S moke S ignals
JULY 1, 2015
15
Merkley holds Town Hall in Grand Ronde
By Brent Merrill
Smoke Signals staff writer
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley toured
Grand Ronde on Saturday, June
20, and started his visit to the Res-
ervation by stopping at the Tribe’s
powwow grounds to view the new
arbor.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” said
Merkley. “It is just jaw-dropping.
It’s beautiful. I have never seen
anything like it.”
Tribal Council Chairman Reyn
Leno, Tribal Council Vice Chair
Jack Giffen Jr. and Tribal Coun-
cil members Chris Mercier, Ed
Pearsall, Jon A. George and De-
nise Harvey then walked with
Merkley to the Tribe’s plankhouse,
achaf-hammi.
While the group took in the
plankhouse surroundings and
looked down on the new arbor, Giff-
en asked Merkley for an update on
the Grand Ronde Reservation Act
amendment.
Senate Bill S.818 is currently be-
fore the 114th Congress to amend
the Grand Ronde Reservation Act.
The bill was read twice before the
Senate in March and referred to the
Committee on Indian Affairs.
The bill would end the current
two-step process that requires the
Tribe take each piece of former
reservation land into trust with the
Bureau of Indian Affairs and then
request that the land be designated
reservation land by Congress. This
action would combine the two-step
process and is supported by the
BIA.
“The bill has been refiled,” said
Merkley. “Senator (Ron) Wyden is
the chief sponsor this time around
and I am a co-sponsor. It (the
Reservation Act amendment) is
in committee without committee
action scheduled yet as I’m aware.”
Tribal Attorney Rob Greene
shared the Tribe’s wishes.
“They (the Committee on Indian
Affairs) are going to be reaching out
to your office soon to talk with you
and Senator Wyden about moving
forward on the bill,” said Greene.
“We really need you to say ‘Yes,
let’s get this thing going’ so we
need your help to say ‘Yes this is a
priority’ to you. We are hoping we
can count on you to make the bill
a priority because we are six years
into this bill.”
Greene said that the Tribal prop-
erty Merkley toured would not
become part of the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde’s reserva-
tion lands until the bill passes.
“That’s why this is so critical,”
said Greene. “We really hope that
when you get a call from the com-
mittee, you will tell them that this
bill is a priority for you.”
From the plankhouse, the tour
moved down to the Tribe’s fish weir
on Agency Creek.
Tribal Fish and Wildlife Pro-
gram Manager Kelly Dirksen and
Natural Resources Department
Manager Michael Wilson met the
group and gave a presentation
about the ongoing restoration of
local streams.
Dirksen said that when the weir
is operating, Natural Resources
staff members are collecting infor-
Photo by Brent Merrill
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley held a Town Hall meeting in Grand Ronde on
Saturday, June 20. Merkley started his visit to the Grand Ronde Reservation
by touring the new arbor at the Tribe’s powwow grounds. From there, Merkley,
center, walked with, from left, Tribal Council member Ed Pearsall, Tribal Council
Chairman Reyn Leno, Vice Chairman Jack Giffen Jr., Tribal Council member
Chris Mercier and Tribal Attorney Rob Greene up to the Tribal plankhouse.
Tribal leaders used the opportunity to share with Merkley the importance of
the proposed amendment to the Grand Ronde Reservation Act.
mation that helps make decisions
regarding management of Reserva-
tions lands.
“Biologists can come in and count
the fish,” said Dirksen. “They can
identify their gender, their species,
take genetic samples and then
mark them and send them on their
way. What we do with that infor-
mation is we have that guide the
management of the Reservation
and all of our restoration projects.”
Dirksen said that since the Tribe
regained a portion of its original
Reservation in 1987, there have
been 14 culverts replaced that have
opened up more than 22 miles of
streams. He said the Tribe puts as
many spawning salmon carcasses
back into the streams as possible.
“We call it salmon recycling,” said
Dirksen. “The salmon when they
leave are only about 1 percent of
the size that they will be when they
return, so they gain 99 percent of
their body weight while they are out
in the ocean. When they come back
here to spawn they return really
rare nutrients to the stream that
are important to rearing salmonids.”
Dirksen said the Tribe has also
completed many woody debris re-
placement projects in local streams
that produce rearing and spawning
habitat.
“When I started working for the
Tribe 19 years ago we did not have
juvenile Coho up on the Reserva-
tion,” said Dirksen. “Now it is 20
percent of the juvenile fish popu-
lation.”
Giffen said the Tribe has had
success partnering with the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“I think it is important to say that
all these different projects that we
have been successful with have been
very instrumental in our reservation
management plan that we worked
out with ODFW to actually manage
the reservation land,” said Giffen.
