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NWF Sponsors Native American Tribal Leaders to Express their Support for CARA

Tribal leaders voice their support for CARA at a D.C. media briefing on Monday, June 26. Left to right, Dallas Massey, White Mountain Apache, Aaron Miles, Nez Perce, Fred DuBray, Cheyenne River Sioux, Steve Torbit, Louie LaRose, Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.

Native American Tribal Leaders to Express their Support for CARA

Buffalo Program Manager Steve Torbit introduces speakers at the NWF-sponsored media briefing.

Native American Tribal Leaders to Express their Support for CARA

Dallas Massey, Chair of the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona, voices strong support for CARA and details the need for even greater federal backing for tribal conservation efforts.

Native American Tribal Leaders to Express their Support for CARA

Fred DuBray of the Cheyenne River Sioux describes how passage of the Conservation and Reinvestment Act could make a tremendous difference for his tribe and their work to conserve habitat and wildlife.

Native American Tribal Leaders to Express their Support for CARA

Louie LaRose vividly describes what bringing back species like the American Buffalo has meant for the Winnebago people, and how CARA passage would help strengthen these efforts.

On Monday, June 26, NWF hosted a press briefing for Native American Tribal leaders in Washington, DC, to express their support for CARA, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act. Later the same day and Tuesday, the leaders met with members of Congress, urging their support for CARA.

CARA is the most significant conservation funding legislation any Congress has ever considered. It would provide $2.8 billion per year over the next 15 years, most of it directly to states and local communities, for wildlife management, coastal protection, outdoor recreation and other conservation purposes.

Five hundred fifty Tribes are responsible for protecting the natural resources on 56 million acres of tribal land. The Tribes believe CARA will open the door to a reliable funding stream for conservation and wildlife management on tribal lands.

Territory under the administration of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, rich with historical and natural sites, is home to numerous endangered species, said Dallas Massey, White Mountain Apache Tribal Chairman from Arizona. Its excellent recreational opportunities attract visitors from all over the country. Recreational programs provide jobs to tribal members. CARA will be critical in helping the tribe to save endangered species and to maintain recreational qualities of the area.

CARA will benefit the Nez Perce Tribe socially, politically, economically and culturally, said Aaron Miles, Director of Nez Perce Tribe's Department of Natural Resources from Idaho. Severe exploitation of the environment throughout the last century led to its degradation. Native Americans want to restore their natural habitat to its past glory. The Nez Perce Tribe has a long record of successful reintroduction of species with limited money. CARA will improve those efforts.

CARA will help to restore traditional ways of land management, said Louie LaRose of the Winnebago Tribe from Nebraska, current Board Chair of the InterTribal Bison Cooperative (ITBC). It will help with ITBC efforts to bring buffalo and other native species back to the lands where they once were in abundance.

Native American Tribes are concerned about nature and they know how to take care of it, said Fred Dubray of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe from South Dakota, the founder and past president of ITBC. Tribes have the capacity, but not the resources. CARA will allow tribes to get resources for the protection of the nature, he said.

CARA, as HR 701, passed the House of Representatives by a resounding 315 to 102 bipartisan majority on May 11. The Senate version of the legislation had been scheduled for a mark-up in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during the last week of June. However, negotiations on a consensus bill among Republicans and Democrats on the committee have not yet reached a conclusion and committee action on the legislation is now expected soon after Congress returns from its July 4th recess.