Bill named for Don Young to help tribes restore buffalo heads to the full House

A bill named for the late Alaska Rep. Don Young that would help tribes restore and manage buffalo herds on tribal land is headed to the full House after the Natural Resources Committee filed its report Thursday.

The bill would direct the Interior secretary to work with tribes to restore buffalo, and would let the secretary give tribes and tribal organizations grants, contracts, cooperative agreements and technical help. The secretary could also agree with tribes to move surplus buffalo off federal land onto Indian land, and would have to consult tribes on Interior Department work involving buffalo and their habitat.

The Intertribal Buffalo Council, which has 90 member tribes in 23 states, helped the tribe at Old Harbor and Stevens Village establish herds in Alaska, council President Ervin Carlson of the Blackfeet Nation said in written testimony to a House subcommittee in May.

The committee's report cites American Indians' and Alaska Natives' cultural and spiritual relationship with the buffalo. North America's buffalo fell from tens of millions to about 1,000 in the late 19th century, the report says, and some estimates now put the U.S. population at more than 200,000.

Young got an earlier version of the bill through the House, Carlson said, and a similar bill from the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California, then-Rep. Mary Peltola and others cleared the same committee unanimously in the next Congress. The current bill carries both Young's and LaMalfa's names.

Carlson said a $14 million authorization and language creating a new Interior program were cut from an earlier version to meet House protocols. Tribes need fencing, watering systems and testing to build successful herds, he said.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Colorado Republican, said at the committee's Sept. 15 markup that it uses existing authorities and authorizes no new spending. The committee approved it that day by unanimous consent. No House vote has been scheduled.