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
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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