Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 1990)
"TIT" Spilyay Tymoo Warm Springs, Oregon August 10, 1990 Pages Original survey error causes McQuinn Strip conflicts In 1871, a survey ot lands set aside by treaty showed the north ern boundary of the Warm Springs Reservation to be much further south than the agreement stated. The western boundary was also affected.The Warm Springs Indi ans protested but it took 100 years for the boundary dispute to be settled. J The passage of Public Law 92 427 set both northern and western boundaries to the place agreed upon in the 1855 treaty signed at The Dalles, Oregon. It restored owner ship of 61,360 acres of land which were included in Mt. Hood and Willamette National Forests, and it put another 17,251 acres of pri vately owned land inside the reserv ation. The McQuinn strip, named after surveyor John A. McQuinn who validated the Warm Springs Tribes' claim annulled the original survey done by T. B. Handley. The mistake in the original sur vey is attributed to a discrepancy in the location ot the Mutton Moun tains. The Treaty states that the northeast corner of the Reserva tion is in the middle of the Deschutes River "opposite the eastern termi nus of a range of highlands usually known as the Mutton Mountains." At the time of the signing, the name Mutton Mountains was applied to one ridge and by the time the 1871 survey was carried out, it referred to another ridge. The surveyors started their surveys at different points. McQuinn's start being the correct one. Handley did not bother to talk with the Indians before he began his survey, whereas McQuinn did. McQuinn also referred to a sketch made at the time the treaty was signed. Although the McQuinn survey showed the error, white people who occupied land south of the McQuinn line protested thechange. A commission, appointed in 1890, was organized to make a study., The commission recommended the Handley line and in 1894 Congress adonted it as official. ; If mitsfy Sir w,ler?- a "he McQuinn Strip is approximately 61,360 acres starting in the mid-channel of the Deschutes River, running northwesterly to the seven and one-half mile post of theMcQuinnSurvey inl887, thenfollowingtheMcQuinn line northwesterly to its thirty mile point at Little Dark Butte in the Cascades, thence following the McQuinn survey southwesterly in a direct line to the summit oJMt. Jefferson, thence northeasterly and easterly on the line of the 1894 act. But any lands within theMt. Jefferson Wilderness Area are excluded from the McQuinn Strip. Reforestation methods can vary from Stephen Fitzgerald Deschutes County Extension forester(548-6088) Many people think timber har vesting is just the cutting of trees where they are later taken to the mill. Well cutting trees is only part of the whole process. When for esters plan harvest cutting, they must also decide what is the best way to reforest the site in order to ensure another crop of trees. There are many methods foresters use to reforest (regenerate) stands of trees. These methods are broken into two groups: evenaged systems and unevenaged systems. Evenage Methods: Evenage methods produce stands where all the trees are about the same age and are very uniform. These include clearcutting, shelter wood cuts, and seedtree cuts. Each of these methods is explained be low. Clearcutting: ; Clearcutting involves cutting all the trees on the site. The site is reforested by either planting with young seedlings, or the area is allowed to reforest by natural seed trom the surrounding uncut stand. Because seed production is often unpredictable, most sites are planted to ensure a new stand of trees. This method is very efficient for harvesting, but may be esthet ically unpleasing. Clearcutting is good for some wildlife species, such as big game, but may be det rimental to other species. Clearcut ting is a good method for replacing stands that have high degree of cull (rot and defect), heavy mistletoe, undesirable species composition. Seed Tree Cut: A seed tree cut involves harvest ing almost all trees on the site. A few large trees are left uniformly across the site to provide seed to establish the new stand. The seed trees are removed 3 to n years later, after the site is fully stocked with young seedlings. The primary disadvantage of seed tree cuts is that natural seeding is often unre liable. Shelterwood Cut: Shelterwood cut is similar to the seed tree cut except a few more large trees are left uniformly across the site to provide seed and shelter to the young seedlings below. Once the seedlings have become estab lished beneath (5 to 15 years), the "shelter" trees (sometimes called an overwood) can be removed. The overwood can be removed in one or more success cuts, eventually leaving the seedlings and saplings to make it on their own. This method produces a evenaged stand similar to a clearcut, but the over story that is left create a more esthetically pleasing landscape