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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 2015)
PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID SALEM, OR PERMIT NO. 178 Education briefs General Council — pg. 8 JANUARY 15, 2015 Tribe acquires 91 more acres at Chahalpam Wildlife Area grows to more than 429 acres in size By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor T he Grand Ronde Tribe closed on the purchase of a 91-acre parcel at the Chahalpam property fronting the North San- tiam River in Marion County on Friday, Jan. 9, bringing the total acreage to more than 429 acres that the Tribe will manage for conserva- tion purposes. The 91 acres are worth more than $900,000 and the purchase was funded entirely by the Bonneville Power Administration’s Wildlife Mitigation Program. The transac- tion included more than $140,000 in operation and maintenance costs, which also are funded by BPA, said Tribal Land and Culture Manager Jan Looking Wolf Reibach. “This is a proud achievement for Grand Ronde as the Tribe continues in its effort to manage Tribal natu- ral and cultural resources over its treaty homelands,” Reibach said. The 91 acres join 338 acres that the Tribe acquired at Chahalpam, which is just downstream from Stayton, in May 2013 also as part of the BPA’s Wildlife Mitigation Program. Through a conservation easement over the property, the Tribe will manage the Chahalpam Wildlife Area to restore, protect and en- See LAND continued on page 10 Photo courtesy of Zach Haas The Tribe’s practice of letting its trees grow larger and cutting them longer has created a niche market that sees Tribal timber being used in a variety of ways, including the building of a replica of Noah’s Ark and by Bass Pro Shops in the construction of its new stores. Tribal timber carves out a profi table niche market By Ron Karten Smoke Signals staff writer T he Tribe is able to supply timber to huge re- tail stores, an ark like Noah’s and customers in Japan and China because it grows trees longer, both by time and size. Reservation forests produce 7.12 million board feet a year, a harvest number set by the Natural Resourc- es Department’s 10-year management plan, says Michael Wilson, manager of the department. This is part of the effort to meet a departmental goal of pro- ducing “an even fl ow of sustainable timber” annually. Reservation timber stands are harvested on a 70-year rotation and the Reservation contains some stands of timber older than 70 years. Some older trees are cut and sold at longer lengths for the manufacture of large beams and utility poles and others are cut for mills needing shorter saw logs, says Forester Andrew Puerini. Mills pay more to the Tribe on average for longer logs on a per thousand board feet basis, he adds. Among current clients for Tribal logs are Monroe, Ore.-based Hull-Oakes Lumber, which specializes in fi nishing larger and longer logs for many uses. Other clients include Salem-based Hampton Tree Farms, which fi nishes Tribal timber for structural and dimensional lumber uses; Tacoma-based Mc- Farland Cascade, which turns Tribal timber into utility poles; Longview-based Pacifi c Lumber and Shipping, which sells Tribal logs overseas; Eu- gene-based Northwest Hardwoods Inc., which buys Tribal red alder and maple for domestic saw logs; and Lyons, Ore.-based Coastal Fibre, which uses Tribal non-saw logs for pulp used to manufacture paper and pressed wood products. End uses of Tribal timber are even more inter- esting. Tribal client Hull-Oakes Lumber supplies Ark Encounter, a Williamstown, Ky., company building a teaching replica of Noah’s Ark. At 500 feet long and 80 feet wide with towers 80 feet high, the ark is expected to require 2.5 million board feet, a good portion of the fi rst million board feet coming from Grand Ronde Tribal forests, says Puerini. Another Hull-Oakes project using Tribal trees is a huge Memphis, Tenn., outlet for the chain of Springfi eld, Mo.-based Bass Pro Shops. The re-pur- posed 535,000-square-foot sports arena holds the retail store, a 100-room hotel and a restaurant. See TIMBER continued on page 14 Christmas meal saviors Coyote Joe’s continues holiday tradition with Tribal help By Ron Karten Smoke Signals staff writer I Photo courtesy of Coyote Joe’s More than 600 dinners were served during the annual free Christmas dinner on Christmas Day at Coyote Joe’s in Willamina. The Grand Ronde Tribal Council and Elders Committee helped ensure that the tradition continued in 2014 with donations of money after Coyote Joe’s was burglarized in October. n its 19 years as a Willamina restaurant, Coyote Joe’s has had two cars drive through its front window and experienced two burglaries. The most recent theft occurred on Oct. 15 and it almost derailed the restaurant’s annual free Christmas dinner, a tradition almost as old as the restaurant itself. But riding to the rescue were Grand Ronde Tribal Elders and their Tribal Council. “We all talked about it and de- cided to give $1,000, almost all we had left,” said Tribal Elder Julie Duncan referring to the Tribal Elders Committee of which she is a member. She and her husband, Bob, are not the only Elders who eat at Coyote Joe’s often during the year. “We knew that he serves older people in the community,” Julie said. “A lot of Tribal people go over See DINNER continued on page 6
