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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1987)
! ; . 1 1 J i - 1 I ' -I yj "" 1 Peter Murphy Jr. gives testimony in support of a reservation for the Grand Ronde Tribes. (Continued from page 3) The practices should include intensive timber manage ment, the continuation of the current method of appraisal which favors domestic rather than foreign bid prices, the prohibition of log exports, the regular and predictable offering of timber sales, and the continuation of sustained yield, said Hampton. "If a reservation is to be established, it should be done with a very clear covenant against competition with existing operators," added Hampton who did not favor either reservation bill in their present form. MI want the Grand Rondes to have parity with the Siletz on the reservation size," said Gratia Robertson, a Sheridan certified public accountant "The Siletz -reservation is 3,797 acres. I would think this base would be sufficient for present and future needs of the tribe."- - -. --r-: " "The true job base is in the conversion and the manu facturing of natural resources. It is not in the sale of raw materials. The entire West Valley benefits from the employment base of non-exportable timber," said Robertson. Following the panel presentations, AuCoin stated for the record, the Tribe's willingness to implement a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). The MoA would ban the export of logs from the reservation for 10 years and give domestic market bidders preference over those from foreign markets. Under the export band the Tribe would be giving up an estimated $420,000 annu ally, said Ken Smith. In questioning by AuCoin, Hampton said "as a mini mum," an export ban should be for 13 years, while Mercier stated that the Tribal Council had discussed a 12 year ban. In 12 to 15 years, the Tillamook Burn harvest would jump from 40 million board feet (mbf) to 111 mbf annually. The tribe would harvest 10 mbf annually with a 15,665 acre reservation. At current harvest rates, this -amounts to about 5 of the local area's annual harvest. The Tillamook Burn harvest would more than make up for any loss in timber supply from the reservation, said AuCoin, even if 50 of it were exported. Art Moshofsky, a co-owner of Fort Hill Lumber, also spoke against the reservation. He urged AuCoin to keep the timber lands under the Bureau of Land Management and giving the revenues to the tribe. Peter Murphy Jr., president of Murphy Logging based in Springfield, spoke in support of a a reservation for the tribe. The Murphy Logging Company was founded in 1909, and in the 1930's and 40's was this area's largest employer. During that time, 70 percent of the company's workforce was Indian, mostly Grand Ronde, said Murphy. "We have been in the forest products business for a long time, as have my associates of Willamina, Fort Hill, and Taylor lumber companies," said Murphy, "we all have simiiiar concerns." "The Grand Rondes have offered what I consider an extremely reasonable comprimise. A ten year morato- rium on log exports. At today's export prices, very conservatively, they are leaving 412 million dollars on the table for the next ten years," said Murphy. "I dont consider log exports to be dirty words," said 1 Murphy, whose company has been exporting logs and lumber for over 50 years. "Log exports help our work force, our employees. We bring foreign capital into Oregon. We have our operations in the black finally, and the log export market has contributed to our recovery," said Murphy. "I call on the opponents of log export, therefore, to re examine their position and their refusal to compromise, and to realize the moratorium being offered, while not a perfect solution, does represent a considerable sacrifice from the Indian standpoint, and one that should be recognized and appreciated," he said. "To think otherwise, I submit, will jeopardize the carefully crafted agreement and perhaps result in no export at all. In this case, industry would be losers," said Murphy. He said he supported "at least" a 15,665 acre reservation. i . : . ;- AuCoin asked Murphy what the economic impact would be if a permanent ban on exports was imposed on the tribe. MI think we would be tying their hands, said Murphy. MI think the Siletz people can tell you that their survival to sell timber was directly related to the export market," Murphy said. Oregon taxpayers have been very fortunate to be able to sell their timber on the export arena (state forest lands are open to export), said Murphy. The export market is "hot and its roiling," and Oregonians are the ones benefiting, said Murpny. Murphy also felt that the tribe's free market capability should not be limited as urged by other timber opera tors. . City council representatives and county commissioners also testified concerning the bills. Yamhill County Commissioners submitted testimony in favor of a reservation, however, the size varied from commis sioner to commissioner. Don Porter suggested a 10,000 acre reservation, while Ted Lupuszynski urged for a reservation that would meet the tribe's economic needs. Willamina Mayor Francis Eddy testified that the city council was on record as not supporting or opposing the reservation, but had concerns about export of logs and water rights. AuCoin pointed out that most of the Willamina Creek watershed areas had been withdrawn from the reserva tion proposal He also mentioned that existing water rights would not be impaired, if a reservation were created, due to language placed Into the Tribe's Restoration Act of 1983. Sheridan Mayor Art Herbert presented a city council resolution which supported the smaller reservation bill with a ban on exports. Others speaking in favor of the larger bill included Sande Schmidt, an attorney for the Native American Program for Oregon Legal Services, Delbert Frank and Michael Clements of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Marjean Whitehouse of the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce and Delores Pigsley of the Siletz tribe. Speaking against the reservation proposal included Elsie Werth of Grand Ronde, Craig Hanneman, Polk County commissioner and Jerry Creasy, Tillamook County commissioner. ji i i n - , . . t -- v -, . , ... - H -' . "Lj? . -',,,, , . . T . t " " ' St. - f.a'f 4. '- " -1 ;"' ' -?.'-v Logs at Willamina Lumber Company - Its president, John Hampton, expessed concerns about log exports with the establishment of a reservation.
