4 Opinion
The Grand Ronde Review
Dear Editor:
I am writing this letter to share a concern I have
that affects all tribal members. As many of you
know, to run for a Tribal Council member seat,
the constitution only stipulates two qualifications
necessary to be eligible: 1) Be an enrolled mem
ber of the Tribe; and 2) Be 18 years of age or older.
These are not what I would consider stiff qualifi
cations for a very important position. In August
1998 I heard that the Tribal Council authorized
funds for training for themselves by an indepen
dent company that provides training tailored for
Tribal Councils. I was very excited to hear this. I
was also very proud of our Council for recogniz
ing that the Tribe, being a well-known organiza
tion in the Northwest, its leaders might benefit from
training. The Council approved the training top
ics, the dates the training was scheduled for and a
total 25 slots be allotted for additional staff to at
tend as well. I was very disappointed to attend the
first three day session and see that only one Tribal
Council member, Val Grout, attended. I under
stand that there was a meeting in Warm Springs on
the first day of the training that some of the Coun
cil members attended. However, they made a com
mitment and they could have sent two or three
members to represent them at this meeting. I feel
the lack of attendance was wasteful. If they knew
they were not going to attend why did they not say
so and allow someone to go in their place? I'm
sure there was some considerable expense to host
this training. The next session is scheduled for the
second week in November; ample time for Tribal
Council to rearrange their schedules if need be to
attend this session. Please join me in encouraging
them to follow through on something that is sure
to benefit them both professionally and personally
and therefore benefit the entire Tribe as well.
Sincerely,
Barbara Lake, Roll 952
Hello fellow tribal members,
I wanted to let you know we live in Puerto Rico.
I was in the states during the Hurricane and my
husband was in Puerto Rico. I was very worried
for him, and Thank-You Grandfather he is fine.
And where we live is doing good too. No electric
ity and lots of damage, so we will be very busy
with cleanup. Living so far away, we are very
glad to read our Tribe's information from The
Grand Ronde Review.
Thank-you very much!
Lori, Barry, Myranda & Reschele Markey
e-mail: ibjiggrdcoqui.net
Ramey, P.R. 00603
THE GRAND RONDE
REVIEW
9615 Grand Ronde Road
Grand Ronde, Or 97347
EDITOR: TRACY DUGAN 879-2254
REPORTER: OSCAR JOHNSON 879-2321
GRAPHICS & COORDINATOR:
KIM MUELLER 879-2264
1-800-422-0232 NEWS FAX: (503) 879-2263
E-MAIL ADDRESSES:
tracynewsmacnet.com
kimnewsmacnet.com
oscarjohnsonjournalist.com
NEXT DEADLINE: Tuesday, Oct. 20
Dear Editor: .
I work in the Community Resources Division and
my two children attend Kindergarten and 3rd grade
at Grand Ronde Elementary School. They are both
tribal members, as am I. I have a couple of ques
tions and I direct them either to Tribal Council or
the Education department, which ever is the ap
propriate group to respond. What is the budget
for the education department? And what is the dis
tribution of that budget?
Second, why do I as a tribal member have to pay
for a tribal program for my two tribal children?
The Before and After School Care program charges
a fee for children to participate. Both of my chil
dren enjoy the after school program and the ac
tivities that they get to participate in but this year
I've had to tell them that they can't participate be
cause I can't afford the payment. I am a single
mother with no support from their father. Last
year, I was charged for my littlest to attend pre
school but wasn't even notified that I was being
charged until the bill was over $600 and now I
can't continue in college this term because of this
money that I owe.
I'll restate the question: why am I being asked to
pay for a tribal program? Where is the funding
coming from that goes into the Education depart
ment budget? What is the distribution of that bud
get? Is the Before and After School Care program
going to bankrupt the Tribe if tribal members are
not required to pay? How much revenue are we
looking at here?
I would like the answers to these questions pub
lished in this newspaper because I know there are
others out there that would like to know.
Thank you. Respectfully submitted,
Pam Warren, Roll 1081
Dear community,
The Grand Ronde Service Integration Team
would like to extend a special thank you to all com
munity members who attended the 3rd Annual
Health and Safety Fair, dinner and evening video
presentation. Immunizations numbers were up
that's a good thing, as that is the primary reason
the Health Fair was created. About 156 student
from Grand Ronde Elementary and 70 students
from Willamina Elementary attended.
