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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015
Gay marriage is legal but not on tribal lands
An overlooked
story line in
HTXDOLW\¿JKW
talked more about whether to
allow members of the same
clan to marry than members
of the same sex.
“There was very little con-
troversy over the same gender
By FELICIA FONSECA
aspect because everybody
Associated Press
believed it should be open,”
she said. “Whoever our citi-
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. —
zens are should have the same
Cleo Pablo married her
rights as everyone else.”
longtime partner when gay
Navajo Nation lawmaker
Otto Tso said he would expect
weddings became legal in
a heated debate on the tribe’s
Arizona and looked forward
marriage laws that likely will
to the day when her wife and
be brought forth by tribal
their children could move into
members. One of them, Alray
her home in the small Native
Nelson, has been outspoken
American community outside
about the Navajo Nation’s
Phoenix where she grew up.
ban on gay marriage, but he
That day never came. The
knows he doesn’t have sup-
Ak-Chin Indian Community
port from enough lawmakers
doesn’t recognize same-sex
to get it overturned.
marriages and has a law that
prohibits unmarried couples
“They’re going to get our
attention, and I’m all about
from living together. So Pablo
listening, hearing them out,
voluntarily gave up her tribal
hear the concerns,” Tso said.
home and now is suing the
Fred Urbina, general coun-
tribe in tribal court to have her
sel for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe
marriage validated.
in southern Arizona, said he
“I want equal opportuni-
suspects the tribe’s laws that
ty,” Pablo said. “I want what
are silent on gay marriage will
every married couple has.”
Matt York/AP Photo
be questioned in the context
3DEOR¶V VLWXDWLRQ UHÀHFWV
an overlooked story line fol- Cleo Pablo and her wife, Tara Roy-Pablo, stand outside their home in Phoenix in November. Pablo married her longtime RI EHQH¿WV DQG LQVXUDQFH IRU
lowing the U.S. Supreme partner when gay weddings became legal in Arizona and looked forward to the day when her wife and their children could employee spouses.
Pablo and her son moved
Court’s historic decision this move into her home in the small Native American community outside Phoenix where she grew up. The Ak-Chin Indian
year that legalized gay mar- Community doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages and has a law that prohibits unmarried couples from living together. in with Tara Roy-Pablo and
her children in Phoenix af-
riages nationwide: American
Indian reservations are not Minnesota, who has studied federally recognized tribes guaranteed under the federal promotes and protects the ter she discovered the tribe
bound by the decision and tribes’ marriage laws.
sovereignty wouldn’t provide insurance
that have outright bans on Indian Civil Rights Act. Her community’s
many continue to forbid gay
Advocacy groups largely gay marriage. Some tribes ex- lawyer, Sonia Martinez, said and right of self-governance, to her entire family and she
marriages and deny insurance have stayed away from push- pressly allow it, while others tribal members could have a DQG EHVW UHÀHFWV WKH FXOWXUH risked arrest if they stayed in
DQGRWKHUEHQH¿WV
ing tribes for change, recog- tie marriage laws to those of persuasive argument against tradition, and morals of the her tribal home.
Cleo Pablo said she’s nev-
nizing that tribes have the states or have gender-neu- gay-marriage bans if their community and all of its
Inherent right to
inherent right to regulate do- tral laws that typically create tribe incorporated federal PHPEHUV ZLWKLQ WKH FRQ¿QHV er felt unwelcome in the tribal
regulate
mestic relations within their confusion for gay couples on constitutional rights into trib- of our laws,” read a statement community where she works as
The reasons vary and to boundaries.
al laws, which she says is the provided to The Associated DSUREDWLRQRI¿FHUEXWGRHVQ¶W
whether they can marry.
some extent depend on cultur-
believe she should be treated
case on the Ak-Chin reserva- Press.
“Tribal sovereignty is very
Sovereign lands
differently under the law.
al recognition of gender iden- important to tribes,” Tweedy
tion.
The mish-mash occurs
Change, for some,
“As Native people in the
WL¿FDWLRQ DQG UROHV DQG WKH said. “They don’t want to just
The Ak-Chin Indian Com-
because tribes are sovereign munity wouldn’t comment di-
was easy
community, we’re taught to
LQÀXHQFHRIRXWVLGHUHOLJLRQV adopt what the U.S. does.”
