Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (July 25, 2002)
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon At site of Celilo v JO n The Tribal Elders Celilo Picnic included comments from tribal leaders from throughout the region. In the photo above, Wilfred Yallup, representing the Celilo community, speaks of the deteriorating health of the Columbia. The build-up of silt in the river is an increasingly serious problem, said Yallup. Course teaches The Natural Resources Depart ment is offering a five-day Hunters Safety course beginning July 30. The course will require approxi- Kah-Nee-Ta offering two scholarships Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort and Casino is offering a scholarship program for tribal members who are pursuing secondary education. Kah-Nee-Ta is now accepting ap plications for its new scholarship pro gram. Any member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, who is at tending an accredited secondary in stitute, is eligible for a scholarship through this program. Two scholarships - each $250 -will be awarded, one to a male tribal member and one to a female tribal member. Winning candidates will be se lected based on their responses to a series of essay questions and by let ters of reference. Applications are available at the Warm Springs Education Office and the Madras High School Aspire Pro gram. Deadline for applications is August 16. For more information contact the Kah-Nee-Ta Human Resources De partment at 553-1112. Land-use positions open Two positions are open on the Confederated Tribes Land-Use Plan ning Committee. This committee serves as an advisory body to the Tribal Council in the determination of maximum utilization of land. Au thority to grantdeny conditional use permits in accordance with Ord. 56. Review and recommend Comprehen sive Plan annual changes; zoning or dinance changes; land assignments cancellations; and sites for housing, business, industrial development. If you are interested, please submit a resume and a letter of interest be fore Aug. 2, 2002, to: Tribal Council Office, Attention Roberta Tufd, P.O. Box 1299, Warm Springs, OR 97761. Letter of interest should state your interest in serving, and your back ground, such as education, work ex perience and training, etc. The letter is important in this process. I 1 V' : IV . J v. -oJL Dave McMechanSpllyay hunter safety mately 20 hours to complete and suc cessful participants will receive a Hunters Safety certificate. The certificate is required for youth under 18 years of age who hunt on tribal ceded lands. Participants must be at least 12 years of age and must attend all classes in order fq earn, the certificate. . ,,The cputse is, limited to 20 parties, pants, so early sign-up is being en couraged. Interested parties should register at the Eugene Greene Sr. Natural Resources Building. Classes will be held July 30, Aug. 1, 6, 7 and 8. Classes are held 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., except Aug. 7, which last from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Assessments address natural resource uses By Bill Rhoadea For Spilyay Tymoo The Resource Management Inter disciplinary Team (RMIDT) has re leased two project assessments for public review. Both of the assessments are programmatic in nature, meaning they provide guidelines for managing specific projects for a period of 6-10 years. One of the assessments addresses pre-commercial thinning, mistletoe treatments and underburning, while the other deals with renewable natu ral resources commodities. The Renewable Natural Resources Commodities Project Assessment provides for the use of products pro duced on the forest and rangelands such as Christmas trees, firewood, posts, poles, and cones, to name a few. The objective of this project is to accommodate personal and commer cial harvest of renewable natural re source commodities, while providing adequate protection for all affected re sources. Increased demand for renewable natural resources commodities has been driven in recent years by high rates of unemployment, changing demographics (including increased regional population), more interest from investors, and a desire to diver sify economically. The need to develop standards and best management practices and regu late collection of renewable natural resources commodities became appar ent at a time when a significant in crease in demand raised concerns for conserving resources and maintaining sustainable levels of the products be ing harvested. July 25, 2002 Tribes open Sales to public through July 31 For the first time in 35 years, treaty tribes of the Columbia River basin are selling targeted summer chinook salmon to the public. The four Columbia River treaty tribes - Warm Springs, Yakama, Umatilla and Nez Perce - proposed the open commercial sales of plat form and hook-and-line caught sum mer chinook, steelhead, sockeye, walleye and carp. The Columbia River Compact, consisting of representatives of the states of Oregon and Washington, agreed to the proposal. The sales are from 6 a.m. till 6 p.m. through July 31. This provides a unique opportunity for fishing on the largest summer chinook return on the Columbia since the late 1950s. The last commercial sale of tribal caught targeted summer chinook was Soliz collecting Marcia Soliz, community employ ment liaison services manager for the Confederated Tribes, is gathering in formation on tribal member employ ment. When all major work centers on. the reservation submit their monthly employment lists as requested, she will calculate an accurate rate of em ployment. These, work centers include Kah-Nee-Ta Resort and Casino, Warm Springs Forest Products Industries, the tribal organization, and Warm Springs Power Enterprises. Other areas that impact the data are higher education. "This is so we will know who is not available for full-time work due to being in col lege or vocational school," said Soliz. It is important that all work cen ters participate in this project. "One area not submitting their monthly list ' can throw off the entire tribal mem ber unemployment rate." In her job as community employ ment liaison, Soliz is devoting initial efforts toward identifying what the current situation looks like: the present workforce experience, educa tion and skill; the future workforce, meaning what is coming in the future Inventories do not exist for all of the renewable natural resources com modities being considered under the project assessment. In some cases regional data is lack ing and more often than not details regarding distribution and abundance on the reservation have yet to be re searched. For these and other reasons, the Natural Resources and Forestry branches are recommending a conser vative approach towards the manage ment of all commodities, at least un til adequate information has been compiled on issues such as abun dance, sustainability, demand and market trends. The management