Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
August 3, 2016
Vol. 41, No. 16
August – Shatm – Summer - Shatm
Becky Picard photos.
N’Chi Wanapum Canoe Family leaving Swinomish (above and below) on the way to Tulalip Bay.
Thayliah Henry-Suppah, Colleen
Johnson, Wanda Johnson, Victor
Johnson, Corey Johnson, Marcus
Johnson, Deanie Johnson, Marge
Kalama, Praise LeClaire, Ervanna
LittleEagle, Brandon Lucei, Iysha
Macy, Emma Marquez, Sue Mat-
ters, Brigette McConville, Reyes
Paco, Clem Picard, Becky Picard,
Tiiwanii Sahme, Charles Scott, Deb
Stacona, Aurelia Stacona, Kota
Stacona, Michael Templeton,
Jocene Tufti, Jazmine Viviano,
Jeryn, Clara, Phranzyz, Sarah and
James.
(More on the Canoe Family on
page 8.)
Fire leads to wider
discussion at Council
The Rattlesnake Springs fire in
late July burned across 9,235 acres
of reservation land, including range
land.
No structures were destroyed
and no one was injured, but the con-
sequences are still serious. The loss
of grazing land, and the increase in
non-native invasive weeds are two
examples.
These and other issues came up
at Tribal Council when Fire Man-
agement and Forestry gave their re-
port on the Rattlesnake Springs fire.
Discussion included the coopera-
tive agreement by which the tribes
are reimbursed by the federal gov-
ernment for the cost of fighting
fires that happen on the reserva-
tion.
Under investigation
The cause of the Rattlesnake
Springs blaze was still under in-
vestigation this week. There is
evidence that the blaze was hu-
man-caused.
A person can be held financially
and criminally liable for causing a
wildfire. This happened two years
ago when a woman was sentenced
to 18 months in prison for starting
the Sunnyside Turnoff fire.
Meanwhile last month, about
250 fire fighters helped contain the
Rattlesnake Springs blaze. There
was air support—a helicopter and
single-engine air tanker—through
the Central Oregon Interagency
Dispatch Center.
The blaze broke out on Sun-
day afternoon, July 24, in the area
of Rattlesnake Springs, near a
swimming hole at the Deschutes
River.
Over the following days, the fire
burned up to Webster Flat and the
Culpus Bridge areas, near the Kah-
Nee-Ta Golf Course. Some
homes were threatened, but the
fire crews were able to keep the
flames away from the structures.
Still, residents were adversely
affected: The fire burned across
grazing land, including 360 acres
that a resident was planning to use
for his cattle later this summer.
All but 10 of the 360 acres
were consumed, said Or vie
Danzuka, of tribal Forestr y.
Danzuka and Trey Leonard, Fire
Management Officer, updated the
Tribal Council on the situation last
week.
See FIRE on 6
Berry trip to Meadows
Mt. Hood Meadows is host-
ing the 2016 Huckleberry Pick-
ing Day for the Confederated
Tribes this Saturday, August 6.
The bus will leave at 8 a.m.
from the Warm Springs com-
munity center. The bus can take
up to 50 people. Additional pick-
ers can drive up on your own.
Everyone must be signed up
and complete a liability release
form: Sign-up by stopping by or
calling KWSO, 541-553-1968.
The bus will arrive at Mt.
Hood Meadows around 9 a.m.
for introductions, morning snack
and berry picking.
There will be a shuttle to the
main base area available mid-
morning. Meadows will provide
vouchers for lunch and Sta-
dium Express lift rides.
Lunch will be at the main
base area. There will be live
music during lunch, with the
shuttle returning to the picking
areas after lunch.
The bus will leave Meadows
for Warm Springs around 3
p.m. Bring baskets and buck-
ets, good shows, a hat, and re-
usable beverage container.
Big setback for oil proposal
The Confederated Tribes have
been long-standing opponents of an
oil-by-rail project at the Columbia
River. Now, the state of Washing-
ton Attorney General has stated his
opposition. This is a serious setback
for the proposed Vancouver Energy
Project, proposed by Savage Com-
panies and Tesoro Corp.
