Thank you, Chair Merkley, Ranking Member Murkowski and all members of the subcommittee for the opportunity to submit testimony in support of full funding of $425 million in FY 2024 for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

boosting the boots on the ground, if you will, across Indian country seems to be a central tenet of this request.

I think it is actually something that you would have the power to do without legislation.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure and Inflation Reduction Act provided for investment in high-risk firesheds.

the proposed fiscal year 2024 President's Budget addresses a lot of the concerns and challenges we have with the recruitment and retention.

I want to turn to the Western Oregon operating plan (WOOP), as it is referred to, and this is a plan that coordinates the approach to wildfire response.

I think if I had a magic wand, I would, you know, throw a couple more billion dollars into these key ecosystems that are threatened.

I advocated for and we included in last year's funding bill $7 million for startup funding for the Department to begin consultations with tribes.

A major driver is a $742 million increase to expand access to health care across all IHS Direct Service lines.

Somehow the prospect of working for the Forest Service while you live in your car is not such an entertaining one.

We need to really reduce the risk of fire and that means directing resources to do forest management.

I think this is particularly challenging in Tribal settings where people may be more remote, have fewer folks nearby to assist.

It is an incredible national parks system, but it only works if we have people staffing it.

I think it would be very significant to the tribe.

Funding for the Forest Service is a perfect example of why we need to invest in non-defense spending, to defend our communities from wildfire, improve public health, protect jobs, and increase the health and resiliency of our forests.

Those two species were like the core of the diet that supported the tribes from time immemorial.

they need to be put at the top of the list for consideration of being labeled as endangered.

I want to emphasize that word, 'required'.