Isn there an inherent conflict between the Services trust responsibility to the tribes and their statutory responsibility to administer the ESA?
As trustees, the Services are obligated to ensure that tribal trust resources and tribal lands are protected to the maximum extent practicable within the law. Some of those same trust resources may be afforded protection under the ESA. Thus, the Services view their responsibilities under the ESA to restore and conserve endangered species as supportive of, and consistent with, their responsibilities as trustees to Indian people. The Order, in its Purpose, states that the Departments will ensure that Indian tribes do not bear a disproportionate burden for the conservation of listed species . . . Does that imply that someone else will share a disproportionate burden? No. The Order implies that no one should carry a disproportionate burden and that the Act should be implemented fairly and consistently for all Americans, including Native Americans.
