OR, COLL .
E
75
.S68
v. 26
no. 18
September
6, 2001
ft
P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
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News fi
the Warm Springs Indian Reservation September- 6, 2001 Vol. 26, No. 10
35 cents
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IHbes consider
charter school
By Dare McMechan
Spilyay staff
Tribal officials arc exploring
the possibility of developing a
public charter school in Warm
Springs.
If the Tribal Council deter
mines that a charter school is
right for Warm Springs, then the
new school could open as soon
as the fall of 2003, said Olncy Patt
Jr., chairman of the council.
In the meantime, developing
a charter school proposal would
involve extensive planning and
cooperation among all interested
parties, especially between the
Confederated Tribes and School
District 509-J, said Willy Fucntcs,
the tribes' chief operations of
ficer.
Patt said that a charter school
in Warm Springs could begin by
serving local students of middle
school grades 5-8. Currently, all
Warm Springs middle school stu
dents travel to the Jefferson
County Middle School in Ma
dras. A charter school in Warm
Springs would provide students
with an option of where to at
tend school, said Patt.
A charter school is publicly
funded, but functions indepen
dently of the school district.
There are currently 16 charter
schools in the state, with another
25 in the development stages.
Continued on Page 5
Council approves
traditional leave policy
The Tribal Council last week
adopted a policy providing some
tribal workers a leave of absence
from their ('cmpT6yment F6Fpur-
poses of preparing for traditional
events and activities.
The Council adopted the tra
ditional leave policy only in re
gard to employees of the tribal
government.
In the future, the boards of di
rectors of the various tribal en
terprises may also consider adopt
ing the same or similiar policies,
said Benson Heath, personnel
director.
The vote by the Council last
week on the traditional leave
policy was three council mem
bers in favor, two against, and one
abstention.
Voting in favor were Council
man Zane Jackson, Council
woman Bernice Mitchell and
Chief Dclvis I Ieath.
" " Opposed were Council vice
chairman Garland Brunoe, and
Councilwoman Carolyn Wewa.
Councilman Raymond Calica
abstained from the vote.
Wewa explained that she and
Brunoe were not against the idea
of the traditional leave policy.
Instead, Wewa said that in her
opinion some parts of the pro
posed policy needed further clari
fication. As the Council has approved
the traditional leave policy, a new
provision will be added to the
personnel manual for tribal gov
ernment employees, said Benson
Heath.
Continued on Page 5
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Back in
the swing
of things
Photo by Dave McMechan ptlOtOS Of) Page 3.)
The weather was a bit chilly, but in the
excitement of the first day of the new
school year, the students were feeling
hopeful and full and energy. Many of the
305 students of Warm Springs Hlementary
arrived at the school early Wednesday
morning, allowing themselves some time
to make use of the playground, and to
visit before class with friends and teachers.
The bell for the first class of the new
year rang at 8:30 a.m., and the students
made their way to the classrooms. For
everyone - the students and the 23
teachers - it was an exciting time.
l or the second-graders the first day of
school was almost like returning to a
familiar setting. This was true because
first graders at Warm Springs FJementary
remain with the same teacher and class
through the second grade. Older students
from the Warm Springs community -grades
5-12 - returned this week to school
in Madras. This year, the Warm Springs
fifth-graders are the only fifth-grade class
at Jefferson County Middle School, as
Madras Elementary now includes fifth
grade classes.
Tyrone Saludo joins schoolmates on
playground before class. (More school
Enterprise zone to promote new business
New law removes
possible double tax
The Oregon Legislature this
year passed a tax law that encour
ages new business development
on the reservation.
The new law, signed recently
by Gov. Kitzhaber, does two
main things in the area of taxa
tion of potential new private busi
nesses on the reservation.
Firstly, the law eliminates the
possibility of double taxation -by
the tribes and by the state -on
businesses.
Secondly, the law, known as
I IB 2332, allows the tribes to pro
vide a tax incentive - a three-year
deferral of county property tax -for
new businesses that locate on
the reservation.
"HB 2332 is the strongest ex
pression of support for reserva
tion economic development by
any state legislature," said
Michael Mason, lobbyist for the
tribes.
Support from the Confeder
ated Tribes was instrumental in
gaining the passage of the new
law during the 2001 legislative
session, Mason said.
HB2332 is based on a similar
law adopted by the New Mexico
Legislature, but the new Oregon
law reaches further than the law
passed in New Mexico, Mason
said.
Offsets the state tax
Under HB 2332, a business
that opens on the reservation,
and which is subject to a tribal
tax, can deduct from its state tax
income statement the entire
amount of the tribal tax.
The New Mexico law allows
a business that operates on a res
ervation to deduct up to 50 per
cent of the tribal tax on its state
return.
Continued on Page 10
M
ill adjusts to reduced reservation timber harvest
WSFPI mill superintendent John Katchia inspects stacks of lumber.
Photo by Dave McMechan
WSFPI to buy more
off-reservation logs
By Dave McMechan
Spiljaj staff
Jody Calica is among the tribal offi
cials who believe strongly in the changes
that have happened over the past decade
in forest management on the reservation.
Calica, general manager of tribal Natu
ral Resources, says that the high timber
harvest levels of the previous years and
decades are over.
A combination of factors - unsustain
. able harvest levels of the past, and events
like wind blow-downs of timber have
required a significant change in how the
reservation forestland is managed, Calica
said.
Reducing the timber harvest level on
the reservation does not mean, though,
that the tribes cannot continue to create
new jobs, including jobs directly tied to
timber, said Calica.
In the long run, he said, his hope is
that Warm Springs Forest Products Indus
tries (WSFPI) will add new jobs, even
though the timber harvest on the reser
vation is less than in previous years.
This can be accomplished, Calica said,
through development of a new value-
added component at the mill.
Rather than selling lumber, the mill in
stead could further process die lumber into
trusses, or into small pre-fabricated camp
ing cabins.
The tribes themselves might even use the
cabins to develop a recreational site on the
reservation, generating more revenue, Calica
said.
In other words, opportunities do exist for
the tribes to reduce the annual timber har
vest to a sustainable level, while at the same
time creating jobs, he said. WSFPI "needs
to make the leap into value-added products,"
said Calica.
Larry Potts, manager of the WSFPI mill,
agrees that expanding the value-added part
of the mill is a way to create jobs in the
future. Currently, the mill has a small value
added department that in time should grow,
said Potts.
The workers at this department, headed
by Jack Ianglcy, add value to lumber mainly
by upgrading pieces that otherwise would
have much lesser value.
This involves more sorting and cutting
than happens during the regular milling
process.
The WSFPI value-added department be
gan operating in April of last year.
Continmd on Page 5
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