Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 12, 1998)
Business and Economic Development Business and Economic De velopment is the smallest branch in the Organization in terms of employees. During the peak season, in the summer of 1997, the branch employed 40 people. However, the branch usually has only 11 full-time employees. The branch has a six-point Mission Statement. 1 . Bring new family-wage job opportunities to the Warm Springs Reservation. 2. Help tribal members achieve success in private busi ness ventures at Warm Springs. 3. Propose changes to the business infrastructure at Warm Springs to improve the investment environment. 4. Promote the diversifica- Compensation and Benefits and Managed Care The Compensation and Ben efitsManaged Care Branch en compasses two areas of respon sibility. The Compensation and Benefits department assures employees receive fair salaries, health and retirement benefits. The Managed Care Program as sures that people eligible for its services receive quality health service at a fair price to the program. The Managed Care Program became a part of the branch in became a part of the branch in 1993 when the Tribe assumed i.A..nt ui,n HoaiA ure uuira uuui uiu' Service through a 638 contract. Since then, the Program, with, a staff of seven, saved over $900,000. This was accom- fining which health care givers are offerine cualitv care at fair prices Through prudent manage- ment of resources, the Man- aged Care Program was able to process and pay all reterrais tor health care without having to .;0r,fo nri in aHrHrinn naiH for a variety of on-site clinics by outside providers. Another notable event in 1997 was the decision to dis continue using Mountain View District Hospital in Madras for non-emergency services. After Natural Resources Branch- With a budget of approxi mately $1.3 million, and a work force of well over 100, the Natu ral Resource Branch provides an invaluable service to the res ervation through its diversified departments. Those depart ments consist of Water & Soil, Range & Agriculture, Fish, Wildlife & Parks, GIS, Forestry, Cultural Resources, Realty, and Policy & Planning. The Cultural Resource Pro gram developed a comprehen sive cultural resource manage ment plan to meet the intent of Ordinance 56 and 68, as well as Integrated Resource Manage ment Plan (IRMP) 1 & 2 and beyond. The Program alsocom pleted the cultural resource in ventory and documentation of reservation lands within the Lower Deschutes Wild and Sce nic River corridor. There were a number of other significant accomplishments in 1997 in- tUo vnnnmir hasp at Warm Springs. that impact the business com- 5. Assist the Tribal Council munity. A revised Flood Con to develop and expand Tribal trol Ordinance, allowing con Government and tribal enter- trolled development in flood prise revenue sources. hazard areas, was adopted by 6. Develop links between the Tribal Council. The Land Use reservation workforce skill de- Committee is reviewing pro-velopmentandnewjoboppor- posed zoning changes to the lilies. Commercial Zone in conjunc- The top achievement for the tion with an update to the branch in 1997 was helping Warm Springs Community tribal members finance busi- Plan. Also under review are ness start-ups and expansions changes to Tribal law that through the WarmSprings Eco- would establish a Tribal Com nomic Development Fund es- mercial Code and create a legal tablished by Tribal Council. A environment more conducive committee was appointed to to private business investment administer the $650,000 busi- on the reservation, ness equity grant program. Another area of success was rhir ncr the vear. iriDal Council and committees con- years of unusually high charges due to its billing practices, the decision was made to call in the Inspector General, whose au- an or mounuui viCv uu is still on-gomg. The Managea StlcSPS Central Oreeon District Hospi tal, St. Charles Medical Center, and Prineville Memorial Hos pital. This provided for a smooth shifting of referrals to these hospitals away from Mountain View Hospital. The Compensation and Ben efits department had a number of achievements in 1997. The department updated the Tribe's salary range structure ... i'j Tni SUUUU1C wmcn rehuueu m pu ees receiving salary increases employees aoove me max - mum of then- range had their salaries frozen until further .......... i "Vedepan.aUoi.np.e- menieu quaiieny gi""!