S moke S ignals
february 15, 2014
7
Tribal managers consult with forest reps
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
The atmosphere could not have
been more respectful at the Thurs-
day, Jan. 30, consultation between
Tribal staff and managers of the
Siuslaw National Forest.
Forest Supervisor Jerry Ingersoll
said it is “a deep honor to be work-
ing with the Tribe. The forest is
being managed with recognition of
its long history. We’re stewarding
on behalf of that history.”
Tribal Cultural Protection Pro-
gram Manager Eirik Thorsgard
said that communication has been
excellent between the Tribe and
Forest Archaeologist and Tribal
Liaison Kevin Bruce.
The meeting, held at the Gov-
ernance Building, was another
federal-Tribe consultation, demon-
strating a successful partnership
though no memorandum of under-
standing to do so exists.
The consultation design allowed
time for federal and Tribal staffs to
describe their work, their histories
and the value these exchanges have
for both groups.
Land and Culture Manager Jan
Looking Wolf Reibach described
one historical value for the Tribe,
closely related to the history of the
forest.
The Tribe, he said, chose the
name Chachalu (place of the burnt
timbers) for the Tribal Museum
and Cultural Center because that
was what the Tualatin and South
Yamhill Kalapuya referred to when
parts of the Grand Ronde Valley
were devastated by a large fi re in
1845.
“Just like the forest has healed
from that fi re, our Tribe is healing
from Termination. Our culture is
found in the land. What you do,”
Reibach said, referring to forest
staff, “is part of our culture.”
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
eirik Thorsgard, Tribal Cultural protection program manager, right, speaks during a meeting with Siuslaw National
Forest representatives held in the Governance Center on Thursday, Jan. 30. Also attending the meeting was Jordan
Mercier, Tribal Compliance technician, middle, and Lawrence Schwabe, Tribal Hydrosystems Compliance specialist.
Ingersoll said the Forest Service
was looking to the Tribe as staff re-
cruiting grounds. An organizational
chart of Siuslaw National Forest
staff showed many vacancies in
many different areas for the federal
agency.
Handouts included a full list of
the National Forest’s 100 to 150
employees with their jobs, depart-
ments and contact information.
Tribal staffers may need these
contacts for different consultation
matters.
Siuslaw National Forest manag-
ers also provided a list of some 36
projects that Tribal staff may have
an interest in and input for. Tribal
managers responded with interest
in some of them.
Michael Wilson, manager of the
Tribe’s Natural Resources Depart-
ment, described areas where the
Tribe and forest staff have worked
together, and where opportuni-
ties still exist to profitably work
Grand Ronde Low-Income
Home Energy Assistance Program
The Grand Ronde Tribe is
operating its own Low-Income
Home Energy Assistance
Program (LIHEAP) to assist
Grand Ronde Tribal member
households with energy
payments (utility bills,
firewood, etc.), energy
emergencies and weatherization
(e.g. furnace repairs). Income
eligible households within Polk, Yamhill,
Marion, Washington, Multnomah and Clackamas counties with a
Grand Ronde Tribal member are eligible to apply. CTGR members in
these counties need to contact Grand Ronde to receive assistance
instead of from the community action agency in their area. Grand
Ronde’s program enables more CTGR members to be served than
would otherwise have been possible.
If you are interested in obtaining services contact Social Services at
1-800-242-8196 for energy assistance and the Grand Ronde Tribal
Housing Authority at 503-879-2405 for weatherization. The Tribe’s
LIHEAP program also serves all income eligible Indians on Grand
Ronde Reservation or trust land.
port the Tribe and its interests, to
honor your culture, and to learn
how we can best help.”
The 633,000-acre forest stretches
across the lands of three Oregon
Tribes – the Grand Ronde, Siletz
and Coos, Lower Umpqua and
Siuslaw.
Ingersoll proposed a consultation
among the Forest Service and all
three Tribes; this in addition to
the existing meetings the Siuslaw
National Forest has with individual
Tribes. The Tribe’s immediate re-
sponse was positive.
The Tribe is also moving for-
ward with MOU relationships for
the benefi t of Oregon Tribes and
the staffs of three national forests
in Oregon – called the 3 Forest
MOU.
The national forests include Wil-
lamette, Siuslaw and Mt. Hood, all
in the Grand Ronde Tribe’s ceded
lands.
The proposal, originally made
by the Forest Service, has been
signed by the Tribe and the Forest
Service’s signatures are expected at
a national forests regional meeting
later this month. The MOU calls for
cooperation among all parties in the
management of the forests.
“This is a landmark moment,”
said Karnosh. “This is a launching
point for things to happen.”
Tribal Council Secretary Toby
McClary and Tribal Council mem-
ber Ed Pearsall attended.
“We appreciate you being here,”
said McClary. “It means a lot to the
Tribe. We share this interest in the
forest and want to continue to build
on this relationship.” n
together in the future.
A few of those projects include
fi re suppression, where Tribal and
federal departments already work
together; timber sales include some
projects where the agencies work
together; and recreation trails and
fi sh and wildlife work where the
two might benefit from working
together in the future.
Lawrence Schwabe, Tribal Hy-
drosystems Compliance specialist,
said that Natural Resources focuses
on federal laws for the effect they
have on federal, state and Tribal
priorities.
The Tribe wants to “give con-
text” through consultation and
interpretive signage to projects the
two groups have in common, said
Thorsgard.
He said that the Tribe was look-
ing toward huckleberry enhance-
ment at the mouth of the Salmon
River, where in the 1860s or 1870s
the Grand Ronde Indian Agent
established a fi shery where it was
easy for Tribal members to access,
and so that they would not go to
Willamette Falls or the Columbia
River to fi sh.
The January consultation is only
the latest example of the ongoing
relationship between the Grand
Ronde Tribe and the Forest Service
over the years.
“We have been working together
for decades,” said Michael Karnosh,
the Tribe’s Ceded Lands Program
manager and lead for the day’s
consultation.
“We want to steward with humil-
ity and honor for those who came
before us,” said Ingersoll, “to sup-
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