WHEREAS, the Pribilof Islands were set aside March 3, 1869, by a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress principally as a special reservation to conserve, manage, and protect the North Pacific fur seals and other wildlife; and
WHEREAS, proposed bill S2102, known as the Fur Seal Act of 1965, would establish a townsite on St. Paul Island and give title to land in this townsite to natives of St. Paul Island; and
WHEREAS, on St. Paul Island two fur seal rookeries, Lagoon and Spilki, that were near the present village have now disappeared; and
WHEREAS, the present village on St. Paul Island is growing in population and will increase appreciably through transfer of St. George village; and
WHEREAS, rookeries having 42 per cent of the St. Paul Island seals are within about 1 mile of St. Paul Village; and
WHEREAS, a growing number of people will exert increasing influence, through their activities and by their wastes, on the fur seals; and
WHEREAS, protection of the fur seal population may require a change in the village location or a limitation on its size; and
WHEREAS, such changes will be increasingly difficult to make if individual natives own title to land;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the American Society of Mammalogists urges the Senate Commerce Committee, Chairman Senator Warren G. Magnusson, to amend S2102 so as to prevent the transfer to any individual of title to land on the Pribilof Island Fur Seal Reservation.