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[source: NativeNews; Mon, 28 Feb 2000 23:06:25]

National Parks May Open Gates to American Indian Hunters
  Sunday, February 27, 2000
 
BY ERIN KELLY
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

     WASHINGTON -- Yogi Bear, take cover. Wild critters
might no longer be safe in the national parks.
     Animal-rights groups and park advocates fear the
Interior Department soon might open park gates to American
Indian hunters -- a move they believe could increase
pressure to let in non-Indian sport hunters as well.
     Signs telling visitors "Don't feed the bears" and "Don't pick the
flowers" could be replaced by "Hunting season open," say worried
conservationists.
     "If that happens, the character of the national parks would be changed
dramatically," said Wayne Pacelle, senior vice president of the Humane
Society of the United States. "I think there would be a hue and cry from the
public."
     Interior Department officials say they have no intention of allowing
widespread hunting in the parks.
     But attorneys inside the department's Solicitor's Office are reviewing a
request by the Hopi Indians to kill and remove up to 40 golden eaglets and an
unlimited number of red-tailed hawks from the Wupatki National Monument in
Arizona as part of a traditional religious ceremony.
     If the solicitor's opinion says hunting by the Hopis would not violate
federal law, it could open the door for other tribes -- and for non-Indian
hunters -- to make similar requests, opponents say.
     Interior officials say the legal ruling will focus on the narrow issue of
whether tribes should be allowed to kill park animals for religious purposes.
But it will be difficult to define what a "religious purpose" is, because
tribes often hunt for both subsistence and ceremonial reasons, said Jeff
Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility.
     More than 20 tribes are seeking the right to hunt in national parks, Ruch
said. Among them: the Ogalala and Yankton Sioux in the Badlands National Park
in South Dakota; the Chippewa in Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota; the
San Ildefonso Pueblo in Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico; and the
Blackfeet Tribe in Glacier National Park in Montana.
     "We know that this is a delicate matter," said Ron Allen, first vice
president of the National Congress of American Indians, which advocates
opening the parks to tribal hunting for both religious and nonreligious
purposes.
     "We want to be respectful and work with park officials to determine when
and where hunting would be appropriate," Allen said. "But we also want
respect for our rights as indigenous people to hunt, fish and use the natural
resources from the land that once belonged to us."
     Allen said that he believes only a small number of Indian hunters would
be seeking wildlife in the parks.
     But opponents say allowing tribes to hunt would undoubtedly lead to
demands for equal treatment by non-Indian groups such as the National Rifle
Association. The NRA has been fighting, unsuccessfully, to open the parks to
hunting by arguing that hunters could help conserve natural resources by
thinning out overpopulated herds.
     "If the Interior Department opens the door to hunting even a crack, it is
going to ignite a huge series of battles all across the country about whether
it's acceptable to kill wildlife in national parks and monuments," Pacelle
said.
     Allen agrees that non-Indian hunters will try to gain access to the parks
if tribes are allowed to hunt. But he said Indian tribes -- which have a
nation-to-nation relationship with the federal government -- have special
rights that non-Indians do not.
    Opponents say there are plenty of other federal lands -- including
millions of acres of national forest and Bureau of Land Management property
-- where Indians and non-Indians can hunt.
     "There should be some place where wildlife is not harassed or shot, and
we think the national parks should be that place," Pacelle said.
     National Park Service administrators so far have agreed.
     When the Hopis first asked to hunt the eaglets in Wupatki National
Monument last summer, they were turned down by park service officials, who
cited federal regulations prohibiting the taking of wildlife within national
parks.
     However, Don Barry, the assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks,
set aside the Park Service decision last fall after meeting with Hopi
leaders. Barry then initiated the legal review of the decision.
     A legal opinion from the Solicitor's Office will take at least another
two months, said Stephanie Hanna, a spokesman for Interior Secretary Bruce
Babbitt.
     She said attorneys will be trying to sort out the complex issue by
looking at the law that created the national park system, the legislation
that created Wupatki National Monument, the Indian Religious Freedom Act of
1978 and the First Amendment's guarantees of religious freedom.
    If Barry orders changing the rules to allow Indians to hunt for religious
purposes, the park service will solicit public reaction and conduct an
environmental impact study, said Elaine Sevy, a Park Service spokeswoman.
     Tribes still would have to seek permission from park superintendents
because each park has unique governing legislation, Sevy said.
     Ruch, whose organization was alerted to the issue by angry Park Service
employees, said too much of the debate on the divisive issue so far has been
conducted behind closed doors.
     "I think the public would be shocked to know that the Interior Department
is even discussing a change like this," Ruch said. "This should be publicly
debated and thought out before it goes any further."

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