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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 1978)
FEBRUARY 24, 1978 PAGE 5 W hite H ouse, T ribes A gree R prbte4^ z ; ndia°New> On M aine Land Claim S ettlem en t By Vince Lovett The White House and the im plem entation of this ag ree two Maine Indian tribes announ- m ent “ re g a rd le ss of w hether ed February 10 a two-part pro any other party decides to parti posal for settlin g the In d ian s’ cipate in a settlement.” The other two p a rts of the claim s to 12.5 m illion acres of proposal set forth the terms on land. Eliot Cutler, Associate Di which the trib e s a re willing to rector of the Office of Manage drop th e ir claim s against the m ent and Budget and one of State and the large landholders. th ree m em bers of a C arter- appointed negotiating group, . From the sta te , the tribes said: “ P a r t I of the M emor ask th a t the S ta te ’s cu rren t andum sets forth an agreement appropriation of $1.7 million between the Administration and annually for services to the two the tribes in which the tribes, in tribes be continued for the next exchange for a Federal payment 15 years with the annual appro of $25 million, agree to give up priation, however, being paid to all of their claims to 9.2 million the United States Department of acres of their 12.5 million-acre the In terio r as tru ste e for the claim.” tribes. (The services, presuma This provision would protect bly, would be provided either by all involved landholders except die tribe itself or by the Federal the S tate of Maine and 14 Government.) companies each with holdings in F rom the 14 com panies, excess of 50,000 acres. Cutler holding about 3 million acres in said th a t the P resid en t will the claim area, the tribes would recom m end to Congress the extinguish all claim s in ex SIGNIFICANCE OF AGREE MENT BETW EEN MAINE TRIBES, WHITE HOUSE: Settlement of the Passama- quoddy and Penobscot Indian Tribes land claims in the State of Maine will certainly be prece dent setting. If the White House proposal is implemented, then the claims of other tribes under the 1790 act will be supported bringing about a change in the basic question - from whether to how much? The upholding of the In dians’ claims through negotiated settlem ents should also have other spin-off effects in a gener al strengthening of Indian treaty rig h ts, including some which have been long dormant. Opponents of the l a n d All property and cash ob claim s have argued th at such tained in the settlement will be old rig h ts shouldn’t count; divided equally between the two acceptance of the settlement by tribes and no part of the capital, Congress would say that they do the tribes have agreed, will, be count. distributed on a per capita basis. Will Congress accept and change for 300,000 acres of “ a v e ra g e ” tim ber land and long-term options to buy another 200,000 ac re s a t fair m arket value. To encourage this se ttle ment with the large landholders, the White House negotiating group agreed to recommend to Congress payment of $3.5 mill-, ion to the tribes to help finance exercising of the options and $1.5 million to be paid to the land holders as a $5 per ac re token paym ent for the 300,000 acres. The White House would also seek from the landholders cer tain easements for the tribes and special hunting and fishing rights. pay the $25 million? The White House certain ly t h i n k s so. OMB’s Eliot Cutter said that the Administration does not believe that problems are solved simply by throwing money at those who complain. He argues that they have studied the tribes’ claims and believe them to be substant ial, “not frivolous.” Finally Cutler sees the set tlement as an inexpensive way of avoiding “the economic chaos th a t would be the re su lt of litigation” and to protect “thous ands of Maine citizens who own homes and businesses in the claims area.” With re g a rd to the se ttle m ent te rm s the trib e s have offered the S tate and the 14 large com panies, Cutler des cribed them as “ a re a listic com prom ise,” though he ac knowledged the possibility of the sta te and-or the com panies choosing litigation. Forestry Ranks Expand To Better Serve Reservation A number of new positions and some vacancies in the B.I.A. Forestry Department have been filled in the la st two weeks, bulging the basement of the old agency building to its seams. The additional staff means far more than crowded quarters. forestry activities