Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
December 21, 2016 - Vol. 41, No. 26
December – Nch’i-An - Winter - Yiyam
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Council considers tribal timber company Plan to
Tribal Council later this month
plans to take up the matter of the
Warm Springs Timber Company.
Council discussed the issue at
length last week, but took no final
action as to possible future opera-
tion of the company.
The Branch of Natural Re-
sources is an essential partner to
this potential enterprise. Council
and Natural Resources met with
Calvin Mukumoto in regard to the
timber company question.
Mukumoto is a business con-
sultant, working with Clyde
Hamstreet & Associates, Natural
Resources and Council on the idea
of establishing a company fo-
cused on the sale of reservation
timber in 2017.
The issue is of great signifi-
cance to the tribes, as the ap-
proved 2017 budget anticipates
timber revenue.
Tribal Council is set to take up
the question again on December
27, the last currently scheduled
Council meeting of 2016.
Tribal Council established an
initial version of the company ear-
lier this year, a necessary step as
Forest Products Industries had
ceased operation.
The question now is whether
to establish the company, in part-
nership with the Branch of Natu-
ral Resources, at least through
2017.
During 2016, the timber com-
pany established good marketing
relationships in the regional tim-
ber industry, Mukumoto said.
There were some challenges, he
said, as the company was a start-
up enterprise.
With a full year of opera-
tion in 2017 the timber com-
pany could realize a good
profit for the tribes,
Mukumoto said.
This would be based on the
sale of timber from the ap-
proved allowable cut. In this ar-
rangement, the company
would be the sole purchaser of
timber, and would then mar-
ket the logs to the highest bid-
der.
(See TIMBER on 3)
Jayson Smith photos
Young people were enjoying the school snow
days last week, as a winter storm brought
several inches of snow to the reservation.
School and sports activities were cancelled
during the last part of the week, and the tribal
organization was closed for one whole day and
part of another day. Snow plows were out in
force, keeping the main roads open. Utilities
made the effort to clear the driveways of people
who might have medical conditions.
Mill, new Council top
news of the past year
There was an effort—unsuccess-
ful in the end—to make major
changes to the tribal Constitution.
The year saw the ground-breaking
for the cannabis production facil-
ity, which then saw some delay as
Ventures plans to pursue the project
in 2017.
Elizabeth Woody became Poet
Laureate of Oregon, the first Na-
tive American to hold this honor.
The Managed Care program saw
great improvement in finances, as
more billing options were made
available to the program.
Ventures’ unmanned aerial sys-
tems program saw growth with the
development of a new training cen-
ter at Kah-Nee-Ta.
The year 2016 saw many changes
on the reservation, but two items
were particularly newsworthy.
The first was the closure of the
Warm Springs Forest Products In-
dustries mill. The official announce-
ment of the closure came in April,
though the mill had closed for part
of the winter.
And the closure was not a sur-
prise, as the enterprise for some time
was having trouble meeting the tim-
ber stumpage payments to the Con-
federated Tribes. WSFPI also re-
quired more reservation timber than
was recommended by the Branch
of Natural Resources.
The BIA was involved, refusing
to approve new timber sales with-
out some acknowledgment from
Tribal Council that the timber was
being sold to the mill below market
value.
The tribes had owned and oper-
ated the mill since 1966. Its clo-
sure put 85 people out of work. It
was sad news, and a most memo-
rable development from 2016.
Meanwhile, the districts chose the
members of the Twenty-Seventh
Tribal Council of the Confederated
Tribes.
An interesting part of this story
is the number of new members to
join the Council.
In the Seekseequa District, both
Brigette McConville and Lee Tom
are new members at Council. In the
Agency District, Val Squiemphen
and Carina Miller joined for their
first terms.
And in Simnasho, Jody Calica,
former secretary-treasurer for sev-
eral years, joined the Tribal Coun-
cil. And Ron Suppah, a former
Council chair man, returned to
Council.
