Spilyay Tymoo, Wgrrn Springs, Oregon
June 27, 2012
Page 5
Treaty tribes commit to lamprey
Letters to the Editor
Pacific lamprey were front
and center at a two-day lam
prey summit last week.
The summit, held at the
W orld F o restry C en ter in
Pordand, focused on thc^en-
tire West Coast, and brought
together over 200 biologists,
m anagers, executives and
policy staff, and tribal offi
cials.
The summit was hosted by
the C olum bia River Inter-
Tribal Fish Commission and
Adult Pacific lamprey.
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser
vice.
There was candid conver ' ignore.”
sations on lamprey, and the
The entire region, he said,
steps necessary to restore the has a responsibility to help
ancient fish
care for these creatures “and
“Eels have always had a time is running out,” Lewis
significant role in our tribal said.
“We cannot afford to lose
com m unities,” said G erald
Lewis, C RITFC chairm an. them from our ceremonies or
“T heir significance to our our watersheds,”
D uring the summit, par
culture, and their decline, is'
something the region cannot ticipants from Oregon, Idaho,
Water rights
Courtesy of CRITFC
W ashington and C alifornia
discussed:
The current status o f lam
prey populations; and on-go
ing efforts to conserve and
restore lamprey populations
collaboratively.
T h ey also ex p lo red rer
g io n a l a p p ro a c h e s fo r
im plem enting lam prey res
toration actions.
Many entities at the sum
mit expressed firm commit
ments to lamprey conserva
tion actions. Some signed a
c o n se rv a tio n a g re e m e n t
while others signed letters o f
support for the actions.
“At the first lamprey sum
mit eight years ago, the tribes
put the Pacific N orthw est on
notice that lamprey popula
tions were ip trouble,” said
Paul Lumley, CRITFC execu
tive director.
“We sounded the alarm.
By the time the second lam
prey summit came around in
2008, we needed more. We
needed commitments— com
m itm en ts fo r re sto ra tio n .
Now, fo r this sum m it, we
need to move forward with
real com m itm ents and on-
the-ground actions. Lamprey
populations simply can n o t
wait any longer.”
Satellite
upgrade
The Public Radio
satellite system that
operates the distribu
tion of Public Radio
programming across
America, including Na
tive Voice One pro
grams like Native
America Calling, is re
placing old satellite
dishes and upgrading
receivers.
KWSO completed
installation of their new
dish on June 9.
Yvonne Iverson/Spllyay
Wash, state may change fish consumption estimate
(AP) — The Washington
Ecology D epartm ent wants
to raise the estimate o f the
am ount o f fish Washington
residents eat as a way to im
prove water quality standards
and to p ro te c t fish eaters
from taking in too many con
taminants.
The move comes after the
state o f O regon pushed its
estimated fish consum ption
rate to the highest in the na
tion at just under 6.2 ounces
a day.For decades, Columbia
River tribes— Warm Springs,
Y akam a, N ez P erce an d
Umatilla— have complained
that consum ption rates are
n ot protecting their people
who are large consumers o f
fish. A low consum ption esti
mate means people could be
ingesting more contaminants
than are considered healthy.
Washington state currently
has a confusing system o f
two rates. An estimate o f .23
ounces a day governs water
quality, and an estim ate o f
1.9 ounces a day is used to
regulate cleanup o f toxic sedi
ments.
T h e Ecology D epartm ent
wants to set a single, higher
rate.
“We feel like it’s high time
to fix these num bers,” said
sp o k esw o m an
Sandy
Howard. “We don’t think the
c u rre n t ra te is p ro te c tiv e
enough.”
A proposal from Ecology’s
toxic cleanup specialists is
expected next m onth. A fter
public hearings across the
state a new rate could be set
by the end o f the year, said
E co lo g y sp o k esm an Seth
Preston.
“We’re still in thinking and
listening mode in trying to put
a proposal together,” he said.
“It’s starting to firm up.”
Something as simple as an
estimate o f fish .consumption
has big implications for pol
lution regulations.
