Melanie Stansbury Asks Witness About Impact From Trump Administration's Cuts To Forest Service, BIA

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During a House Natural Resources Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) spoke about the impact of the Trump administration's cuts to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Forest Service.

Transcript

00:00Turn to the lady from New Mexico for five minutes of questioning.

00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:13We should have named him Bernie.

00:19Oh, the good people out there couldn't hear me defending the honor of Smokey the Bear.

00:33So I'm going to say it again.

00:35I thought the chairman was coming for Smokey the Bear, who is from New Mexico's first congressional

00:39district.

00:40But what he's referring to is fire suppression, which for the last half century has left our

00:45force in a mess in terms of stewardship and stopping fires and catastrophic impacts from

00:53these fires.

00:54And so I'm grateful, as I said during the last panel, for this bipartisan effort to ensure

00:59that tribes are not only co-stewards, but actually stewards of the lands that are not only within

01:05their own jurisdictional boundaries, but also on lands that are currently under federal

01:10jurisdiction.

01:12I want to use this opportunity, since we have so many wonderful guests with us who've traveled

01:18from across the country, to hear from you a little bit more.

01:22And I'd like to start with Chairman Lowe's.

01:26You know, one of the things that we're hearing in New Mexico from tribes is that there actually

01:30has been funding freezes that are impacting forest stewardship at Mescalero Apache.

01:37They had a BIA forest stewardship contract that was going to be very important for replanting

01:44areas that had been significantly damaged by some of the last forests.

01:49And so I wonder if you could share with us what impacts, if any, you're seeing on the ground

01:55in Michigan in terms of funding freezes, staffing reductions in chaos, and the proposed budget,

02:04both for Forest Service and BIA and other programs that you guys contract for.

02:08Yeah, I appreciate your question.

02:10So we have seen an impact.

02:12We co-manage the Hiawatha National Forest with the U.S. Forest Service.

02:16It's comprised of about 800,000 square acres.

02:19As far as the impact that we've seen, you know, when there's staffing cuts, when there's

02:23forced retirements, when there's reassignments, the partners that we work with for the Hemiboreal

02:28project, we're starting with new people, and it just delays things.

02:32So it's unfortunate, but we're doing our best to work through it.

02:36And I know one of the big concerns that we're also hearing about in New Mexico is that even

02:42though this isn't USDA slash Forest Service, it's a Department of Interior has issued a consultation

02:48call on reorganization of BIA and to consolidate the current BIA district offices in half.

02:55And I think folks need to really understand that working in a nation-to-nation capacity

03:01with our tribes requires having boots on the ground.

03:04You have to have federal folks actually go visit with tribal councils and leaders to cut

03:10deals, do contracts, get stuff done.

03:13I wonder, I know you guys aren't here to testify on that specifically, but to the extent that

03:19you're able to, if we could just go down the line, if there's any additional information

03:23in the remaining time you'd like to share that we should be conscious of in terms of working

03:28with the administration to try to make the situation better in tribal consultation, I would

03:35love to hear from you.

03:36So why don't we start here on the end?

03:39Sure.

03:40We see the, you know, this moment where we're at as an opportunity for greater partnership,

03:49that there is a recognized need and, but with that comes opportunity for new relationships

03:57and new kinds of relationships.

03:59So we're, remain optimistic as we move forward.

04:03Ms. Clark.

04:04I agree with your statement that adequate consultation and adequate partnership requires

04:09people on the ground on both sides.

04:11And I would say that one of the things that is really important is making sure that folks

04:15in federal agencies have the knowledge and training and history with the tribes that they

04:19are working with.

04:20It is not simply having someone show up in a meeting space that's there to represent the

04:24federal government, but someone that knows anything about federal Indian law and knows about

04:28the people that they are there to negotiate and discuss with.

04:32And so having that longevity in positions is really critical.

04:35Really appreciate that.

04:37So the instability that we're seeing with this administration is causing chaos, for lack

04:41of a better word.

04:42So at the beginning of the year, we got notification that the IHS sanitation office in Sault Ste.

04:46Marie, along with the local BIA offices, were going to have lease cancellations.

04:50We called employees within those offices.

04:52They had no idea what was going on.

04:55And that's important because if those offices close, it impacts us.

04:58So fast forward a couple of months, those offices aren't closing, but that lack of transparency

05:04has a definite impact on our operations.

05:06And the only thing I would add quickly is that we've got to have that administrative support

05:12for the federal government as well.

05:13So if we don't have folks in BIA central office that are processing feds, that are reviewing

05:18contracts, those same functions at the regional offices, that's the delays we've seen at

05:23call bill.

05:24And it hasn't necessarily been because funding has been cut.

05:25We don't have people to process and move that money to the tribes.

05:28Absolutely.

05:29Well, I thank you all for being here and for traveling and coming and testifying.

05:33And I look forward to working with my friends across the aisle to try to address some of

05:37these issues.

05:39Gentlemen, ladies, time is.

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