Alaska Natives Sign First Refuge Participatory Agreement

WASHINGTON, DC, May 4, 2004 (ENS) - The Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have signed an agreement that will enable the Council to perform some of the Service's work on the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska during 2004-2005.

Council Chairman Randy Mayo and Todd Logan, regional chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System in Alaska, signed the agreement Thursday.

At the conclusion of the signing ceremony Interior Secretary Gale Norton accepted and endorsed the agreement and sent it to Congress for a 90 day review period.

The agreement is the product of almost two years of negotiations and was modified after a 60 day public comment period, which included public meetings in Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Anna Huntington-Kriska, the Council's executive director said, "We are honored to begin this unique step in our government-to-government relationship with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This historic agreement is one of the first of its kind, and we look forward to an ongoing relationship that will continue for years and will ultimately improve the management and operation of the Yukon Flats for future generations."

The refuge was established in 1980, and includes more than 8.5 million acres of wetland and northern boreal forest habitat along 300 miles of the Yukon River, north of Fairbanks, Alaska. It is internationally noted for its abundance of migratory birds.

Under the agreement, the Council will perform activities that include locating and marking public easements across private lands within the refuge and assisting with environmental education and outreach in local villages.

Tribes will monitor the wildlife harvest and survey moose populations in cooperation with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Public use including sport and subsistence hunting, fishing and trapping will not be affected by the agreement. All management authority and decision making will remain with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as required by the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act.

The Council is an Alaska tribal consortium composed of the Arctic Village Council, Beaver Village Council, Birch Creek Village Council, Canyon Village, Chalkyitsik Village Council, Circle Village Council, Native Village of Fort Yukon, Rampart Village Council, Stevens Village Tribal Council, Venetie Village Council and Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government.

Members of these tribes live near or within the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, the third largest of the 544 conservation units in the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Under provisions of the Indian Self-determination and Education Assistance Act, qualifying Indian Tribes and consortia of tribes may request to perform activities administered by the Department of the Interior that are of geographic, historic or cultural significance to the participating tribe making the request. Five of the tribal villages of the Council are within the refuge boundary.

"For most of known history, Indian cultures, religious beliefs and customs have centered on their relationship with fish and wildlife resources," Norton said Thursday. "I'm very pleased to be here today to conclude this agreement that is the first of its kind between the Fish and Wildlife Service and an Indian Tribe."

More information, including the full text of the agreement, can be found at http://alaska.fws.gov/media/catg/index.htm