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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