Image provided by: Oregon Historical Society; Portland, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (July 2, 2009)
r A d d re ss S e rvice R e q u este d P.O. Box 870 W a r m Crxri^— M ® ®------ V rORICAL SOCIETY KAVE. DR 97205 Coyote News, est. 1976 July 2, 2 0 0 9 Voi. 34, No. 14 r ivort I OIU Warm Springs, OR 97761 50 cents Metolius protection wins state approval A proposal supported by the Con federated Tribes to protect the M eto lius River Basin has passed both houses o f the Legislature. The bill then w ent for signature to Gov. Kulongoski, a main advocate o f the protection plan. T w o p ro p o s e d d e v e lo p m e n t projects— one involving up to 420 houses near the Metolius— prom pted statewide discussion o f the need to protect the basin. The governor suggested designating the basin an Area o f Critical State Con- cem, a very rarely used designation that the tribes and others supported. The O regon H ouse last m onth ini tially rejected this proposal, b ut a few days later passed the resolution 31-28. The Senate earlier had passed the biU. O pponents argued that the Legisla ture should leave land use decisions to the local governm ent, and that the de velopm ent projects would create jobs. The tribes supported protection o f the basin because water quality, fish and wildlife, and cultural concerns. T h e trib es have a reserv ed i n - stream water right in the Metolius and downstream in Deschutes river. Water quality and quantity impacts o f the developm ent proposals were concerns o f the tribes. Also, the tribes and Pordand G en eral Electric are investing over $108 million in fish restoration above the Pelton-Round Butte dams, including in the Metolius. D eer and elk populations, and pos sible cultural resources o f the basin could also be harm ed by the develop- ments, the tribes and others said. Passage by the Legislature o f the protection bill “shows the state’s rec ognition o f the U pper Metolius as the beautiful place that it is, and now always will be,” said Louie Pitt, di rector o f tribal Government Affairs. Future management o f the ba sin, he said, “will be m ore consis tent with our philosophy o f manag ing natural resources, which is more o f an integrated approach, rather than project by project.” Treaty celebration T he Confederated Tribes hosted the F ortieth A nnual Pi-U m e-Sha Treaty Days Powwow, June 26-28. The G rand Entries, dance com petitions, softball tournament, rodeo, endurance horse race, g o lf tourney, stick games, and many other activi ties happened under blue skies and with w arm temperatures. A g roup o f N ativ e B razilians were special guests at the powwow on Sunday. T he three-day pow w ow co m memorates the signing o f the Treaty o f 1855, signed 154 years ago last month. Results o f the powwow will be in th e n e x t Spilyay. (See pages 8 and 9 fo r more on Pi-Ume-Sha.) " Pictured at right, Grand Entry on Saturday; below right, owl dancers; and below at left, Miss Pl-Ume-Sha Julia Yahtln- Cloud. Council suspends harvesting of pine trees B y D ave M cM echan Spilyay Tymoo 'T he Tribal Council passed a resolu tion last week to suspend the cutting o f the large pine trees on the reserva tion. T he suspension includes a tim ber sale currently in progress, the Camp Creek sale on the upper and middle areas o f M ill C reek. T im b er sales- through 2011 are also subject to the resolution. O ther trees, such as Douglas and true firs, could be harvested to make up for the pine tim ber that will remain standing, the Council indicated. T he suspension o f pine tree har vesting on the reservation makes sense from both an economic and the forest health perspective, said N orm Johnson, professor at O regon State University. T he tribes contracted with Johnson to study the reservation tim ber situa tion, as the BIA in W arm Springs cur rently has no silviculturist on staff. The tribes have told the BIA that the silvi culturist position should be filled as soon as possible, said secretary-treasurer Jody Calica. Meanwhile, forestry consultant Jim Spatz has also studied the pine tree conditions on the reservation, and agreed that harvesting the trees does n o t currently make sense for the tribes. T he dem and for lum ber in the U.S. is very low, as the dem and for new ho u sin g has d ro p p e d significantly, Johnson and Spatz said. Just a few years ago, Johnson said, new housing starts in the U.S. were at about 2 million per year. T hat num ber is now at about 750,000 per year. Please see PINE TREES on 6 Creek restoration is under way I Selena Boise and Dave McMechan pictures. Horse coalition weighs culling options B y D ave M cM echan Spilyay Tymoo T he N orthw est Tribal H orse Coali tion is preparing to commission a fea sibility study on the developm ent o f a horse slaughter facility on tribal land. Such a facility is needed, as the m ar ket for the horses has becom e nearly non-existent. T housands o f unclaim ed horses, meanwhile, are destroying tribal range- land and crowding out deer, elk and other native animal and plant species. The tribal horse coalition m et last week at Kah-Nee-Ta, and reviewed the conditions that have led to the proposal to develop the slaughter facility. H orses remain an im portant part o f tribal life and culture, those at the meet ing agreed. B ut the current situation— 4,000 unclaimed horses roam ing the W arm Springs Reservation rangeland, and similar numbers on other reserva tions— is impossible to sustain. As w ith any livestock, management o f the horse herds is critical in order to avoid disastrous results to the range and to the animals themselves. A t the meeting last week, the horse coalition agreed to formally voice op position to pending U.S. H ouse and Senate bills that would ban any horse 4 » i slaughter option. | as federal g o v ern m en t agencies T he National Congress o f Ameri such as the BLM. can Indians (NCAI), and the Affiliated There will be critics o f whatever Tribes o f N orthw est Indians (ATNI), the coalition decides to do, and no have passed resolutions against actions tribe should face the opposition on by C ongress th at w ould ban horse its own, said Chairman Suppah. ‘W e slaughter options. need to support each other in this R e p re se n ta tiv e s o f th e W arm effort,” he said. Springs, Yakama, Umatilla, Colville and The coalition will also be w ork Shoshone tribes, and other groups and ing on a timeline for project devel individuals attended the m eeting at opm ent, he said. “It’s good that we Kah-Nee-Ta. sit d ow n an d talk a b o u t th is,” W arm Springs Tribal Council Chair Suppah said. “But we have to turn m an R on Suppah said the five tribes the talk into action. A nd to do that, o f the coalition are working together we have to make some hard deci because unclaimed horses are a com sions fairly soon.” m on problem among the tribes, as well Please see HORSES on 10 4 Shitike Creek from the bridge by the community center downstream to the wastewater ponds is being re-routed. A w ork crew began the project this week. T he re-routing and streamside planting should be done by about Sep tember, said John Turo, habitat biolo gist with tribal N atural Resources. N atural Resources and the N atural Resources C onservation Service de signed and are im planting the creek realignment, said Turo. Re-routing the creek closer to its original course will bring several ben efits, he said. The project, for instance, will reduce the potential o f Shitike Creek breach ing the berm and entering the retired wastbwater ponds. T he re-routing will also reduce the risk o f the creek flooding into the ac tive wastewater ponds downstream. T he new channel will give the creek m ore access to the floodplain, result ing in greater flood protection dow n stream o f the project, including at the M useum at W arm Springs and W arm Springs Forest Products Industries. Please see CREEK on 6
