Sec. 2. Findings; purposes
279 words·~1 min read·
/bill/117/hr/2074/eh/section-2A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds that— buffalo sustained a majority of Indian Tribes in North America for many centuries before buffalo were nearly exterminated by non-Indian hunters in the mid-1800s; the historical, cultural, and spiritual connection between buffalo and Indian Tribes has not diminished over time; Indian Tribes have long desired the reestablishment of buffalo throughout Indian country for cultural, spiritual, and subsistence purposes; and the successful restoration of buffalo would allow an Indian Tribe to benefit from— the reintroduction of buffalo into the diets of the members of the Indian Tribe; the rekindling of the spiritual and cultural relationship between buffalo and the Indian Tribe; and the use of buffalo for economic development, in the case of an Indian Tribe that chooses to use buffalo for economic development.
The purposes of this Act are— to fulfill the government-to-government relationship between Tribal governments and the United States in the management of buffalo and buffalo habitat; to promote and develop the capacity of Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations to manage buffalo and buffalo habitat; to protect, conserve, and enhance buffalo, which are important to the subsistence, culture, and economic development of many Indian Tribes; to promote the development and use of buffalo and buffalo habitat for the maximum practicable benefit of Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations, through management of buffalo and buffalo habitats in accordance with integrated resource management plans developed by Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations; to develop buffalo herds and increase production of buffalo in order to meet Tribal subsistence, health, cultural, and economic development needs; and to promote the inclusion of Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations in Department of the Interior, local, regional, national, or international— decision-making processes; and forums.