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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (April 10, 2008)
Spilyay Tymo P.O. Box 870 Warm Springs, OR 97761 3 È & UND- H P « « 97205 atron jstage PRSRTSTD C oyote News, est. 1976 April 10, 2008 Testimony, DEIS support casino B y D ave M cM echan Spilyay Tymoo M uch o f the testim ony o f W arm Springs tribal m em bers at the gorge casino hearings supported the find ings in the BIA’s draft environm en tal im pact statem ent. R eg ard in g th e e n v iro n m en tal im pact o f th e casino, and th e eco nom ic need for the project, the tes tim ony and the d raft E IS w ere in agreem ent. T he draft EIS states, for instance, that the Cascade Locks proposal is consistent w ith the Colum bia River Gorge N ational Scenic Area A ct and Debbie Alvarez testifies at gorge M anagem ent Plan. , casino hearing. “T he proposed project w ould be consistent w ith the intent o f the act, which encourages grow th and eco on the side o f the environm ent arid nom ic developm ent in urban areas W arm Springs on the side o f econom o f the C olum bia River G orge,” the ics. Clearly, though, that is n o t the ac draft E IS says. T he rep o rt also says, “M ost o f tual nature o f the dispute. O pposition the project site has been disturbed from the G rand R onde is economic, as show n by an econom ic study com by fill and previous developm ent.” Similarly, m any tribal m em bers missioned by the G rand Ronde, find testified that the casino w ould be a ing that the Cascade Locks casino “will very reasonable use o f the property, reduce the Spirit M ountain C asino’s w hich for years has been zoned for dividend to the Tribe by m ore than 34 percent.” This suggests that opposition an industrial use. N evertheless, since the hearings, from the G rand Ronde, at least, is eco opponents have tried to define the nom ic and n o t environmental. O pponents o f thé Cascade Locks issue as environm ental versus eco n o m ic concerris/w im tine opporietits h a v e U sed a n o t h e r a r g u m e n t t h a t is similarly misleading, namely that each O regon tribe should be limited to one casino on-reservation. T h e C o n fe d e ra te d T rib es o f W arm Springs have ¡said all along that the casino at Kah-Nee-Ta would close w hen the gorge casino opens, leaving just the one casino. Tribal attorney D ennis K arnopp addressed the on- versus off-reser- vatiori question in an earlier article. “All nine federally recognized O r egon tribes operate casinos, although only three o f these tribal casinos are located on land that was established as Indian reservation land in 19$8 w hen Congress enacted the Indian G am ing Regulatory Act,” K arnopp said. “T hose three are the C onfed e ra te d T rib e s o f th e U m a tilla Reservation’s W ildhorse Casino, the B urns Paiute Tribe’s O ld Camp Ca sino, and the Confederated Tribes o f the W arm Springs Reservation’s K ah-N ee-T a H igh D e se rt R esort and Casino. T he other six tribal ca sinos were sited on land that was not part o f an established Indian reser vation in 1988.” Regarding Spirit M ountain, for instance: “T he land for this casino was n o t p art o f the G rand Ronde Tribe’s restored reservation estab lished in 1988. See CASINO on 14 Voi. 35, No. 8 T h e fo u r C olum bia R iver treaty tribes and three federal agencies this week announced the start o f a public com m ent period for an unprecedented set o f proposed agreements and com prehensive actions designed to im prove habitat and strengthen fish stocks in the Columbia River Basin over the next 10 years. T he participants believe these p ro posed agreem ents will fundamentally im prove the w orking relationships be tw een the tribes and the federal gov ernm ent, focusing on com m on goals and ending decades o f litigation. “We came to the table w ith the fed eral agencies as courtroom adversar ies,” said Ron Suppah, chairm an o f the Confederated Tribes o f W arm Springs. “We leave that table now as partners.” Suppah said, “We have built an ag gressive plan that fixes problem s w her ever the fish encounter them . We re lied on people w ho w ork and fish on the rivers to tell us w hat should be done. O u r objective was clear from the start 4- increase the health and num ber o f salmon, steelhead and lamprey. “We have set high standards for ourselves,” he said, “and we will track and rep o rt our progress. O u r plan gets the focus and energy w here it m ust be n o w —on recovering fish, providing op- p brfohlfy fo r b u r tribal fishers arid o h New attraction popular at Kah-Nee-Ta Village pool B y L e s lie M itts Spilyay Tymoo Selena Boise/Spilyay Lynden Harry won the chance to be the first to use the new slide during a raffle. chuckle, from dealing w ith things like a change in operations. - In the end, he added, “We just suc cessfully com pleted w hat we needed to do.” In te rm s o f c o n s tru c tio n tim e, Garcia added, “T he bulk o f it didn’t really take th at long.” T he plum bing system took the m ost tim e after requiring about a m o n th for completion, he said, b u t the actual erec tion o f the slide took less than a week to complete. “T h ere’s a lot o f steel and concrete involved in this project,” Garcia said. T he pieces o f the slide arrived sepa rately and had to be sealed together on the ground and then raised up and at tached. “They had this huge gauge in order to get the degree o f turn,” Garcia ex plained. P art o f the process involved w ork ers being lowered into the partially con structed slide with ropes and later pulled back out, he added. “I t was a lot o f enclosed w ork they had to do,” he said. “They g o t to all test it out, so they loved that.” They were lucky w ith the w eather, Garcia added, because in order to erect the fiberglass portion o f the slide they needed to have a m inim um tem pera ture o f 40 degrees. In addition, Garcia said, “We have to appreciate the contractor we have.” K irby N agelhoult C onstruction C om pany was hired to com plete the slide. 