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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2018
Supreme Court tie favors Indian tribes
State must do
more to restore
salmon habitat
By PHUONG LE
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Washington
state must restore salmon hab-
itat by removing barriers that
block fish migration after the
U.S. Supreme Court on Mon-
day left in place a lower court
order.
The justices divided 4-4 in
the long-running dispute that
pits the state against North-
west Indian tribes and the
federal government. The tie
serves to affirm a lower court
ruling.
Justice Anthony Kennedy
stepped aside from the case
because he participated in an
earlier stage when he served
on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals.
At issue is whether the
state must pay billions to fix or
replace hundreds of culverts —
large pipes that allow streams
to pass beneath roads but can
block migrating salmon if they
become clogged or if they’re
too steep to navigate.
Leaders of several western
Washington tribes cheered the
decision Monday, calling it a
victory that affirms their treaty
rights while protecting salmon
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
The Supreme Court is leaving in place a court order that forces Washington state to
restore salmon habitat by removing barriers that block fish migration.
central to their way of life.
Jay Julius, chair of the
Lummi Indian Business Coun-
cil, said it was a win for treaty
rights, river rights and salmon.
“This is not just about
tribes’ treaty right to fish, but
also the inherent right to har-
vest from a plentiful, healthy
supply of salmon,” he said in
a statement.
Lorraine Loomis, chair of
the Northwest Indian Fisher-
ies Commission, said the deci-
sion would “open hundreds of
miles of high quality salmon
habitat that will produce hun-
dreds of thousands more
salmon annually for harvest by
Indians and non-Indians.”
The Supreme Court in
April heard the state’s appeal
of a ruling by the 9th U.S. Cir-
cuit Court of Appeals. That
court affirmed a lower court
order in 2013 requiring the
state to fix or replace hundreds
of the highest-priority culverts
within 17 years.
Washington state has
argued that its treaties with the
tribes created no obligation to
restore salmon habitat. It said
the ruling would force it to per-
form work that wouldn’t bene-
fit salmon because other barri-
ers may completely block fish,
and it would also make the
state’s taxpayers responsible
for fixing problems created by
the federal government when
it specified the design for the
state’s old highway culverts.
“It is unfortunate that Wash-
ington state taxpayers will be
shouldering all the responsi-
bility for the federal govern-
ment’s faulty culvert design,”
state Attorney General Bob
Ferguson said in a statement.
He said salmon can’t reach
many state culverts because
they are blocked by cul-
verts owned by others, such
as counties and the federal
government.
“The Legislature has a big
responsibility in front of it to
ensure the state meets its obli-
gation under the court’s rul-
ing,” Ferguson said.
In seeking a Supreme
Court review, Ferguson was at
odds with other state officials,
including Washington Gov.
Jay Inslee and Public Lands
Commissioner Hilary Franz.
“For some time now I’ve
hoped that instead of litiga-
tion we could focus together
on our ongoing work to restore
salmon habitat,” Inslee said.
“It is time to stop fighting
over who should do what,”
Franz said.
The U.S. government sued
Washington in 2001 on behalf
of the 21 tribes to force it to
replace the culverts with struc-
tures that allow fish to pass
through. Because the pipes
block salmon from reaching
their spawning grounds, they
deprive the tribes of fishing
rights guaranteed by treaty, the
lawsuit said.
In 2013, U.S. District Judge
Ricardo Martinez ordered
Washington to fix or replace
more than 1,000 culverts
blocking access to 1,600 miles
of salmon habitat. He also
set a deadline of 2030 for the
high-priority barriers.
By next year, the state
transportation
department
would have spent $200 mil-
lion to fix 66 high-priority cul-
verts with about 425 remain-
ing, said Paul Wagner, who
heads that agency’s fish pas-
sage program.
“It will be a big victory for
fisheries,” said Bob Ander-
son, a law professor and direc-
tor the Native American Law
Center at the University of
Washington.
He said that since 1905, the
court has consistently upheld
the tribal position that they
have a right to a fair share of
the salmon, and implied rights
that go along with that. “This
case is a logical extension of
those prior decisions.”
State Sen. Reuven Car-
lyle, chairman of the Sen-
ate Energy, Environment and
Technology Committee, said
Monday’s ruling was “a forc-
ing function to double down
on every level to re-prioritize
our approach to salmon.”
Carlyle said that while he
doesn’t think the Legislature
needs an immediate special
session to address the ruling,
work will be done ahead of the
next legislative session that
begins in January.
AP writers Mark Sher-
man in Washington, D.C., and
Rachel La Corte in Olympia
contributed.
