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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2016 Brown says feds must end refuge occupation Priorities include money for Harney County By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — Besides occu- pying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, armed protesters now occupy a place on Gov. Kate Brown’s list of policy priorities. During Brown’s unveil- ing of her agenda Wednes- day, the governor said that one of her priorities this year is to pass a funding package to offset expenses associated with responding to the occupation. The gov- ernor said her administration would “scour the budget to make sure that we have the resources at the state level to subsidize the cost for Harney County.” The cost of responding to the occupation is running about $100,000 per week, Brown said. The state would later ask Molly J. Smith/Statesman-Journal Gov. Kate Brown outlines her 2016 policy agenda at a press conference at the State Capitol in Salem Wednesday. the federal government to reimburse the state for those costs, she said. Ammon Bundy and his armed followers seized the remote refuge Jan. 2 in a protest against federal public lands policies. “The situation is abso- lutely intolerable,” Brown said. “The very fabric of this community is being ripped apart. The residents of Harney County have been overlooked and underserved by federal of¿cials’ response thus far.” Brown said she has ex- pressed her concerns to fed- eral officials “at the highest levels of our government, the U.S. Department of Jus- tice and the White House.” “Federal authorities must act quickly to end the occupation and hold all of the wrongdoers account- able,” she said. “The spec- tacle of lawlessness must end. Until Harney County is free of it I will not stop insisting federal officials enforce the law.” Minimum wage, housing Education innovation, public records Some of Brown’s other pri- orities were no surprise. She wants the Legislature to enact her plan to boost minimum wage to $15.52 in the Portland area and $13.50 in the rest of the state by 2022. The plan is intended to thwart two ballot measures that would raise the minimum wage in three years instead of six. She is championing state House Speaker Tina Kotek’s omnibus housing bill to in- crease affordable housing op- tions around the state. Brown said she plans to use her executive power to create a Council on Educator Advancement. The council will be responsible for coordi- nating and promoting leader- ship development, mentorship and best practices. The governor gave no timeline for establishing the council and did not address what relationship that council would have to the Department of Education and the Teach- er Standards and Practices Commission, which licenses teachers. The governor also repeated her plan to hire an education innovation of¿cer to improve the state’s high school gradu- ation rate and a public records ombudsman to help agencies respond more ef¿ciently and consistently to requests. Brown’s other priorities include: Expanding the 2f¿ce of Small Business Advocate to help small businesses through the labyrinth of government red tape. • Creating a small business advisory group to develop recommendations to support small businesses in accessing capital and streamlining agen- cy processes. • Issuing an executive or- der to force agencies to adopt a public records policy. • Supporting legislation to tighten deadlines for lobbyists to disclose their clients to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission and to require that information be posted on- line within two days. • Launching a college cam- pus safety working group. • Approving a request from Umpqua Community College for funding to enhance safety on campus in the wake of the deadly shooting there Oct. 1. • Securing funding to re- spond to drought and the 2015 wild¿re season. House Republican Lead- er Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, said Brown’s plan ig- nores Oregon’s most pressing troubles, including the state’s pension shortfall, transporta- tion infrastructure, struggling rural communities and an education system that “ranks as one of the worst in the na- tion.” “New bureaucratic ap- pointments and executive orders won’t solve these problems,” McLane said in a statement. “One-party rule has left our state with yester- day’s ideas and status quo pol- icies. House Republicans look forward to presenting mean- ingful alternatives to Demo- crats’ stale agenda in the 2016 session.” The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Tribe, state investigating dig at Chinook burial site By NATALIE ST. JOHN EO Media Group CHINOOK, Wash. — State and tribal of¿cials are investigat- ing after the Paci¿c County Pub- lic Utilities District No. 2 dug in an area that is known to contain Chinook Indian remains. Scott Tucker, superintendent of the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, learned