Change for some tribes stand in the background, not
legal experts say. Other issues
Pablo follows in the foot- lands where the U.S. Consti- rectly on Pablo’s lawsuit but
create waves,” she said. “I’ve
like high unemployment, al- steps of a handful of other tution does not apply.
said marriage laws are a mat- came easily.
The Central Council done the opposite. People
But Pablo argues in her ter for the tribe to decide, not
coholism and suicides on res- tribal members in Oregon,
Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes know who I am, who I was. I
ervations also could be higher Washington state and Michi- lawsuit that members of the the U.S. Supreme Court.
on the priority list, said Ann gan who lobbied their govern- Tribal Council are violating
“Whether our current law of Alaska enacted a marriage wouldn’t rock the boat. It gets
the Ak-Chin constitution by stays the same or needs to statute in March to expand to the point if you don’t say
Tweedy, an associate profes- ments for marriage equality.
sor at the Hamline Universi-
The Navajo Nation is one denying her equal protection change, it must still be ad- court services. Chief Justice anything, nothing is going to
ty School of Law in St. Paul, of a few of the country’s 567 and due process — rights also dressed in a manner that best Debra O’Gara said leaders change.”
Oregon
Feds extend comment period
bill would on plan to close areas to mining
regulate
Habitat needed
hobby
for greater
sage grouse
drones
By TAYLOR W.
ANDERSON
The Bulletin
SALEM — If you’re
planning to arm your hobby
drone, your window is clos-
ing.
Oregon lawmakers are
working to add to the state’s
laws on the small, unmanned
aerial systems, better known
as drones, that have taken
to skies across the country
in numbers that have left
lawmakers — and pilots —
scrambling to create rules
that limit their use.
State Rep. John Huffman,
R-The Dalles, has become
Salem’s go-to on drones.
He plans to bring a bill next
session that he hopes will
address concerns about
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airports and other areas that
have frightened commercial
pilots and at times prevent-
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GURSSLQJZDWHURUÀDPHUH-
tardant at crucial times.
“The (Federal Aviation
Administration) has gotten
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from pilots this last year
— from manned aircraft
— that they have viewed or
witnessed drones as they’ve
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Spearheaded drone
work group
Huffman has for three
years spearheaded a drone
work group that is rounding
out state rules and regula-
tions that will govern the
skies while the federal gov-
HUQPHQW ¿JXUHV RXW KRZ
it will address a growing
demand for the small, re-
mote-operated aircraft.
He and a wide group
of civil liberties advocates,
business leaders and state
DJHQF\ RI¿FLDOV ZRUNHG LQ
2012 and 2013 to limit how
law enforcement agencies
could use drones.
By KEITH RIDLER
Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — The U.S.
Bureau of Land Management
has extended the public com-
ment period on the agency’s
plan to withdraw 10 million
acres of public lands in six
western states from potential
mineral extraction to protect
habitat for the greater sage
grouse.
The comment period will
last about three additional
weeks to Jan. 15, with public
meetings scheduled in Idaho,
Montana, Nevada, Oregon,
Utah and Wyoming in Decem-
ber.
The BLM is seeking com-
ments ahead of creating an en-
vironmental impact statement
EHIRUHPDNLQJD¿QDOGHFLVLRQ
on whether to withdraw the
public lands for 20 years.
Some aspects federal au-
thorities want to analyze in-
clude the economic effects of
withdrawing the lands, wilder-
ness characteristics, American
Indian resources, mineral re-
sources and recreation.
“We really want to make
sure everyone has the oppor-
tunity to comment on the pro-
posed withdrawal,” said BLM
spokesman Mark Mackiewicz.
Greater sage grouse not
endangered
The proposed withdrawal
of the lands — subject to an
1872 mining law meant to en-
courage development of West-
Courtesy of Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
The greater sage grouse is at the center of a clash over
habitat conservation.
ern land — is part of new U.S.
policies announced in Septem-
ber. At the same time, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service said
sage grouse didn’t need federal
protections under the Endan-
gered Species Act.
Under the 1872 mining law,
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the discretion to deny mining
claims. Withdrawing the 10
million acres from being sub-
ject to that law would allow
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claims.
