Spilyay Tymoo July 26, 2023 Page 5 In recognition of indigenous leadership Alyssa Macy, of the Con- federated Tribes of Warm Springs, was announced last week as an Ecotrust 2023 Indigenous Leadership Award winner. Ms. Macy, who is Wasco, Navajo and Hopi, works as the chief executive officer of Washington Conserva- tion Action in Seattle. She is also a former chief opera- tions officer of the Confed- erated Tribes, among her other work and education accomplishments. Ms. Macy is receiving a 2023 Ecotrust Leadership Award, “In recognition of her efforts to build strong relationships between Wash- ington Conservation Action and Indigenous communi- ties, her advocacy for salmon protection, and her leadership in Washington state’s environmental com- munity.” She is one of six indi- vidual Ecotrust award win- ners this year. The Indigenous Leader- ship Awards are a distin- guished honor, as determined by other Indigenous leaders. The 2023 Awardees to be honored this year represent Native homelands across the Alyssa Macy Pacific Northwest—the re- gion where Ecotrust fo- cuses its work as an organi- zation—and includes sea- soned as well as emerging leaders. This year’s awards will be celebrated on Wednesday, October 18 in the Main Hall of Redd East, Ecotrust’s regional food hub and event space in Port- land. With Ms. Macy this year the other award winners are: Sgaahl Siid Xyáahl Jaad (Ma- rina Anderson) (Haida/ Tlingit), Kh’ashee-chtlaa (Louise Brady) (Tlingit), Frances G. Charles (Lower Elwha), Corine Pearce (Pomo), Gabe Sheoships (Cayuse/Walla Walla), Terri- Lynn Williams-Davidson (Haida); and the Confeder- ated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Youth Leadership Council—the first group to be nominated for the honor. Since 2001, the Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Awards have recognized 60 outstanding Indigenous lead- ers for their unwavering dedication to strengthen self- determination and uplift the environmental, cultural, eco- nomic, and social conditions of their communities and homelands. The awards are funded through a private endow- ment established in 2000 to recognize the work of Indig- enous leaders. “Guided by Indigenous values, elders, and cultures, the 2023 Indigenous Lead- ership Awardees are dili- gently working to ensure healthy, safe, and vibrant futures for tribal communi- ties and homelands. “Their unshakeable com- mitment and impact on a wide range of issues and needs are deeply meaningful. Ecotrust is honored to rec- ognize them and their humble dedication,” said Lisa J. Watt (Seneca), director of the Ecotrust Indigenous Lead- ership Program. More information about the October 18 event, and purchasing tickets, will be available soon. The awardees are chosen by a selection panel consist- ing of previous award recipi- ents who review substantial nomination packages made up of letters of recommen- dations, reports, articles, and media submitted by govern- ing councils, community mem- bers, and colleagues. Ecotrust creates and accel- erates ‘triple-bottom-line in- novations’ to benefit our re- gion and inspire the world. Their work is rooted in the region from California to Alaska that holds produc- tive lands and determined people. On the far m, at the coast, in the forest, and across our cities, we work in partnership towards an equitable, prosperous, cli- mate-smart future. Ecotrust recognizes the legacy of colonialism and the deep inequities of this place, and we believe that radical, practical change is possible and necessary. Join them at ecotrust.org Around Indian Country Who’s doing the work? Last December, the Kla- math River Renewal Corpo- ration took over the license of the Lower Klamath Hy- droelectric Project from PacifiCorp, the utility that owned and operated it. The nonprofit KRRC, which formed expressly to oversee dam removal, is re- sponsible for hiring contrac- tors and complying with the many federal and state per- mits required to do this massive project. PacifiCorp will continue to operate the power plants as needed un- til they are decommissioned. Kiewit, a national con- struction company, is the lead contractor for the deconstruction of the dams and associated infrastructure. The company will hire up- wards of 250 to 300 work- ers once the project ramps up and has already selected a number of local and tribal subcontractors. Courtesy photo Dam removal site on the Klamath River. Resource Environmental Solutions, or RES, is respon- sible for propagating millions of seeds and revegetating the reservoir footprints with na- tive plants. Crews from the Yurok Tribe are already col- lecting seeds and weed- whacking invasive plants near the reservoir shores. What’s next? (from page 4) Praise in public, punish in private As a leader, you are responsible to recognize superior performance and reprimand substan- dard performance. How you do this is what mat- ters most. I suggest you praise people in front of their peers. On the other Rain Circle hand, when an issue arises, deal with it in pri- vate. Also, use tact and be respectful when talking with your subordinates. Keep the people informed Communication is key in any workplace relationship. Keep your people informed whenever possible. Let them know about upcoming assignments, changes, issues, etc. They can deal with the bad news. In fact, bad news is better than no news. Keep your people in the loop. Do not hoard the information. Recognition is one of the most important aspects of your job. Recognition could include a thank you note, a small reward, a certificate, time off, public praise, paid for lunch, leave work early, a certificate, or something else. Find creative ways to recognize people. When doing it, do it publicly and be specific. Tell people why they are being recognized. Feedback If the only time your people hear from you is when they mess up, you are failing as a leader. It’s important to give your people feedback frequently. Let them know what they are doing right, what they are doing wrong, what they can do better, etc. Do this privately and face-to-face whenever possible and keep a record of it to show your people their progress. Training Klamath dam removal largest