Lisa Murkowski

So, one of the things that I often hear is that on Federal lands and waters, our subsistence resources and habitat are not being actively managed to ensure viable resource populations.

If we have funding that was stable for a dedicated period of time that we knew was available to us, and we could work across regions to really further co-management, that is what I would recommend.

I want to thank each of you for your written comments and what you have shared here for the committee and community.

It is so important that your connection to this resource be shared in a way that people from Washington, D.C. and other parts of the Country may not be able to quickly grasp.

Congress should support and invest in Alaska Native peoples to increase our capacity to protect our interests in the lands and waters.

We appreciate your support for greater Tribal representation on the NPFMC.

It is my hope that these comments... will illuminate the crisis that has unfolded in our communities and ecosystems.

The need for the Federal Government to pay attention, to pay attention, to listen, to understand, and to act.

We can never thank enough those who have stood to defend us and our Country's freedoms.

We have no choice but to be aware of every part and piece of the ecosystem, because everything is connected.

Salmon are not just swimming dollar signs, Salmon are our life. They are in our DNA.

We appreciate Senator Murkowski's work to assist AYK salmon populations through Congressionally-directed spending in support of research, monitoring, and co-management.

Help me end suicide. Help me protect our Native rights. Help me restore our resources for future generations. And most of all, help me save Alaska.

We bear the brunt of the conservation. We, the end users, the little people, the people that matter, have been silenced, we have been ignored, we have been marginalized by the very government that is here to protect our interests as…

This is not the time or the place to develop the world's largest open pit mine on the backs of the tribal nations of this region.

To the rest of the Country, we are located on the edge of the map.

The record will remain open for two weeks now. So anything that you might wish to supplement for the record will be included as part of that.

Thank you, Mr. Winkelman.

Let our Tribes help the federal government, and one another, to address salmon declines, climate change, and the impacts on our communities.

We applaud the work you have done to support AYK salmon populations through Congressionally directed spending.

I wish they would close that Area M for five years, and we would see the truth in five years.

I have a Tlingit name, Aan shaaw tk'i. I do not have a Yup'ik name.

There are no permanent protections for that co-stewardship.

Congress needs to amend ANILCA to protect once and for all Alaska Native rural subsistence hunting and fishing rights and ensure our people's ability to co-manage these resources.

I really hope that we could move forward with a just path and that the tribes are listened to and heard.