January 31, 2 0 0 8
Spi'lyay Tyrooo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Page 8
Fish commission endorses sea lion removal
Leaders o f the Colum bia
River Inter-Tribal Fish Commis
sion m ember tribes have ex
pressed strong support for a
federal recommendation to au
thorize limited lethal removal of
California sea lions.
The sea lions impact on en
dangered C olum bia River
salmon has reached crisis lev
els, commission members said.
The National Oceanic and
A tm ospheric A dm inistration
Fisheries Service, in a draft en
vironmental assessment, recom
mends approval of a three-state
application seeking lethal re
moval authority.
Tribal, state and federal fish
eries m anagers have d o cu
mented an exploding population
o f California Sea Lions coast
wide, and a growing sub-popu
lation that has become adept at
exploiting endangered salmon
seeking to enter the fish ladder
at Bonneville dam.
, “Today, NOAA took an im
portant step toward giving fish
eries m anagers a critically
needed to o l to p ro te c t the
salmon,” said Fidelia Andy, chair
woman of the Columbia River
Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.
“Lack of action toward the
real and immediate threat o f sea
lion predation is unacceptable.
We don’t want another Ballard
Locks-like debacle. We refuse to
allow Columbia River spring
chinook to be driven into extinc
tion as the Lake Washington
steelhead were in the 1990s.”
The states of Oregon, Wash
ington and Idaho subm itted
their application to NOAA fish
eries in late 2006 seeking addi
tional authority under section
120 o f the M arine Mammal
Protection Act.
The states’ request came at
the urging o f the commission’s
m em ber tribes and after the
multi-year, intensive, hazing ef
fort by state and tribal crews
demonstrated little success.
The tri-state application re
quired a convening of a Pinniped
Fisheries Interaction Task Force,
th a t consisted o f a diverse
group o f eighteen parties includ
ing tribal, federal and state rep
resentatives, N G O ’s, and inde
pendent scientists.
The overwhelming majority
o f the Task Force’s members
supported the states’ request for
lethal take o f California sea li
ons at Bonneville Dam and pro
posed two lethal take scenarios.
“Salmon has always been the
lifeblood to our tribal culture,”
said Andy.
“Our tribes have, and always
will be here to fight for their
survival. We remain committed
to working with the state and
federal management agencies,
scientists, and N G O ’s to ad
equately address the signifi
cant negative impact that sea li
ons are having on migrating
salmon at Bonneville Dam.”
In the early 1970s, Califor
nia sea lion population num
bered only around 50,000 ani
mals.
NOAA now estimates the sea
lions p o p u la tio n o f over
300,000 animals and approach-
ing carrying capacity.
Sea lion caused mortalities
have grown exponentially since
2001 based upon visible obser
vations at Bonneville dam by US
Army Corps of Engineers biolo
gists. State and tribal managers
estimate the lower Columbia
River sea Eon population to be
approaching 2,000 animals.
The pubEc has an opportu
nity to comment on the federal
recommendation until Feb. 19.
NOAA’s draft assessment is
available, in its entirety, on their
website: www.nmfs.noaa.gov.
The agency plans to release its
final decision on the issue in late
March.
For more information on sea
lion predation at Bonneville
Dam visit the Columbia River
In ter-T rib al C om m ission’s
website at www.critfc.org. This
site provides a fact sheet, Enks
to video o f predation, hazing
activity, as weU as photos of sea
Eon damage done to migrating
salmon.
‘Indian Head’ boulder sparks Kentucky-Ohio rift
{ FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -
When an Ohio historian helped
'pull a massive sandstone boul
der from the bottom o f the
O hio River this summer, he
didn't think it would set off a
^charged dispute between Ken-
'tucky and Ohio.
! It did. One Kentucky legisla
to r is demanding the 8-ton rock's
return, and another beEeves the
matter wiU ultimately be decided
in the courts.
i Rep. Reginald Meeks, D-Lou-
'isville, who is a m em ber o f
Kentucky's N ative American
Heritage Commission,, is spon
soring a resolution in the Ken
tucky General Assembly that
condemns the rock's removal
r
;
*
and caUs for its return to Ken
tucky.
“Basically, this was a raid,”
Meeks said o f the efforts to
extract the rock and take it to
Portsmouth, Ohio, about 110
miles southeast of Cincinnati.
“We're going to use all legal
means to get them to return it
to its rightful place in the com
monwealth. And if that doesn't
work, we may need to send a
raiding party into Portsmouth.”
Steve Shaffer, who has a de
gree in historical interpretation
from Ohio University, scoffs at
characteriziiig the. operation as
a raid. Shaffer says the rock had
been submerged since at least
1920.
■
!
“After 87 years, we find this
rock and we're able to get it out
of ihe water and protect it, and
how it's a big issue,” Shaffer said.
‘W e just want to protect it and
display it.”
The rock, Shaffer says, is
valuable to Portsmouth's local
history, not Kentucky's.