and provide more cover for certain spe cies of wildlife. The major draw back to the shelterwood method is that the establishment of seedlings is often spotty, resulting in an understocked stand. Unevenaged Methods: Unevenage harvest methods sometimes called unevenaged man agement create stands that con tain trees of all ages - from large trees to young seedlings and sap lings. Unevenaged management provides a continuous forest can opy and is esthetically pleasing. There are two methods for creating an all-aged forest. Individual Tree Selection: Selecting trees on an individual basis is the main criteria behind individual tree selection. Not only are large, mature removed in this kind of a harvest system, but small trees are thinned out as well to give them room to grow. As trees are removed through successive en tries, small openings are created where young seedlings establish. This maintains the continual estab lishment of trees over time. Group Selection: Group selection involves har vesting trees in small groups -from as few as three trees to up to 2 acres in size. This method basically Warm Springs Reservation white residents continued to protest. In 1917 Congress appropriated $5 thousand for another study. United States surveyor French Mensch said the McQuinn line was correct but with settlers occupying the land south of the line it would be difficult to move the Reserva tion boundary. Tribal leaders re jected the suggestion given by Mensch for cash compensation. Congress authorized the Con federated Tribes of Warm Springs in 19.10 to take their case to the U.S. Court of Claims. In 1941 that court accepted the McQuinn line as correct except for a triangle of land in the northeast corner, ap proximately 8,000 acre i. The court determined the value of the land included on the McQuinn strip and the small triangle plot to have an 1855 value of $80,295 plus interest totaling $241,084. But the Tribes were not paid that settlement. Instead, it ended up owing the government for the $252,089 expended on behalf of the Tribes. The U.S. Claims Court dismissed the case on the grounds that no money was actually owing to the Tribes. In 1943 Sen. Charles McNary and Rep. Lowell Stockman intro duced a bill setting the boundary on the McQuinn line. The Depart ments of Justice and Agriculture opposed it and the bill failed. A bill, introduced by Sen. Guy Cordon , was approved in 1948. It gave the Tribes gross revenues from lands within the McQuinn Strip. Through the 1970s $5,951,386 was received by the Tribes. However, the Warm Springs Tribal Council continued to seek ownership of the land. In 1971 Sen. Al Ullman introduced the McQuinn ownership bill stating that owner ship of the land was not a matter of money but "a matter of pride and justice." The bill seemed to proceed smoothly through Congress until May 1972 when U.S. Forest Ser vice chief John R. McGuire opposed the bill on behalf of theadministra tion. he called for a two year study of all Indian boundary claims. An identical bill introduced to the Senate Interior Committee by Sens. Mark Hatfield and Bob Packwood and the House Interior Committee was approved on July 26. On August 2, the full Senate passed the bill and only House approval remained. The Agriculture and Interior Departments, fearing is would establish an undesirable precedent, published administrative opposi tion in the House Republican Con ference Legislative Digest. But the House ignored the statement and passed the bill unanimously on September 7. 1972. On September 21, President Richard Nixon signed the bill. The small triangular portion in the nor theast corner was cxclucd, but the remainder of the land claimed since the 1 855 Treaty was restored to the Warm Springs Tribes. The Tribes continue to purchase fee putcnt lands located within the McQuinn strip. Information provided by A His tory of the McQuinn Strip by Gor don MacNab, published November 22, 1972. The McQuinn Strip Act The 1972 Act defining the McQuinn survey line as the northern boun dary of the Warm Springs Reservation makes the following provisions: Shares of counties in receipts from national forests shall not be affected. The act provides that counties with land in the McQuinn Strip may continue to count those acres in computing their shares of national forest revenue. Commercial timber shall continue to be sold by oral auction until January I, 1992 and the Confederated Tribes shall not bid. buy or remove timber until that date. Existing livestock grazing permits shall be honored until January I, 1992. All lakes shall be open to public fishing and have appropriate access. A right-of-way up to 200 feet in width for the Pacific Crest Trail shall continue to be held by the Secretary of Agriculture for administration under the National Trails Systems Act. The U.S. Forest Service may use without charge all fire lookout stations and the land and improvements at Bear Springs Ranger Station. State game laws