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) budget. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is one of the
world's leading conservation organizations, operating in nearly 100
countries to ensure a future in which both people and nature can thrive
by helping to conserve our planet's biodiversity and the natural
resources upon which we all rely. With the support of over one million
members in the United States and over five million globally, WWF's
unique approach integrates global reach and local impact with a
scientific foundation, promoting innovative solutions to meet the needs
of people and nature.
WWF thanks the subcommittee for its past support of important
conservation programs at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and
U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and urges continued support for these
programs in FY22. Increased U.S. investments are needed to respond to a
set of pressing and intertwined challenges--the crisis of global
biodiversity and nature loss, the climate crisis, and the global health
and economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All of these crises
have roots in the loss, degradation, and over--exploitation of nature.
According to WWF's 2020 Living Planet Report,\1\ populations of
mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians declined by 68 percent
on average over the past 50 years due to human activities. Conservation
investments are among the clearest and most cost--effective solutions
to reversing this trend and addressing the intertwined challenges of
nature loss, climate change, and preventing future pandemics, given
that most emerging infectious diseases originate in and spillover from
animals to people, and most of these originate in wildlife. Among the
root causes of such spillover events are trade in wildlife species that
are high--risk for transmitting zoonotic pathogens and destruction and
conversion of tropical forests and other wildlife habitats due to
agriculture and other land--use change. Several programs at the
Department of the Interior directly address these challenges.
For these reasons, WWF asks the subcommittee to support funding
USFWS and USFS conservation accounts at the following levels in FY22:

--$30 million for the Multinational Species Conservations Funds;
--$30 million for US Fish and Wildlife Service International Affairs;
--$115 million for US Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law
Enforcement, including $15 million to implement the 2008 Lacey
Act Amendments and prevent illegal timber trade;
--$20 million for US Forest Service International Programs;

