Bureau of Indian Affairs Road Maintenance Program
Res #: | Committee: | Submitted by: | Title: Pass → | Yes | No | Amended/Tabled | To NCAI |
18-48 | Transportation | Kirk Vinish | Bureau of Indian Affairs Road Maintenance Program | X | no |
2018 Annual Convention
Worley, Idaho
RESOLUTION #18 – 48
“BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS ROAD MAINTENANCE PROGRAM”
PREAMBLE
We, the members of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians of the United States, invoking the divine blessing of the Creator upon our efforts and purposes, in order to preserve for ourselves and our descendants rights secured under Indian Treaties, Executive Orders, and benefits to which we are entitled under the laws and constitution of the United States and several states, to enlighten the public toward a better understanding of the Indian people, to preserve Indian cultural values, and otherwise to promote the welfare of the Indian people, do hereby establish and submit the following resolution:
WHEREAS, the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) are representatives of and advocates for national, regional, and specific tribal concerns; and
WHEREAS, ATNI is a regional organization comprised of American Indians/Alaska Natives and tribes in the states of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Nevada, Northern California, and Alaska; and
WHEREAS, the health, safety, welfare, education, economic and employment opportunity, and preservation of cultural and natural resources are primary goals and objectives of the ATNI; and
WHEREAS, Construction activities for Tribal Transportation facilities is administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Federal Highway Administration and is funded pursuant to USDOT (23 USC 202).; and
WHEREAS, the BIA Road System consists of those roads which are important to the overall public transportation needs of the tribes for which the BIA has primary responsibility for
maintenance and improvements and whose designation criteria are in the BIA Manual Section 57 BIAM 4.2; and
WHEREAS, the BIA is mandated to maintain roads and transportation facilities constructed with Highway Trust Funds; and
WHEREAS, the BIA provides transportation maintenance funding pursuant to “historical shares” which excludes many tribes; and
WHEREAS, the Tribal Transportation Program uses a tribal shares formula method for distributing road funding which ensures that all tribes receive some funding; now
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that ATNI does hereby urge the Department of Interior to eliminate the historical shares method for allocating Indian road maintenance funding and instead use the same statutory formula found in the Tribal Transportation Program.
CERTIFICATION
The foregoing resolution was adopted at the 2018 Annual Convention of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, held at the Coeur D’Alene Casino Resort Hotel – Worley, Idaho, on September 17-20, 2018, with a quorum present.
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