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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 5388
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 5709
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT CONCERNING NATURAL FISHING, HUNTING AND
AQUACULTURE RIGHTS OF CERTAIN NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) There is established the 1
Connecticut Tribal Wildlife and Fisheries Commission that shall consist 2
of the following members: (1) One member from the Mashantucket 3
Pequot Tribal Nation and one member from the Mohegan Tribe; (2) one 4
member each from the Eastern Pequot Tribe, the Golden Hill Paugussett 5
Tribe and the Schaghticoke Tribe; (3) the Commissioner of Energy and 6
Environmental Protection, or the commissioner's designee; (4) one 7
member each from the Department of Energy and Environmental 8
Protection's Fisheries Division, Wildlife Division and Forestry Division; 9
(5) one member from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station; 10
(6) one member from the Department of Agriculture; (7) one member 11
from the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Aquaculture; (8) one 12
member from Connecticut Sea Grant; (9) one member from the Native 13
American and Indigenous Studies Department at The University of 14
Connecticut; (10) two indigenous persons appointed mutually by the 15
tribes named in this section; and (11) the chairpersons and ranking 16
members of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly 17
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having cognizance of matters relating to the environment, or such 18
chairpersons' and such ranking members' designees. 19
(b) Such commission shall: (1) Develop tribally administered hunting 20
and fishing regulations within designated tribal lands and ancestral 21
territories; (2) oversee comanagement agreements between the tribes 22
and the state concerning such regulations; and (3) implement 23
sustainable conservation practices through tribal knowledge and 24
scientific research. 25
(c) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall 26
work with such commission to provide the Mashantucket Pequot and 27
Mohegan Tribes with the authority to regulate, enforce and issue 28
permits to the citizens of such tribes for hunting, fishing and gathering, 29
without interference from the state of Connecticut, on tribal and 30
ancestral lands. 31
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) The Commissioner of Energy 32
and Environmental Protection shall undertake efforts to establish the 33
requisite state recognition of the exemption of members of federally 34
recognized tribes from state fishing and hunting licensing fee 35
requirements when such members engage in traditional subsistence or 36
ceremonial activities. Additionally, any such recognition shall recognize 37
historical indigenous harvesting sites and ensure tribal access to 38
fisheries and hunting areas consistent with federal Indian law. 39
(b) The commissioner shall provide, at no cost, a permit to engage in 40
ceremonial or subsistence hunting or fishing outside of reservation 41
lands, provided such hunting or fishing is consistent with state 42
conservation goals. 43
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) Notwithstanding any 44
provision of the general statutes, the Commissioner of Energy and 45
Environmental Protection shall issue, at no cost, a lifetime hunting and 46
fishing license to any member of any federally recognized or state 47
recognized tribe in the state. 48
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(b) The Commissioner of Agriculture shall prioritize tribal meat and 49
fish processing facilities for funding and certification by the United 50
States Department of Agriculture to support food sovereignty of such 51
tribes. 52
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) The Commissioners of Energy 53
and Environmental Protection and Agriculture shall ensure that any 54
member of a tribe that exercises a right, as described in sections 1 to 3, 55
inclusive, of this act is not subject to harassment, legal action, regulation 56
or any penalty for engaging in any activity conducted in accordance 57
with the provisions of such sections or any other agreement or 58
authorization entered into pursuant to such sections. 59
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 4 July 1, 2025 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To affirm and expand fishing, hunting and aquaculture rights of federal
and state-recognized Native American tribes.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. BUMGARDNER, 41st Dist.
H.B. 5388