We urge the subcommittee to consider the significant impact that
these modest investments have in protecting species and habitats while
also supporting developing communities and fostering stability and
sustainable growth, combating transnational organized crime, ensuring
U.S. competitiveness in global markets, and demonstrating U.S.
leadership to tackle global challenges. As several recent reports
detail, including from the Council for Strategic Risks,\2\ nature is in
crisis, and the increasing rates of biodiversity loss globally threaten
severe consequences for societies and economies. If nature is to
continue to provide the resources that sustain our societies and drive
our economies, we must work together to reverse these trends and ensure
that economic growth and conservation move forward hand-in-hand on a
global scale. Secure food supplies, clean air and water, fertile soils,
and intact natural environments are the foundation of our health and
prosperity and powerful antidotes against forces of disruption and
discontent that can take root in impoverished regions. The conservation
of forests and other carbon--rich and biodiverse ecosystems and the
wildlife populations they support is also key to slowing and reversing
global climate change and to preventing the spillover of new zoonotic
pathogens that can cause future pandemics. For these reasons, we
believe U.S. investments to promote global conservation should be
supported and increased as essential elements of our foreign policy,
development, and national security agenda.
multinational species conservation funds
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Multinational Species Conservation Funds
are highly successful grant programs that support the conservation of
rhinos, tigers, great apes, African and Asian elephants, marine and
freshwater turtles, and tortoises and their habitats. Wildlife
trafficking and poaching, habitat loss, and human--wildlife conflict
threaten these species throughout their ranges. Working with partner
governments and non-governmental organizations in Africa, Asia, and
Latin America, these grant programs provide dedicated support for
habitat conservation, scientific research and monitoring, wildlife
management, public education, preventing poaching, and supporting
wildlife--based tourism opportunities in developing countries. MSCF
grants have supported WWF efforts to survey, monitor and recover tiger
populations in Nepal, prevent poaching of marine turtle nests in Costa
Rica, and reduce conflict between Asian elephants and local communities
in Indonesia. The programs also support wildlife health monitoring to
detect and prevent transmission of wildlife--borne diseases, including
Ebola among great ape populations in Central Africa. Since 1989, MSCF
programs have awarded over 4,300 grants totaling $290 million,
leveraging over $442 million in matching funds. Conservation needs
continue to surpass available funding for these programs, which were
reauthorized by Congress in 2019. Those needs have also increased in
light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has largely stopped the flow of
tourism revenues that support many protected areas and community
conservancies in developing countries and the jobs and income that
these generate. Without additional support, these existing wildlife
conservation activities are at risk, leaving wildlife more vulnerable
to poaching and potentially reversing successes that the U.S. has
invested in over years or decades. In addition, 2022 is the Year of the
Tiger on the Chinese calendar and marks an important milestone: during
the last Year of the Tiger in 2010, a Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) was
launched and a Tiger Summit was held with range states and donor
countries, including the United States. This led to adoption of a
Global Tiger Recovery Plan (GTRP) and represented a turning point in
tiger conservation and the greatest example of political will mustered
for the protection of a single species. In the decade since, a
centuries--long trend of wild tiger decline has finally been reversed
in at least some parts of its range. U.S. government funding has been
critical to this success, and the 2022 Year of the Tiger is an
opportunity to reaffirm U.S. commitment to recover tigers in the wild,
including through increased funding. For the reasons above, WWF
requests that the MSCF be fully funded at its authorized level of $30
million in FY22, an increase of $12 million over both the FY21 enacted
level and the President's Budget Request. This should include directing
$10 million to fully fund the Rhino-Tiger Conservation Fund at its
authorized level, a $4.42 million increase over its FY21 enacted level
of $5.58 million.
usfws international affairs
USFWS International Affairs (IA) supports global wildlife
conservation by supporting efforts to protect species and habitat,
prevent wildlife trafficking and human--wildlife conflict, and building
conservation capacity in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin
America, including at a regional scale. IA programs support efforts to
train wildlife conservation professionals in these regions and works
with governmental and nongovernmental entities to provide technical and
financial assistance to improve wildlife management and conservation of
endangered species, prevent poaching and wildlife trafficking, reduce
demand for illegal wildlife products, and support the detection and
monitoring of zoonotic diseases to prevent their transmission,
spillover, and spread, including to human populations. USFWS-IA also
supports efforts to protect critically endangered species that are not
specifically covered by the Multinational Species Conservation Funds.
USFWS-IA is responsible for implementing the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) for the United
States, including related permitting, and well as other laws to address
wildlife trade and trafficking, such as the END Wildlife Trafficking
Act. Increased funding is needed to support global efforts to prevent
the spillover of zoonotic diseases to humans due to high--risk wildlife
trade and other human--wildlife interactions and to provide resources
needed to implement new congressional directives to enhance safeguards
and oversight around these programs, given the often challenging places
and social conditions in which they operate. WWF requests $30 million
for USFWS International Affairs in FY22, an increase of $7 million over
the FY21 enacted level and $700,000 over the President's FY22 Budget
Request.
usfws office of law enforcement
USFWS Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) is central to combatting the
illegal trade in natural resources. The office investigates wildlife
crimes, enforces wildlife trade and trafficking laws, and plays a
central role in implementing the 2008 Lacey Act amendments and
prohibiting trade in illegal timber products. OLE inspectors work in
nearly 40 ports of entry in the US and internationally. Wildlife
trafficking is a transnational organized crime that generates up to $23
billion annually in illegal profits. It has fueled a poaching crisis in
parts of Africa and Asia that is driving elephants, rhinos, and tigers
and other species towards extinction. It also helps to financing
criminal syndicates and armed groups, including some with ties to
terrorist activities, while increasing corruption and undermining the
rule of law in the developing world. Trafficking and unregulated trade
in species that can transmit dangerous zoonotic pathogens--wildlife-
borne pathogens capable of spilling over to the human population--also
heightens the risk of future pandemics. OLE has played a critical role
in working with law enforcement in developing countries and via broader
regional efforts to heighten investigative and enforcement capacity and
to help coordinate investigations and operations across multiple
countries and regions that have disrupted international wildlife
trafficking networks and resulted in large--scale seizures of illegal
wildlife shipments and the arrest, prosecution, and sentencing of major
wildlife traffickers, including in the U.S. USFWS has been able to
provide significant support to these activities through the stationing
of law enforcement attaches in a handful of strategic countries in
Africa, Asia and Latin America. Additional funding is needed to
increase OLE's number of personnel, including stationing international
attaches in additional countries with dedicated support staff, to
enhance investigative capacity and intelligence capabilities, such as
the ability to make use of big data analytics and to address the growth
in online wildlife trafficking. Additional resources will also allow
OLE to fulfill its mandate to enforce the Lacey Act amendments of 2008,
which expanded the law to cover plants and plant products. The
harvesting and sale of illegal wood products from other countries has a
major impact on the U.S. forestry sector through lost revenues and
wages due to competition from these illegal products, including those
imported and sold in the U.S. These illegal activities are estimated to
cost the U.S. forestry sector by as much as $1 billion annually.\3\
Illegal timber trade is also a major driver of deforestation globally,
which exacerbates both climate change and the spillover of zoonotic
diseases from wildlife to people. Increased funding will be needed to
ensure that OLE can meet existing mandates and expand its capacity to
work with partner countries to prevent trade in illegal wildlife
products and in wildlife species that have a high--risk of contributing
to zoonotic spillover and the rise of future pandemics. WWF requests
$115 million for the USFWS Office of Law Enforcement in FY22, an
increase of $28.1 million over the FY21 enacted level and $20 million
more than the President's FY22 Budget Request. We also request that $15
million of this amount be specifically directed towards implementing
the 2008 Lacey Act amendments and preventing illegal timber trade.
us forest service international programs
Through its International Programs, the US Forest Service works to
help partner countries improve the management of all forest types,
including through the provision of technical assistance on timber
tracking technologies, harvesting techniques that reduce ecological
impact, and forest certification regimes. By promoting legal and
sustainable global trade in timber and other forest products, they help
ensure a level playing field for sustainable wood products and
producers. The programs also help to address critical challenges such
as combating invasive species and conserving habitat for migratory
species, such as monarch butterflies, and have supported conservation
of tigers and other iconic species by reducing pressure on their forest
habitats. By helping to stop deforestation, these programs also
contribute to efforts to slow climate change and prevent the spillover
of zoonotic diseases from wildlife to people. WWF requests $20 million
for US Forest Service International Programs in FY2022, an increase of
$4 million over the FY2021 enacted level.
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\1\ WWF (2020) Living Planet Report 2020--Bending the curve of
biodiversity loss. Almond, R.E.A., Grooten M. and Petersen, T. (Eds).
WWF, Gland, Switzerland. Available at: https://livingplanet.panda.org/
en-us/.
\2\ R. Schoonover, C. Cavallo, and I. Caltabiano. ``The Security
Threat That Binds Us: The Unraveling of Ecological and Natural Security
and What the United States Can Do About It.'' Edited by F. Femia and A.
Rezzonico. The Converging Risks Lab, an institute of The Council on
Strategic Risks. Washington, DC. February 2021. Available at: https://
councilonstrategicrisks.org/the-security-threat-that-binds-us/
\3\ https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42119.pdf

[This statement was submitted by Will Gartshore, Director.]