Although participation was down this year and
LifeFlight was unable to land due to the heavy
downpour, we would like to thank the following
people who help make it a success: Tribal Coun
cil, Spirit Mountain Casino, and West Valley
YMCA for donating adult raffle prizes; the Tribe's
Wellness Division and Dental staff; the Tribe's
Community Resource Division for sponsoring the
evening video presentation focusing on affects of
violence on the family (and Sharon's dog "Babe"
who filled in for WOLF); ODOT for the Crash
Dummy costumes; Sam George and Glen Wilds
for being the Crash Dummies; Yamhill County
Sheriffs Department for the Museum, fingerprint
IDs, and Safe Streets; Willamina Fire District for
the big fire truck and the Rescue Unit.
Also to students Beth Bailey, Morgan Fritzinger,
Matthew Olson and Maria Hoopingarner, as the
Smoky Hacky Cough puppets; Ilene Gay and
Glennys Wright for blood pressure checks; Pam
Bernards, Sharon Woods, Judy Bowen, Sara
Chenea, Annette Morgan, Gayle White, Gretchen
Bennett, Ruth J., and Lorraine Hiebert for all the
great activities in the gym; and the Boy Scouts and
Girl Scouts of America.
Last, but not least, to Glenda Payne and Ter
Wright for making a great dinner; and to Marga
ret Wilds for providing child care in the evening.
Thank you again and again,
Grand Ronde Service Integration
Ballet Measure 64 could affect
tribal lands and economy
Submitted by Jeff Kuust
Tribal Timber and Roads Coordinator
Oregon's General Election is coming up on No
vember 3. Measure 64, if passed, would ban
most timber harvesting in Oregon, not just
clearcutting. It would hurt Oregon's economy
and threaten the health of our forests. It would
also take management of our forests out of the
hands of scientists, foresters, and biologists and
leave it up to lawyers and the courts. Tribal
members, especially those who live and work
in Oregon, have a stake in the outcome of this
ballot measure, because the Tribe's economic
well-being depends on Oregon's economy.
If approved, Measure 64 would ban the prac
tice of clearcutting and redefine a clearcut as
any forested area with less than 70, 11-inch
trees per acre in Western Oregon and no fewer
than 60, 10-inch trees in Eastern Oregon. Mea
sure 64 allows government to step in and take
away the right of private landowners to cut and
sell the trees that they have been tending and
growing for decades. This ban would apply to
land ownerships in Oregon, whether it be pri
vate, State, County, or Federal. Many timber
stands across the state have already been tliinned
to below 70 trees per acre to promote higher
quality, larger, and healthier trees. No more
trees would be allowed to be cut from these
stands.
If approved, Measure 64 would prohibit the
harvest of any tree larger than 30 inches in di
ameter. Proponents of the act claim that this
would preserve genetic diversity of trees and
enhance the health of Oregon's forests. How
ever, even if such trees were damaged, diseased,
or dead no tree over 30 inches in diameter could
be harvested from forestlands impacted by
wind, fire, insects, or disease organisms.
Taken from the state's own economic impact
analysis, Measure 64 would, if passed, reduce
State Government revenue by $25,000,000 per
year. An additional $33,200,000 would be
plucked from funding for schools! Also, there
would be a loss to counties and special service
districts of $7,800,000 per year! As if that
weren't enough, there would be an estimated
one-time state expenditure of $1,400,000 to
implement this measure and an on-going com
mitment of $5,000,000 per year!
Measure 64 would also ban the use of herbi
cide or pesticide sprays, even if a major insect
or disease outbreak were to occur and despite
the fact that applications of herbicides on forest
land are much less frequent than for agricultural
lands and most often at lower concentrations.
Measure 64 would require filing of a written
plan prior to all harvest operations, which is
done for all government timber harvests and
many private harvests already.
Measure 64 would increase log imports. The
cut-back in harvesting predicted as a result of
this measure would squeeze the domestic sup
ply of logs and forest products from the North
west to a virtual trickle that will not meet the
growing demand. This will increase log and
or lumber imports from other countries.
More information about this measure can be
obtained on the Internet from the Healthy For
ests Alliance web site or visit the Tribe's Natu
ral Resources Division Office. It is important
for tribal members to educate themselves on
these issues and vote on election day.