Smoke Signals
August 1994
Page 11
Natural Resources
Summer season keeps tribal crew
busy fighting forest wild fires
(This is a second part of a story on
the Grand Ronde Tribes Natural
Resources Division.)
The fire season is beginning.
That means that the Natural
Resources Division will be busier
than ever.
During the fire season, five
persons who have had wildfire
fighting experience, and who have
been certified as fire fighters by the
U.S. Forest Service, are the strike
force that combat blazes.
The five are Crew Boss Ralph Jim,
a Yakama tribal member, and Grand
Ronde tribal members MikeReibach,
Frank Hostler, Bryan Mercier and
Floyd LaBonte.
"We have two 1,000-gallon
pumpers, one 400-gallon pumper and
a small patrol rig with a ISO-gallon
water tank," Cliff Adams, Natural
Resources manager, said.
Much cooperation is involved in
fire protection andfire fighting work.
"We belong to the Tillamook
Lincoln Fire Protection
Cooperative," Adams said
Members of the cooperative help
each other when a situation gets
beyond the ability of one
organization to handle a fire.
Jeff Nepstad, forest management
supervisor, said that people should
be aware that the fire danger is
increasing daily.
He said that dangerous fires have
started from carelessly thrown
cigarette butts and sloppy camp fire
practices.
Education is an important part of
fire prevention with the Natural
Resources Division.
Connie Holmes is the specialist
Coastal land now part of Oregon's
state park land preserve
The Oregon Parks and Recreation
Department has bought 76 1 acres of
coastal forest land at Tillamook Head
from the Nature Conservancy.
The purchase is the result of a
bequest from Marie Louise
Feldenheimer.
The purchase more than doubles
the Elmer Feldenheimer Forest
Preserve and is the largest single
addition to Oregon State Park lands
since 1971.
The wooded site adjacent to Ecola
State Park near Cannon Beach was
appraised at $2.7 million.
The Nature Conservancy sold the
land to the state at a bargain price of
$700,000.
"This gift carries on a grand Oregon
tradition," saidBobMeinen, director
of the Oregon State Parks and
dealing with fire prevention
education.
She is promoting a domestic burn
barrel program to minimize danger
from yard fires that can quickly
become uncontrolled
Fifty-gallon burn barrels are
furnished to householders who do
not have them.
This summer she will continue her
work with fire abatement and
education in summer school.
"We distribute a lot of education
and information material to people,
and we are promoting the use of
smoke detectors in homes," she said.
Holmes also sets up information
booths at fairs and festivals. She
distributes pamphlets and flyers and
informs people about fire prevention.
FORESTMANAGEMENT
Jeff Nepstad said that the Forestry
Management contends with many
J.
- - ; ; r - .:.
Jeff Nepstad
Recreation Department "Some of
Oregon's best-loved state parks,
including portions of nearby Ecola
and Oswald West state parks, Cape
Arago on the south coast, Collier
Memorial and Smith Rock in central
Oregon, and Silver Falls in the
Cascade foothills were gifts to the
people of Oregon from donors who
cared about perserving our special
places. The value of this property
places it among the largest
donations ever made to the agency
as well."
Thisaddition to the existing 715
acre Elmer Feldenheimer Forest
Preserve enlarges the preserve to
1,476 acres and ensures that the
entire Canyon Creek watershed
above Ecola State Park is protected.
unusual problems that attend caring
for the Tribes' forest resources -timber
and moss rustlers, illegal
dumpers and firewood cutters.
The trickiest of all are dope peddlers
who try to grow marijuana, or set up
methamphetamine labs in the
woods.
"We continuously monitor trouble
spots," Nepstad said.
Recently a man was caught with
$400 of moss he had harvested.
Dumpers take advantage of the
lonely area. Recently, some trash
was found dumped in the forest.
Cliff Adams, Natural Resources
Division Manager, said that his crew
searched through the garbage and
found an address in the trash.
The person who dumped the
garbage was found, and had to
return to the forest, clean up his
mess and haul it away.
MSISSION STATEMENT
The purpose of the Natural
Resouces Division is to
responsibly manage, develop, and
protect the natural resouces of the
Grand Ronde Tribe, including, but
not limited to, timber, fish, wildlife,
recreation, mineral, air, water, and
other natural resouces.
Management of the reservation will
also recognize the Tribe's unique
and special relationship with the
land and reinforce their Native
American culture.
Reseachers study Oregon's
stay-at-home gray whales
Oregon State University
researchersfromtheHatfieldMarine
Science Center will be tagging gray
whales this summer between
Cascade Head and Heceta Head
The researchers will be attaching
radio transmitters to the huge
creatures, so their diving and eating
habits can be monitored.
There are about 2 1 ,000 gray whales
living off the West Coast, possibly
as many as there were before the
whaling days.
The gray whale was recently
removed from the threatened and
endangered species list
Bruce Mate, OSU's internationally
known whale expert, said, "Taking
the whales off the list initiates a five
year follow-up to determine if the
criteria for taking an animal off the
list should be changed, and to see if
the population remains stable."
Previous studies of gray whales
have focused on counting
populations from shore. This will be
the first in-depth study to look at the
foraging habits and movements of
gray whales during their feeding
season off the Oregon Coast
Eighty percent of the gray whales
spend the summer in the Bering Sea.
They migrate from calving waters
off Baja California In the fall and
winter they travel south to the'
breeding and birthing waters.
SALMON DISTRIBUTION
WHERE: Forestry Office, 26930 Salmon River Highway, Willamina,
Oregon97396Phone:879-5522
WHEN:
(ELDERS ONLY) August 1 5, 1994, 9a.m.-12 p.m. and 1 p.m.-4 p.m.
(GENERAL MEMBERSHIP) August 16, 17, 18,and 19, 1994
9 a.m.-l 2 p.m. and 1 p.m.-4 p.m.
Everyone must present tribal I.D. to pick up their salmon. No one will
be allowed to pick up another member's fish without that member's tribal
identification card and written request No exceptions!
Natural Resources Division
FORESTRYMISSION
the purpose of the Forestry
Department is to provide sustainable
timber revenue which will enable
Tribal Government to respond to
economic, social, health, and
educational needs of its members.
The Forestry Department will
manage, enhance, and protect all
forest resources on tribal lands.
"We know that between 200 and
400 individuals are here," Mate said.
"This year looks like a bumper year.
"The animals feeding here have
fasted for four or five months, and
now they are making up for it by
refilling their fuel tanks.
"Gray whales are bottom feeders
and they search the ocean floor for
areas of sand and mud.
"They scoop up an area the size of
a desk top, and a foot deep. The
water and sand and mud is spit
through their ballen, which acts as a
strainer, so the amphipods get
caught and can be swallowed."
Visitors can see plenty of the
resident gray whales near Depoe
Bay. A good vantage point is Rocky
Creek State Park, immediately south
of Whale Cove.
Mate's study will provide
information on dive habits, and how
often the whales feed when they
dive.
He said that even though the whales
are no longer listed under the
Endangered Species Act, they
remain protected by the Marine
Mammal Protection Act.
It is a federal offense to harass a
whale, or to be so close to it that it
alters its behavior. Mate has a
special permit to approach and tag
whales to conduct his study.
FISH AND WHDUFEMISSION
The purpose of the Fish and
Wildlife Department is to provide
hunting, fishing, gathering, and
omerreCTeationdoprx)rtunitiesfor
the Tribal Community. The Fish
and Wildlife Department will
manage, enhance, and protect the
fish and wildlife resources.