SILETZ NewS
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
Vol. 41, No. 2
February 2013
Siletz News
Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians
P.O. Box 549
Siletz, OR 97380-0549
Delores Pigsley,
Tribal Chairman
Brenda Bremner,
General Manager
and Editor-in-Chief
Presorted
First-Class
Mail
U.S. Postage
Paid - Permit
No. 178
Salem, OR
Photo by Diane Rodriquez
Work continues on the first seven single-family houses in the new Tillamook Community in Siletz. See story on page 5.
Salazar will leave Interior to return home to Colorado
WASHINGTON – Secretary of the
Interior Ken Salazar announced Jan. 16
that he will return to his home state of
Colorado, having fulfilled his promise to
President Obama to serve four years as
secretary. Salazar has informed President
Obama that he intends to leave the depart-
ment by the end of March.
“Colorado is and will always be my
home. I look forward to returning to my
family and Colorado after eight years in
Washington, D.C.,” said Salazar. “I am
forever grateful to President Obama for his
friendship in the U.S. Senate and the oppor-
tunity he gave me to serve as a member of
his Cabinet during this historic presidency.
“I have had the privilege of reform-
ing the Department of the Interior to help
lead the United States in securing a new
energy frontier, ushering in a conservation
agenda for the 21 st century and honoring
our word to the nation’s first Americans,”
added Salazar. “I thank the more than
70,000 employees at the department for
their dedication to our mission as custo-
dians of America’s natural and cultural
resources. I look forward to helping my
successor in a seamless transition in the
months ahead.”
Secretary Salazar’s term was marked
by historic progress for Indian Country
with the passage of the Cobell settlement
that honorably and responsibly addressed
long-standing injustices regarding the
U.S. government’s trust management.
The president also signed into law six
Indian water rights settlements, totaling
more than $1 billion, that will help deliver
clean drinking water to Tribal communi-
ties and provide certainty to water users
across the West.
Salazar spearheaded a sweeping
reform – the first in 50 years – of federal
surface leasing regulations for American
Indian lands that will streamline the
approval process for home ownership,
expedite economic development and spur
renewable energy in Indian Country.
“President Obama has made it a
priority to empower our nation’s first
Americans by helping to build stronger,
safer and more prosperous Tribal commu-
nities,” Salazar said. “This administration
has been marked by a renewed com-
mitment to honoring a nation-to-nation
relationship and ensuring Tribes have a
greater role in federal decisions affecting
Indian Country.”
Salazar has helped usher in a new
era of conservation to protect America’s
lands, wildlife and heritage.
Under the banner of President
Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors pro-
gram, Interior has established 10 national
wildlife refuges and seven national
parks since 2009; established forward-
thinking protections for wildlife and
preserved millions of acres of land; and
implemented community-driven, science-
based conservation strategies that take
into account entire ecosystems and work-
ing landscapes.
“From the Crown of the Continent
in Montana to the prairie grasslands of
Kansas to the Everglades Headwaters in
Florida, we are partnering with landown-
ers, farmers and ranchers to preserve their
way of life and the irreplaceable land and
wildlife that together we cherish,” Salazar
See Salazar, con’t on page 4.
NCAI statement on
Salazar’s impact
WASHINGTON – A statement
released by the U.S. Department of
Interior on Jan. 16 announced that
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
will return to his home state of Colo-
rado, having “fulfilled his promise to
President Obama to serve four years
as secretary. Secretary Salazar has
informed President Obama that he
intends to leave the Department by
the end of March.”
The National Congress of Amer-
ican Indians (NCAI) released the
following statement regarding the
announcement:
“Secretary Ken Salazar will be
remembered for the promises he
kept and the trust he rebuilt with
Tribal nations and Native people. His
legacy among Tribes is rooted in the
depth of the relationships he forged
See NCAI, con’t on page 4.
Photo by Diane Rodriquez
Tribal Council candidates (l to r)
Rusty Butler, Kelley Ellis, Frank
Aspria Sr., Melinda Logan, Alfred
“Bud” Lane III, Delores Pigsley and
Matthew Pronovost gather at Chinook
Winds Casino Resort for the
Candidates Fair on Jan. 12.
All ballots for the 2013 Tribal Council
election must be received by 4 p.m.
on Feb. 2. You can vote in person
on Feb. 2 at the Tribal Community
Center in Siletz, Ore., from 10 a.m. to
4 p.m.