Some mayors want pot removed As Ohio purges voter rolls,
from federal list of illegal drugs Oregon goes in the other direction
Wheeler among
the seven mayors
By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Mayors
from seven U.S. cities in states
with legal marijuana said
Monday they have formed a
coalition to push for federal
marijuana policy reform just
days after President Donald
Trump expressed support for
bipartisan congressional leg-
islation to ease the federal ban
on pot.
Mayors from Portland,
Denver, Seattle, San Fran-
cisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas
and West Sacramento — all in
marijuana-friendly states —
sponsored a resolution at the
U.S. Conference of Mayors
in Boston that asked the U.S.
government to remove canna-
bis from a list of illegal drugs,
among other things.
It was approved unani-
mously by the broader gath-
ering Monday, Larry Jones
said, a spokesman for the
conference.
Mayors from Oakland,
California, and Thornton,
Colorado, weren’t sponsors
but pledged to advocate for
federal reforms.
“As mayors of cities that
have successfully imple-
mented and managed this new
industry, we have hands-on
experience that can help Con-
gress take the right steps to
support other local govern-
ments as they prepare to enter
this new frontier,” said Denver
Mayor Michael B. Hancock,
who led the coalition. “We all
face common challenges.”
Portland
Mayor Ted
Wheeler said marijuana busi-
nesses employ thousands of
people and generate millions
of dollars in Oregon.
“Cannabis prohibition has
failed. It has failed to keep our
children safe, it has failed law
enforcement, and it has espe-
cially failed communities of
color disproportionately tar-
geted and prosecuted for low-
level drug offenses,” he said
in an email Monday.
“Eventually,
legaliza-
tion will come to every state
— and we want to make
sure it’s done so safely and
effectively.”
The resolution comes after
Trump said he would “prob-
ably” back a bipartisan con-
gressional effort to ease a U.S.
ban on the drug that about 30
states have legalized in some
form. The bill supported by
both parties was introduced
Thursday and would dramat-
ically reshape the nation’s
legal landscape for pot users
and businesses.
The federal ban that puts
marijuana on the same level
as LSD and heroin has created
a conflict with states that have
legalized pot in some form,
creating a two-tiered enforce-
ment system at the state and
federal levels.
The legislation with four
sponsors, including Republi-
can U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner of
Colorado, would ensure states
have the right to determine
the best approach to mari-
juana within their borders.
Some U.S. restrictions would
remain, however, including
sales of nonmedical pot to
people under 21.
“I support Sen. Gard-
ner. I know exactly what he’s
doing,” Trump told report-
ers in Washington, D.C., on
Friday, when asked about the
legislation. “We’re looking at
it. But I probably will end up
supporting that, yes.”
The mayors’ resolution
adopted Monday asks Con-
gress, among other things, to:
• remove cannabis from the
federal Controlled Substances
Act
• allow employers in the
marijuana industry to take tax
deductions similar to those
allowed in other businesses
• provide guidance to
financial institutions that pro-
vide banking to cannabis
businesses
• extend legal access to
medical marijuana for U.S.
veterans
The resolution’s approval
means that the U.S. Confer-
ence of Mayors as an orga-
nization will now create fed-
eral policy recommendations
to submit to Congress starting
next year.
WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
By DIRK VANDERHART
Oregon Public
Broadcasting
Oregon Secretary of State
Dennis Richardson has no
interest in following Ohio’s
lead.
In the wake of news Mon-
day that the U.S. Supreme
Court had upheld Ohio offi-
cials’ policy of aggressively
taking “inactive” voters from
the state’s voter rolls, Rich-
ardson announced he’ll con-
tinue taking Oregon in the
opposite direction. He’s even
got a bill in mind.
“Despite today’s ruling by
the U.S. Supreme Court, Ore-
gon remains a national leader
in protecting voting rights,”
Richardson said in a state-
ment. “In Oregon, we believe
that a registered voter should
not lose their voting rights
solely because they haven’t
participated recently.”
The law upheld by a 5-4
court opinion allows Ohio
officials to take voters off
the rolls if they don’t vote or
respond to notices for a total
of six years.
It’s considered one of the
stricter laws in the nation, but
it’s not unique. Until last year,
Oregon policies allowed vot-
ers to be labeled “inactive” if
they didn’t update their voter
registrations or vote in at least
five years.
Richardson
changed
that rule. In one of his first
acts as secretary of state, he
announced he’d be taking vot-
ers off the rolls after 10 years
of inactivity — not five.
NORTH COAST
CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
A happy place, a safe place, a learning place...
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Richard Hess Logging
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Bank of the Pacific
Partner Sponsors
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