in late December that the utilities dis- trict replaced two failing power poles at the Middle Village/Sta- tion Camp unit of the park. Located on U.S. Highway 101 near the old McGowan church, the site was once a thriv- ing Chinook trade village, and also brieÀy served as a base- camp for the Lewis and Clark expedition. Archaeologists have found thousands of Native and European artifacts there, and con¿rmed the ground likely holds the remains of many Chi- nook Indians. No shovels in the ground The Washington State His- torical Society owns Middle Village, but the National Park Service manages it and will take ownership in March. Out of respect for the re- mains, the park service enforces a strict “no-dig policy” at the site. Park service workers don’t even pull out invasive weeds at the site — they cut them to avoid disturbing the ground. “We don’t want to put anoth- er shovel in the ground ever be- cause of the known archaeolog- ical resources on the property,” Tucker said Friday. The Public Utilities District did not contact the Chinook In- dian Nation or the National Park Service before doing the work, which involved pulling out two old poles that were buried to a depth of roughly 6 feet, plac- ing new poles in the holes, and ¿lling the earth back in. At least one of the poles is located “in the direct vicinity of the human remains,” Tucker said. The second pole is very near the property line that divides Middle Village and attorney Bill Garvin’s neighboring proper- ty. The village probably wasn’t con¿ned to the boundaries of the modern park, so even if the second hole is on private proper- ty, the work may have disturbed ground where Chinook ances- tors are resting. “Somebody did it, and it greatly concerns the tribe,” Chi- nook Indian Nation Chairman Tony Johnson said Monday. “... There is grave concern with any compacting out there, given that remains (discovered in 2005) were so close to the surface.” Emergency work “One (pole) was leaning over, ready to fall down,” Public Utilities District General Man- ager Doug Miller said Tuesday. Miller said the average pole is about 17 years old when it’s replaced, but the two replaced poles were roughly 40 to 50 years old. Though the district had known for at least 20 years that the two poles were ap- proaching the end of their life spans, Miller described the recent replacements as “emer- gency” work — a pole failure would have caused a power out- age, and might have damaged equipment or created potentially serious safety issues. “We didn’t have time to call anybody. The electricity was going out. We had to replace it,” Miller said. Miller said the district has an easement that allows workers to maintain the poles, and an obli- gation to prevent power outag- es. Miller said he is not aware of any legal agreement that re- quires the district to give notice or seek approval from the tribe, state or National Park Service before working on the poles. “There’s no noti¿cation. We have no agreement with anyone regarding that area. I have never received anything in writing,” Miller said. “They have not sent anything to us regarding sensi- tivity.” :ellpublici]ed ¿nds The site’s signi¿cance has been well-documented in state, local and tribal records, and Miller acknowledged that dis- trict workers previously encoun- tered remains while working there. In early 2005, preparatory work for the planned “Station Camp” park came to a halt when workers discovered the remains of a collapsed plank house. Ar- chaeologists later con¿rmed the presence of Chinook remains and other signi¿cant ¿nds. According to the National Park Service website, “More than 10,000 artifacts were un- covered, including trade beads, plates, cups, musket balls, arrowheads, Indian ¿sh net weights and ceremonial items.” Eventually, the park was re- named “Middle Village/Station Camp,” the remains were re-in- terred under tribal supervision, and members of the tribe helped design displays that highlighted Chinook culture. In 2011, Public Utilities District workers began an effort to move Middle Village power lines underground. “But that project has been held up because as we were digging that, it unearthed some bones,” Miller said, adding that the project stalled because of un- resolved design and engineering questions. In Miller’s opinion, the recent conÀict could have been prevented if the authorities that manage the park had been more responsive to district ef- forts to complete the project. According to Tucker and Johnson, an archaeologist and Chinook representatives came to observe the district’s work af- ter the 2011 discovery. “We do know that the PUD was aware of the sensitive ar- chaeological location,” Tucker said. Miller, who has been gener- al manager since 1994, said he had occasionally spoken with former Chinook Chairman Ray Gardner, who passed away in February, but had no recollec- tion of ever working directly with the tribe. “I am not aware that we’ve communicated