[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 116 (Tuesday, July 18, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1450]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  1996

                                 ______


                               speech of

                             HON. DON YOUNG

                               of alaska

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, July 13, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1977) making 
     appropriations for the Department of the Interior and related 
     agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1996, and 
     for other purposes:

  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer an amendment to 
H.R. 1977, the Interior appropriations bill. My amendment reduces 
funding for two unnecessary aircraft and some vehicles to be used by 
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These savings are then made 
available to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for two purposes.
  In 1906, Congress enacted the Alaska Native Allotment Act to allocate 
lands to Native Alaskans. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 
1971 repealed the 1906 Allotment Act and an allottee must have filed an 
application with the Department of the Interior by December 18, 1971. 
It has been over 23 years since eligible allottees filed their 
applications and there still remains a need to resolve the on-going 
case load of Alaska Native allotment disputes at the Department of 
Interior. In February of 1994, the Department of Interior, Bureau of 
Land Management, the Alaska Legal Services, and the Alaska Federation 
of Natives met to discuss solutions to resolve these disputes, propose 
to close the last of Native allotment cases and an attempt to finalize 
land dispute problems in this area. This amendment intends that half of 
these funds--$442,000--be used for the Alaska Native allotment attorney 
fee program at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This will provide funds 
for representatives for Native allottees with cases with pending at 
various stages of review within the Department of Interior and before 
the Interior Board of Land Appeals. The need for outside counsel in 
these cases is required because of the attorneys within the Department 
of Interior recognize a conflict of interest between the Native 
allottees and their institutional clients.
  The remaining funds are to added to the Bureau's Wildlife and Parks 
program as additional funds for monitoring and enhancement of the 
salmon returns within the Arctic-Yukon-Kustokwim regions in Alaska. The 
Athabaskan, Yup'ik and Inupiaq Natives of western and interior Alaska 
live a subsistence way of life from harvests of different fish and 
mammals. Although these resources supply most of their food needs, they 
also need cash to purchase essentials such as gas, and nonperishable 
foodstuffs and harvesting equipment such as boats, outboard motors, 
nets, and rifles. Commercial fishing provides that small but necessary 
income since other jobs are scarce and seasonal in rural Alaska. 
Fishing income averages $4,000 from about 7 weeks of fishing and the 
per capita income in the villages of these regions is about 60 percent 
of the U.S. national average. Beginning in 1990, chum salmon stocks in 
these regions declined significantly and spawning escapements were 
inadequate. For the upcoming fishing seasons, the Alaska Department of 
Fish and Game is predicting below average return of salmon to these 
regions. This program fund is intended for salmon monitoring, 
enhancement and restoration and research projects in these regions.


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