Spilyay Tymoo
Warm Springs, Oregon
February 8, 2001 5
V
A field tour was held Feb. 3 to
discuss a 4 million board foot timber
sale being planned for areas outside
the commercial forest. The tour gave
tribal members an opportunity to see
the areas being proposed for harvest
and to offer comments.
A second tour was postponed,
and rescheduled for Feb. 14. Partici
pants will leave the Forestry complex
at 9 a.m. Lunch will be provided.
The primary focus of the tours
is 4 million board feet of timber be
ing planned for harvest in visual cor
ridors and riparian zones adjacent to
highways 26 and 216. The "Gang of
Four" appointed by Tribal Council to
seek short- and long-term solutions
to an economic crisis at Warm
Springs Forest Products Industry
(WSFPI) recommended the volume.
Project leader Mark Brown de
scribed some of the harvest methods
and prescriptions being considered
for the sale during his presentation
last week. He said all of the blocks
selected for harvest will be thinned
to alleviate forest health problems
such as overcrowding, mistletoe or
root rot.
"All of the harvest units will be
thinned to promote health of the re
siduals," said Brown. "We also want
to minimize the visual impacts as
much as possible."
All of the logging will be done
with ground-based equipment and
planners do not want to change the
visual corridor in any radical way, so
special care will have to be taken in
order to preserve the scenic quality
of the areas being harvested. Trees
will be cut close to the ground to
shorten stump heights and heavy
equipment will be kept out of sensi
tive areas as precautions against vi
sual impacts.
Most of the logging will occur
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Trees in visual corridors along Highway 26 may be thinned under timber sale planned by Forestry.
in areas that are not included in the
annual allowable cut calculation. This
will include riparian B zone buffers,
but not the A zone buffers that are
closest to the streams. For example,
Beaver Creek, which runs adjacent to
Highway 26, has an A zone buffer of
100 feet (each side of the stream), so
nothing will be cut within 100 feet of
Beaver Creek.
WSFPI had planned to lay off '
approximately 65 workers before the
first of the year, but Tribal Council
appointed the Gang of Four to seek '
solutions to the problem and their
short-term recommendation was to ,
harvest the 4 million board feet of tim
ber and delay employee layoffs until
February.
The Forestry and Natural Re
sources branches were directed to find
.the timber in areas outside the com
mercial forest base, so as not to af
fect the annual allowable cut.
Hood River site
pursued for
gaming facility
The Tribal Council, by a vote of 10-0, decided to pursue
the possibility of building a gaming facility on trust land located
in the Columbia River Gorge just cast of Hood River. Tribal
Council directed the Gaming Board of Directors and other tribal
officials to move forward on the Hood River site, which could
generate annual gaming revenues in excess of $100 million.
The trust land overlooking the Columbia River east of I lood
River could be developed for gaming purposes under the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act. The 40-acre parcel is located just off
the area's most heavily traveled highway (Interstate 84) approxi
mately 60 miles from downtown Portland.
Early efforts to build a casino in the Columbia Gorge fo
cused on tribal fee lands near Cascade Locks. Local residents
supported the idea, but the governor would not approve the
project, as required under the Gaming Act, so Tribal Council has
decided to pursue other options.
While some residents in Hood River have vocally opposed
a tribal casino in their county, the property in question lies out
side the city's urban growth boundary and is exempt from strict
land-use regulations specified under the Gorge Scenic Act. Even
more importantly, the property can be developed without the
governor's approval.
Most of the hurdles associated with the Hood River prop
erty have to do with construction. The trust parcel is situated on
a steep slope that will require considerable excavation to create a
suitable building site. Planners have estimated the cost of build
ing a two-story gaming facility, six-level parking structure and
related amenities at approximately $150 million.
Offsetting the lofty price tag associated with development
are the equally lofty projections of potential income. Forecast
studies suggest gross annual gaming revenues could top $130
million annually. The site's close proximity to Interstate 84 and
easy access from Portland make it a prime location for tribal
gaming facilities.
Several issues related to development of the Hood River
property have yet to be resolved. The Gaming Board is currently
trying to obtain legal access to the site, securing additional engi
neering assessments, and negotiating with state and local agen
cies having regulatory authority in the region.
Tribal officials will hold public meetings to discuss strate
gies for gaming expansion in the months ahead.
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The Family Resource Center, top left, will be in the renovated former Indian Health Services building. Del
Towell, bottom left, discusses preparations, above, for construction of the wastewater treatment plant.
Warm Springs Construction
Enterprises soon will be working on
highway and other construction
projects off the Warm Springs Res
ervation. That possibility comes thanks
j to its recent designation as a tribal
enterprise by the Warm Springs
Tribal Council.'
