On Wednesday October 16th a new federal rule passed, adding three Alaska tribe-nominated seats to the Federal Subsistence Board, affirming the recommendation that Kawerak made in March this year.
Kawerak President Melanie Bahnke hailed the final rule. “Management boards with oversight of our subsistence resources must be reflective of the people who have the lived experience, knowledge and wisdom that only comes from being directly reliant on the resources to sustain our ways of life. Kawerak applauds Secretary Deb Haaland for this important step in that direction.”
Prior to passing, the board had 8 members, five are the Alaska directors of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Land Management. There are three public representatives on the board, including its chairman. The new Federal Subsistence Board members are to be nominated by federally recognized tribes. They need not be tribal members or Native themselves, but they must have “personal knowledge of and direct experience with subsistence uses in rural Alaska, including Alaska Native subsistence uses,” according to the rule.
Approximately 10,000 people in the Kawerak region depend on foods which come from surrounding lands and waters. For most communities in the region, 80% or more of the local diet is subsistence foods. Title VIII of Alaska National Interest lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) specifically declared that because of the extinguishment of aboriginal hunting and fishing rights through passage of ANCSA, Congress had constitutional authority to “protect and provide the opportunity for continued subsistence uses on the public lands by Native and non-Native rural residents.” With a more representative board, decision making, management, and policy making can be done collaboratively with those Alaska Native communities that are most affected.
In addition to the new seats on the Federal Subsistence Board, the Biden administration took other action earlier this year. In June, Haaland issued an order that moved the Office of Subsistence Management from the Fish and Wildlife Service to a position directly in the Office of the Secretary. This move intended to elevate the role of tribes in the federal subsistence program.
Tribes have been stewarding these resources for millennia, and need to be a formal part of these processes. Kawerak looks forward to continued progress in the inclusion of Tribes and tribal representatives in decision making – particularly when it regards local resources essential to the people of the region.
