I
Press Release from Cooper Consultants Inc.
Tribal Officials, led by Kathryn Harrison, Tribal Chairperson, briefed staff members
from Oregon's congressional delegation, officials from the department of Interior,
and staff from several Senate and House Committees on the progress which the Tribe
has made in fulfilling its responsibilities as required under the Grand Ronde
Restoration Act (Public Law 98-165, November 22, 1983). Significant findings
from the Reservation Planning Process were also presented along with a schedule
for completing the Reservation Plan and for its submittal to the Secretary of
the Interior. The Act calls for the Secretary to submit the Plan to Congress
by November 22, 1985.
Overall, tribal officials agreed that these Washington, D.C. meetings proved to
be highly successful in promoting the cause of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand
Ronde Community of Oregon. The tribal delegation was warmly received by our
congressional staff members and by other key government personnel. All expressed
their interest in being personally informed as to the Tribe's progress. Representative
AuCoin, who was instrumental in carrying the Restoration Act, continues his lead
in supporting this phase of securing a Reservation for the Tribe.
Between February 12th and 15th, tribal officials met with the following staff:
"Senator Hatfield's office: Craig Higgins
Senator Packwood's office: David Jory
Emily Barlow
Representative AuCoin's office: Kevin Lynch
Representative Myden's office: Rich Brown
Representative D. Smith's office: Rick Borneman
Representative Weaver's office: Bill Sparks
Department of the Interior: Hazel Elbert, Deputy Director
Office of Indian Services
Also various BIA and BLM staff
" Senate Select Committee: Paul Alexander
Pete Taylor
House Interior Committee: Alex Scobine
National Congress of American Indians: Susanne Harjo, Executive Director
On February 25th, a similar briefing was made by a tribal delegation to the Advisory
Board and staff of the Salem area BLM office.
During the month of February, the Tribal Council and their planning consultant
have been working toward indentifying programs and program costs in order to meet
tribal needs as identified in the tribal socio-economic survey. This process
is laying the foundation in determining the reservation land base necessary to
support these activities.
As specified in the Grand Ronde Restoration Act, the reservation land base will
come from public lands in Polk, Yamhill, and Tillamook Counties that are administered
by the Bureau of Land Management under the Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976.
(Those Council members who attended the meeting Washington D.C. were: Frank Harrison,
Kathryn Harrison, Russ Leno, Dean Mercier, Mark Merc ler, and Candy Robertson)