"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.
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A tgn explains purpose of the Sherar's Falls trap to the public.
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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.
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