Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
April 13, 2016
Vol. 41, No. 8
April – Hawit`an – Spring - Wawaxam
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Council Tribes’ truck stop in design phase
weighs
options
as mill
closes
The Warm Springs Forest Prod-
ucts Industries mill is no longer a
viable and solvent enterprise.
The WSFPI mill cannot resume
operation, and the enterprise is now
going into court-supervised receiv-
ership.
This will involve the sale of the
WSFPI assets in order to mitigate
the financial loss.
The Confederated Tribes are
WSFPI’s largest creditor, with loans
outstanding to the tribal Credit en-
terprise, and the tribes’ business in-
vestment fund.
WSFPI also owes the tribes for
past due reservation timber sales.
The timber is a trust asset, and has
funded the Senior Pension and per
capita.
WSFPI and the Confederated
Tribes last year agreed to a re-pay-
ment schedule to bring the stump-
age payments up to date. WSFPI
missed its most recent scheduled
payment, and the BIA had to issue
a cease and desist order to prevent
further extraction of the timber.
WSFPI also owes the logging
companies, and non-tribal entities
such as the lumber sale company
VanPort International. The Yakama
Nation is also owed for logs sold to
WSFPI. Some of the mill employ-
ees are also apparently owed for
earned vacation time.
The sale of some assets—logs
that are currently on the ground in
the woods—will happen quickly, as
these assets are perishable.
Tribal Council took action to
pursue receivership for WSFPI on
Monday of this week, on advice of
legal counsel.
The mill has not been in opera-
tion for the past several weeks. The
initial closure was intended to be
temporary, until the logging roads
were usable.
The tribes’ truck stop
project is now in the design
phase. The Gaming board is
working with BBT Architects
on the design.
BBT Architects, based in
Bend, designed the War m
Springs Eagle Academy, and the
Madras Performing Arts Cen-
ter, among several other school
buildings.
Some other design projects
by BBT Architects: the Mt.
Bachelor West Village Lodge; the
Village at Eagle Crest; the COCC
Redmond Technology Education
Center, among many other projects.
(You can see examples of their work
at bbtarchitects.com)
When the design is finished, the
Gaming board will hire a contrac-
tor, and work will begin soon af-
ter. The target opening date for
the truck stop is March of 2017,
said Jeffrey Carstensen, Indian
Head Casino general manager.
The truck stop will be located at
the tribes’ 10-acre trust property at
the Madras industrial park, just off
Highway 26.
The truck stop will create be-
tween 40 and 60 new jobs, and will
generate significant new revenue—
a conservative estimate of $2 mil-
lion per year— for the tribes. The
new jobs will have tribal member
preference, following the policy at
Indian Head, Carstensen said.
The Twenty-Sixth Tribal Coun-
cil approved the project last year,
on recommendation of the Gam-
ing board. The casino board and
management then worked at acquir-
ing a bank loan, approved earlier this
year.
The tribes’ property at the Ma-
dras Industrial Park—acquired in
1977, as part of the then-viable mill
operation—has not been used in
several years. The Gaming proposal
calls for development of a truck
stop with gasoline service, a restau-
rant and convenience store, among
other amenities.
See TRUCK STOP on 7
Veterans
Welcome
Home
The Eugene Greene Sr.
American Legion Post and
Auxiliary Unit 48 in late
March hosted the First
Annual Welcome Home
Vietnam Veterans Parade and
Expo.
The parade and expo were
part of the local recognition of
Welcome Home Vietnam
Veterans Day. The event saw
veterans arrive from around
the region.
The American Legion Post 48
and the Auxiliary spent
months planning and fund-
raising for the day of
recognition and appreciation.
Jayson Smith/Spilyay
See WSFPI on 7
New Tribal Council; No on Constitution changes
The membership on April 4
elected the Twenty-Seventh Tribal
Council of the Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs.
The Tribal Council usually certi-
fies the results shortly after the pre-
sentation by the tribal Election
Counting board. For the April 4
vote, though, there was some delay,
due to a debate as to who would
represent the Seekseequa District.
Lee Tom will be one of the
Seekseequa representatives. Mean-
while, Tribal Council was planning
to meet on Wednesday morning of
this week (after print time for this
publication) to determine the sec-
ond Seekseequa representative.
The situation meant that Coun-
cil had not yet certified the election
results as of Tuesday, but the unof-
ficial results— as presented by the
Election Counting board— are avail-
able. The results show:
For the Agency District the top
vote winners are: current Council
Chairman Austin Greene with 211
votes; Val Switzler with 177; and
Carina Miller with 158.
For the Simnasho District the top
vote winners are: Councilman
Raymond Tsumpti with 170 votes;
Charles ‘Jody’ Calica with 129; and
Ron Suppah with 121 votes.
For the Seekseequa District the
top vote winners were incumbent
Councilman Scott Moses, who ran
as a write-in candidate with 51; and
Lee Tom with 48.
Seekseequa held a district meet-
ing on Monday evening, but the mat-
ter remained unresolved on Tues-
day. So Tribal Council was plan-
ning to reconsider the question on
Wednesday.
The situation is unusual. Disputes
such as these have traditionally been
handled at the district level, rather
than at Tribal Council, said Arlita
Rhoan, elder and counting board
member. Warm Springs Chief
Delvis Heath also said this was a
question for the district.
Twenty-Seventh Council
The election results mean that
Agency and Simnasho each elected
two non-incumbent members; and
Seekseequa elected one new mem-
ber.
The new members are Carina
Miller and Val Switzler for Agency;
Charles ‘Jody’ Calica and Ron
Suppah for Simnasho; and Lee Tom
for Seekseequa.
Ron Suppah served on previ-
ous Tribal Councils, including as
Chairman; and Jody Calica served
as secretary-treasurer for several
years.
Carina Miller works at the Re-
Use It Thrift Store. Val Switzler is
the director of the Culture and
Heritage Department.
Lee Tom has many years of ex-
perience in construction, housing,
land-use and agriculture.
See ELECTION on 7