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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 2011)
r Spilyay Tyrnoo, Wdrrn Springs, Oregon Pdge 7 J^nugry 26, 2011 New law lets Oregon tribes extend leases (AP) — When Oregon Indian tribes place land into trust, it al lows them to conduct business there that they couldn’t other wise, including enterprises that are off-limits to non-Indians— building a casino, for example. U n til earlier this m onth, though, there was a significant catch, at least for five of the state’s nine federally recognized tribes: Because tribes can’t sell trust land, they could only enter into leases with other companies that m ight want to develop retail outlets, housing or something else on that land, leases that must be renewed every 25 years. Two and a half decades isn’t long enough to recoup a return on many investments, though, so the 1955 federal law that con tains the lease restriction has the effect of stifling tribal economic development, the tribes have said. The tribes can build casi nos on trust land, but they can’t enter into other business agree ments that involve long-term contracts for anything else. A t least, five o f them couldn’t. Starting with the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indi ans, four tribes have successfully appealed to Congress in recent years to get an exception, so they can sign leases of up to 99 years. The Cow Creek Indians have arguably made the most of their casino profits, building an RV park, an advertising company, a truck and travel center and a communications business. Other tribes have looked to the Cow Creek operation in Canyonville as a model for branching out, using the proceeds of their ca sinos. But, until President Obama signed Senate Bill 1448 into law on Dec. 22, five tribes still had only the 25-year lease option. Now, all of the state’s Indian tribes can sign leases up to 99 years on trust land. “We did think it was pretty im portant,” said Bob Garcia, chairman of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, which owns and operates the Three Rivers Casino in Flo rence. “This is important for fi nancial surety for potential in vestors.” That tribe— along with the Coquille, Siletz, Burns-Paiute and Klamath Tribes— now has the new dealmaking ability. And it could affect what ventures the tribes enter into in the future. For example, Garcia said he could see the confederated tribes developing an outlet mall on their property in Florence, which in cludes the Hatch Tract, where their casino sits, and a stretch of land on Highway 101. “If we did that, anyone who built it would need to know they have a lease on the property long enough to get their money back out of it,” Garcia said. In 2004, the tribes acquired a coveted 43-acre parcel of land at Coos Head near Charleston, when the U.S. General Services Administration agreed to turn the property over after declar ing it “excess.” The tribe doesn’t know what might be in store for the property yet, but having the 99-year lease option expands the possibilities. ‘Without this bill, the only ac tor could have been the tribes,” Garcia said. “And the tribes, like anyone else, have limits on the amount of funds we have avail able to do things.” The Coquilles also welcome the new law, tribal attorney Brett Kenney said. There’s no specific project it affects at the moment, but it could affect the stretch of land the tribe owns adjacent to the Mill Casino in North Bend, where there has been talk of a mixed-use, waterfront develop ment. It’s tough to borrow money for developments on trust land, K enney said, because banks can’t repossess the property if there’s a default, so they charge higher interest rates. ‘W hat the 99-year lease bill does is basically simulate a regu lar mortgage, providing lenders with a much longer lease term,” Kenney said. “It gives them more security and lowers the cost of capital, and that’s a good thing for everyone.” Feds to fix salmon-eating sea lion control program (AP) — The federal agency that manages fisheries says it can fix problems a federal appeals court has identified with a state program to kill sea lions feeding on salmon at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. What that fix will be re mains uncertain, however. NOAA Fisheries Service spokesman Brian Gorman said the agency will not fight the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last Novem ber. The Humane Society of the United States filed the lawsuit to stop the federally authorized state program that has killed 27 Califor nia sea lions over the past two years. The court said NOAA Fisheries had failed to show how it could let fishermen kill some endangered salmon, when it would not let sea li ons eat a smaller number of fish. Yakama release antelope SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - P ronghorns are reassertin g themselves as the fastest land mammals in Washington, thanks to a partnership between the Y akam a N atio n and a sportsmen’s group. Yakama tribal members and volunteers from Safari Club In ternational released 99 of the prairie speedsters this month on the Yakama Indian Reservation after trucking them 700 miles from their capture site in Ne vada. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials said they are supportive of the réin troduction. Auto accident claims tribal member Resources: 103 members employed at mill Investigation of a fatal ve hicle accident near Metolius continues as the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department awaits lab results indicating whether use o f alcohol or drugs con tributed to the crash. It appeared alcohol use was “a factor,” Capt. Marc Heckathorn said soon after the early morning incident on Jan. 15. The accident occurred near the intersection of High way 361 and Eureka Lane. Paul Roderick Miller, 21, of the Warm Springs tribes, died in the accident. Two other W arm Springs residents—two men ages 31 and 22, respectively—were injured. So was a 30-year-old woman from Salem. Authorities haven't pro vided area m edia w ith their names but said the 22-year-old was the most seriously injured of the survivors. It’s still unclear whether the District Attorney’s office will file charges against anyone involved, according to the Sheriff’s De partment. Authorities also haven’t