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-.
Computer sales,
Service and Repair
Computer Accessories
Palmain Internet
Server $19.95 unlim
ited access
Dave's Homes
Ask one of the scores of your friends who live in a home
purchased from Dave's Homes, and financed through Warm
Springs Tribal Credit.
Purchase a display home for thousands off through Tribal
Credit or order your custom home and receive your choice:
43" big screen TV with built in surround sound with cabinet.
Our exclusive turret bay window, constructed on a real pured
stemwall foundation.
At NO COST to you!
(Homes must be purchased before June 25, 2004)
Expect the best - Don't settle for less!
. ..i.tm....;....,,, . ri. - ; i i i : -1 1 ull,
Join the off -site construction revolution today!
located behind Safeway in. Madras, 680 NE Hwy. 97; 541-475-2766
0)