Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2002)
8 NOVEMBER 15, 2002 Smoke Signals Government Files Appeal Notice For Ancient Skeleton PORTLAND, OR. (AP) - The U.S. Justice Department has filed an ap peal to a ruling that overturned former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's decision to allow Northwest Indian Tribes to rebury a rare and ancient skeleton called "Kennewick Man." The filing in U.S. District Court challenged an earlier August 30 rul ing by U.S. Magistrate John Jelderks, who said he studied more than 20,000 documents and found nothing to support Babbitt's decision. Jelderks also said Babbitt failed to consider scientific evidence and fol low federal guidelines. Earlier in the week, the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Yakama and Colville Tribes filed their own appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after Jelderks ruled on October 21 the Tribes could intervene in the law suit. Eight anthropologists sued the Army Corps of Engineers and the Interior Department after the bones were found in 1996 along the banks of the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington. Jelderks, in August, ordered the government to turn over the 9,000- year-old skeleton to the scientists to study the bones for clues about early migration to North America. But the appeals by the Tribes and the Justice Depart ment likely will de lay any research for at least another two to four years, ac cording to attor neys for all parties in the case. k" 1 4, i 4 -( i H.fnftSi An aerial view shows the area of Columbia Park where Kennewick Man was found in July 1996. Appeals Court Considering Whaling Foes' Arguments SEATTLE, WA. (AP) Animal welfare groups argued their Makah In dian whaling appeal recently before a federal appellate court panel. They hope the court will overturn a federal judge in Tacoma, who ruled the Tribe's gray whale hunt could proceed. There was no indication when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel would rule. The Fund for Animals, the Humane Society of the United States and other groups asked the court to overrule Judge Franklin Burgess. Last August he dismissed the case, clearing the way for Indian whaling to resume. Burgess said hunting opponents failed to prove that a federal assess ment of the hunt was arbitrary. The whaling foes argue that the whale hunt violates the National Envi ronmental Policy Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Their 1855 treaty guarantees Makah whaling rights. After a seven-decade break, the Tribe moved to resume whaling after gray whales were removed from the Endangered Species List in 1994. Tribal whalers have killed one whale, in May 1999. The International Whaling Commission has authorized the Tribe to kill as many as four gray whales annually for the next five years. B Fishing Communities Blame Bush Administration For Salmon Kill EUREKA, CA. (AP) Representatives of coastal fishing communities and Indian Tribes recently laid the blame for the massive Klamath River salmon kill on low water controlled by the federal government. The representatives aimed their comments at the Bush administration. Rep resentatives from the federal government declined invita tions to take part in a hearing before a California legislative committee. "We couldn't get people at the federal level to take action to resolve this issue before it became a terrible tragedy," Humboldt County Supervisor Jimmy Smith told the Joint Committee on Fish eries and Aquaculture. The hearing was intended to gather informa tion on what caused an estimated 33,000 salmon to die since late September in the lower 40 miles of the Klamath River. It was also meant to ex plore the economic and social impacts of the die off for the North Coast and Indian Tribes. Environmentalists, fishermen and Indian Tribes along the river flowing from south central Oregon through northwest California blame low water levels for the fish kill. But there are others, including groups repre senting Klamath Basin farmers, who argue there is no proof low water contributed to the kill. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating. The kill has focused new attention on the Bush administration's efforts to balance water from the Klamath Reclamation Project between farms and fish protected by the Endangered Species Act. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., Assembly woman Virginia Strom-Martin, members of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, and leaders of the Yurok, Hoopa and Karuk Tribes said the federal government had failed to meet its obligations to sustain salmon runs in the Kla math Basin while creating a 10-year operations plan for the Klamath Project. "How many years of this 10-year plan can we sustain before the fishery is gone?" asked Thomp son. "We lost 30 percent this year." Strom-Martin, D-Duncan Mills, who called the hearing, faulted the Bush administration for re storing full irrigation deliveries last summer to the 235,000 acres of farmland in the Klamath Project while reducing water flows for salmon in the Klamath River. "To really fix this problem, we need a new presi dent," she said. "I believe their agenda is set. The purpose of this committee is rallying together to come up with a strategic action plan to deal with this problem." Sue Masten, Chairman of the Yurok Tribe, said, "We would not be here today if the federal gov ernment had lived up to its Tribal trust obliga tions." Bureau of Reclamation spokesman Jeff McCracken defended the agency's decision not to attend the hearing. "It's still premature to determine the outcome of this mortality and we are simply awaiting the biologists to finalize their findings before we can move forward," he said, adding that the invita tion was made informally and on short notice. "It was an administration decision." U.S. Department of Interior spokesman Hugh Vickery had no immediate comment. Jim Lecky, regional administrator for protec tive resources for the National Marine Fisheries Service, said neither he or other policy-level people were available to attend the hearing. He denied that the decision not to attend came from the administration. California Depart ment of Fish and Game Senior Biolo gist Neil Manji said the fish kill was first reported September 18. He estimated the final death toll at 33,000 fish, of which 95 percent were fall Chinook salmon, 1.8 percent steelhead and 1.6 percent Coho salmon. Overall about 30 percent of the fish were from hatcheries and 70 percent were wild. At the hearing, Manji attributed the rapid spread of the disease to a combination of reduced flows in the Klamath River, warm water tem peratures, fish crowding together due to the low water levels and diseases that are always present. In the summer of 2001, the bureau severely restricted irrigation to the Klamath Project to meet Endangered Species Act demands for wa ter for endangered suckers in Upper Klamath Lake and threatened Coho salmon in the Kla math River. The Bureau of Reclamation restored full irri gation to the project, cutting water levels for fish, after a review by the National Academy of Sci ences found no scientific justification for the in creased water levels for the fish. After fish began dying last month, the bureau released extra water to try to stave off the kill. The die-off abated on its own by the time the water reached the area, biologists have said. B