H-1603              _______________________________________________

                                            HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 17

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Representatives K. Wilson, Lundquist, D. Nelson, Thomas, R. King, Hankins, Haugen, Sutherland and Isaacson

Read first time 2/8/85 and referred to Committee on Natural Resources.

TO THE HONORABLE RONALD REAGAN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR:

          We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, and the people of the State of Washington, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

          WHEREAS, The Constitution of the United States grants the federal government exclusive authority to negotiate Indian treaties and establishes the supremacy of such treaties; and

          WHEREAS, The Government of the United States negotiated and executed several treaties with the Indian tribes inhabiting Washington State, among which are eleven treaties negotiated with Washington Indian tribes during 1854 and 1855 granting tribal Indian fishing rights; and

          WHEREAS, The Justice Department of the United States has in the past brought suit against the State and people of Washington to maintain tribal Indian fishing and other natural resource rights created by federal treaties; and

          WHEREAS, The federal courts of the United States, most notably in a 1974 Federal District Court decision which was upheld in 1979 by the United States Supreme Court, have interpreted federal treaties as giving tribal Indians significant rights to the fish and other natural resources of the State of Washington; and

          WHEREAS, Proper management of salmon and steelhead trout resources under these federal treaty interpretations requires intensive monitoring of populations and harvest by the State of Washington.  This is especially  true for steelhead, which are not subject to legal commercial harvest except by treaty Indians; and

          WHEREAS, Without federal funding, the expenses of the intensive monitoring and allocation of steelhead and salmon necessitated by the federal court decisions will have to be borne entirely by the buyers of game fish licenses for steelhead trout and the general taxpayers of the State for salmon; and

          WHEREAS, The estimated 1985-87 State budget for management of the commercial steelhead harvest, is $1,430,300; and

          WHEREAS, Until Fiscal Year 1983 the federal government did grant the State funds to cover its steelhead management expenses occasioned by federal treaty obligations, thus recognizing in part its responsibility to fund the additional management and enhancement responsibilities for salmon and steelhead trout necessitated by federal treaty obligations;

          NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the Government of the United States recognize the federal responsibility to fund the additional management and enhancement responsibilities for salmon and steelhead trout necessitated by federal treaty obligations and the federal courts; and

          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Congress of the United States appropriate such money through the Department of Interior's budget for Fiscal Year 1986 and each fiscal year thereafter, as is necessary to ensure adequate monitoring of populations and harvest of salmon and steelhead guaranteed to treaty Indians by the federal courts.

          BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, the Secretary of the Interior, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.