A House Natural Resources panel is set to review legislation Thursday to reauthorize water research programs, maintain water infrastructure for Montana tribal communities and exempt Alaska Native artists from bans on ivory sales.
Three of the four bills under consideration in the Subcommittee on Water, Wildfire and Fisheries have bipartisan sponsors or have previously received bipartisan support.
“Alaska’s Right To Ivory Sales and Tradition (ARTIST) Act,” H.R. 5694, from Rep. Nick Begich (R-Alaska), would allow Alaska Natives to hunt and use walrus ivory for craftwork and other traditional uses, bypassing a federal ban on the commercial ivory trade and similar state bans. The Senate unanimously passed companion legislation, S. 254, from Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), last year.
Two bipartisan bills — one reauthorizing the Chesapeake Bay office at NOAA and another reauthorizing grants administered by the U.S. Geological Survey — are also up for discussion.