Much about the rock's ori
gin is unknown. It has a crude
carving o f a face and another
o f a house, along with multiple
names from some o f the early
residents of Portsmouth etched
into it.
,N o doubt historic, the rock's
true history is debatable.
Its existence was known lo
cally during the late 1800s and^
early 1900s, and some say it was
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
The hom e o f R obert and M arella Sam , at W olfe Point,
burned recently. T he cause w as still being investigated
ea rlie r this week, although bad electrical w iring w as
m entioned as a possible cause.
Salmon hatchery won't
raise and release chinook
GROVER BEACH, CaEf.
(AP) — In a setback for con
servationists, a Central Coast
hatchery isn't raising and re
leasing Chinook s.almon at
Port San Luis this year.
The Grover Beach-based
Central Coast Salmon E n
hancement fisheries conser
vation group has been hit by
recent setbacks, including
heavy sweUs that sent rearing
pens onto the beach in D e
cember.
The group usually rears
up to 140,000 Chinook jn
pens.
Then, the Department of
Fish and Game’s Mokelumne
River H atch ery in San
Joaquin County announced
no fish will be available .for
pen-rearing program s be
cause few fish migrated up
stream from the ocean last
year.
a geographical marking along
the Ohio River for boat travel
ers.
Locals would picnic near the
rock, Shaffer said. Who carved
the petroglyphs, and when, is
unknown, Shaffer said.
------------------------------------------- ----------—-------------- — —.
Meeks beEeves the face carv
ing was prehistoric and left by
American Indians. Others, Eke
Shaffer, aren't so sure.
Now that the rock is out of
the river, everyone from local
prosecutors to the Kentucky
State PoEce has looked into the
dispute over ownership. Cliff
T a m a r a c k , R e d F ir, P in e
j
' «TO
! Duvall, commonwealth's attor- *
ney for G reenup and Lewis
2262 Quail Trail, Warm Springs, OR
counties, said he's investigated
ph. 977-3034
the case, but has not received a
k_______________________ _____________________________ 2
poEce report.
'
Thirty-First Annual
Lincoln’s Day Pow-Wow
Simnasho, Oregon
February 8, 9, 10 2008
Grand entry times: new/rejoinders— Friday, 6 p.m.
All nations—Friday— 7 p.m.
Saturday Feb. 9: 7:30 p.m./Sunday Feb. 10:1 p.m.
Scramble contests begin Saturday evening
Round dance Thursday night February 7th
A ll d a n c e c a te g o r ie s a n d s p e c ia ls
15 years and under Q ’xnu Waashat
(Q’xnu Waashat: Traditional Prairie Chicken Dance)
16 years and over Q-xnu Waashat
Outgoing princess contest (TB A)
Single Man Hand Drum Contest
Group Drum Contests: 1sl Place— $3000.00
2nd Place— $2000.00
3 rd Place— $1000.00
(all local drummers please bring your own chairs)
Sunday Waashat Services and Meal
For futher information: ColinChief @ (541) 553-1285
(round dance questions); Mackey Begay (541 ) 553-9230;
Austin Green (541) 553-1953, fax (541) 553-3702.
Vendors: Sandra G Sampson (541) 553-6619;
Head Dance Judge: Charles Tailfeathers (541) 553-7906
V / (
...
V * J
X you
SHOULD BE HERE
Especially in the w inter, w hen you can w a rm up in o u r q i-d e q re e hot springs-fed
mineral pool, full service spa o r live action casino. O f course, a great offer doesn’t hurt either.
Williams & Ree
The Indian & The White Guy
Saturday, February16 at 8pm
$15 advance, $20 day of show
$119 Comedy Packaçe for tw o includes tw o tickets
and deluxe accommodations
Seating is general admission. M ust bezi and over.
Bottle drive to help team travel
Super Bowl Bash
S ee S a m m i O ’R e illy o r V a l S q u ie m p h e n to g e t y o u rs !
There is an on-going
bottle drive fundraiser ben
efiting the Rez Express, they
All-Indian high school boys
basketball team represent
ing Warm Springs. Proceeds
go toward travel expenses
for the team to travel to the
2008 Native American Bas
ketball Invitational Tourna
ment in Phoenix. For dona
tions, and pickup, please
contact Sammi O’Reilly, Val
Squiemphen
or
Rita
Squiemphen.
The fund-raiser will be
on-going through July of
2Q08.
Sunday, February J at 1pm in the Appaloosa Lounge
$2 cover includes N acho Bar. G reat prizes and specials
includ ing a $ $ o o 5 u p e r Score Contest, Post-Game DJ
and Blackjack T o u rn a m e n t a t 7 3 0
Mardi Ciras Celebration ~ Fat Tuesday, February 5
Kahneeta.com for more details and upcominç events * Warm Springs, OR » 8OO-554-45UN
CASINO • GOLF • SPA • POOL • D IN IN G • LODGE • STABLES
(to to
HIGH DESERT RESORT St CASINO