Of the elected members,
Raymond Tsumpti and Chairman
Austin Greene were the two incum-
bents to be re-elected.
Council, BNR set
2017 allowable cut
The Branch of Natural Re-
sources Forestry reported to
Tribal Council this week on the
projected annual allowable cut
of reservation timber for 2017-
2021.
The allowable cut was then
set by Council resolution at 25.1
million board feet per year for
that time period.
There is an additional 11 mil-
lion board feet that is being car-
ried over from the current year.
This is an amount that re-
mained unharvested from the
2016 allowable cut, due to the
closure of the Forest Products
mill.
The vote on the 2017-2021
allowable cut was seven in fa-
vor, one opposed, and one ab-
stain. Tribal Forest manager
Orvie Danzuka, branch man-
ager Bobby Brunoe and staff
made the report to Council on
Tuesday, December 13.
The allowable cut is based on
forest inventories, the Inte-
grated Resource Management
Plan (IRMP), and other rel-
evant documents, Danzuka
said.
The 25-million board feet
per year figure is considerably
less than that from other recent
years. The mill required a higher
allowable cut to remain in op-
eration, so the figure was ad-
justed upward to meet this de-
mand.
In 2012, for instance, the al-
lowable cut was over 40-million
board feet; and above 30-mil-
lion in other recent years.
With the mill no longer in op-
eration, the cut can be reduced
to the recommended sustainable
level.
This can allow for better man-
agement in regard to, for in-
stance, huckleberries and other
first foods, Danzuka said. Some
other points of discussion dur-
ing the Council session with
Natural Resources Forestry:
The mountain pine beetle
problem has seen improvement
in recent years, said Vernon
Wolf of Forestry. However,
drought conditions led to forest
stress in some areas, providing
conditions for some infestation
from a different kind of beetle,
called ips.
(See ALLOWABLE CUT on 3)
help KNT
Tribal Council approved a loan
proposal that would Kah-Nee-Ta
resort to stay in operation through
the winter.
Council worked with the secre-
tary-treasurer and resort board on
developing the loan plan. The source
of the revenue would be a gas tax
refund to the tribes.
The plan is to transfer $400,000
from the gas tax refund to the Busi-
ness Investment Revolving Fund
(BIRF). The loan to Kah-Nee-Ta
can then be made from this fund.
The process for this involves a
supplemental budget to the already
approved 2017 budget. Council
members plan to meet with the
membership before final approval
of the supplemental budget.
The gas tax refund is specifically
intended, by earlier Council resolu-
tion, for economic development
projects.
Under general manager Jim
Bankson, Kah-Nee-Ta has imple-
mented significant cost-cutting mea-
sures. These include reducing the
hours of operation, and closure of
the Kah-Nee-Ta office in Portland
and the golf course.
Mr. Bankson has a work back-
ground in turning around resorts
that are in financial trouble, such as
Kah-Nee-Ta.
Kah-Nee-Ta has not made a
profit in many years, but manage-
ment and the board are looking at
ways to correct the situation. Bring-
ing in an outside partner, for in-
stance, could be part of the solu-
tion. Meanwhile, Kah-Nee-Ta is
now on winter hours of operation,
open Friday through Sunday.
509-J board
positions may
be zoned
The Jefferson County School
District 509-J Board of Directors
includes five individuals, all elected
from the district at large.
The board has directed district
superintendent Rick Molitor to look
at the possibility of implementing a
zone approach to the board.
Warm Springs, for instance,
could be one zone. This would en-
sure that the board has at least one
tribal member representative.
The positions of three members
of the current board—Laurie
Danzuka, Tom Norton and Lyle
Rehwinkle—are up for election in
March. It is possible the board
could adopt the zone approach prior
to this election, said Superintendent
Molitor.
The issue to be addressed is the
possibility that one area of the
school district could be heavily rep-
resented on the board, while another
area would have no representation.
(See SCHOOL on 10)