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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 2012)
Page 5 October 17, 2012 Spílygy Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon Ex-governors oppose private casino ballot measures (AP) — Three form er O r egon governors are joining the current chief executive in opposing a proposal to build the state's first nontribal ca sino. Republican Vic Atiyeh and Democrats Barbara Roberts and Ted Kulongoski implored voters to oppose Measures 82 and 83, which would al low developers to build a ca sino in Pordand's eastern sub- u rb s. C u rre n t G ov. J o h n Kitzhaber filmed a television commercial last week urging a “no” vote. The governors warned in a news conference that a new casino would increase crime in the area w hile harm ing In d ian tribes th a t operate Oregon’s nine existing casinos and rely on the profits to pay fo r social services such as housing, health care and edu cation. i Casino proponents tout a fun destination that they say would create jobs and gener ate money for parks, police and schools. “D o n ’t be fooled by the multimillion-dollar TV ads,” said Roberts, w ho was gov ern o r fro m 1991 to 1995. “This is n ot about water fea tures or m ovie theaters or farmers markets or fine din ing. This is about money, big m oney— gam bling money, and gaming profits.” O re g o n ’s trib al casinos don’t bring the same burdens as private casinos because th ey ’re lo cated o n rem o te “This isn ’t going to solve Oregon's fin a n cial problem s...” Former Gov. Kulongoski tribal land, n ot in the middle o f a big city, Roberts said. Casino proponents have said that the issue will be de cided by voters, n ot by politi cians. “The opposition campaign is funded by O regon’s cur rent casino establishment. It’s n o t Surprising they would be opposed to competition,” said Stacey Dycus, campaign man ager for th e casino p ro p o nents. B oth sides have spent lib erally on television commer cials touting the benefits and d raw b ack s o f ex p a n d in g gambling in Oregon. Casinos are currently ille gal in Oregon, b ut the state's ban doesn’t extend to Indian reservations. Tribes run casi nos on their land under fed eral law, with the state’s per mission. ' Voters shouldn’t look to-, ward the casino’s profits as the solution to struggling gov ernment budgets, Kulongoski said. “This isn’t going to solve Oregon's financial problems,” Kulongoski said. Measure 82 would change the state constitution to allow gam bling in O reg o n , w ith some restrictions, i f each ca sino is approved in a state wide vote and in the comm u nity where it would be located. Measure. 83 w ould specifi cally authorize the casino in W ood V illage w ith up to 3,500 slot machines and 150 tables, and require th at 25 percent o f revenue go to the state lottery fund. C lairvest G ro u p Inc., a private equity firm based in Toronto, is the primary inves tor in the casino, working with G reat Canadian Gaming Inc., w h ich ru n s m o re th a n a dozen casinos and race tracks in B ritish C o lu m b ia and W ashington state, and two Lake O swego businessm en w ho have been trying since 2005 to ,get voter approval for a privately owned casino. The developers are adver tising their project as a fam ily-friendly destination called “The Grange,” which they say would include a casino, hotel, theater and water slide on the site o f th e a b a n d o n e d Multnomah K ennel Club in W ood Village, a town o f less than 4,000 people on the east ern edge o f m e tro p o lita n Portland, about 15 miles from downtown. They say the casino would be 130,000 square feet— about the' size o f an average Target store— with 2,200 slot m ach in es an d 100 tab le games. T heir plans call for a 125-room hotel, water park, bow ling alley, co n cert hall and a pubhc space for farm ers markets and other gath erings. Study shows hatcheries rebuild salmon populations From the Columbia River I Inter-Tribla Fish Commission H atcheries are an effec tive tool for rebuilding abun dance and productivity o f chinook salmon w ithout im pacting wild fish, according to research published recently in the journal Molecular E col ogy- T hrough a study o f the N ez Perce trib e’s Jo h n so n Creek Artificial Propagation E n h an cem en t P ro ject, re searchers fo u n d hatchery- reared salmon that spawned w ith w ild salm on had the same reproductive success as salmon left to spawn in the wild. T he study focused on a p o p u la tio n o f c h in o o k salmon whose natal steam is located in central Idaho, al m o st 700 m iles u p stream from the Pacific Ocean. The Johnson Creek A rti ficial Ptopogation Enhance m e n t P ro je c t (JC A PE ) project study results refute a commonly held m isconcep tion, and some previous re search, that suggests inter breeding o f hatchery-reared fish with wild fish will always decrease productivity and fit ness o f the wild populations. “T he Joh n so n Creek re search clearly dem onstrates how supplem entation p ro grams can boost populations and minimize impacts to wild fish populations,” said Dave Johnson, Nez Perce tribe fish eries p ro g ra m m anager. “There will always be a need fo r h a tc h e rie s as lo n g as dams exist on the Columbia River. T he goal should be w iser use o f th e hatchery tool.” The study used D N A from all returning adults collected over a 13-year period to track parents and their offspring and to determ ine how suc cessful hatchery fish were at •Courtesy of CRITFC A weir across Johnson Creek allows tribal biologists to collect wild fish for broodstock while remaining fish are passed upstream to spawn. mating in the wild when com pared to wild fish. The study showed a clear boost to the num ber o f adult salmon