strategy for re newable natural resources commodi ties will be adaptive, taking advantage of new information as it becomes available. Monitoring and evaluation will provide much new information in the years ahead, but information gaps may be filled from outside sources as deemed necessary. Management strategies developed under this plan are intended to ensure: 1) resource protection is consistent with current management goals and objectives, including those found in the Integrated Resources Management Plan (IRMP); 2) a sustainable long term supply of desired products; and 3) appropriate and consistent admin istration of the program, including a system to collect fees and cover the costs of administration. The purpose of the proposed ac tion is to provide opportunities for use of these resources at sustainable levels, while meeting environmental concerns and providing a plan to monitor plant species affected by harvests. summer chinook sales in 1965. The summer chinook count at Bonneville dam is expected to reach 145,000. Under an agreement with the fed eral and state governments, the tribes can harvest 5 percent of the projected salmon run, or a total of about 7,250 fish. The projected summer chinook catch for treaty platform and hook-and-line fisheries is about 1,520 fish. The remainder of the allowable catch will be taken through gillnets and used for tribal subsistence and ceremonial purposes. The sockeye forecast if 41,000, ac cording to information from the Co lumbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Com mission. Under the same agreement, the harvest rate for treaty fisheries for sockeye also is 5 percent. An esti mated 1,800 will be caught, accord ing to the commission. Under the treaties of 1855, the Columbia River tribes reserved the right to fish at all usual and accus- job rate figures as far as population; and moving to ward job creation to provide work and training opportunties. She can be reached at 553-3298. Timber salvage, road projects OK'd The Resource Management In terdisciplinary Team (RMIDT) re cently approved three projects through the categorical exclusion process. The projects cover salvage logging operations and road im provements. RMIDT unanimously passed a resolution to approve two projects involving the salvage of insect killed trees on Tenino Bench and " Metolius Bench. Foresters say pine , beetle populations have increased in this area, due in part to a recent blowdown that provided excellent conditions for the insects to flour ish. RMIDT members were con cerned about the lack of snags in the area and over illegal firewood Standards and BMPs should ulti mately establish acceptable harvest levels for various forest products, ac ceptable collection methods, mea sures needed to protect other resource values, and locations where harvest will be allowed. The project assess ment analyzes a harvest that could occur over the entire reservation. The Pre-commercial Thinning Dwarf Mistletoe Control Underburning and Mowing Project Assessment provides an overview of three ongoing programs within the Natural Resources and Forestry branches. One purpose of the proposed ac tion is to reduce the severity of dwarf misdetoe in the commercial forest and Increased demand for renewable natural resources commodities has been driven in recent years by high rates of unemployment, changing demographics, more interest from investors, and a desire to diversify economically. to allow younger and healthier stands to reach maturity. Another is to re duce fuel loads and competition among young trees through underburning and mowing. Mowing will also be used to reduce the risk of fire around rural home sites. A third aspect of the proposed action is to use prc-commcrcial thinning to improve forest health and growth characteris tics. General areas are described in the Page 7 The last commercial sale of tribal-caught targeted summer chinook was in 1965. tomed fishing places in the Colum bia River basin. The fishing right includes ceremo nial, subsistence and commercial fish eries. Over the bank sales help tribal fishers support their families, and make it possible to continue a tradi tional livelihood. Tribal sellers can be found at vari ous locations between Bonneville Dam and McNary Dam. Major sales locations include the Marine Park at Cascade Locks, Lone Pine at The Dalles, and the boat launch near Roosevelt, Wash. Buyers should bring sufficient ice and coolers to keep fish fresh. Sales are cash only. Call 888-289-1855 for information regarding locations, special events, season dates and times. The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission is the technical sup port and coordinating agency for fish ery management policies of the four Columbia River basin treaty tribes. cutting (the ponderosa pine zone is closed to ponderosa pine cutting). The resolution approving sal vage of beede-killed trees includes special provisions stating the ap proval is only good for one year, the salvage forester and wildlife bi ologist will work together in select ing trees for harvest, data will be produced supporting the area's snag requirement, and the project area . will be surveyed to determine.th current density of snags. Another categorical exclusion was approved to allow crews an op portunity to apply a bituminous seal coat on roads within the Warm Springs community. The seal coat will improve road surfaces in and around the community. assessment, but specific activities will be subject to review on an annual basis. All of the activities associated with this project will be monitored annually. Alternative C, the recommended alternative, calls for annual treatments of approximately 1,500 acres infected with misdetoe, 2,000 acres in need of pre-commercial thinning, 5,000 acres of underburning, and 2,000 acres of mowing. Underburning and mowing treat ments will be carried out in ponde rosa pine and mixed conifer stands. Each prospective burn and mowing unit will be prioritized and field veri fied to ensure that the areas in great est need are treated first. Pre-commercial thinning treat ments will be carried out in planta tions and naturally regenerated for est stands (wild stands). Each prospec tive thinning unit will be prioritized and field verified to ensure that the areas in greatest need are treated first. Analysis will be based upon density and species composition. Infected trees with visible mistle toe will be the primary target for har vest under the mistletoe program, however, nearby trees of the same species may be harvested if they are thought to be in a latent stage of in-; fection, Trees growing a safe distance from infected trees and showing no sign of infection will be left in the ovcrstory and undcrstory. Copies of both project assessments are available through the Forestry office. Information may be obtained by calling 553-2416. Comments will be taken for 30 days, beginning with the publication of this article. I.