-' ben efits meetings to keep employ ees informed on their policies l" r1 tu "t Seventy-five percent to eighty percent ot the adrrunis- trative duties for the Tribe's pension plan was assumed by the department in 1997. The department, comprised of three tribal member employ ees, reviewed and made rec- ommendations for the Tribes Salary Range Structure as sisted with recoenizine and j adjusting the green circled em ployees, and reviewed all hires,personnel actions and ter mination forms for Salary Ad ministration Compliance. eluding establishing a program and mechanism for conduct ing oral traditionsoral histo . ries for on and off reservation projects. A working relation ship was established with For estry, Oregon State University and the tribal community for huckleberry management on the reservation. A Ford Foun dation Grant will assist with the huckleberry project. Forestry had a busy year with salvage of the Jefferson and Simnasho Fires at the top of the list. The salvage operation es tablished how the Natural Re source Branch could work to gether to be a more effective and cohesive unit. The opera tion received praise from vari ous organizations, agencies and members of the media. There were 11 sales in 1997 which removed a total volume of 72,054,080 board feet of which 67,147,200 board feet were chargeable. This was a total value of over $17.5 million. The Water & Soil department was actively engaged in the Water Rights Settlement Agree ment signed with the State of sidered several policy issues tne irioes smau dusuos uc- velopment Center acquiring new Small Business Associa tion computer hardware and business software. The Center also sponsored several initia tives including a new business development program specifi cally designed to help women Winpss. a y 192, the Small Business De- Comprehensive Eight Planning Teams orga nized and grouped into three Core Teams to foster inter branch coordination: Cool Team: Governmental Affairs B.I.A. A.S.C. Public Safety, Courts Mega Team:Economic uevel- . T- TT C opmenw riiidiH.e,nuinctiijei- Education Per- v"-c ' ' Techno Team: Public Utilities R Resources Uge ; . ' i: tSffi o, rure ana j ransDorraaon viv- staffcommittees members in volved in the planning process (from approximately 20 to over 75), providing planning and leadership opportunities tor team members Met with Committees and Community Groups to collect - w . . Issue and Values information: Comprehensive Plan Fair - February 1997 Mpt with Madras Middle and High School Students (800 tion planning and Joint Corn students, approximately 400 mittee issues (i.e. examining the Tribal Member students) role of committees). Other community groups in- Process Team produced a eluding Tribal Council, Com- Comprehensive Plan Orienta- mittees, Family Conference, tion Video for use at commu- Men's Conference, Small Busi- nity meetings Oregon and the United States in November 1997. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt joined Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber and a number of other dignitaries for this land mark event held at Kah-Nee-Ta. Other achievements for the department included assisting the Water Control Board and the Tribal Planning department in the development of the Flood Ordinance which was adopted by Tribal Council. The Wet lands Inventory was also com pleted in 1997 and integrated into the GIS System. This is being used in the management of resources on the Reserva tion. The Parks and Recreation completed its master-planning process for Lake Billy Chinook Island Day Use Area and In dian Park Campground. They also worked with the U.S. For est Service to either get Brietenbush Lakecampground funded orclose the access road. Wildlife provided input into the FERC relicensing process for the Round ButtePelton Hydroelectric projects, as did velopment Center has become very important to people. In 1997, 2,771 people visited the center. The Center provided technical business assistance services to 33 businesses. There were 10 graduates of the busi ness class sessions during 1997. They also assisted in 17 new business starts and expansions during the year, and an addi tional 40 new clients sought assistance regarding the new equity business grant program during the last three months of 1997. The branch initiated a "Youth in Business" project and, with the assistance of the WEDD Program, recruited lo cal high school youth for sum mer employment opportunities in Jefferson County. The Construction Depart ment completed work on the Simnasho road widening project, as well as the HUD housing project. The depart mpnt also implemented new job cost software to better track and manage con&irucuun - projects. Plan Update- ness Association, Grade School Teachers, Culture and Heritage staff, Operational Managers, Veterans, Women's Resource Association, W.E.D.D. staff, I.H.S.B.I.A.staff and several individual tribal members. Vision and Goal Survey (in cluded with 1997 Budget Mail out) Identified changes since 1983 Plan and began getting input on updating the commu nity Vision, Values and Goals for the next 20 years ' ' s Received $70,000 grant from the Administration for Native Americans to help with the costs of the updated plan Received tunding trom and B.I.A. to assist with updat- mg comprehensive nan 3 j Enhanced various coordina tion efforts, including work with managers to connect stra- tegic and long term planning, i i t- i ; including enterprises in turn- munity planning, benchmarking, family court, Tribal Relations Communica- many of the departments within the Natural Resource Branch. Pine Creek Ranch was also acquired during 1997 by the Wildlife department. ; Fisheries collected key infor mation on fish populations that will be affected by the recent expected Endangered Species Act listings. This will enable the department to make better management