Lisa Murkowski

One of the things that we put into the American Rescue Plan was support to EDA to assist communities.

I just want to reinforce for the record today, your commitment to monitoring the work of NOAA with regards to our fisheries surveys.

It is not just the words that are spoken, it is the culture that is attached to these incredible languages.

With the Durbin Feeling Native American Language Act, it would require survey of Federal programs that support Native language.

I want to thank you and the rest of the State of Hawaii for hosting our Alaska Native language speakers.

Hadn't thought about that part of it.

Native languages are more than just words, they are a vital part of indigenous culture and identity and an important tool to understand indigenous histories and continue these cultures for future generations.

Know that the emphasis that we are placing on Native languages is so critically important.

I think paying special attention to the other things I brought up earlier, which are how we as communities, as indigenous language communities, or Native American language communities, define what is needed for the program in order for…

There is a sense of urgency in so many of our communities, because as you say, we are losing our Native speakers.

We are also looking at the effort to foster the relationship between Native language programs and institutes of higher education.

I guess the question to you today would be, what more DOI and ANA programs can do working in a coordinated manner to support the development of this Native language preservation and this partnership?

The tremendous time, effort and resource investment that communities have to undertake in order to implement Native language projects.

I think we recognize that this is where some of their frustration is, is where we see some of these fires that take hold, and if we had done a better job on the vegetation management, perhaps we wouldn't be in this place.

We also had a good conversation about one of the fun projects that I am working on, the Alaska long trail.

Yes, I was going to say please keep it out of the Tongass.

I just--I want to make sure that we are doing everything that we can, monitoring, public education, and also making sure that we have adequate resources provided for this Western Bark Beetle initiative.

I want to ask you about where we are with vegetation management issues.

Regardless of the issues that we discuss whether it is wildland, firefighting hazardous fuels management, special use permitting and beyond, issues surrounding agency capacity are cited as barriers to success.

I think prioritizing the pre-commercial thinning is going to be an important part of fulfilling that plan.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just to follow up on the comments from the Senator from New Mexico and what you have mentioned, Chief, about the local knowledge that we have.

As we gather to discuss how to make our forests healthier and more resilient, you can't help but reflect on how that has always been the goal.

I know that COVID presented additional challenges for the Service, so I am going to look forward to hearing from you on what you have learned from that.

Mr. Chairman, just thank you. Good hearing.

So we need some relief here.