S moke S ignals
september 15, 2014
11
Tribe to report numbers yearly
CONTROL continued
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sion Chair Barbara “Bobby” Levy
said she was very supportive of
passage of the Tribal management
plan and new administrative rule.
She said she recalled visiting the
Grand Ronde Reservation in 2007
and how impressed she was with
the natural resources manage-
ment.
Tribal representatives and Or-
egon Department of Fish & Wildlife
employees collaborated to create
the Tribal management plan.
“The details of the management
plan represent a shared vision of
our goals for the described species,
and will establish criteria by which
the Tribe will further allocate the
harvest authorized,” an ODFW
analysis states.
The new administrative rule
authorizes the take of species and
number of animals, recognizing
that the Tribe has authority over
its members and Reservation and
trust lands to impose additional
limits on the authorized take
to accomplish the goals of its
management plan. The rule also
provides additional tags to the
Tribe outside of the state-issued
regular and ceremonial hunt-
ing tags already allocated to the
membership.
For instance, the new rule autho-
rizes the taking of up to 200 each
of Columbian black-tailed deer and
Roosevelt elk, 50 each of cougar and
bear, 100 each of Pacific lamprey,
spring Chinook and Coho, and 100
bobcats. The Tribe will manage
the harvest conservatively under
the limits, Tribal Biologist Lindsay
Belonga said.
Photo by Rob Greene
From left, Tribal Council Chairman Reyn Leno, Jeff Boechler, manager of the
Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife’s North Willamette Watershed District,
and Tribal Fish and Wildlife Program Manager Kelly Dirksen testify about the
Grand Ronde Tribe’s Fish and Wildlife Management Plan during an Oregon
Fish & Wildlife Commission meeting held in Joseph on Friday, Sept. 5.
Although the state commission
is prohibited from delegating its
authority to authorize the take
of wildlife, the rule provides for
Tribal sovereignty by setting the
maximum numbers high.
“The number of animals identi-
fied … is likely much higher than
the number of animals that are
available for harvest on the lands to
which this proposal applies, which
is only the Tribe’s Reservation and
Please join us to celebrate the launch of the Tribe’s very own language application for iPhones and iPads. Since
Tribal Members live all over the world, it is difficult for some of them to learn and use our language. The
creation of this application combines our language with technology, creating a modern teaching tool for use in
classrooms, homes and everywhere there is a desire to learn our language.
Don’t fret if you are not an Apple user, there is a Chinuk Wawa station at Chachalu featuring iPads with the
Tribe’s language application. Additionally, the Land and Culture Department will be working towards an
Android compatible version to be created next year.
Celebration at Chachalu
October 9, 2014
4:00 - 6:00 pm
Agenda
Drumming
Prayer
Welcome
Tribal Council Speakers
Recognitions
Presentation and Demonstration of App
(large screen)
Light refreshments provided
Museum tours
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
Land and Culture Department
8720 Grand Ronde Road
Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347
Phone: 503-879-2226
Fax: 503-879-2126
E-mail: landandculture@grandronde.org
trust lands,” the ODFW analysis
states. “Staff expects that with the
reporting requirements and several
years of experience, we will be able
to predict the actual numbers likely
to be taken in a given year. Even
if all the allowed numbers were
harvested, though, staff does not
believe that a biological problem
would result.”
The Tribe will report the actual
take to the state Fish & Wildlife De-
partment by Jan. 30 of each year.
Leno, Tribal Council Vice Chair
Jack Giffen Jr., Tribal Council
Secretary Toby McClary, Tribal
Council member Ed Pearsall, Trib-
al Attorney Rob Greene, Natural
Resources Department Manager
Michael Wilson, Tribal Fish and
Wildlife Program Manager Kelly
Dirksen, Belonga, Tribal Planner
Rick George and Spirit Mountain
Community Fund Director Kath-
leen George attended the com-
mission meeting held in eastern
Oregon.
“Since 1983, the Tribe has de-
voted much of its time to natural
resources and takes pride in the
sustainable management of our
most valuable resources looking
forward seven generations,” Leno
said in his testimony before the
commission.
“Our Fish and Wildlife Plan is the
product of a collaborative dialogue
and exchange of ideas between the
Oregon Fish & Wildlife Depart-
ment and Grand Ronde. Grand
Ronde considers ODFW to be a
partner in its efforts to improve
wildlife habitat and implement
management rules that will ensure
our grandchildren and their chil-
dren can hunt, fish and enjoy the
woods and fields of our Reservation
and state.”
“The Tribe’s management plan
also covers habitat and how the
improvement of wildlife habitat is
an important goal for the Tribe,”
Greene said. “Fish and Wildlife
officials also said on Friday how
the Grand Ronde Tribe has been a
great partner.”
The commission’s decision is
another significant step in the
Tribe regaining sovereignty over
its lands. The Tribe lost its hunt-
ing and fishing rights when it
was forced to sign a 1986 consent
decree while seeking state support
for the Grand Ronde Reservation
Act, which was signed by President
Ronald Reagan in 1988.
Tribal Council member Cheryle
A. Kennedy said the Tribe has been
working on regaining its lost sov-
ereignty since signing the consent
decree.
“I served on that first council
when the consent decree was
signed,” Kennedy said at the Sept.
7 General Council meeting. “It was
very heart-rending to go through all
of the hearings, to go through a lot
of hell that was raised during those
times. … To be here and serve on
council when a lot of this is turned
around … the consent decree isn’t
done away with, but we sure have
made a lot of headway in regaining
a lot of our rights.”
Kennedy said Tribal Council and
Tribal staff persevered through
many personnel changes at the
state.
“It is a wonderful, wonderful
thing that has been accomplished,”
she said.
Greater Tribal control over Res-
ervation and trust lands has been
in the works since 2007 when
then-Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed
a proclamation with the Tribe in-
structing state employees to work
with Tribal representatives on the
necessary government-to-govern-
ment agreements.
In April 2008, the state Fish &
Wildlife Commission approved an
administrative rule that gave the
Tribe ceremonial harvesting rights
for big game. At the same time, the
commission adopted a resolution
recognizing the shared common
views between the state and the
Tribe regarding wise stewardship
of fish and wildlife resources.
The resolution also directed state
staff to work with the Grand Ronde
Tribe in completing a permanent
Fish and Wildlife Management
Plan.
Tribal Council adopted the man-
agement plan and agreed to the
administrative rule on Sept. 3.
“The Tribe and Tribal members
will assume the lead role in imple-
menting the management plan on
Tribal lands,” Leno said. “This is a
point of immense pride to me and
other Tribal members, especially
our Elders, who have dedicated
their lives to rebuilding our commu-
nity and instilling in our children a
deep commitment to stewardship of
our lands and the wildlife on those
lands.”
Natural Resources Department
employees are scheduled to make a
presentation about the new agree-
ment during the General Council
meeting being held Sunday, Oct.
5, in the Tribal Community Cen-
ter. n