Page 10
These are drawings of various petroglyphs of bighorn sheep.
Dalles area. Courtesy of The Museum at Warm Springs.
Bighorn return ...
Continued from Page 1
At that time there were an
estimated 1.5 million to 2 mil
lion bighorns, said Terry
Luther, Fish and Wildlife man
ager for the Tribes.
The current population of
bighorn sheep is estimated at
2 percent of what it was prior
to the arrival of the white set
tlers, said Luther.
For at least a few decades
there were no bighorn sheep
in Oregon. Before the state be
gan its reintroduction program
in the 1950s, the last sighting
of a California bighorn in Or
'egon happened in 1906.
The California bighorn is a
relative of the Rocky Moun
tain bighorn, which in Oregon
can be found in the Wallowa
Mountains.
In 1954, Oregon wildlife
officials released bighorn sheep
into the Hart Mountain area.
The sheep came from British
Columbia. This was the first
bighorn transplant in Oregon,
said Luther.
The new Hart Mountain
bighorn herd in time grew to
where sheep from this popula
tion were used for transplant
ing to other mountainous ar
eas. There are now about 3,000
California bighorn sheep in
Oregon at various locations.
The Mutton Mountains
were one of the best remain
ing reintroduction sites not yet
stocked with bighorns, said
Luther.
Talk of reintroducing the
sheep into the Muttons began
at least back in the 1950s, when
Joe Warner worked at Natural
Resources, Luther said.
Luther, who has been with
Natural Resources for 24 years,
has been working on the rein
troduction project for the past
15 years. Wildlife biologist
Doug Calvin, and biological
technician Stanley Simtustus
have also been working on the
bighorn project.
Workforce Development Depart
To the community, the fol
lowing is the quarterly update
from the Workforce Develop
ment Department.
During the past quarter, the
department had over 2,478
contacts from customers (this
includes some repeat of per
sonal contacts, telephone calls,
and drop-in calls.)
The department partici
pated in what the tribes is call
ing the "Navigator Project,"
which has to do with focusing
on specific employment ef
forts. It appears that the focus
will start out with a work crew,
which is very similar to what
we've been doing since 1988.
The other project involves car
pentryconstruction, which is
al something we've been do
ing nince 1986. It is believed
that these projects will be
implemented in early 2002.
The department completed
five homes during this past
quarter, and is currently work
ing on a couple more through
IS)
't ff
With the bighorns now be
ing reintroduced, the Confed
erated Tribes are seeing years
of planning and preparation at
an important juncture. Every
one should realize, Luther said,
that we all must provide stew
ardship of the Mutton Moun
tains bighorn herd.
A main concern, he said, is
poaching, which already hap
pens to deer and elk on the res
ervation. If the bighorns are
poached, then the long-term
reintroduction will riot suc
ceed. Protecting the sheep against
poachers cannot be left only to
wildlife law enforcement. In
stead, everyone has to be mind
ful. If tribal members in the
future want to see and on oc
casion hunt the bighorns, then
the herd has to survive and
grow, said Luther.
If the herd fails, then
ODFW will likely not partici
pate in a second reintroduc
tion, said Luther.
Tribal Council policy is that
only tribal members will be
eligible to hunt the bighorns
that live on the reservation.
If the new herd does well,
then in three to five years a lim
ited number of tags - perhaps
just one or two annually - will
become available, said Luther.
A ram California bighorn
sheep can weigh up to 350
the winter.
Workforce Development
has requests to build more
Demo and private homes next
spring. "We have ten home
sites at Sunnyside subdivision,
and arc still waiting for water
and sewer lines to go in at Elk
Ix)op to build more homes,"
the department report states.
The department's Special
Work Project Crew did several
forestry projects, which in
cluded tree planting, tree card
ing, gopher trapping, and tree
thinning.
"We cut resale firewood as
much as we could, up until we
were shut out of the woods due
to fire season," the report
states. "We have firewood for
sale. Contract WIDD at 553
3324. The reason we bought
resale permits is because we
need to be a more self-reliant
operation with the budget con
straints upon us."
As the year ends, the depart
ment has one program budget,
. 5 ... ...... .j
''! It "
.I A
The petroglyphs are from The
.
pounds. Its horns
continue to grow
during its lifetime.
You can tell the age,
of a sheep by exam-'
ining the rings of the
horns. A bighorn
sheep can live to be
tween 10 and 12
years of age.
If the Mutton
Mountain herd does
well, then some of
the sheep may even
tually be used by
ODFW for trans
planting to another
location. This is a term of the
agreement between the Con
federated Tribes and the state.
A transplanting project
costs about 700 per sheep, so
with 20 sheep, the Mutton
Mountain reintroduction can
be expected to cost about
$14,0OO.This cost is being cov
ered through a BIA wildlife
management contract.
The 20 sheep being intro
duced into the Mutton Moun
tains are part of a larger state
wide transplant involving
about 100 animals.
