Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
August 6, 2014
Page 5
Carbon project: phase 2 of plan starting
(Continued from page 1)
Carbon sequestration is
the capturing and storing of
the greenhouse gas carbon
dioxide. Certain forestry
practices can be a method of
increasing the capture and
storage of carbon dioxide.
These practices include re-
ducing fire and insect threats,
and promoting forest health
and growth.
Calif. regulation
The market for carbon se-
questration credits has existed
only for about a year, when
carbon dioxide emissions
trading regulations took ef-
fect in California. There is
the possibility that more
states, including Oregon,
could follow the California
example, so the market could
grow in the future.
The goal of the Califor-
nia law is to reduce carbon
dioxide emission levels by 25
percent by the year 2020.
The long-term goal is to re-
duce emissions to the 1990
level. So the market for car-
bon sequestration credits
could grow as target dates
approach under the Califor-
nia law.
The California “cap and
trade” regulations impact
mainly large companies, such
oil refineries, that emit large
amounts of carbon dioxide.
By regulation there is a cap
on the amount of green-
house gases the company can
emit during the year.
Companies can obtain a
state allowance to exceed the
The inventory shows
there are large areas
of the reservation
that would qualify
for the credits.
level, or they can legally ex-
ceed the emissions cap
through an offset.
Through an offset the
company shows that, through
its initiative, an amount of
carbon is being captured and
stored that otherwise would
have gone into the atmo-
sphere.
The offsets are in the form
of credits, sold by the land-
owner to the company.
Among tribes in the U.S., the
Yurok, Hoopa Valley, and
White Mountain Apache have
already entered the market.
With direction from
branch general manager
Bobby Brunoe, Warm Springs
Natural Resources last year
began researching the mar-
ket, and how the tribes might
benefit.
The first phase of the re-
search, recently completed,
involved a feasibility study,
and inventory of reservation
forest areas that would
qualify for carbon sequestra-
tion credits. The inventory
shows there are large areas of
the reservation that would
qualify for the credits.
Phase two, now under way,
will involve verification of
the tribal; registration of the
credits; and development of
a commercialization strategy.
The final phase, not yet ap-
proved by Council, would be
the actual sale to a company
or companies of the credits.
Tribal commitment
In order to market carbon
sequestration credits, the
tribes would agree to a long-
term management plan for
the specific areas of forest.
The commitment is for 100
years. Clearly, this is a large
commitment, impacting fu-
ture generations.
However, the tribes’ cur-
rent forestry practices, as set
out in the Integrated Resource
Management Plan, are al-
ready largely consistent with
the carbon sequestration prac-
tices, according to the report
at Council last week.
Also, only a percentage of
the forest land is being con-
sidered under the current pro-
posal; so the commitment is
for a relatively small area of
the land that appears to qualify
under the program.
If the tribes at some time
in the future no longer want
to participate in the pro-
gram—if they decide, for in-
stance, to clear-cut the tim-
ber from the managed area—
then there could be a finan-
cial consequence. And that is
one reason why the use of
the revenue would need to be
carefully weighed.
After the presentation at
Council last week, Paiute
Chief Joe Moses made the
motion to adopt the resolu-
tion moving forward with the
project, seconded by Warm
Springs Chief Delvis Heath.
Councilman Kahseuss
Jackson voiced his concern
that the membership should
have more say in a decision
that could create a 100-year
forest management commit-
ment.
Councilman Danzuka said
the Council decisions to allow
logging on the reservation
over the past several decades
have also impacted future
generations.
Chief Moses said the de-
cision last week was to pre-
pare for a possible sale of
credits. The final decision, as
whether actually to sell them,
would not happen at least
until next spring.
During the discussion,
Chief Moses commented
that the reservation timber
has been over-cut, and asked
the Natural Resources staff
how long until the resource
is again on an upward trend.
This would be several de-
cades from now, said Vernon
Wolf, head of Forestry. Seri-
ous logging of the commer-
cial timber base began in the
1940s, Wolf said, and contin-
ued at a steady pace since that
time.
The resource could see
another decade of decline, he
said, followed by some de-
cades of no net gain or loss.
Then an upward trend could
begin again possibly three
decades from now.