“T here’s a lo t o f money
in v o lv ed , o bviously. B u t
there’s hum an health issues
involved here as well as envi
ronm ental issues,” said D e
partm ent o f H ealth toxicolo
Head of BIE resigning
W A S H IN G T O N , D.C.
(AP) — T he director o f the
Bureau o f Indian Education
is resigning to take a position
in his hom e state o f South
Dakrita.
Secretary o f the Interior
K en Salazar announced that
K eith M oore is leaving the
B IE to serve as state direc
to r fo r th e Fellow ship o f
Christian Athletes in South
Dakota.
Moore, an enrolled mem
b er o f the R osebud Sioux
Tribe in South D akota, has
led the Bureau for the past
two years. H e was selected for
the position by then-Assistant
Secretary o f Indian Affairs
Larry Echo Hawk.
B IE Chief o f Staff Brian
D rapeaux will serve as act
ing director until a replace
m ent is named.
The B IE operates the fed
eral school system for Native
American students. It oversees
more than 180 facilities on 64
reservations in 23 states.
gist Dave McBride in Olym
pia.
Industry is willing to make
changes to im p ro v e w ater
■ quality but doesn't want to get
hit with unrealistic standards,
said Courtney Barnes, the di
re c to r o f e n v iro n m e n ta l
policy for the Association o f
W ash in g to n B u sin ess in
Olympia.
“I think the fear is having
environmental standards that
are n ot achievable,” she said.
Fish are generally healthy
fare. T h e A m erican H eart
Association recommends that
people eat about 6 ounces o f
fish a week.
Washington’s water quality
rate— 0.23 ounces a day—-
was established by the federal
E n v iro n m en tal P ro tectio n
Agency from a national sur
vey conducted sometime in
the 1970s. W hen the EPA in
2000 began recommending a
rate o f 0.62 ounces a day, the
sta te ’s rate stayed at 0.23
ounces. And, the cleanup rate
o f 1.9 ounces was derived
from a survey o f recreational
anglers at T acom a’s C om
m encem ent Bay m ore than
two decades ago.
A 2002 consum ption sur
vey conducted by the Colum
bia River Inter-T ribal Fish
Commission, which oversees
fisheries o n the C olum bia
R iver, sh o w ed th a t trib al
members eat anywhere from
2 to 13.7 ounces o f fish daily,
said Yakama Nation Environ
mental Restoration manager
Russell Jim.
Y akam a trib a l m em b er
Alan Tahsequah spends each
spring and summer along the
b anks o f th e Y akim a and
Columbia rivers, catching fish
for his family.
“I have five kids, plus I
keep some extra for friends,”,
th e 35-year-old said while
fishing near the Parker D am
on the Yakima River one re
cent afternoon.
T h e Y akam a N a tio n is
hoping for an estimated fish
consum ption rate at least as
high as O regon’s, said Emily
Washines w ith the tribal fish
eries department.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- X
W arm S prings recen tly
q u an tified o u r S enior R e
served Water Rights with the
state to ensure that O regon
administered water resources
in the D eschutes Basin to
m eet tribal municipal, farm
ing or economic development
or fisheries needs! Yet I read
on a monthly basis where jun
ior water rights are being is
sued by O regon with no con
sideration w hatsoever o f its
legal obligation o f reserving
enough w ater resources in
the Deschutes Basin to fulfill
its legal o b ligation to the
tribes? O regon and the O r
egon D epartm ent o f Water
Resources have been and con
tinue to be very malfeasant
in their oversight and admin
is tra tio n o f th e w ater re
sources in the Deschutes Ba
sin, so what have our leaders
done about this negligence? It
is critical for our leaders to
hold the Oregon D epartm ent
o f Water Resources to this
agreement if we ever hope to
actually realize any local eco
n o m ic d ev elo p m en t. O u r
Tribal Council can no longer
allow Oregon to disregard the
legal implications o f ignoring
our Senior Water Rights, al
lowing Oregon to continue to
issue additional junior water
rights in a watershed where
w e p o sse ss S en io r W ater
Rights will make it that much
harder to bring economic de
v elopm ent to our com m u
nity. The failure o f our Tribal
C ouncil to spearhead legal
action against O regon will di
m in ish o u r S e n io r W ater
Right to a “paper water right”
o f no real economic benefit
whatsoever to the people.