on the reser vation were reviewed by staff, with emphasis on the tribal-BIA relationship and the importance of the forest resource to the Tribes. As Bolton noted, newcomers to the reserv atio n c a n ’t learn fire control. His schooling is in fo rest technology a t the New York State Ranger School. John Maxey (T im ber Sale Administration) has experience mainly in fire control and was a member of a “hot-shot” crew in Warner Springs. California. All but two of the new staff are living outside Warm Springs because of the shortage of hous ing on the reservation. According to Forestry Super everything in one orientation visor Gunther Heeren, several p ro g ram s will be beefed up to provide b e tte r fo rest m anage ment for the reservation. Both p erm an en t and fu r lough positions have been added to the forest developm ent sec tion (timber stand improvement, pre-commercial thinning, plant ing and site p re p a ra tio n ), the sales p rep aratio n section and forest engineering (road-build ing). Eight young men are fresh on the job and a few positions rem ain to be filled for a total forestry staff of thirty-eight per manent and four furlough posi tions. Last year Congress appro priated $10 million nationwide for each of the next ten years so the BIA m ight catch up oh its backlog of tim b er stan d im provement (TSI) work, includ ing thinning and planting. - In 1977 W arm Springs r e ceived funds but no additional positions. This y e a r the local BIA has been allotted $600,000 to do the work plus $198,000 for additional staff. As Timber Sale Administration Supervisor Bob Bolton rem a rk è d , “ We have a lot of money available to do the work and we need the boys in the bush to get it done.” Bolton is happy with the batch of new foresters and tech nicians all of whom cam e through the civil service. “We are encouraged by the caliber and interests they have shown,” he commented. L ast week the new staff members gathered at the com munity center for a morning of orientation. They were welcom ed by the BIA Superintendent Jim Cornett and Administrative M anager E g b ert W ard who briefed them on trib a l a ffairs and BIA procedures. The history and role of program but this was a good s ta r t on a long process of a c quaintance. The five new foresters come from a variety of backgrounds. Paul Brna (Forest Develop ment) worked with the Bureau of Land M anagem ent in Colo rado for a year and a half before coming to Warm Springs. He is a 1973 forest science graduate of Pennsylvania State University. Ronald R ecker (P re-sale) previously worked with the U.S. F o rest Service in G reen v ille,, California for four seasons. He graduated from the University of Missouri in 1975 with a B.S. in Forest Management. T erry Shand (F o rest De velopm ent) received a B.S. in Natural Resource Management from the University of Arizona in 1975. He worked with the U.S. F o rest Service in Arizona for two seasons before joining the BIA. Larry Hanson (Timber Sale Administration) left the field of New BIA foresters had a tour of the Warm Springs Mill last week. Supervisor Bob Bolton showed electronics and in 1974 earned a the holding pond to (left to right) Ron Recker, Jerry Kelley, Jim Akerson, Paul Brna, John Hojnowski, degree in fo restry a t the Uni and Terry Shand. Not shown are John Maxey, Larry Hanson and Phillip Kinney. CDS Photo v ersity of M innesota. His p re vious experience is in the Ochoco and Wynema National Forests. Jim Akerson (Timber Sale Administration) is a 1975 gradu SEND SUBSCRIPTION TO ate of Oregon State University Spilyay Tymoo P-O. Box 735 Warm Springs, Oregon 97761 who gained his first fo restry experience in L iberia with the NAME Peace Corps. SUBSCRIPTION TO SPILYAY TYMOO ~ The th re e fo restry techni cians also have a good deal of experience. Phillip Kinney (Forest En gineering) studied timber man agement for two years and spent five years with the U.S. Forest Service in Michigan, marking, cruising, grading and scaling. John Hojnowski (Forest En gineering) worked for two years in the Umpqua National Forest as a recreation technician and in ADDRESS____________ _______________________________________________ C IT Y _ __________________ ___ STATE _______ ______ZIP SUBSCRIPTION RATES: 1 YEAR $6.00 Enclosed is a Check □ Amount of $_________ Money Order □ for________ Year (s ) Subscription. All Tribal Enrolled Members Will Receive The Spilyay Tymoo at No Cost. 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