shall be enforced under a cooperative agreement between the Tribes and the Oregon State Game Commission for ten years and may be renewed for another ten at the commission's option. However, the Sunflower Flats area west of the Simnasho-Wapinitia Road shall be closed to hunting unless the commission and the Tribes jointly decide otherwise. All public campgrounds shall be managed and maintained by the Tribes in perpetuity, wit h access on the same basis as comparable Forest Service campgrounds. An adequate fence lor control ot livestock shall be placed by the Tribes at the north ooundary; and the Tribes shall pay half the cost of fencing any fee patent lands within the McQuinn Strip if the owner wants to fence it. The Water Right Agreement of 1971 between the Confederated Tribes and the Juniper Flat District Improvement Co., shall apply to the McQuinn Strip lands. The Tribes are authorized to make rules and regulations and to enter into such contracts as are desirable in carrying out the provisions of the . act. Trap provides information on salmon In I07S th Rpeparrh nnH rVvpl- Trnut Prpplr and Ppltrin Rprponl.if. "We'd like to determine the rea opment" Section of the Oregon - irig" Dam. These 'arc' counted arid " son,"says the biologist. The reason uepanmeni oi risn ana wiiame mspeciea ior lags. began a study of fall chinook sal- A helicopter flight to count redds mon in the Deschutes River. The in the spring helps to complete the creates small evenaged groups. This method is easier to carry out in forests because logging activities are more concentrated for efficient skidding and because the larger openings make it easier for some species of trees, such as pines, to regenerate in the openings. To sustain harvesting over the long haul, it's important to have a good arrangement (size and age) of these small groups throughout the stand. Other definitions Catface: A scar on the surface of a log or tree, generally elliptical in shape, resulting from wounds that have not completely healed over. Conk: A hard, spore-bearing structure of a wood-destroying fungus, which projects beyond the bark of a tree. Cord: A volume measure of stacked wood. A standard cord is 4x4x8 feet or 128 cubic feet of space. Since round wood cannot be stack ed to give solid volume, actual wood volume varies between 70-90 cubic feet per cord. Cruising: Measuring standing trees to de termine the volume of wood on given tracts of land. Kerf: Width of a cut made by a saw. Humus: The plant and animal residue of the soil that have decomposed to the point where they are no longer recognized. Gyppo Logger: A self-employed, independent timber harvesting contractor who is not an employee of the log purchaser. Cull: A tree or log of merchantable size rendered unmerchantable be cause of poor form, large limbs, rot or other defects. goal of the study was defined as obtaining information necessary to make recommendations tor man aging hatchery and wild stocks. An adult migrant fish trap located above Sherar's Falls was installed in 1977 as part of this ongoing study to: 1. describe life history of the fall chinook; 2. estimate harv est and abundance; and 3. deter mine rearing and release schedule for hatchery chinook salmon to maximize return of adults. Costs for operation and maintenance of the trap are shared by the State and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. Fish are trapped above the ladder at Sherar's Falls between 5:00 p.m. and midnight from June 15 to October 31, the "peak movement period"for fall chinook, says Warm Springs fisheries biologist Mark Fritsch. The fish are measured and tagged afterwhich they are released back into the river. In addition to the trap, popula tion estimate data is collected by means of a carcass survey. Between October 15 and December salmon carcasses are recovered between population estimates. According to Fritsch, data indi cates that more fish are spawning below Sherar's Falls than above. Last year 65 percent of the fall chi nook spawned below while in the past a greater number were counted above the falls. UT v W HL- inr v i TER could range from harvest strate gies, poor habitat above the falls, no annual "flush and flow" which are naturally created by tributaries entering the river below Sherar's Falls, or even two separate races of salmon. Research is scheduled to con tinue as Tribal Natural Resources biologists and ODFW biologists look for answers. P l- , ... wC-r n . H M I t.tM wr j n. rrt aTf A tgn explains purpose of the Sherar's Falls trap to the public. - it1"" J "? ..." " . . " f. .? a" -. ip it ilia 4 1 1 I n i 9 A yp?jt;M 7 IE. J V7. 1'lf i . Recovery pool at Sherar's Falls fish trap b examined for needed modifications by (left to right) Oregon Depoartment of Fish and Wildlife trap operator Jim Burgett, Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission biologist Doug Hatch, Warm Springs biologist Mark Fritsch and CRITFC biologist Phil Mundy. 1