returning to the popu lation from supplementation, w here fish taken in to the hatchery produced an aver age o f nearly 5 times the num ber o f returning adults com pared to the fish th at were left in the wild to spawn. A key fin d in g o f th e JC A PE study was that hatch ery-origin fish that spawned naturally with a wild fish had equivalent reproductive suc cess as two wild fish, suggest in g th a t c h in o o k salm o n reared for a single generation in this supplementation hatch ery did n ot reduce the fitness o f wild fish. Similarly, productivity o f two hatchery fish spawning naturally was n o t significantly lower than for two wild fish. “O ur results question the generalization that all hatch ery fish negatively im pact the fitness o f wild populations,” said Maureen Hess, geneticist with the Columbia River In ter-Tribal Fish Commission and lead author on the study. Critical time T he N ez Perce tribe be gan the Johnson Creek Arti ficial Propagation Enhance m en t P roject in 1998 after grams that play a significant role in recovering Columbia Basin salmon runs. The Pa cific salm on m an ag em en t world should consider supple mentation as a recovery tool if the region is going to real ize healthy and sustainable salmon returns.” Salmon populations in the Columbia Basin continue to face problem s o f loss and d egradation o f fresh w ater habitat, and significant juve nile out-migration mortality associated with the hydro-sys tem. T he trib es have argued th a t su p p lem en tatio n p ro grams that incorporate wild fish as broodstock into their hatchery programs and place fish back in to their natural spawning areas are im portant to recovery. “T he pubhc and the Pa cific N orthw est w ant abun trib a l b io lo g is ts o b s e r v e d dan t salm on runs. We all de critically low numbers o f re tu rn in g adults to Jo h n so n Creek, a tributary to the South Fork o f the Salmon River. By 1995, the num ber o f spawning fish pairs in Johnson Creek had been reduced to five. Adult return numbers are now consistently meeting the JC A P E P ro ject sh o rt-term abundance goal o f 350 re tu rn in g ’a d u lts, w ith th e p ro je c t alread y re tu rn in g m ore th an 1,000 adults in some years. “Supplementation is a tool that, m ust be employed if we are going to maintain and re build declining salmon popu lations,” said Silas Whitman, chairman o f the N ez Perce Tribal Executive Committee. “T h ejo h n so n Creek study is ju st one example o u t o f several supplementation pro- serve’ abundance,” »’said N. Kathryn ‘K at’ Brigham, chair w o m an o f th e C o lu m b ia River Inter-Tribal Fish Com mission. “T he tribes have always supported using the best avail able science to inform good management decisions,” she said. “This study documents w hat we have believed all along— th a t hatcheries are n eed ed to reb u ild n atu ral salmon populations. “O ur goal is to use hatch eries as wild salmon nurser ies to protect our treaty fish ing rights in all o f our usual and accustomed areas and to rebuild salmon runs. We hope that the co-managers and the science groups will use the Johnson Creek study results because it sets a new bench m ark to guide the manage m ent o f hatcheries.” Museum to host art market in November The Museum at Warm Springs next m onth will host the Native American Heritage A rt Market. E v eryone is invited to enjoy a fanfare and festive time a t th e m a rk e t, set fo r, Nov, 24. A uthentic N ative art and crafts will be for sale, including bead barettes, bracelets, decorative key rings, earrings, m ed al lions, w oven items, and small and large baskets. For v endor or other inform ation, call the m u seum at 541-553-3331. Umatilla attorney appointed special assistant U.S. Attorney M. Brent Leonhard, an at torney for the Confederated Tribes o f the Umatilla Res ervation, has been appointed to the position of Special As sistant U.S. Attorney. Leonhard will assist in pros ecution o f federal crimes oc curring in Indian Country, while continuing to work full- time for the Umatilla tribes. “We are incredibly excited to have B rent prosecuting cases in Indian Country,” said U.S. A tto rn e y A m an d a Marshall. “His dual roles, as both a lawyer for the tribes and a Special Assistant U.S. .Attor ney, will further improve co ordination between tribal au thorities and federallaw en fo rcem en t during crim inal investigations.” Leonhard has a long his tory o f advocating for tribal nations, H e is currently serv ing on Attorney General Eric H o ld er’s V iolence A gainst W om en Federal and Tribal P ro secution Task Force in Indian Country. W hile w o rk in g fo r th e Umatilla tribes, Leonhard as sisted in drafting language for the T ribal Law and O rd e r A ct o f 2010. Leonhard has already be gun prosecuting federal cases on the Umatilla Indian Res ervation, including a case in which a non-tribal m em ber is charged with stealing money frotn a tribal m em ber at the Wildhorse Casino and Resort, and another case in which a non-tribal m em ber is charged with defrauding the A rrow head Travel Plaza. L eonhard has previously served as the lead prosecu tor for the W hite M ountain A pache T ribes and as the head o f the public defender office for the C onfederated Tribes o f the Colville Réser vation. Leonhard received his J.D. from the University o f Wash in g to n and his B.A. fro m W estern Washington Univer sity. Advertise in the Spilyay Tymoo - I f y o u are in ter ested in advertising in the Spilyay Tymoo, call Yvonne a t 541 - 3 2 5 -1 0 8 9 . O r email: yvonne.iverson@ wstribes.org N e x t deadline to subm it items fo r publication in the Spilyay Tymoo is Thursday, Oct 26. Thank you! 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