made public which of the four people in the vehicle was driving when the accident happened either. Initial reports say the driver missed a turn and overturned the automobile. It continued m o ving u n til it reach ed nearby railroad tracks and was struck by a train travel ing north. It is believed Miller was ejected from the vehicle be fore it reached the tracks. It was reported that he died of a broken neck. Railroad employees con tacted area authorities and informed them of the acci dent. Dressing and burial for Miller were completed Jan. 20. (See Hoivlak Tichum on 8.) — Story from staff and wire reports draft issues include dual enrollment, election process, Enrollment: (Continued from page 1) C h ief H eath told o f a man, a graduate of Stanford University, who discovered that he w as a fu ll-b lo o d Warm Springs Indian. How ever, during the time of the census his mother lived in Portland. Her name was not included on the list of tribal members. “He came back to try to get enrolled, and he was de nied. The interpretation at that time was that he lived in Phoenix. In the Indian way, they come from this land. In the white man way, he lives off-res, so we can’t tak e h im . B ack w h en M adeline would take these from door to door, a lot of people didn’t want the resi dency part in there. They w an ted w h at the peo ple said. But it comes down to residency and the meaning. There are some things said in our language that can’t be turned into English.” “Ultimately,” Arnett said, “that is the controlling inter pretation in the tribes’ con stitution. The tribes are fully empowered to interpret.” Adoption election process Council also considered the adoptions/elections process. The constitution says that an adoption election is to be called by the Secretary o f Interior. There are alternate ways to hold elections, via tribal elections un der Ordinance 44. According to records com p iled by atw ai M adelin e Q ueahpam a, election s have been conducted by both the sec retary and tribally in the past. In the last adoption elections, less than 50 percent of eligible voters participated. “You can ’t m ake p eo p le vote,” Council Chairman Buck Sm ith said. “B ut we m ight present tribal members with the idea that if nobody objects to a person being enrolled that it’s assumed that [the adoption] has passed.” “I remember atwai Caroline Tohet’s feelings on this subject, years ago,” Louie Pitt said. “She said you could talk about this and th at, she d id n ’ t care. She wanted to know who you are. W here do you com e from ? W ho are your fam ily m em bers? She wanted to know if people knew these things.” Currently, there are over 200 applications from poten tial adoptees. “T here’s m ore,” O livia W allulatum said. “I was thinking about a workshop that I attended about 20 years ago, there were some documents presented back then that supported this en rollment ordinance. I think that if it was around back then, it must have been a priority for atwai Madeline. It was something that she wanted to get taken care of. It would help our department to have something like this in writing.” Enrollments, Wallulatum said, were at about 12 per month on average. However, after the Martinez decision in 2003, that number could be up to 50 applications per month. The adoptions draft ordi nance was tabled for consid eration at a later date. “This is something that I would feel more comfortable about if I was able to talk it over, present it to the people,” C o -C h airm an R onnie Suppah said. (Continued from page 1) It is commanding the highest price and has become a tradi tional building material. “There’s no such thing as a mill that is designed to cut ev ery size and species of lo g ... The only way the mill is going to sur vive out there is to have a steady supply of logs.” Currently, the mill has 103 trib a l m em bers em plo yed. Thirty-eight are married into the tribes. The mill runs about 40 percent Douglas fir, 40 percent White fir and 20 percent Pon- derosa pine. There is WSFPI wood being used in Belgium, Italy, Vietnam, Taiwan and other countries. The current cutting contract between the tribes and WSFPI becam e effective in M ay of 2004. The termination date for the contract is December 2011. Log market value is set by representatives o f the tribes, n l WSFPI and the BIA (identified value. No scaling or yard costs as the “gang of three” at the are deducted. Log market value for logs sold to off-reservation workshop). From the log market value, mills is still the actual price paid. “I have a p ro b lem w ith up to 15 percent is deducted as an enterprise deduction. Other 'what’s going on today,” Council deductions include the actual Co-Chairman Ronnie Suppah costs of logging, hauling, scal said. “Basically, Tribal Council ing, road maintenance, road con is sitting here negotiating with struction, slash treatment and these people. How many experts mainline road fees to reach the are present here today? All these experts are paid to come up with stumpage value. From the stumpage value, the best decision and recommen another 10 percent is subtracted dations that they can for the for Forest Management to ar Tribal Council to consider. I’m rive at the value the tribes will hearing that they’re going to throw it back to u s... facts and receive. As it stands, Vanport pur statistics, expecting us to digest chases all log delivered to the it all and come up with solutions WSFPI yard, and determines the for them.” „ Chairman Buck Smith sug log market value for each spe cies and grade that it purchases gested setting priorities and ana with input on the price paid from lyzing the enormous data that was presented at the workshop. WSFPI personnel. Enterprise deductions and ‘W e’re all going to have to come actual logging costs are still de together with some direction for ducted from the log m arket Warm Springs,” he said. è)Uyn ¿%/e Clothing, Shoes, Jewelry, Cell Phones Jordan, Nike!!! Open 10-6 Tuesdav-Fridav Located Next to the Teepee DELI! /---------- Legal Aid S ervices of O regon provides free assistance to low- income Oregonians in many civil cases. Speak with an attorney during drop-in hours 1 to 4 p.m. on V________ ' L — the first Monday of the month at the Family Resources Center in Warm Springs. 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