4 JANUARY 15,2008
Smoke Signals
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Packer fan misses home state during football season
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
New Tribal attorney Jennifer
"Jenny" Biesack is missing one
thing about her frozen home state
of Wisconsin this rain-drenched
January in western Oregon.
And it's not white, cold and on
the ground.
She's missing something that
is green and yellow, and plays at
Lambeau Field.
It's the Green Bay Packers.
Biesack, 30, and her family are
avid Packer fans.
To remedy that, she and her hus
band, Ryan, have been discovering
new sports bars in the Corvallis
area where they live to follow the
Brett Favre-led team in the Na
tional Football League playoffs.
Biesack, 30, started working for
the Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde Legal Department on Oct.
1, handling issues involving land,
construction and housing.
"Jenny is a welcome addition to
the Tribal Attorney's Office," said
Tribal staff attorney Lisa Bluelake.
"She comes to us with a lot of expe
rience, having previously worked
7fP -
Photo by Dean Rhodes
Tribal attorney
Jennifer "Jenny" Biesack
as an in-house attorney for another
Tribe. Her experience and personal
ity complement the other attorneys
in the office. It is a great fit."
Biesack grew up in central Wis
consin in the small town of Am
herst, a short drive west of Green
Bay. She received her undergradu
ate degree from the University of
Wisconsin in Madison and her law
degree from Hamline University in
Name: Jennifer Biesack
Age: 30
Tribal job: Staff attorney
Family: Husband, Ryan, and 1-year-old
daughter, Sylvie Wren
Education: Undergraduate
degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison;
law degree
from Hambline University in St.
Paul, Minn.
Quote: "We're looking forward
to exploring Oregon."
Contacts: 503-879-2339 or
jennifer.biesackgrandronde.
org
St. Paul, Minn., in 2002.
She said her law career grew out
of being a political science major and
her affinity for public interest law.
After graduating from law school,
she worked for the Oneida Nation
of Wisconsin as a staff attorney
for five years. She applied for and
accepted the position with the Con
federated Tribes of Grand Ronde as
she and her husband sought "to find
new adventures."
Her husband, a jazz percussion
ist, previously lived in Portland
and is currently a graduate teach
ing fellow in music at the Univer
sity of Oregon.
"I had been out to Oregon once
before for a wedding and had a
great time," Biesack said.
The only drawback to the move
west was taking 1 -year-old Sylvie
Wren away from two sets of doting
grandparents. But with Biesack's
younger brother living in Portland
and working for the U.S. Forest
Service, her parents father is
an independent insurance agent;
mother owns a personnel services
agency have numerous reasons
to head west for a visit.
In her spare time when she's not
studying to pass the Oregon bar
exam, Biesack said she likes read
ing, cooking and being outdoors.
"We really like fishing, cross
country skiing and camping," she
said. "We're looking forward to
exploring Oregon."
But those explorations will have
to wait for several things better
weather, passing the bar exam and
the end of the Packers' pursuit of
another Super Bowl title. B
New Interior guidelines may affect Gorge casino proposal
Commutability, environmental impacts to be taken into consideration in accepting land into trust
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
New Department of Interior
guidelines concerning off-reservation
casinos and how close they
are for Tribal employees to work
at may affect the 10-year-old pro
posal by the Confederated Tribes
of Warms Springs to build a casino
and resort in Cascade Locks, 113
miles away from the Tribe's cur
rent central Oregon casino.
Assistant Interior Secretary for
Indian Affairs Carl Artman issued
a Jan. 4 memo that contains new
guidelines for off-reservation casi
nos that mandate more scrutiny of
environmental compatibility and
"reasonable, regular" commuting
distances between reservation resi
dents and a new casino location.
Although the reservation's north
western border is Jess than 40 miles
from Cascade Locks as the crow flies,
most reservation residents live more
than 100 miles away near the Kah-Nee-Ta
High Desert Resort and Ca
sino in Warm Springs near Madras.
Artman's memo indicates that the
federal government will increase
scrutiny of off-reservation casino
proposals the farther they are locat
ed from Tribal residents who could
potentially work at and benefit from
the new off-reservation casino.
