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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 1978)
AUGUST 25, 1978 PAGE 9 Impact of Power Lines Examined From Air by Cynthia Stowell Resource people for the B.I.A. and the Tribes were given a bird’s eye view of power transmission installations in Idaho, Washington and Oregon in a speedy air tour conducted by the Bonneville Power Admini stration Friday morning, August 18. BPA will begin construction next year of a double circuit line through the northern part of the reservation, widening the exist ing John Day-Marcola right of way. The project was given a green light in February when the Tribes accepted $4.5 million in compensation for land and tim ber in the right of way. The purpose of last week’s air tour was to show local offi cials what to expect in terms of environmental impact during and after installation of the towers and lines. Disruption was minimal along Idaho’s Little Goose-Lower Granite line, just widened and completed this summer. The rather barren terrain was alter ed only by access roads and the actual tower sites (less than y4 acre). Such was also the case on the Ash line in eastern Wash ington and the east portion of the new Slatt-Marion line, which is marching southwest toward the reservation. Impact on the reservation will be greater since the entire right of way is timbered. Not only will the existing path be widened by 117.5 feet but tall trees beyond the opening that pose threats to the lines and towers will be removed (see diagram). No additional access to the right of way should be required, said BPA civil engineer Lewis Bohl, who led the tour. But B.I.A. Timber Sale Administrator Bob Bolton felt that access to some logging units might be altered, although no major interference to logging is expected. Bolton’s major concern is the “inherent conflicting land use” that the power lines rep resent. Wildlife biologist Terry Lu ther wondered if the expanded right of way will destroy the migratory patterns of wild ani mals temporarily or permanent ly. Bohl said he expected that the wildlife had adapted to the exist- ing line and that after a period of interruption they would probably adapt again. Construction schedule The section of the Slatt- Marion line traversing the reser vation will be the last link of the 500 kv line to be constructed. The remainder of 1978 will be spent on design and ground sur vey work, with clearing begin ning in 1979. Bohl said every effort would be made to avoid construction when the ground is wet and easily damaged. Towers 185 feet in height and strung with double-circuit trans mission lines will be erected adjacent to the 150-foot wide corridor that cuts through the northwest corner of the reser vation. The project is due for energization in October 1980, said Bohl. BPA has yet to meet with the Tribal Council on a plan for the disposal of the 224 acres of timber. Initial discussion has indicated the possibility of Warm Springs Forest Products Indus tries buying the timber for its use. Before any clearing is done, an archaeological survey of the right of way will be performed to locate and protect any artifacts or historical sites that might exist, said Bohl. He also noted that if at any point during con struction an object of interest is unearthed, operation will stop and the situation investigated further. Bohl expects that th» BPA archaeologist will want to talk with people who are knowledge able in local history before the initial walking survey is begun. B.I.A. Forester Bob Bolton and tribal wildlife biologist found the air tour to be a very worthwhile look at CDS Photo power line impact. THE DIAGRAM SUPPLIED BY BPA BELOW SHOWS THE RELATIVE SIZE AND PLACE MENT OF THE NEW TRANS MISSION TOWERS TO BE CON STRUCTED ADJACENT TO THE EXISTING JOHN DAY- MARCOLA LINE. T ypical soojkv D sl .C ir T ovver S latt - M arion ’ L ine Ö« L.RFT O n R is HT- O f - WAV Daum — Tnaas W ill Be Rtawr-Of- W av Eoos VV jlu Treaty, cont’d lished within one year after the treaty was ratified by Congress. But the tribes and bands had begun to move in 1865 and by the time the treaty was ratified in 1859 they had settled in. The first Paiutes did not come to the reservation until 1879, when they were released from Vancouver Baracks where they had been held as prisoners of war since 1866. In 1822 addi tional Paiutes came from the Yakima Reservation and settled in the south part of the Warm Springs Reservation, now the Seekseequa district. Although the Paiutes were not party to the 1855 treaty, all treaty rights apply to them as well. They now enjoy status as one of the three tribes com prising the Confederated Tribes: Warm Springs (bands of the Walla-Walla), Wasco and Paiute. Surveys When the treaty was submit ted to Congress in 1855, Palmer noted that the map he enclosed was only “approximate to ac curacy” since no survey had been done. The first survey, done in 1871. by T.B. Handley, was never ac ceptable to the Indian residents. Handley’s northern boundary was placed well south of the line agreed upon throwing the west ern boundary off as well. Appar ently the Mutton Mountain refer ence point for the northeast corner of the reservation had a different meaning in 1855 than it did in 1871. A resurvey was done in 1887 by government surveyor John A. McQuinn, who found the north ern boundary to be where the Indians claimed it was. The dis puted land, some 61,000 acres of timber, became known as the McQuinn Strip and the' next 100 years were spent fighting for it. (see separate story) Exclusive use/ ''"■''’Bounclaries may have been a matter of dispute but the rights of the tribes to exclusive use of the reserved land have not been challenged, until recently pro posed legislation. Exclusive use meant that the Indians would live apart from whites on land closed to white residency unless the permission Pf both the agent and superip- tendent was given. (This stated authority im plies that the reservation land was to be held in trust by the Federal government and super vised by its official representa tives, although that status was never spelled out specifically in the treaty.) Even now, non-tribal mem bers technically must be author ized to live on the reservation but the Tribes have chosen not to exercise automatic exclusion or employ a formal entrance sys tem. A clause in the tribal con stitution reserves the right of the Superintendent to remove any undesirable non-members who reside on the reservation. And, of course, desirable or not, none of the over 500 non-members now living on the reservation can own land, participate in tribal gov ernment, or otherwise enjoy citizenship rights held by tribal members. The Tribes have further opened the reservation by allow ing public fishing in some streams and lakes and maintain ing campgrounds for public use. While the Tribes retain the right to exercise exclusion, members have been free to live and use resources off the reser vation. The 1855 treaty placed no restriction on the movement of Indians and even reserved hunt ing and fishing rights at all “accustomed stations.”' The unfair and discredited Treaty of 1865 deprived the tribes of these rights, setting up a permit system for travel outside the boundaries. But this kink in local treaty history was ironed out as the obviously illegitimate treaty was largely ignored and finally abolished by court action in 1969. ~ The land shunned by the treaty-signers has turned out to be a valuable asset for the Confederated Tribes. Market able timber covers about 400,000 acres, extensive rangeland can support thousands of head of cattle, water resources border and traverse the reservation, hot springs support a tribally-owned resort, and there exists a good potential for agriculture. It is commonly agreed that the financial and political suc cess of the Confederated Tribes is in large part due to the valu able land base that has been kep intact since the reservation was established. The Dawes Several ty Act of 1887, which carved up many reservations into individu ally-owned allotments, had little effect on the Warm Springs Reservation. The wisdom of ancestors prevented the aliena tion (sale to the outside) of such individual allotments and many acres of land have been methodi cally returned to tribal owner ship in recent years. Of the total reservation acre age of 639,672.22, government land takes up only 16.02 acres and individual allotments com prise 61,168 acres. The rest — 578,488.20 acres — is tribal land, managed exclusively by the Tribes and their federal trustee as they see fit. Proponents of legislation that would abolish treaties and limit on-reservation water rights face bitter opposition from tribes for whom the loss of a protected landsbase and resources would be on^too many sacrifices. ■