Some of the 20 sheep' com
ing to the Mutton Mountains
will be ewes that are pregnant
In this way, the transport of the
20 sheep will soon result in a
larger herd.
The Tribal Council resolu
tion that provides for reintro
duction of the bighorns onto
the reservation states in part:
"The Tribal Council be
lieves that the reintroduction
of bighorn sheep into their tra
ditional habitat in the Mutton
Mountains is highly desirable
and furthers tribal objectives
of fully developing the natural
habitat and wildlife resources
of the reservation."
The story of the return of
the bighorns to the Mutton
Mountains will continue in the
next edition of the Spilyay Ty
moo. which exceeded, due to die vol
umes of tribal members com
ing in for service. This particu
lar budget has been operating
on only 35 percent of what it
med to have.
"Over time, we've lost 65
percent of what we used to
have. Our programs are a big
part of the Tribal Council's
number one priority, cmployj
mcnt. We very much need to
be a priority because we help
the people regain cmployabil
ity and self-reliance. ;
Tribal members not only
benefit from hands-on training
and development, but when
coupled with a classroom
training approach, their
knowledge and skills are en
hanced even more.
The department served 114
youth with a tribally funded
summer work opportunity
and served 31 eligible youth
with a federally funded sum
mer work opportunity. There
were 403 working age tribal
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon January 10, 2002
u-.l
3
V
Photot by Tina Agullar
Andtihe
wkmeris
Cece Herrera, 2002's
Miss Warm Springs, was
flanked by Natasha
Mares, left, and Vera
. Smith, right, before the
announcement of the
pageant winner. Herrera,
who graduated in 2001
from Madras High School,
was previously Junior
Miss Warm Springs and
Miss PRJrne-Sha 2001.
- During her reign she will
be an ambassador for the
i commurjlty at powwows,
conferences, parades and
other gatherings.
Council
seeks
prevention
projects
member youth in 2001.
"So we basically were able
to serve 28 percent of them. In
2002, there will be 548 work
ing age tribal member youth;
For 2002, we will accept sum
mer job applications from
youth 14-17 years of age start
ing spring break-no sooner.
"We aren't sure if we will be
able to fund after School work
under the tribal funds due to
the amount of youth who will
be applying to work during the
summer. Youth who are eli
gible for WIA, we do have six
after school work slots. Eligi
bility primarily has to do with
household income criteria."
The department began set
ting up skills bank on adults
and youth who have come
through the WFDD programs.
"While we are capturing the
pre-employment skills, the
tribe could also benefit from
someone capturing all current
employee's skills."
The report also states the
Av
i!
I
, : ... A
i m mm 1 1
.'iJ.
The Warm Springs Council on Alcohol & Drugs is look
ing to develop cornmunity based, youth prevention projects.
Persons, families or community groups who have any
jidea about a project or an activity that would help families
and prevent alcohol and drug use are urged to contact the
Alcohol & Drug Council.
The Council would like to see more community mem
bers involved in providing cultural activities, such as weekly
craft nights or art clubs, throughout the community.
' To help do this the Council has limited funds that can
be used to purchase materials and food to support the ac
tivities people might want to do.
If you are interested please write down your idea and
what you think it might cost to do the project and give it
to Sheilah Wahnetah at the Community Counseling Cen
terPrevention Office, or call at 553-3205. . '.
The Council will review these ideas and get back with
you.
. Please get your ideas in by January 31, 2002.
updates
following:
With the old JTPA program
closing out and new Compre
hensive WIA program begin
ning, we sponsored classroom
training and served 31 eligible
youth and 14 adults. We com
pleted our first annual report
our first Supplemental Youth
Services semi-annual reports.
We exceeded the planned stan
dards which is very good.
We ere informed by Eco-'
nomic Development depart
ment, to move the Dollar N'
Sense Thrift Shop and Tradi
tional Treasures Indian Market
out of the Plaza, by December
31, 2001. We hive been busy
doing this. Our new location
is 2107 Wasco Street (previous
Small Business Center office).
Watch out for our re-opening,
Saturday, January 12, 2002 at
10:00 a.m. We will have snacks
and re-dedication of our shops.
The exciting thing is, we will
be moving toward the second
phases of both shops during
- j 1-ffVU
ft
activities
2002. The thrift shop will ex
pand to household items and
eventually into furniture,
while Traditional Treasures
will be moving toward the sew
ing section. The goal is to have
clean-finished garments (rib
bon shirts, wing dresses, vests,
shawls, in a range of sixes and
much more). In addition, we
will have splash bcadwork on
selected items, as done in the
past with apparel Industries. :
We are anticipating aWery
busy, challenging, and ener
gized year of hard work and
services to the best of our abili
ties to Warm Springs. As you
may or may not know, "em
ployment" is the number "l".
Tribal Council priority and
our department is a big part of
this.
Happy, Happy New Year
and make the most of 2002 ev
eryone. From a team that cares
and keeps hope. Marcis,
Corey, Carlos, Laura, Trances,
Yctlcen, and Mclinda.