The proposed Warm Springs
Gorge casino would replace the
Tribe's casino in central Oregon
and be only a 45-minute drive from
the Portland-Vancouver metropoli
tan area along Interstate 84.
Another potential hurdle for the
Warm Springs proposal to build a
casino in the Columbia River Gorge,
a federally designated National Sce
nic Area, is that the new guidelines
also say that off-reservation casi
nos are incompatible if located on
or near environmentally sensitive
lands, such as national parks.
"A one-way, 113-mile commute
on difficult and sometimes dan
gerous roads is not a reasonable
commute for most Warm Springs
Tribal members," said Dan Lavey,
a spokesman for a coalition of en
vironmental, small business, pro
family and Tribal interests who
oppose the Warm Springs' Gorge
casino proposal.
"These new guidelines are an
other barrier to an off-reservation
casino in the Gorge and reinforce
the need for casino advocates to
consider an on-reservation or near
by central Oregon location."
Michael Lang, conservation di
rector for Friends of the Columbia
Gorge, said the Department of Inte
rior is recognizing its responsibility
to protect national scenic treasures,
such as the Gorge.
"The noise, traffic and pollution
from a massive 600,000-square-foot
casino resort with an estimated 3
million visitors a year would simply
not be compatible with Oregonians'
vision for the future of the Gorge
area," Lang said.
Artman's memo states that if
a gaming facility is not "within a
commutable distance of a reserva
tion," then Tribal members who
live on the reservation will not be
able to take advantage of the job
opportunities and remain on the
reservation, or Tribal members
may be forced to leave the reserva
tion to obtain the casino jobs, both
of which would have negative ef
fects on reservation life.
Eleven Tribes received letters on
Jan. 4 that the Department of In
terior would not exercise its discre
tionary authority to take respective
properties into trust. Eleven other
Tribes received letters stating that
the department would take no fur
ther action on their off-reservation
casino applications.
The Warm Springs Tribe did not
receive a letter.
For instance, the Jemez Pueblo
Tribe located northwest of Albu
querque was informed that it could
not build a casino almost 300 miles
away in southern New Mexico on
almost 79 acres off Interstate 10.
The reason? The proposed trust
land was too far away to provide
jobs for Tribal members.
The Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla
and Cupeno Indians in southern Cali
fornia blasted the decision because
the department is imposing a new
"commutability" rule that does not ap
pear in its own regulations and which
has never been applied before.
The Warm Springs' Gorge casino
proposal, which has been held up by
Interior Secretary Dick Kempthorne,
who has declined to sign off on a
draft environmental impact state
ment, may be released by the end
of January if either Artman andor
Kemphorne OK the document.
Kemphorne opposed off-reservation
casinos when he was governor
of Idaho and has shown no signs
that he will approve the Warm
Springs proposal or others the Inte
rior Department lists as pending.
In New York state, the St. Regis
Band of Mohawk Indians filed suit
in November over its application to
put almost 30 acres into federal trust
for a proposed casino in the Catskills
some 350 miles from its reservation.
St. Regis leaders say Kempthorne
has let his personal opposition to off
reservation casinos interfere with his
legal responsibilities.
Warm Springs leaders are watch
ing the New York case.
"We're very pleased to have the
Department of Interior finally take
some action on its policy and get off
the dime," said Warm Springs Tribe
state lobbyist Michael Mason.
"It's just basic fairness to tell
Tribes where they stand."
If the Department of Interior
releases the draft environmental
impact statement, it would set the
stage for four or five public hearings
and a 90-day comment period. Sup
porters and proponents will have
their last chance to discuss locating
the casino in Cascade Locks.
Although Gov. Ted Kulongoski
supports the Warm Springs off-reservation
casino proposal because
a portion of the profits would go
into the state school fund, the Con
federated Tribes of Grand Ronde,
religious groups, the Oregon Restau
rant Association and environmental
ists oppose off-reservation casinos,
particularly one in the Gorge.
In addition, the state Department
of Transportation has expressed
concern about the highway inter
change that the proposed casino
would require along Highway 84
in Cascade Locks.
Once public hearings are held,
the casino proposal returns to
Kemphorne's desk for a decision.
Includes information from The
Associated Press. D