decisions regard ing these populations. Popula tions effected are bull trout, summer steelhead and fall chinook salmon. Fisheries also established dialogue with USFWS and NMFS (policy and technical) relative to local ESA listings. The listings have the potential to dramatically im pact local fisheries manage ment. Fisheries planned and imple mented fish habitat protection measurers, including 500 ero sion control structures, for the Simnasho Fire salvage sale. They also completed watershed restoration projects with the Range and Ag Department that included 12 miles of riparian fencing on the Deschutes River Internal Audit Compliance The Internal Audit and Bud get Compliance functions have historically been placed with the Finance Branch. However, in 1997, the need to provide a more effective and efficient process for those functions brought about the removal of these offices from the Branch of Finance. Work load distri bution did not allow the func tions to occur efficiently. Both offices were not able to effec tively review and evaluate the control system because of the day-to-day activities needed to maintain the financial record systems of the Tribe. With Tribal Council Resolu tion 9014 authorizing the audit of any funding over $2,000, the staff of two Internal Auditors and a Compliance Officer were moved directly under the Sec retary Treasurer and Tribal Council, with a budget of al most $168,000 A Responsibility Statement was developed for the office. It established a responsibility in reference to the internal audit Five steps to updating the Plan Phase 1 October '98 Tribal Council Review Adoption Phase 5 September's Print Proposed Comp. Plan Summary Phase 4 Jurie Highlight I rhmnii A Tranda l V-A 8lnce1983 L ,k...Jv Dralt f X 1 f .TMdupd. mzTr Icomprshsnslve "tL Banchmarks J V y CULTURAL J , t ;i i VALUE8 I. p x e x ( Otslgnlntbmiatlon Build Action Maintanancali Plans to achltva t Goals 4 Prlorltlas Organizational Input Increased the communica tion with community with sev eral community meetings, ra dio announcements and pro grams, 24 articles in the Spilyay Tymoo newspaper, one article in the Madras Pioneer, Quar and 5 miles of riparian fencing on the Warm Springs River and associated Water develop ments. Fisheries was engaged in a number of off-reservation activities including the estab lishment of a Confederated Tribes Restoration Office in the John Day basin. Cooperative efforts of the Tribe, Bureau of Reclamation and the Bonneville Power Administration will turn the tide in the continued habi tat degradation in the John Day basin which threatened fish and fish habitat. Range and Ag was involved in a number of projects associ ated with grazing groups, tim ber sales, prescribed fire devel opment plans and application, range improvement projects and the Comprehensive Plan. The GIS program has become an integral part of many branches because of services offered. GIS supports many ef forts on behalf of the Organiza tion through its mapping capa bilities. GIS also is called upon for its extensive reservation natural resource information and inventory data. and Budget functions. The statement in cludes objective, policy, scope, reporting responsibilities and operations of the Internal Au dit Department. With the auditcompliance moving into a stand-alone branch, there are some imme diate advantages. They are: To have an independent auditing function established as a service to the organization. Evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of the system of internal control. Determine compliance with policy, procedures, laws and regulations. Evaluate controls over safe guards of assets and data. Evaluate controls that en sure the reliability and integ rity of information. Recommend operating im provements. The bottom line is that with a heavier emphasis on account ability means a healthier bot tom line for the Organization. Community & Organizational Input Dm Phase z Updat Visions, Goals & Benchmarks March '98 Committee, Community Organizational Input Phases '98 terly Update including commu nity calendar, an orientation video and other promotional materials Well received Comprehen sive Plan presentation at 1997 Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Economic Summit The Natural Resource work place consists of 644,000 acres of reservation land and 10 mil lion acres of ceded land. The Warm Springs Indian Reserva tion is home to over 2,000 cattle, 1,800 horses, 3,500 deer, 1,000 elk, 150 bear, 1 antelope, 956 adult spring chinook salmon (including 107hatchery adults), and 15 jacks spring chinook salmon (including 6 hatchery jacks). PELTON-ROUND BUTTE RELICENSING The First Stage Consultation Document (FSCD) was released for public review and comment in March 1997. The FERC re quired public meeting on the FSCD was held in May. Several public comments were received and formally responded to. This, then, initiated the study phase of the relicensing pro cess as follows: Fish and Wildlife: The Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment (EDT) process was applied to the fisheries is sue and the Visions and Values Continued on page 3