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. ■