in the U.S. The first of four hydro- electric dams along the Or- egon-California border has been removed from the main stem of the Klamath River. All that remains of the dam, known as Copco 2, in Siskiyou County, California, is the headworks of a diver- sion tunnel adjacent to the now free-flowing river. “As little as a month ago, it was a 35-foot concrete dam that spanned the entire width of the Klamath River right there,” says Mark Bransom, chief executive officer of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, which is overseeing dam removal. When complete, the over- all project will be the biggest dam removal in U.S. history, and will reopen 400 miles of fish habitat that was cut off for more than a century. Getting this first dam out of the way takes deconstruction crews one step closer to drawdowns of the remaining three reser- voirs next January. Veterans message happening For the next several months, Kiewit will lay the groundwork for the draw- downs. Soon, crews staged at the base of Copco 1 Dam will “drill and shoot” a 10- foot diameter outlet tunnel through the concrete struc- ture. “The contractor will leave about a 10- to 12-foot plug of concrete that will sit there until early January of next year,” says Bransom. Come January, they’ll blast through the rest of the tun- nel, effectively pulling the plug and allowing water and sediment to pour through the opening. “So all the water from J.C. Boyle, all of the sediment accumulated there on the Oregon side, all of the wa- ter and all of the sediment behind Copco Number 1, and all of the water and all the sediment behind Iron Gate Dam are going to come out of that hole right there,” says Bransom. “That is the final control point, if you will, for the drawdown of the remaining three dams.” While this work takes place, the reservoirs are be- ing carefully managed to en- sure enough water flows downstream to support coho salmon, as required by fed- eral fish agencies. “The Bureau of Recla- mation has a biological opin- ion that requires them to ensure that a certain amount of water always flows below Iron Gate Dam all the way down the river,” says Bransom. “So what we’ve had to do, in close coordination with the Bureau of Reclamation, tribes and others, is to over- lay our construction opera- tional requirements on top of those regulatory require- ments.” When will the reser- voirs go away? Starting next January, three reservoirs behind the remaining three dams will be drawn down at a rate of about five feet per day. “We never want to have so much water coming through these outlet tunnels that we create a dam safety condition,” says Bransom. “And the second thing is we never want to overtop the riverbank.” An estimated 20 million cubic yards of sediment has accumulated behind the dams over the last century; Bransom says about 5 to 7 million cubic yards of that will wash out during the drawdowns. Crews will use fire hoses to blast sediment from espe- cially steep slopes near the rims of the former reser- voirs to prevent future ero- sion into the river. To best protect fish from the muddy water, the draw- downs will take place in win- ter, with a pause in April to allow young coho salmon to migrate out to the ocean. The reservoirs could partially refill with spring snowmelt, but by June the Klamath River should be flowing freely through the newly open outlet tunnels in the dams. Though it will temporarily impair water quality in the river, the movement of sedi- ment is an important part of healthy river systems, says Bransom. “And the Klamath has been starved of that natural process since these dams were constructed.” How will the other dams be removed? Once the drawdowns are complete, the remaining three dams will be taken down all at the same time, starting next June. The deconstruction method will be tailored to each structure. At Iron Gate, excavators will bite chunks out of the massive earthen dam and feed them to an endless convoy of dump trucks. At Copco 1, crews will drill small holes in the base of the dam and pack them with dynamite—not to create a massive explosion, but to break the monolithic structure into more manage- able chunks that can be hauled away. They’ll also remove a por- tion of the deep concrete foundation to ensure it doesn’t ever pose a barrier to fish. Along with the dams, the powerhouses, penstocks and outbuildings will be dis- mantled. Steel will be re- cycled and any hazardous materials hauled off to the appropriate disposal site. Your organization eats, breathes, and sleeps training. You must provide organization focused training. This will have a huge positive impact on the people’s morale in your group. Get out of the office, go outside or some other location. It doesn’t have to be an expensive destination event it can be Peer to Peer, on-site sharing of best practices, cross training (have different departments teach each other their job). Plan and rehearse your training so it is top notch and over delivers then do an ‘after action review’ when every event is complete. Canvas the group to identify; What went well? What needs improvement? What should we keep doing and what should we stop doing (just some examples). Be ‘others’ focused Instead of focusing on yourself, and your needs; focus on helping your people succeed. When your people know their leaders care about them, it will help improve their morale and performance within the group. This means you find out your follower’s goals, you help them excel in their career, you help them solve their problems when they arise, etc. This is servant lead- ership. By providing the support and resources your staff needs, you’ll let them know that you’re not there to tell them how to do their jobs. Instead, you’re there to help them do their jobs better. This shows them that you trust their judgment to make necessary decisions, which can fill your team with confidence. When your workforce is confident in their abilities, they’ll be more willing to learn new skills and set loftier goals for themselves – goals they’ll be able to achieve. Ultimately, you’ll notice higher performance and increased productivity through- out your company. ~ Message continues on 6