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Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Council
establishes
Veterans
program
Tribal Council this week
approved an agreement with
the Oregon Department of
Veterans Affairs that pro-
vides Warm Springs with
tribal veteran service offic-
ers.
The Warm Springs ser-
vice operators will be avail-
able to help the veterans of
the community with efforts
such as acquiring veterans
benefits.
The Oregon Department
of Veterans Affairs is re-
quired to file an application
for accreditation with the
U.S. Department of Veteran
Affairs for each person the
department desires to be cer-
tified as a representative of
the organization.
In order to acquire the
necessary certification for
the Warm Springs veteran
service officers, the Council
and Oregon Department of
Veterans Affairs entered into
a memorandum of under-
BIA to inspect
W.S. Jail conditions
Bureau of Indian Af-
fairs Law Enforcement
from Portland plans to visit
Warm Springs to tour the
jail. The Warm Springs Jail
and dispatch building is
BIA property, operated by
the tribes through the Pub-
lic Safety Branch.
BIA law enforcement
plans to inspect the facil-
ity in mid September, said
Agency Superintendent
Lori Anderson, meeting
last week with Tribal
Council.
Condition of the Warm
Springs Jail has been an is-
sue with the tribes for
years.
The facility was built in
Tribal Council Chairman Austin Greene Jr. signs the memorandum of understanding
with the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs, represented by Mitch Sparks.
standing, signed by Council
Chairman Austin Greene Jr.
on Monday of this week.
On behalf of the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs,
acting department director
Mitch Sparks also signed the
agreement.
On hand for the Council
action were local veterans
Edison Yazzie photos
Aircraft deployed at
the Tenino fire; while
a Fire Management
crew replenishes its
water supply.
added to the wildfire smoke.
Through an agreement, the
Jefferson County smoke
program does not allow field
burning when the wind is
blowing toward War m
Springs.
Tribes
engaged in
bridge project
The Port of Hood
River made efforts in
August to include the
Columbia River Inter-
tribal Fish Commis-
sion and representa-
tives from the Wash-
ington side of the river
in the bridge replace-
ment process.
The most signifi-
cant step was a
$25,000 contract, ap-
proved by the port
commission.
The calls for work-
ing with Akana Engi-
neering to help coor-
dinate with CRITFC
and the four member
tribes: Warm Springs,
Yakama, Umatilla nad
Nez Perce.
Under this contract,
Akana, a Native
American-owned pro-
fessional services firm,
will advise on tribal
outreach and facilitate
contact with key tribal
representatives.
The company has
10 offices nationwide,
with its headquarters in
Portland.
“Akana is a unique
1985 with a projected
useful life of 25 years.
A new or wholly reno-
vated facility is needed to
address the basic infra-
structure problems.
The U.S. Department
of Justice, through the
BIA Office of Justice Ser-
vices, has been identified
as a possible source of
funding.
Nevertheless, regard-
ing the upcoming visit
from BIA law enforce-
ment visit, “We’ve had
these reviews and reports
for years, and so far noth-
ing has been done about
it,” said Tribal Council-
man Jody Calica.
D. McMechan/Spilyay
Welcome
cooling eases
fire, smoke
The reservation experi-
enced a hot and smoky
month of August. Recent
cooling has given a welcome
break from the conditions.
The Tenino fire burned in
August, scorching about
9,500 acres.
This fire contributed to
the smoke, but most was
coming from fires in Wash-
ington and British Colum-
bia.
The air quality was re-
corded as moderate on most
days, though twice the read-
ing was ‘unhealthy,’ meaning
people with certain conditions
were encouraged to stay inside.
While Warm Springs was
smoky in August, the situa-
tion was worse in the Madras
area. This is because the
agriculture field burning
August 29, 2018
by Gerald Tufti
advocates Susan Guerin, AJ
Atencio and Charles
Tailfeathers. For more infor-
mation Susan at:
susan@wsala48.org
State closes Columbia fishery
Optimism earlier this year
about the Columbia River
summer steelhead runs
proved to be premature, and
the states of Oregon and
Washington took unprec-
edented actions in August to
protect diminished returns
of wild steelhead.
Oregon shut down the
Columbia River to all fish-
ing at the mouth of the
Deschutes River.
The numbers of return-
ing summer steelhead have
been low enough that fish-
eries managers do not be-
lieve the run will come in as
strong as expected. The
190,000 projected 2018 re-
turn may actually come in
closer to 110,000.