Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
April 12, 2017
Test range manager joins Ventures UAS
Liz Stalford has joined the
Warm Springs unmanned
aerial systems program. Ven-
tures chose Ms. Stalford to
serve as the Warm Springs
UAS test range manager.
The tribes’ UAS drone test
range program, a branch of
Warm Springs Ventures, is
an Federal Aviation Admin-
istration approved testing
range.
The tribes’ program is
also developing UAS training
and manufacturing compo-
nents that complement the
designated test range sites.
As test range manger,
Stalford intends to focus on
emergency management
Liz Stalford
training, utility inspections,
FAA commercial drone pi-
lot training, and ‘heavy
drone’ regulation compli-
ance.
Ms. Stalford is a com-
mercial multi-engine, sea-
plane and instructor pilot.
She has extensive experi-
ence in both military and
commercial unmanned
aerial systems.
She comes to the Warm
Springs Reservation follow-
ing her career as general
manager with
Arrow-
Data, LLC, an Alaska-Na-
tive owned business.
Stalford had worked on
manned and unmanned air-
craft. These were equipped
with multispectral HD cam-
eras for large scale
wildland fire mapping,
crowd control monitoring,
natural disaster response,
accident investigation, haz-
ardous materials operations,
suspect and vehicle tracking,
oil spill detection, Precision
Agriculture, 3D mapping,
wildlife monitoring, and
search and rescue.
Don Sampson, Ventures
chief executive officer, says,
“The timing couldn’t be bet-
ter for Liz Stalford to bring
her expertise to our range.
“The firefighting season is
on the horizon, and a host
of events and activities for
2017 will shift the unmanned
systems as the cornerstone
of a new economy”.
Page 3
Teacher education
partnership at k-8 Academy
Grow Your Own is a
partnership between the
Jefferson County School
District 509-J and
George Fox University.
The partnership pro-
vides four local teacher
candidates with a paid
practicum, so they can
obtain Bachelor’s De-
grees in Education
through George Fox’s
Adult Degree Comple-
tion Elementary Educa-
tion program.
The candidates have
served the school district
as educational assistants,
and are interested in
teaching careers.
These employee-
teacher candidates will re-
main employed by the
district and retain their
benefits during a year-
long co-teaching place-
ment at the War m
Springs k-8 Academy.
The community is in-
vited to learn more about
the program during an
information session from
9:30 to 11:30 a.m., this
Friday, April 14 at the
Warm Springs Academy.
Other educators from
Central Oregon will also
be attending, and will par-
ticipate in other activities
and discussions in the af-
ternoon.
Ventures to host drone public safety conference
The Warm Springs Ven-
tures unmanned aerial sys-
tems program will host the
first Drones and Public
Safety Conference, May 24-
25 at Kah-Nee-Ta.
Those who will attend are
in the search and rescue,
public safety, fire and safety,
and wildland fire areas.
Drone suppliers will also
be on hand, said Aurolyn
Stwyer, Ventures business
and marketing director. The
May conference is the first
of two UAS conferences
scheduled for 2017 at Kah-
Nee-Ta, the second one be-
ing in October.
The resort is also the
home of the tribes’ UAS In-
novation Center, located on
the ground floor at Kah-Nee-
Ta. The Innovation Center
offers professional training
with FAA approved instruc-
tors. There is training for
UAS commercial certifica-
tion, infrastructure inspec-
tion, wildland firefighting,
and natural resources con-
servation.
At the Innovation Cen-
ter, funded through a state
grant, there will be 12 flight
simulation stations; confer-
ence and classroom; and ac-
cess to the amenities at the
resort.
The Warm Springs UAS
program has partnered with
the Aerial Rigging Systems
(ARS) company, a leader in
using UAS to safely inspect
and document elevated or
hard to reach industrial sites.
ARS will also providing train-
ing in the use of its product,
the Ez Rig Drone, at the In-
novation Center.
Coming soon to Warm
Springs, at the industrial
park, are the UAS manufac-
turing plant and retail store
for the EZ.
Drone test flight by de-
energized power line on
the reservation.
The test range
The Warm Springs FAA
UAS Test Range is part of
the Pan-Pacific UAS Test
Range Complex, one of six
official FAA test sites in the
United States.
