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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 2002)
7 Tiinliei Coinfiiittee Committee Feature BACKGROUND: On December 2, 2002, CTGR's Timber Committee will be ten years old. That same date in 1992, Tribal Council passed the Timber Committee Ordinance, effectively creating the body charged with overseeing those more than 10,000 acres of forest acquired through the Grand Ronde Reservation Plan only five years before. The ordinance came three years on the heels of other pertinent ordinances re garding Reservation management, mainly the Forest Practices Ordinance and the Minor For est Products Ordinance. PEOPU INVOLVED: Nine (9) people staff this committee, the bulk of them having back grounds in logging and forestry. Council ap points members to two (2) year terms, and the positions are paid an hourly wage. The commit tee meets monthly. Robert Mercier serves as Chair. MZM3ERS: Jerry George, Merle Holmes Vice Chair), Eugene LaBonte, Gene LaBonte, Reyn Leno, Tom Leno, Darrel Mercier, Robert Mer cier (Chair), and Leon "Chips" Tom. rUNCTION: Although much of what occurs on the Grand Ronde Reservation is in the hands of Natural Resources, they are really the stew ards of the forest. The Timber Committee, as an advising body to council, is responsible for much of the planning and policymaking. The sale of lumber, while taking a clear backseat to Spirit Mountain Casino in terms as a cash resource for the Tribe, is still a source of revenue. Much of what they do involves looking at num bers a plot of wood will go up for sale, num bers like board feet and dollar figures have to be taken into consideration. The plots are auctioned off and the purchasing company is allowed onto the Reservation to harvest the wood. The com- Veterans9 Committee BACKGROUND: Long, long before Spirit Mountain Casino, or the Reservation even, there wasn't much work or really anything to do in Grand Ronde. Military service was in some ways an opportunity to work, and loads of locals like Marce Norwest found themselves in the ser vice. Between World War II, Korea, and Viet nam, many of our local young men from Grand Ronde served on the battlefront, rightfully earn ing them the distinction of "Veteran." These men were and for that matter still are proud indi viduals and love to march in colors at pow-wows, functions and gatherings. About 12 years ago Marce and others banded together to form the Grand Ronde Veterans' Committee, a five-member group that has expanded in numbers, and through the luxury of organization, has in creased their opportunities to march. PEOPLE INVOLVED: The core group still consists of five (5) members, but a number of alternates and supporters figure prominently into the committee, like Norwest's wife Sharon. They all volunteer their time. Norwest is the Chair. Other board members are Gene LaBonte, Lynn "Bear" Robertson and Norris Merrill. FUNCTION: Marching at pow-wows and sa cred events like Restoration provide Veterans the ultimate chance to hold their heads up and ac cept thanks for their sacrifices. But as one might guess, marching is only a small part of what the Veteran's Committee does. It is, put mildly, a multi-faceted charity organization. They speak in schools. They represent Grand Ronde at other pow-wows. They lend hands in fund-raisers. They help out at the food bank. They take firewood to Elders. The plain truth is that they contribute either monetarily or physi cally, to just about any worthy cause around. A notable goal of the committee is building the Grand Ronde Veterans' Memorial; a lovely black marbled statue set to one-day grace the front lawn of the Tribal Governance Center. It's such a huge venture, the price tag being $300,000, that Norwest and company established the Vet erans' Ad Hoc Memorial Committee for the sole mittee is charged with overseeing the whole pro cess, making recommendations and working with Natural Resources, though council natu rally approves the final sales. Minimum bids are set for each sale, and should that figure fail to be reached, the sale can be retracted and shelved. Making a sale however is never a cut-and-dried affair, as the Timber Committee must look at reports from Culture and the Fish & Wild life Committee, ensuring the sales don't en croach upon animal habitats or upset old Tribal trails. "We want to balance things out," said Tribal member Gene LaBonte, who has in his fifth year on the committee. "Everything the mice, the fish they've got to live in harmony. I know that sounds like a cliche, but it's true." Diversity and balance, he claimed, are what will keep the Reservation healthy. Thus re planting different species of trees, or always demanding that a few trees be left standing within every sale, or dead trees be left to rot they help to fight some of the forest's bitter - ? V " ' mil in iii in run i in. mil in -i in I j V. v If SmmmmmmummM, 1 ml. ttmimum, ij (Sod enemies like disease and wood-eating bugs. The Tribe sets its goal to sell 5,000,000 board feet per year, and usually encounters few ob stacles in reaching that number. But the com mittee is ever devoted to improving the opera tion, and members routinely take field trips to other reservations, hoping to pick up useful tips or compare organization. Every year, in fact, Timber Committees nationwide meet in a quasi Gathering of Nations. This year the conference is set in New Mexico. LaBonte speculated that timber would con tinue to be a steady source of money for the Tribe, particularly if their forest practices allow for a sustained yield. He knows this because timber, people forget, was once what kept the Tribe afloat, before the casino. "Without timber," he said. "I'd say we would have found it a little harder to build that ca purpose of making that dream a reality. That venture aside even, running the Veteran's Committee is "extremely time-consuming" according to Norwest. The group op erates on an annual bud get of $49,500, a sum that "goes down to the penny. "We do many events ev ery year," said Norwest. "We do about ten pa rades. ..50 events, pow wows, talking with chil dren about the meaning of the flags. I think the children are thrilled by the Indians. I under stand." Flags indeed play a big role. Only rarely do the Veterans do something without the flags. The flags too represent all involved, all remem bered the U.S. Flag, the State of Oregon flag, f She's Helpful Sharon Norwest, the wife of Tribal Elder and Veteran's Committee Chairman Marce Norwest, serves the Tribe's Veteran's Committee as the secretary. According to Marce, Sharon (left) is the driving force behind the committee. C 1 i flnmiiirc " the CTGR flag, the Prisoners of War Flag, Flags for different branches of the military, and even the Canadian flag. "It was tough at first," said Norwest. "We had to find a lot of flag bearers." Norwest himself is a Veteran of the Korean Conflict and has paid his dues. For three years he served as a 50-caliber machine gunner in the 532 Combat Engineers of the U.S. Army. He achieved the rank of Corporal. "Heroes aren't born heroes," he said, wisely. "They're made on the line, doing things they'd normally be too scared to do." Heroes don't discriminate either. Norwest in vites any Veteran to join in their activities, be they Native, black, or Filipino, regardless of whether it was the Gulf War or WWII. That is why they are affiliated with all sorts of other Veterans' organizations, like Veterans of For eign Wars, or Disabled Veterans, or the Ameri can Legion. "We don't want to fight with other nationali ties," said Norwest. "If you're a Vet, you can join. We try to honor all Veterans." B