The 10 million acres are al-
ready under a two-year freeze
from new mining claims while
the BLM prepares its environ-
mental impact statement. The
freeze doesn’t affect mining
claims already in place.
Jack Lyman of the Idaho
Mining Association said ban-
ning mining on 3 million acres
in Idaho would limit future
mineral extraction.
“This is a big issue for the
mining community,” he said.
“This is where we’re going to
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10, 20, 50 years.”
John Robison of the Ida-
ho Conservation League said
withdrawing the lands is a
good step.
“The priority of just about
everything else over sage-
grouse is why this amazing
bird was being considered for
protections under the Endan-
gered Species Act,” he said in
a statement.
Inventory the minerals
John Freemuth, a Boise
State University professor and
public lands expert, said the
two-year review will give the
BLM an opportunity to see
what kinds of minerals are in
the 10 million acres that are
considered key sage grouse
habitat.
How much, if any, would
end up being set aside is un-
clear. The decision in two
years would be made by the
administration that follows
President Barack Obama’s.
Biologists to use
new system to track
endangered suckers
Associated Press
KLAMATH FALLS —
Biologists hope a new under-
water monitoring system will
be able to give them an idea of
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using Oregon’s Link River.
In early December, crews
will install 240 feet of plastic
pipe equipped with a transpon-
der detection system near the
mouth of the Klamath Falls
river, The Herald & News re-
ported. Small electronic tags
with a unique ID number will
be inserted into Lost River and
shortnose sucker bellies, al-
ORZLQJWKHSLSHWRGHWHFW¿VK
as they pass over the sensors.
The detection system will
be an array of two rows of
12 pipes, each in 20-foot sec-
tions, according to U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service Klamath
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'DUULFN :HLVVHQÀXK 7KH\¶OO
be fastened with concrete an-
chor bolts and ratchet straps
just upstream of a natural reef,
where the water is shallow.
The Klamath Falls branch
of the Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice is funding the $109,500
project. The system will run
entirely on energy generated
by solar power panels set up
on city property adjacent to the
river.
The array could be used
to study Lost River and short-
nose sucker growth, survival
and movement for the next 10
years.
“It really depends on what
information we get,” Weissen-
ÀXK VDLG ³:H QHHG WR EHWWHU
understand sucker movements
up and down the Link River
and through the Link River
Dam.”
Both species were listed
under the Endangered Species
Act in 1988 and have suffered
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poor survival rates.
Scientists have tagged
about 30,000 Lost River and
shortnose suckers, according
WR :HLVVHQÀXK +H VDLG VFL-
entists believe 1,000 to 2,000
untagged adult suckers live in
Lake Ewauna.
The Link River Dam has a
¿VKODGGHUWKDWDOORZVVXFNHUV
to move upstream into Upper
Klamath Lake, but a transpon-
der system on the ladder has
shown that few suckers are
using it.
“Annually, usually less
than 20 suckers are using the
¿VKODGGHU´VDLG:HLVVHQÀXK
“We don’t really know why.”
“Are there a substantial
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either because they can’t or
because they are choosing to
spawn in the Link River?” he
asked. Research on that pos-
sibility hasn’t been conducted
yet.
2UHJRQ¿UH¿JKWHUVUHVFXHRZOWDQJOHGLQ¿VKLQJOLQH
Associated Press
GRANTS PASS — Wild-
life rehabilitation workers say
a great horned owl that was
WDQJOHG LQ ¿VKLQJ OLQH LV UHVW-
ing after being rescued by Ore-
JRQ¿UH¿JKWHUV
The Grants Pass Daily
Courier reported that a resident
in Shady Cove saw the adult
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erratically while high up a tree
on Sunday.
Jackson County Fire Dis-
trict No. 4 Captain Rick
Mendenhall says the owl was
“stuck big time.”
)LUH¿JKWHUV ZHUH DEOH WR
rescue the bird, which had
¿VKLQJ OLQH ZUDSSHG WLJKWO\
around one wing. They re-
moved the line and put the bird
on the ground, but it was too
WLUHGWRÀ\
So they wrapped the owl
in a blanket and took it to re-
habilitation center Wildlife
Images.
Marketing
coordinator
Devan Ferrell says the owl
will be released if and when it
regains its wing strength.
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