The Warm Springs test
range can focus on transmis-
sion line and linear infra-
structure inspection, as the
reservation test areas include
10 miles of de-energized
high-voltage transmission
lines, and 150 circuit miles
of high-voltage lines.
There can be a focus on
natural resource conserva-
tion, as the Warm Springs
test range has resident popu-
lations of a wide variety of
wildlife, including watershed
areas and native plant popu-
lations.
In regard to the wildland
fire application of UAS:
Testing can be conducted in
conjunction with controlled
burn operations by the Con-
federated Tribes of Warm
Springs Branch of Natural
Resources. For more infor-
mation about the tribes’ UAS
program contact Aurolyn at
Ventures, 541-469-3824. Or
email:
aurolyn.stwyer@wstribes.org
You can also visit the
website: wsuas.com
Enterprise meetings start this Thursday
Community meetings on
the tribal enterprises are now
scheduled for this month.
These are re-scheduled from
earlier meetings that were
cancelled due to a death in
the community.
The first meeting is this
Thursday evening, April 13,
from 6 to 9 p.m. This will be
at the Warm Springs Com-
munity Center social hall.
These enterprises will
give updates:
Warm Springs Ventures,
including the Cannabis
project, the Telecom, UAS
test range, tribal Construc-
tion, Carbon Sequestration,
and GeoVisions. Also:
The Museum at Warm
Springs; and the War m
Springs Credit Enterprise.
Tribal Members are en-
couraged to attend these
meetings and learn more
about the work of tribal en-
terprises.
Each enterprise will
present for 30 minutes fol-
lowed by time for questions
and comments.
Enterprise accountability
was listed as a priority in the
Twenty-Seventh Tribal
Council
Proclamation
adopted last July 18.
The Proclamation states
that each tribal enterprise
will provide quarterly re-
ports to the Tribal Council,
and report at least semi-an-
nually to the membership.
This is the first series of
enterprise meetings sched-
uled for 2017.
The next enterprise com-
munity meeting is scheduled
for Monday, April 17 start-
ing at 6 p.m. at the Warm
Springs Community Center
social hall.
Enterprises providing re-
ports will be:
Kah-Nee-Ta Resort &
Spa. Warm Springs Power &
Water Enterprises. Warm
Springs Timber Company
LLC.
Open Enrollment applications
taken through this Friday
Open enrollment for Or-
egon public schools, includ-
ing those of the Jefferson
County School District 509-
J, is now available. Applica-
tions will be accepted
through this Friday, April 14.
In district transfer re-
quests: If you wish to send
your child or children to a
different 509-J school, out-
side of your resident area,
you must apply through the
Open Enrollment proce-
dures.
Current Open Enroll-
ment students will stay en-
rolled at the current school,
and do not need to re-apply.
A summary of the Open
Enrollment conditions and
procedures is included with
the Open Enrollment form,
and is available at the school
main office, or the district
office.
The district is not respon-
sible for any transportation
or excess costs if a parent
chooses the Open Enroll-
ment option.
Out of district transfer
requests: If you would like
to send your child or chil-
dren to a different school
district, you must contact that
district directly and follow
that district’s Open Enroll-
ment procedures.
For further information
please call the main office at
541-475-6192, or access the
information online at:
jcsd.k12.or.us
Prevention conference in
May at Agency Longhouse
The tribes and Health
and Human Services are
planning a two-day meth-
amphetamine and suicide
prevention conference in
May, to be held at the
Agency Longhouse.
The event is called the
“Alone We Are Strong,
Together We are Stron-
ger” conference, set for
May 17-18, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
each day.
This is part of the
tribes’ Methamphet-
amine and Suicide Pre-
vention Initiative. There
will also be a Suicide Pre-
vention Walk to raise
awareness.
If you would like help
in creating a sign in
memory of a loved one
lost by suicide to carry
during the walk, or hang
on the wall during the
conference, please call
Rosanna
Jackson,
Leighton Pennington or
Michael Martinez to
schedule a time.
For the conference
space is limited, If you
are interested or want
more information, call
Rosanna at 541-553-
3205.