with the tribe in the past,” Miller said. “If there was a tribe member there, I have not heard that.” A tragic past, a living culture Last week, tarps and stones covered the mounds of earth at With Salad & Bread Friday Jan. 22 nd 4 pm ‘til gone $8 .00 6PM “K araok e D ave” ASTORIA AMERICAN LEGION Cla t sop Post 12 1132 Exchange Street 325-5771 Natalie St. John/EO Media Group In late December, the Public Utilities District replaced this power pole at Middle Village, the site of a former Chinook village where experts believe the remains of many Chi- nook Indians are buried close to the surface. the base of the two new poles, and sets of tire tracks cut through the surrounding grass. For the Chinook, this place is part of a long and sometimes tragic history, but it is also a vi- tal part of a very real and living culture. “It’s very important for peo- ple to know that this is not some ancient history, or some myste- rious place or mysterious indi- viduals,” Johnson said. “At least two of my dad’s relatives are known to be buried there.” Johnson explained that the recent digging — and compact- ing of the earth caused by utility truck traf¿c — is particularly upsetting because the people who died at Middle Village were buried close to the surface, out of necessity. “We do not bury near our towns,” Johnson said. “This was a town for many hundreds of years before it would have ever been considered to be a place to bury or leave people.” After Europeans arrived on the peninsula, “Our lack of immunity to foreign disease absolutely decimated our peo- ple. People lived in that town through many epidemics,” Johnson said. The once-vibrant society collapsed, and the re- maining survivors were unable to give their loved ones proper burial rites. “My belief is that people treat a place differently when they realize it’s the ¿nal resting place of human beings,” John- son said. No communication between PUD, tribe Between Dec. 29 and Jan. 7, Tucker alerted Johnson, the Public Utilities District, the His- torical Society and the Washing- ton State Department of Archae- ology and Historic Preservation. Johnson, two archaeologists and other of¿cials visited the site within days. The Histori- cal Society appointed Tucker to lead the government’s response and the state quickly opened an investigation. The Public Util- ities District was the last agen- cy to respond. Miller said after Tucker called him on Jan. 7, he called back “about a half a dozen times,” but hung up without leav- ing a message. The two ¿nally spoke by phone on Tuesday. A collaborative response Tucker said of¿cials are still investigating, so it’s too soon to say whether the Public Utilities District work violated any agreements or policies, or violated state laws that protect historical and archaeological sites. The state investigation will help determine whether remains were disturbed, and what must be done to address the recent in- cident, Tucker said. Johnson said the tribe has very good relationships with Tucker, the historical society and the state, and he has “total con¿dence” in Tucker’s ability to handle the situation. However, he noted that Chi- nook members should lead the response, because only the tribe fully understands the relevant history and cultural practices. “I am absolutely certain that everybody would defer to the Chinook, and I have full expec- tation that everyone would defer to the Chinook,” Johnson said. Right now, he added, the “pressing need is communica- tion that assures that tomorrow or the next day when nobody is looking, it doesn’t happen again.” W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 Enter your baby in The Daily Astorian’s Cutest Baby Contest for 2015 If your baby was born between Jan 1st Sheppard’s Pie Miller acknowledged that he has not called the tribe, and doesn’t see any need to do so right now. Instead, he said, he would wait for state and park service of¿cials to tell him what the district needs to do to ad- dress the situation. “I don’t have any plans (to speak directly with the tribe) right now. No. My understand- ing is somebody will be getting back to me, since I don’t have any contact with these people,” Miller said. “I’m not aware who is in charge of the tribe now.” & Dec 31st of 2015 , you can submit your newborn’s picture either via email at classifieds@dailyastorian.com or drop by one of our offices in Astoria or Seaside and we can scan in the photo for you. Deadline to enter is Tuesday, January 26th at 5:00 pm . Entries will be printed in The Daily Astorian on January 29th. CALLING ALL COASTER THEATRE VOLUNTEERS! To all those that have volunteered as an actor, usher, technician or strike assistance, the Coaster Theatre Board of Directors wants to say THANK YOU JOIN US AT OUR VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION PARTY SUNDAY, JANUARY 31 ST FROM 3-5PM For details (including location) and to R.S.V.P. email us at info@coastertheatre.com or call 503-436-0609