Resolution of Tribal Council
Carbon
sequestration
Whereas the Confederated
Tribes of the Warm Springs
Reser vation of Oregon
(“Tribe”) is a federally recog-
nized Indian tribe; and,
Whereas Warm Springs
GeoVisions (“WSG”), a Tribal
Business Enterprise, is advanc-
ing the commercial opportu-
nities for carbon offset credit
project(s) on the Reservation,
in particular under the State
of California Cap and Trade
Program; and
Whereas WSG has, work-
ing in coordination with the
Tribe’s natural resources, for-
estry and legal staff, evaluated
an initial feasibility review of
the potential for carbon off-
set credit projects and deter-
mined that carbon projects
are feasible on the Reserva-
tion under the California Cap
and Trade program and may
provide significant revenues
and other value to the Tribe;
and,
Whereas, Pursuant to
Tribal Council Resolution
11,840, the Tribal Council
authorized funding from the
Business Investment Revolv-
ing Fund (“BIRF”) for WSG
to engage qualified profes-
sionals in a phased develop-
ment of the carbon project
potential; and,
Whereas, WSG has, in co-
ordination with the Tribe’s
natural resources, forestry
and legal staff, and with the
engaged professionals (“Car-
bon Project Team”), com-
pleted Phase I development
activities including basic
project design, revenue pro-
jections, and commercial for-
est product evaluation; and,
Whereas, the Carbon
Project Team has developed
a recommendation that the
Tribal Council advance a pre-
ferred project alternative for
Phase II development activi-
ties, comprised of detailed
carbon offset project devel-
opment, implementation of
project management activities
consistent with the project,
and preparation for project
listing and registry with the
State of California and sale
of credits; provided, how-
ever, that certain Phase II ac-
tivities, including project list-
ing and registry, sovereign
immunity waiver and credit
sales, require additional Tribal
Council approval; and,
Whereas the recommen-
dation for Phase II develop-
ment includes the potential
for the Tribe to receive sig-
nificant revenues and to en-
hance the Tribe’s forest and
ecosystem health and man-
agement objectives and the
Tribal Council believes it is
in the best interest of the
Tribe to pursue Phase II de-
velopment activities, and,
Whereas the BIRF Com-
mittee has previously met on
January 10, 2014, and re-
viewed the WSG request for
funding for carbon project
development purposes and
determined that the funding
request in the amount of
$175,000 meets the objectives
of this fund; and,
Whereas, while Phase II
development activities were
contemplated in the BIRF
funding request, the BIRF
funding is currently limited to
Phase I development activi-
ties because that was the ex-
tent of the Tribal Council
authorized development ac-
tivities; and
Whereas there remains
available BIRF funding au-
thorized for Phase I for a por-
tion of Phase II development
activities, and the Tribal
Council believes it is in the
best interests of the Tribe to
authorize the use of BIRF
funding for Phase I and
Phase II development ser-
vices in an amount not to
exceed $175,000, now, there-
fore,
Be it resolved by the
twenty-sixth Twenty-Sixth
Tribal Council of the Con-
federated Tribes of the Warm
Springs Reservation of Or-
egon, pursuant to Article V,
Section 1, (f) and (l) of the
Tribal Constitution and By-
Laws, that the Tribal Council
hereby authorizes WSG in
conjunction with the Carbon
Project Team to engage in
Phase II development activi-
ties, comprised of detailed
carbon offset project devel-
opment, implementation of
project management activities
consistent with the project,
and preparation for project
listing and registry with the
State of California and for
the sale of credits; provided,
however, the project listing
and registry, waiver of sov-
ereign immunity, and credit
sales, are not hereby autho-
rized but require additional
Tribal Council approval; and
Be it further resolved, the
Tribal Council hereby autho-
rizes the use of previously au-
thorized BIRF funding in the
total amount of $175,000 for
Phase I and Phase II devel-
opment activities in accor-
dance with terms and condi-
tions agreed to by the BIRF
Committee and directs that as
provided in the funding terms
and conditions any interest
and earnings on such fund-
ing shall be reinvested in the
BIRF Fund.
Tribal Council agenda items
(The following are
items on the Tribal
Council agenda for the
month of August.)
Monday, August 11
9 a.m.: Review min-
utes and resolutions,
with Jake Suppah/S-T.
1:30 p.m.: Tribal
Court update with the
Tribal Court Judges.
Tuesday, August 12
9 a.m.: Board ap-
pointments with Lynn
Davis.
11: VFW with Jody
Calica.
1:30 p.m.: Oregon
Gaming Alliance meet-
ing with Gary George.
Meeting with North-
west Power Conserva-
tion Council at Round
Butte Lookout.
12-1:15pm Contact:
Mark Frich (Actual tour
Aug 11-13)
Thursday, August 14
9 a.m.: Contract sup-
port with Josh Newton,
IHS.
11: Chinook Environ-
mental Services with
Tom Macy.
1:30 p.m.: IHS Up-
date with Carol Prevost.
Monday, August 18
9 a.m.-5 p.m.: Stra-
tegic implementation of
Tribal Council Procla-
mation update.
Tuesday, August 19
9 a.m.-12 p.m.:
CRITFC salmon market-
ing with Les Brown.
Taos County Eco-
nomic Development
Corp. meeting with Patti
Badhand and Terrie
Martinson.
Wednesday, August
20
Enterprise Updates:
9 a.m. - Power and
Water
9:45 - Composite
Wellness
Lunch next
Thursday
The Wellness of Warm
Springs lunch will be held on
Thursday, August 14, at noon
in the Family Resource Cen-
ter. The topic will be Physi-
cal Activity with guest
speaker Edmund Francis.
Lunch is provided to all par-
ticipants.
4202
Holliday St.
Products
10:30 - Forest Prod-
ucts
11:15 - Credit
1:30 p.m. - Kah-Nee-
Tah
2:15 - Indian Head
Casino
3:00 Ventures
3:45 - Telco
4:30 - High Lookee
Lodge
Monday, August 25
9 a.m. - Secretary-
Treasurer update.
10 - September
agenda/
travel
delegrations/ review
minutes Jake Suppah/
S-T.
11 - Draft resolutions
with S-T
1:30 p.m. - Legisla-
tive update calls.
3 - ODOT meeting
with Matt Garrett.
Tuesday, August 26
9 a.m. - State of Or-
egon Tribal Affairs/Tanf
Nadja Jones/Kristen
Potts.
11 a.m. - WSCAT/
IDA program with Chris
Watson
1:30 p.m. - Ventures
update with Ventures
board only.
3 - Enrollments with
Lucille
Suppach-
Samson/Vital Stats
Wednesday, August
27
9 a.m. - Grand Open-
ing at the Warm
Springs K-8 Academy.
Note: All draft reso-
lutions must be sent to
the S/T by email in
Word form two weeks
prior to being taken into
council for presenta-
tion. Copy to lynn davis
at the management of-
fice. Emails:
Jake.suppah@
wstribes.org
ldavis@wstribes.org
The next regional
blood drive will be
Wednesday, August
27, from 1-6 p.m. at
St Patrick’s Church.
To s c h e d u l e y o u r
appointment call 1-
800-Red Cross or go
online:
redcrossblood.org
Call 541-
615-0555
Central Oregon Auto
& Truck Repair
85 SW Third St.,
Madras OR 97741
541-475-2370