“They have partnered with us on
some of these projects and they have
seen the success we have had.”
Leno said the Tribal program is
making a difference in local creeks
and streams.
“We’re really thinking this is
an outstanding thing for us,” said
Leno. “There are no herbicides used
on the Reservation and that is huge
for our ceremonial hunts. Take it
from somebody that grew up here
in Grand Ronde, we never thought
we would have a fish weir. I can tell
you that much.”
Merkley asked Dirksen how
many adult fish returned through
the fish weir this year. Dirksen said
about 300 and that record years
have had as many as 1,000 returns.
Merkley, who joined the Senate in
2009, then accompanied members
of Tribal Council to the Tribe’s Gov-
ernance Center for a brief meeting
before the senator’s Polk County
Town Hall meeting.
Merkley’s Town Hall was held in
the Tribe’s Community Center and
was attended by almost 30 people.
Merkley held a Town Hall meeting in
Tillamook County earlier in the day.
Merkley said he takes great pride
in holding a Town Hall meeting in
every county in Oregon every year.
The Town Hall in Polk County was
his 243rd such meeting.
Leno introduced Merkley to the
audience of mostly local residents
and some Tribal members. Merkley
thanked everyone for participating
in his meeting despite it being a
beautiful, sunny weekend. He then
invited local elected officials to in-
troduce themselves.
“I like to shine a light on some-
thing that is positive that is going
on in every community,” said Merk-
ley. “And today, we are shining that
light on the Grand Ronde Color
Guard.”
Merkley asked Color Guard mem-
bers present to come up and he
presented them, with a flag that
had been flown over the Capitol.
The Color Guard was represented
by Tribal Elders Steve Bobb Sr.,
Alton Butler and Raymond Petite,
as well as Al Miller.
Speaking on behalf of the Color
Guard, Bobb said they are each
“honored to represent the nation,
the state and the Tribe.”
Tribal youth Michael Reyes was
selected to ask the first question of
the meeting and he inquired what
the “toughest part” of being a U.S.
senator is.
“I think the most difficult part
is taking on the very, very pow-
erful institutions,” said Merkley.
“I took on Wall Street over their
hedge funds that are subsidized by
the taxpayers. You shouldn’t have
hedge funds inside ordinary banks
that are supposed to take depos-
its and make loans. These hedge
funds really were a major force
in the 2008 (economic) meltdown
because they promoted securities
based on predatory loans, predatory
mortgage loans, loans that went up
from 4 percent after two years to 9
or 10 percent and families couldn’t
pay them. We shut down the hedge
fund-style operating banks. That
was good, but it’s getting harder. We
are up against some very powerful
forces. I’m going to keep taking
them on.”
Merkley also fielded questions
about how to report concerns to the
Environmental Protection Agency,
about Senate passage of “fast track”
trade legislation, gun control, deal-
ing with the Internal Revenue Ser-
vice, the current state of education,
funding for food banks, funding
for the Tribe’s canine police officer
and concerns from a local veteran
about health care and the shortage
of rural doctors.
Merkley thanked the Tribe and
the audience for taking time to meet
with him and discuss important
issues.
“Very few senators hold town
halls,” said Merkley. “Senator
Wyden set the example and I fol-
lowed that idea. I’ve learned a
tremendous amount from your
comments and insights.”
After the meeting, Merkley talk-
ed about his relationship with the
Tribe.
“It’s extremely important,” he
said. “There are a host of issues re-
garding Tribal law and federal law
that require a close partnership.”
Merkley said the job of an elected
official doesn’t necessarily become
easier with time on the job.
“Certainly I get more familiar
with the issues as time passes, but
my staff works very hard on these
issues,” said Merkley. “I came here
years ago to see the health center
when it was opened. I have been to
Tribal Council meetings, but I had
never seen the powwow grounds
and I hadn’t seen the plankhouse
and I hadn’t seen the fish weir.
These are all developments related
to important issues and I was ex-
cited to come out firsthand and see
what you were talking about.”
Leno said he thinks it is import-
ant for Merkley to see the Grand
Ronde area for himself.
“I think it was really important
for him to come out here and see
that this is just powwow grounds.
It really is just a plankhouse,” said
Leno. “There is no way that this
Tribe would allow for any other use
for that ground. It is sacred ground
to us and we explained that to him.”
Leno said he felt good about the
time spent with Merkley.
“I felt coming away from this
meeting that we basically really
got our point across,” said Leno. “I
really think he understands what
we are trying to accomplish with
the Reservation Act. It’s important
to us.” n