If built, the transfer facility
would handle 360,000 barrels of
crude oil daily from the Bakken
Region of North Dakota. Once in
Vancouver, the oil would be pumped
from train cars into storage tanks.
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Tribes
developing
plan for
timber co.
Paddle to Nisqually 2016
The N’Chi WanaPum Ca-
noe Family arrived at the Port
of Olympia North Point area
on Saturday.
They joined more than 120
tribal canoe families for the
landing of the Paddle to
Nisqually 2016 Canoe Journey.
The landing, hosted by the
Nisqually Tribe, was followed
by the Medicine Creek Treaty
and Protocols, lasting through
the week.
The N’Chi Wanapum Fam-
ily left from the Celilo area in
mid July, paddled for several
days, meeting up with other
tribal canoe families along the
way.
The Warm Springs Canoe
Family was founded in 2010,
and has made the Paddle Jour-
neys most years since then.
The Museum at Warm Springs
is the host of the program.
This year the Family in-
cludes the pullers, dancers,
drummers, singers, camp
crews, elders and sponsors, or-
ganizers, cooks, drivers, and all
who helped with the Journey.
They are:
March Arthur, Daisy Begay,
Douglas Brisbois, Darren
Brisbois, Linda Clingan,
Carlicia Dixon, Thaisa Dixon,
Cassidy Dixon, Damean
Frank, Donnell Frank, Alexys
Gonzales, Jefferson Greene,
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
From there, it would be loaded onto
ships bound for West Coast ports.
The tribes have stated their op-
position, as this would be a serious
threat to the Columbia River fish-
eries, a treaty-protected resource of
the tribes.
The potential for catastrophe was
shown in dramatic fashion by the
June 3 train derailment at Mosier.
There was an explosion and an oil
spill. Tribal Council members met
at Mosier a few days later, stating
the tribes opposition to the oil-by
rail industry along the Columbia.
Tribal Council continues work on
two separate aspects of the Warm
Springs Forest Products Industries
closure.
One aspect is to cut the losses
from the WSFPI shut-down, and the
other is to bring in revenue through
a new tribal enterprise.
The membership can learn the
details of both projects at a Gen-
eral Council meeting, currently set
for Monday, August 22. The
planned location is the Agency
Longhouse.
The WSFPI receiver, and the
business consultant for the new tim-
ber enterprise, are expected to be
on hand to answer questions.
The receiver—administering the
WSFPI tribal court receivership pro-
ceeding—is Ed Hostman. The busi-
ness turnaround consultant is Clyde
Hamstreet and Hamstreet & Asso-
ciates.
Hostman and Hamstreet met
with Tribal Council in July, each pro-
viding an update on their work on
behalf of the tribes.
Some finished lumber products
at the mill were sold, bringing in
some revenue to the receivership,
Hostman said. This is now in an es-
crow account until the situation with
the WSFPI creditors is finalized.
WSFPI had up to 500 creditors,
he said. All but a few were unse-
cured creditors, meaning there is no
WSFPI asset that can be taken and
sold to satisfy their claims.
The main secured creditors in-
clude the tribes, through Credit; and
VanPort International, the former
WSFPI partner that marketed the
lumber.
There would appear to be no
chance of re-opening the WSFPI
mill, according to the report from
Hamstreet & Associates. The equip-
ment is for the most part obsolete,
driven by old technolog y, Mr.
Hamstreet said.
Meanwhile, the tribal timber re-
source is a valuable trust asset. The
issue to be addressed is how to maxi-
mize the financial gain to the tribes
from the sale of the timber.
The plan will involve hauling logs
to off-reservation mills.
According to the Hamstreet &
Associates report: Harvesting and
selling delivered logs should be
more profitable than selling stand-
ing timber.
Logging and delivery should be
generally competitive with off-
reservation rates, the report says.
One consequence of this: The
current allowable timber cut—31
million board feet per year—is not
sufficient to employ five logging
companies.
An advisory group will work on
a fair resolution and report back to
Tribal Council and the membership.