Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
Ju14, 2021 - Vol. 46, No. 14
July – Pat’ak-Pt’akni – Summer - Shatm
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Roadway progress on highways 26 and 3
The tribes, ODOT and contrac-
tors are five months into the High-
way 26 Safety Project. Some of the
new safety features—the pedestrian
path along the highway and rock-
fall work, for instance—are taking
shape.
The work began in early March
after a few years of tribal planning
and funding work with state law-
makers and the Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation. The $6.5
million project is scheduled for
completion in late October.
Meanwhile, Warm Springs Con-
struction is working on their pedes-
trian safety project along Route 3,
the Kah-Nee-Ta Highway.
This overall work is from Upper
Dry Creek to the Highway 3
intersection with Highway 26.
The project, using BIA 638
dollars, will feature a sidewalk
along the roadway, street lights,
road paving and a storm runoff
system.
Route 3 is popular with people
walking to and from the Upper Dry
Creek-Industrial Park area and
Warm Springs. The project has
been in the tribes’ roadway im-
provement plan for some time.
With the 26 Safety Corridor work
now going on, this is a good time
Community
update
The Warm Springs community
Covid-19 update on Tuesday of this
week reported no new covid cases
from 14 tests conducted late last
week.
There was just one person with
active Covid-19 on the reservation,
receiving daily monitoring by Warm
Springs Tribal and Indian Health
Service staff, and no close contacts
being monitored.
If you need a Covid-19 vacci-
nation, you can call to schedule
at the Warm Springs Health and
Wellness Center at 541-553-2131.
Anyone 12 and older who is
Indian Health Service eligible, or
who lives or works in Warm Springs
and their family members can be
vaccinated.
Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs facilities are open; however,
there remain some Covid-19 pre-
cautions.
Fully vaccinated individuals do
not need to wear a mask indoors
in public places where vaccina-
tion statuses are checked. Your
card or a picture of your card
will need to be shown to enter
tribal buildings.
If proof cannot be provided, a
mask needs to be worn. Masks will
be required in areas where people
are not asked about their vaccina-
tion status. Masks are no longer re-
quired for people who are out-
doors, though masking is still en-
couraged, especially in crowded
places and for people who are un-
vaccinated.
There has been a long-standing
need for a sidewalk and bicycle lane
within the Warm Springs corridor.
A four-year survey showed 50 re-
ported crashes along the corridor,
a matter to be addresesed with the
current project.
Highway 26 is a major east-west
connection for the local commu-
nity, and also serves high volumes
of through traffic as a major con-
nection between Central Oregon
and the Portland area. The traffic
volume on Highway 26 through
Warm Springs is about 6,700 ve-
hicles per day. The state officials
allocated the funding for work to
begin in 2020. The pandemic
caused a one-year delay. Roadway
repaving will be from the Highway
26-Kah-Nee-Ta junction—milepost
103.2—for eight miles toward
Madsras to milepost 111.2.
D.McMechan/Spilyay
ODOT contract Highway 26 safety corridor work (above); and Warm
Springs Construction Highway 3 pedestrian sidewalk work (right).
to go ahead with the Route 3 work,
said Ben Bisland, of Warm Springs
Construction. The project will go
on through the summer, finishing
up later this year. Regarding the
Highway 26 work:
Expect the traffic delays as the
construction continues between the
museum area and the Hollywood
Boulevard-Highway 26 intersec-
tion.
Tribal Council and the Oregon
Department of Transportation ini-
tiated this project in 2018 to ad-
dress highway hazards for pedes-
trians and vehicle traffic.
Land exchange helps tribes’ wildlife management
The Confederated Tribes and
the Bureau of Land Management
this week completed a land ex-
change, hepling the tribes im-
prove management of the Pine
Creek wildlife conservation area.
The Bonneville Power Adminis-
tration supported the project.
In the land exchange, the
tribes receive 4,200 acres of
land, consolidating the Pine Creek
wildlife conservation and mitiga-
tion area near the John Day
River. The tribes’ Pine Creek
property is now adjacent to the
newly designated Spring Basin
Wilderness Area.
The transaction brings the
tribes Pine Creek Conservation
Area ownership to 34,012 acres.
As shown on the maps, the tribes’
acreage before the exchange was
broken up with areas of BLM
land with public access. Having
the tribes’ land as a solid piece
allows for better management of
fish, wildlife and watershed miti-
gation, said Brian Cochran,
Branch of Natural Resources
conservation lands program su-
pervisor.
In the exchange the BLM re-
ceives 4,500 acres, adding over
2,700 acres to federal ownership
within the Spring Basin Wilderness
Area and over 2.25 miles of fed-
erally managed river frontage
along the John Day River.
The Pine Creek-Spring Basin
Land Exchange was authorized
in the Omnibus Public Land
Management Act of 2009, to
Courtesy CTWSBNR
The tribes’ Pine Creek
Conservation Area (above), more
than 34,000 acres managed for
fish and wildlife. And the before-
and after land exchange
comparison maps (right).
consolidate both tribal and federal
lands.
The federal lands conveyed to
the tribes are within the 10 million
acres of the tribes’ Ceded Lands.
The exchange shows the coor-
dinated effort by the tribes, BLM
and BPA to work together toward
the common goal of providing for
more efficient land management
for all agencies and the public.