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.