The construction office joins
several other tribal enterprises, in
i eluding Warm Springs Power Enter
' prises, Kah-Nee-Ta, Indian Head
i Casino, Warm Springs Composite
. Products and Warm Springs Forest
Products.
In the year 2000, construction
administered just more than $9 mil
i lion in contracts, some of them com
pleted from previous years. The en
terprise designation is to allow the
department to bring in outside income
to the tribes.
- ,"We have to act like any other
business now," said Del Towell, gen
eral manager of Construction Enter
prises. In addition to bringing in
money, Towell's goal is to increase
employment opportunities.
"My goal here is to totally em
ploy tribal members," said Towell,
"and to keep our people working
year-round."
In 2000, 76 workers were em
ployed in construction for a payroll
of just over $1 million. Of those, 50
were Warm Springs tribal members,
with another 20 married into the tribe
or from other tribes.
The enterprise builds roads,
bridges and buildings; it also operates
the rock quarries around the reserva
tion. Recent projects include the
renovated Family Resource Center on
the campus (the brick building that
used to house Indian Health Ser
vices), a number of new homes and
five bridges replaced last year.
The tribal council has asked
Construction Enterprises to bring in
$150,000 in profits this year. Towell
estimates that will require a contract
or contracts totaling $2 million.
YciGsal Co&QimciB caEneOidlao piroinniDSGS openninieso il? GDecGedl
To the editor,
I would like to thank those of
you who are encouraging my bid for
Tribal Council Simnasho District. I
was approached three years ago to
run, but decided to wait for awhile. I
am now humbled and moved to be
approached again to run, in which I
have decided I will run for office. The
younger generations are becoming
more aware and want more involve
ment in all aspects of Tribal Govern
ment. This is a good indication of all
of our intentions. We all w ant the best
for our children, grandchildren and
the unborn. This is something we all
strive for, as one family, one Tribe.
I w ill not make any promises I
can't keep. I w ill, however, do what I
can to build a rapport and enhance
communication between the Council,
Management, Committees, Enter
prises and most importantly the
people. Without these key ingredi
ents, the Council cannot function and
be successful. No communication, no
success; it's that simple. District Rep
resentatives must strive to get along
with each other and the Chiefs. We
can no longer allow petty differences,
politics and personal agendas get in
the way and put our Tribe in jeop
ardy. I will also take the initiative to
call for a General Council once a
month, quarterly written reports to the
people and set aside at least 30 min
utes to I hour one the daily agenda
for any Tribal member to come in and
talk with the Council. Tribal members
should not have to fight for an audi
ence with the Council. It shouldn't
matter what age you are; anyone
should be able to come in and talk.
The Council needs to open up
the lines of communication. There
should only be a minimum of "Ex
ecutive Sessions" and the secret bal
lots need to be done away with. The
people deserve to know where their
representatives stand. The Casino bid
for Hood River. This should have
been taken to the people from the very
onset. A lot of money, time and re
sources could have been spared for
this futile bid. The people w anted here
on our own Reservation as evident
with the Referendum regarding gam
ing. Overwhelmingly the people shut
it down for a Madras Casino. If the
Council went to the people first, I
believe we could have already been
planning or building a Casino right
here in Warm Springs. Another ex
ample is the Rose Garden Sky Box.
This should have been taken to the
people for this huge financial com
mitment; are we getting a return on
this investment? There are many is
sues that face the Tribes and they all
are important. The above issues I
touched on are only a few examples
that can be easily solved. The Coun
cil just needs to take a better initia
tive to talk with the people. In order
for the organization and enterprises
to run smoothly and effectively we
must rely on the people who know it
best. These people are the front line
employees. It is they who are the arms
and legs of our economic livelihood.
Why must we continue to rely on
outside sources, consultants and over
look our Tribal members that have
been working here for years? With
out a few basic key ingredients where
will the Council take us? It only takes
bare bones common sense to get a feel
for what the people want.
Like I said earlier, I will not
make any promises I can't keep.
However, I w ill promise to make writ
ten reports to the people on a quar
terly basis, written reports on travel
ing, and go and speak with all of the
employees about the day-to-day op
erations of our Tribes. I would bring
back Honesty, Integrity and fairness
back to the Council by my own ex
ample. It is time for the rules, regula
tions and holding everybody and ev
ery department and enterprise ac
countable. There needs to be leader
ship by example, thus earning respect
These are only a few things I wanted
to touch on.
Thank you.
Floyd Calica
Simnasho District member
Warm Springs