50 cents Tribes back $900 million Columbia dam plan fin d in g real so lu tio n s ra th e r th a n K ah-N ee-Ta is hoping to slide in som e new business w ith an addition to the Village Pool. T hey recently com pleted construction on a new water slide, and hosted a grand open ing for the slide on April 5, in addi tion to a prior opening o f the slide for tribal members. According to Ian Hay, director o f M arketing, the new slide is one o f m any im provem ents being made to the Village at K ah-N ee-T a— and im provem ents are som ething they hope to be able to continue making in the future. H aving been open over 40 years, Hay added, “T he Village Pool itself is kind o f the showcase.” Recreation Manager Fran Moses- A hern said the new slide is som e thing that they’ve been hoping to be able to build. “T he slide is som ething that I ’ve asked fo r fo r years u p o n years,” M oses-A hern said. “We were just happy that it came in this year be fore our season starts.” Tribal m em bers were the first to use the slide on M arch 20 during Tribal M em ber A ppreciation Day. Lynden H arry w on a raffle to be the first to use the new slide, Moses- A hern said. “We always like to try to have the tribal people use it first,” she ex plained. Many tribal mem bers braved the slightly chilly w eather to attend tribal m em ber appreciation day to use the new slide and enjoy a free h o t dog as well. “Everyone enjoyed them selves,” M oses-A hern said. A ccording to D elbert Garcia, fa cility manager, he’s glad the slide is finally complete. T he project involved “a lo t o f h e a d a c h e s,” G a rc ia said w ith a Warm Springs, OR 97761 In comparison to the older slide, M oses-A hern said, the new slide is taller and larger. T he slide is 184 feet long and stands 12 feet taller than the other slide at 32 feet tall. Plus, M oses-A hern said, “Its fully enclosed which makes the ride a bigger thrill because its dark.” “It’s dark even during the day,” she added. T he new slide does com e w ith a height requirem ent— you have to be at least 48 inches tall in order to go dow n the slide, and they ask sw im m ers to be aw are th a t the w ater at the end is 5’8” deep. See KAH-NEE-TA on 11 blame.” T he new agreem ents build on “bio logical opinions” for listed salm on and steelhead and the N orthw est Power and C onservation Council’s fish and wild life program . T hey provide com m on goals, and- priorities for hydro system mitigation; additional hydro, habitat and hatchery actions; greater clarity about biological benefits and secure funding fo r 10 years. In fact, as N O A A Fisheries prepares its latest biological opinions for issuance and filing w ith the U.S. D istrict C ourt o f O regon on May 5, these agreem ents underscore that the new salm on plan is being developed with the highest-evef level o f stakeholder collaboration and support. “W orking for the salm on is sacred work,” said Yakama N ation m em ber Fidelia Andy, chairwom an o f the C o lumbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commisr sion. “First and forem ost, the Colum bia River Basin agreements deliver cer tain and stable respurces to do this work for salmon, steelhead and other spe7 cies thro u g h o u t the C olum bia River Basin. T he agreements will get our gov ernm ents o u t o f the co u rtro o m and back on the firm g round o f m utual goals and collaboration.” See DAMS on 14.. Council approves fisheries resolution Inform ation is now available for tribal m em bers regarding spring C hinook fisheries. T h e D e p a rtm e n t o f N atu ral R e sources is announcing the 2008 spring C hinook fishery at Sherars Falls and the W arm Springs River as well as the H ood River fishery. T h e Sherars Falls and the W arm Springs River spring C hinook resolu tions w ere presented by fisheries staff to the on-reservation Fish and Wildlife Com m ittee recently and later approved by Tribal Council. Sherars Falls opened o n A pril 1 and will rem ain open until June 15. T he fishery is open seven days a week. T he fishery will be open for hatch ery spring C hinook and hatchery steel head only. All wild salm on and steel head m u st be retu rn ed to th e river unharm ed. W arm S p rin g s T rib a l C o d e 340.310(8) requiring that dipnets and hoo p n ets are attended continuously, and that nets and hoops m ust be at tached to a pole, will be enforced. F or hook and line fishing the limit is one pole per person, and single hook only is allowed. Intentional snagging o f fish is prohibited. A ny fish th a t is snagged incidentally and is in viable condition m ust be returned to the river. All C hinook salm on and steelhead caught are fo r subsistence purposes only. N o sales to the public are allowed. Use o f alcohol o r drugs is prohibited. T he W arm Springs River fishery will open o n May 10 and will rem ain open until July 31 from the Highway T hree Bridge (the K ah-N ee-Ta bridge) dow n stream to th e co n flu en ce w ith th e D eschutes River, seven days a week. See FISHING on 11