S u b sta n tia l ec o n o m ic
growth is dependent on hav
ing adequate w ater, w aste
water and power supplies be
fore any grow th can occur!
O u r failure to address the
local infrastructure required
o f any econom ic develop
m ent has to be taken care o f
first. We can no longer ignore
this fact. Economic develop
m en t does n o t h appen by
chance. It is planned for. That
is the prim ary reason th at
R ed m o n d and B end have
reeked o f economic develop
m en t and why M adras and
W arm S prings have n o t.
They planned for it.
W hat long-range economic
goals have we established for
the benefit o f our com m u
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Ph. 541-553-1041
At Warm Springs St. & Hollywood Blvd.
k _ _____________ -_______________/
Randy Smith
School district offers free lunch
T h e J e f fe rs o n C o u n ty
School D istrict 509-J is of
fering free summer lunches
to kids ages 1-18, beginning
on June 25 through August
24. (There will be no lunch
served on- Wednesday, July
4.) ,,
Starting Monday, June 25,
the lùnches in Warm Springs
will be served from 11:30
a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the Warm
S prings cafeteria. I f you
would like more inform ation
on this program, please call
541-475-0339.
Peaceful Spirit Outing in July
The Peaceful Spirit O ut
ing, honoring w ounded war
riors through fly fishing and
cultural sharing, will be on
Tuesday and Wednesday, July
24-25 at Lower D ry Creek in
Warm Springs.
Open Wednesday thru Saturday
nity? Warm Springs Ventures
presented som e outlandish
proposals at the last public
meeting. T he m aterial p re
sen ted d e m o n stra te d tw o
things: 1. T hat we have been
paying these employees way
too much and haven’t been
provided any econom ic as
sumptions that are practical
or realistic. 2. W hy do we
continue to fund this depart
m e n t k n o w in g th a t th ey
haven’t the “comm on sense”
to even coordinate with tribal
m em b ers w ho have co m
pleted their Small Business
Plans and build upon that? A t
least these econom ic goals
would establish a foundation
fo r a d d itio n a l e c o n o m ic
growth; H ow many times do
I have to state, It doesn’t take
a master’s degree in econom
ics to comprehend that tribal
revenue kept in our comm u
nity is a good thing, something
we can build on. In our situa
tion I am talking o f hundreds
o f millions o f tribal dollars
leaving the reservation and
no economic benefit whatso
ever to the people or com
munity. I f it was any other
entity, O regon senators and
re p re se n ta tiv e s w o u ld be
holding a dinner in recogni
tion o f the economic contri
bution we inject into Oregon’s
economy! T hat’s a lot o f in
direct and direct tax dollars
that we have never received
even a Thank —You for. N ow
are you beginning to under
stand why I question the cred
ibility o f tribal em ployees
working in Ventures.
As long as our current rep
resentatives choose to ignore
the effective leadership style
o f the leaders o f thé forties,
fifties and sixties, we will con
tinue to suffer. N o economic
development will ever occur!
I t is time to lead cohesively
as previous tribal representa
tives did. It is time to pru
dently state and assert our
R eserved T reaty R ights to
achieve the economic devel
opm ent that has been talked
about for so long with no re
sults. All our leaders need is
“com m on sense and personal
commitment” following in the
precise footsteps o f previous
leaders. It is time for our lead
ers to believe in our Feder
ally Reserved Rights to restore
a bright oudook o f life to our
children.
Thank you.
A dvertise
in the
Spilyay Tym oo
T he organizers are look
ing for fishing guides, volun
teers and donations o f tackle,
food or funding.
C ontact Casey G reen at
541-325-2147 for m ore in
form ation.
I f you are interested in
advertising in the
Spilyay Tymoo, call
Yvonne at 541-325-
1089.
Or email
yvonne.iverson@wstribes.org