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.
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