Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for

 

Date of this Version

12-6-2017

Citation

Invasive Species Advisory Committee, December 6, 2017

Also available at https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/isac_federal-tribal_white_paper.pdf

Comments

United States government work

Abstract

Invasive species are defined by the United States government to mean “with regard to a particular ecosystem, a non-native organism whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm, or harm to human, animal, or plant health” (Executive Order [EO] 13751). The ecosystems to which invasive species are introduced or spread are not delimited by jurisdictional boundaries; they intersect with lands managed by federal, tribal, state, territorial, and county governments, as well as properties under private ownership. For this reason, effective coordination and cooperation across jurisdictions is of paramount importance in the prevention, eradication, and control of invasive species.

Federally recognized American Indian tribes are second only to the federal government in terms of the amount of land they manage; approximately 56.2 million acres are owned either by individual tribal members or the tribe; the title to which is held in trust by the federal government. Most trust land is within reservation boundaries, but trust land can also be off-reservation, or outside the boundaries of an Indian reservation. A large amount of additional land is owned and/or managed by Native Hawaiians and Alaska Native Corporations. For the purposes of this paper, these native land stewards will hereafter be referred to collectively as indigenous peoples.

Since its establishment in 1999, the National Invasive Species Council (NISC) has acknowledged the importance of working with indigenous peoples to address invasive species issues (EO 13112). To date, six representatives of federally recognized American Indian tribes have been appointed members of the non-governmental Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC) which advises NISC. The 2016–2018 NISC Management Plan calls includes a priority action (2.5.1) to:

Develop recommendations for coordinating Federal agency activities to implement EO 13112 with Federally-recognized tribes, as well as Native Alaskan and Native Hawaiian communities.

Adopted on December 5th, 2016, EO 13751 reiterates that federal agencies are to:

Coordinate with and complement similar efforts of States, territories, federally recognized American Indian tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, Native Hawaiians, local governments, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector.

In order to further these goals, a Federal-Tribal Coordination Task Team was established under the auspices of the Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC). This paper reflects the work of that task team, including internal group discussions, informal consultations with other indigenous peoples, and literature review. The task team identified the following needs and recommendations to further strengthen coordination and cooperation between the United States government and indigenous peoples in their efforts to address a shared concern: the devastating impacts of invasive species on the environment and all who depend on it for their survival and quality of life. In order to be successful, coordination efforts between federal agencies and indigenous peoples to address invasive species will need to take into consideration land rights and claims; assure indigenous peoples free, prior, and informed consent; respect and facilitate the application of traditional ecological knowledge; and enable indigenous groups to build their own legal and technical capacities to address invasive species concerns.

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