I am really disappointed. Being here today we have had so many years of discussion, I have, my staff, tribal ANC leaders across the State.

Obviously, fire doesn't follow borders drawn on a map or any other strictures of law.

Too often these fires ignite on remote Federal lands and spread to tribal lands, endangering Native people, property, infrastructure, and cultural resources.

I want to do a follow-up here with Mr. Crockett. I think, as I listened to our witness from the Department of Interior, I hear pretty strong support for S. 4370.

You go on to say that Forest Service only has a presence in southeast Alaska, and therefore the TFPA issues are confined to the Tongass.

I think what Senator Lujan has said is worth noting, the economic opportunities that can be made available, the social and economic benefits if ANCSA lands are made eligible under TFPA.

I want to make sure that we don't have any ambiguity.

I want to acknowledge my Committee intern, Nyche Andrew. She is Inupiaq, she is Yup'ik, she is from Anchorage.

TFPA empowers tribes to harness indigenous knowledge and western science when conducting forest management projects.

I want to focus my comments this afternoon on S. 4370, this is the Tribal Forest Protection Act Amendments of 2024.

Mr. Chairman, I think you can hear, whether it is from Alaska and our lands up north to the lands as far south as New Mexico and Arizona, this is an issue that I think there is clearly common ground.

I am very happy to have reintroduced this legislation with my colleague Dusty Johnson.

I greatly appreciate the support and advocacy of our witness, Ben Mallott from the Alaska Federation of Natives.

Everyone agrees that the land now held by the state ought to be free from this obligation to be made available for the economic and social well-being of Alaskans.

I rise today to pay a special tribute to a very special Alaskan, Suzanne Downing. Suzanne turned 70 this year, and--big news for Alaska--sold her news site Must Read Alaska to businessman Jon Faulkner of Homer, who has already done a great…

Okay. So this bill will fix that legal authority, is that correct?

But if in fact you have costs that could average, as I understand, around $20,000 per person plus lost wages plus travel costs if folks have to fly, then that is also a balancing factor if that individual is being treated through IHS…

So that is why, this is the question. Is that why, then, IHS had previously denied the request by both, well, there were two tribal health organizations in Alaska, at YKHC and Maniilaq, when they sought to add veterinary spay and neuter…