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Spilygy Tymoo, Wsrm Springs, Oregon June 10, 2004 Pe7 Units tracking American Indi RAPID Cm', S.D. (AP) - A task force started in South Dakota to catch drug users and dealers has become a blueprint for other agencies nationwide to track crime on and off American Indian reservations, "The drugs don't recognize the bor ders of the state," said Mark Vukclich, the FBI agent who oversees the North ern Plains Safe Trails Drug Enforce ment Task Force, which is made up of local, state, tribal and federal officers. In South Dakota, the U.S. Justice Department pays for drug agents and equipment on both ends of the state but not the central counties, he said. Much of that land includes Indian reservations that are sovereign, so the authority of other agencies ends at the , border. That's why the FBI started funding the Safe Trails program in June 1999, Vukclich said. Now, investigators from various agencies can follow the drug trail from Native land to wherever it leads be cause they share information and work cases together, he said. James McMahon, U.S. attorney for South Dakota, said about 50 people in the past 16, months have been indicted and convicted because of the Safe Trails program. Most of those cases were for mcthamphetamine distribution. One case has resulted in nine con victions so far, said Mark Pecora, the FBI agent who put the task force to gether and coordinates it, It started when Robert Allen was arrested on a warrant in Eagle Butte on the Standing Rock Indian Reserva tion, and later included arrests on the Cheyenne River and Rosebud reserva tions and in Nebraska, he said. "Through interviews and getting people to cooperate, we were able to get the (drug) organization," Pecora said. "Before the task force, each res ervation worked independently. What ever happened in their boundaries, it would stop there. The state would work cases up to the boundary," Shane Avery, who was sent to prison for 27 years, would pick up mctham phetamine in Sioux City, Iowa, and de liver it to dealers on the reservations, Pecora said. Allen got 1 1 years for his part. More indictments are likely, said Pecora. Besides Pecora, Safe Trails has two other full-time FBI agents on it, one state Division of Criminal Investiga tion agent, a Pierre city detective, two tribal officers from Pine Ridge, an of ficer from Crow Creek, one from Lower Brule, one from Cheyenne River and an investigator from Rose bud. Each agency pays for that full-time position and vehicle but the FBI funds any overtime and specialized equip ment, Pecora said. Sheriff's departments in the area, the Highway Patrol and the U.S. Depart ment of Alcohol, Tobacco and Fire arms help on a part-time basis, he said. "Everybody's deputized federally to work drug cases, so in essence what we did was erase the boundaries," he said. Mike Walters grew up on the Chey enne River reservation. He has been a detective for the tribe since 1989 and now is a task force member. "I think the task force is a good thing not only for Indian country but the whole state," he said. "Everybody's working together for the same goal, and that's to get the drugs off the street and away from the youth and away from the people (addicted) so they can't harm themselves anymore." Besides letting agents follow leads onto and off reservations, the Safe Trails Task Force allows agents to deal with cultural differences because of the tribal officers involved, he said. Safe Trails isn't only used for drug cases. After allegations of voter regis tration fraud arose during the 2002 campaign, state agents used task force contacts to help the investigation, Pecora said. "So besides drugs, we've found that it has assisted in other investigations," Pecora said. In Minnesota, US, Attorney Tho mas I leffelfinger said authorities used the South Dakota model to develop a task force for Indian gangs. "They're really out in front there," he said of the Safe Trails task force. Hcffelfinger chairs the Native American Issues Subcommittee in the Justice Department. It is made up of 28 U.S. attorneys representing most of Indian country. They met last spring in the Black I ills and are using the Safe Trails con cept in other states with reservations, he said. "What you're seeing in South Da kota is being replicated," Heffelfingcr said. "The solution we are pursuing on a national level will obviously get tweaked to make it work in that part of the country but it is national." McMahon, who hosted the Black Mills meeting and is on the subcom mittee, said other similar programs al ready are started and more are in the works. "All the districts have the same problems when you're trying to pros ecute crime activity on the reservations, and that's getting into those organiza tions," he said. State study finds John Day River navigable COACH WORKS Collision Repair Your finish is our pride BODY FRAME UNIBODY PAINT Auto Glass Repaired and Replaced ASE Master Technicians ASE Certified Estimator Owned and Operated by Tom Brown, Since 1976 (541)4756707 We work for you! (AP) - Most of the John Day River in Eastern Oregon would be" declared a navigable river, open jng private land to boaters and anglers, under a recom mendation by the Department of State Lands. The draft report was prompted by a 1999 Marion County Circuit Court ruling that sections of the John Day met the criteria for a navigable river. Then, opposing sides could not agree last year on legislation that would have set out terms for public access to riv ers around the state. The issue of navigability has become increasingly contentious statewide as farms and ranches where boaters and anglers were routinely allowed have been bought by people who do not want strangers in their backyards. "We are not after more access to rivers," said Gary Benson of the Asso ciation of Northwest Steelheaders, the sport fishing group that petitioned for the navigability study in 1997 and sued in 1999 on behalf of a fisherman cited for trespassing on the John Day. "We believe it's about clarity." A public hearing is scheduled for June 22 in Fossil and the State Land Board is to decide next April whether to declare the John Day navigable. The 1859 law making Oregon a state declared the bed and banks of rivers up to the high water mark were owned by the state if they had been used for commercial purposes, such as moving logs or freight. So far 11 rivers have been declared navigable and studies are pending on six more. The 2002 declaration that the lower 3712 miles of the Sandy River near Portland were navigable created an uproar among property owners. The State Lands Board is to decide next month whether to authorize a study of the upper and middle stretches of the Rogue River, where the numbers of riverfront homes and anglers are both increasing. Not as popular as the Deschutes and Rogue Rivers, the John Day is the second-longest free-flowing river in the nation. The river has seen increased use by rafters and anglers because of the scenic canyon stretch between Clarno and Cottonwood Bridge and world-class smallmouth bass fishing. The study looked at 174 miles of the John Day from Kimberly near the confluence with the North Fork of the John Day River down to Tumwater Falls, located 10 miles from where the John Day flows into the Columbia River. The study concluded that the river has been used since statehood by sternwheelers, a survey crew boat, fer ries, recreational boats and rafts, and to transport logs. Before statehood, Indians navigated the river in canoes. Most of the rafts, canoes and driftboats now using the river have draft shallow enough to negotiate the river evch at low summer flows. All or parts of the Columbia, Willamette, Coos, Coquille, Klamath, Rogue, Snake, Umpqua, Chetco, McKenzie and Sandy rivers have been declared navigable. Studies are pend ing on .the middle and upper Rogue, the North Santiam river, the South Umpqua, the Trask, the Kilchis and the South Santiam. The Oregon Farm Bureau, which represented farmers and ranchers in efforts to legislate a solu tion, did not immediately return a tele phone call for comment. It pays to Advertise on the reservation. RC Trucks Plastic Model Paints RC Airplanes Slot Cars & Tracks HO A N Scale Trains A Supplies Rockets 4-. 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