Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
May 9, 2018 - Vol. 43, No. 10
May – Xawit’an – Spring - Wawaxam
Land Buy-Back looking at second wave
There could be a second wave
of offers this year through the
Warm Springs Land Buy Back pro-
gram. Response time for the first
offers closed in late April.
A second wave of offers could
increase the number of successful
transactions, said Randy Scott,
Warm Springs Land Buy Back co-
ordinator.
There has been no final order
approving the second wave of
Warm Springs offers, but there is a
preliminary recommendation to con-
duct a second round, Mr. Scott said.
For the first wave of offers, the
program approved the expenditure
of close to $600,000 for the pur-
chase of fractionated interests in al-
lotments, encompassing about 1,035
acres on reservation land.
Land interests acquired through
the program go to the Confeder-
ated Tribes.
The amount spent on acquiring
interests during the first wave was
low compared to the total of
roughly $4 million that is allocated
through the program.
Funds left unspent revert to the
program, and are not accessible
again to the tribes or members who
own fractional allotment interests.
For this reason the hope to is
have a greater response.
The Buy-Back Program
implements the land consolida-
tion
component
of
the Cobell Settlement. The
settlement provided $1.9 billion
to purchase fractional interests
in trust or restricted land from
willing sellers at fair market
value.
2018
Lil’ Miss
Pageant
T here is much to like about
the Lil’ Miss Warm Springs
Pageant. “It’s great seeing all
the supporters, the family and
friends who show their sup-
port,” said Norene Sampson,
Recreation fitness coordinator,
who also helps with Lil’ Miss
Warm Springs.
A lot goes into to making the
pageant happen. There are
meetings every week leading up
to the evening.
See PAGEANT on page 5
At the Pageant, Senior Lil’
Miss Warm Springs 2017-18
Coreena Stwyer crowns the
new 2018-2019 Senior Miss
Warm Springs Jessica
Bruised Head.
Jayson Smith/Spilyay
Renewable energy idea for reservation
Warm Springs Power and Water
Enterprises has been researching
the possibility of developing a so-
lar farm on the reservation.
Power and Water has worked
with an experienced partner, Cy-
press Creek Renewables, on some
of the preliminary research, keep-
ing Tribal Council updated from
time to time.
Tribal leaders met this week with
Cypress Creek for a tour of the
solar farms east of Bend.
The site visit was to give the
tribes an idea of the potential for
Vets Parade
and Expo
Miss Warm Springs
Thyreicia Simtustus leads
the Welcome Home Vietnam
Veterans Parade.
Hosts of the Parade and
Expo were the Eugene
‘Cougar’ Greene Sr.
American Legion Post and
Auxiliary No. 48, and the
Confederated Tribes. At the
conclusion of the parade
were lunch at the
Community Center, and the
veterans expo.
(See page 8 for more.)
Jayson Smith/Spilyay
developing a similar solar farm,
or farms on the reservation. This
could be a promising renewable-
energy project for the tribes, re-
ducing reliance on fossil fuels, said
Councilwoman Carina Miller.
Areas on the reservation that
have been mentioned for their
potential include: The flat above
the former mill site, and the pla-
teau above Greeley Heights, as
two examples.
A project could involve several
hundred acres. The Cypress
Creek Renewables far ms in
Bend—called the Neff Solar
Farms—total approximately 70
acres each in size.
A project on the reservation
could be of similar dimension.
Any potential site would go
through the rigorous environmen-
tal, cultural resource and commu-
nity review of the Confederated
Tribes, said Jim Manion, Power
and Water general manager.
The solar farms at Bend gen-
erate about 14 megawatts of en-
ergy, enough power for about
6,000 homes.
A project on the reserva-
tion would require a develop-
ment partner. An incentive for
the company would an energy
tax credit.
As the tribes pay no such
tax, there would no eco-
nomic incentive for the
tribes alone to pursue a
project alone. With a private
industry partner, though,
such a project could make
financial sense.
The tribes would benefit by
serving as landlord.
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Coronation
Saturday for
Miss W.S.
Miss Warm Springs Thyreicia
Simtustus has been invited and
hopes to attend powwows and other
tribal events in 2018, representing
the Confederated Tribes.
There is a need for funding for
her travel expenses, though, as
there is no tribal budget for Miss
Warm Springs.
Thyreicia goes to Central Or-
egon Community College, and also
works part time; so her time for
fundraising is limited.
To raise the travel money,
Thyreicia’s family and friends de-
cided to host a Coronation and
Banquet, set for this Saturday
evening, May 12 at the Museum
at Warm Springs.
This apparently will be the first
Miss Warm Springs Coronation
and Banquet, said Aurolyn Stwyer,
who met this week with Thyreicia
and Tribal Council.
They requested a donation of
salmon from Natural Resources
for the Coronation, and Tribal
Council approved the request.
The Coronation will begin at 6
p.m. this Saturday at the museum,
and will include dinner and auctions.
Donations for the Coronation and
Banquet are $20 per person, $10
for senior citizens and children
under 10.
Clean-up at
longhouse
The cleaning and abatement
porject at the Agency Longhouse is
partly finished. The contractor has
said the work should be done by the
middle of this month, said Secre-
tary-Treasurer Michele Stacona.
She gave an update on the
longhouse on Monday at Tribal
Council.
The first part of the work—
abatement of the asbestos and lead
paint—was finished, allowing the
company to begin work on the sec-
ond phase.
Phase two is the abatement of
methamaphetamine contamination.
Earlier this year, areas of the
longhouse—restrooms and the
kitchen area, for instance—tested
positive for meth contamination.
This can pose a serious health
hazard, especially to children, elders
and people with respiratory issues,
for example.
Last month Tribal Council allo-
cated a total of $300,000 for meth
abatement of public buildings on
the reservation.
The abatement budget for just
the longhouse was $192,000, though
the work could exceed this amount,
said Alyssa Macy, chief operations
officer.
There are other building spaces
around the reservation that also re-
quire some meth abatement work.
The funds allocated for the abate-
ment work came from a tribal capi-
tal projects fund.