12
S moke S ignals
SEPTEMBER 1, 2017
'It’s interesting how the process works'
VISIT continued
from front page
years on getting the streamlined,
money-saving process through
Congress.
“It’s interesting how the process
works,” Schrader said. “You can’t
get something done and then all of
a sudden it breaks through.”
As a result of the amendment, 40
properties totaling 1,227.3 acres
were added to the Reservation,
Tribal Realty Coordinator Teresa
Brocksen said after the meeting.
Schrader also inquired about how
the Grand Ronde Tribe is faring
with the opening of the Cowlitz
Tribe’s Ilani Casino located 15
miles north of the Portland-Van-
couver metropolitan area.
Leno, who also sits on the Spirit
Mountain Gaming Inc. Board of Di-
rectors, repeated news he delivered
to the membership during the Aug.
1 Legislative Action Committee
meeting: Revenues are down, but
not as catastrophically as some had
predicted.
“You guys have a great opera-
tion. People are comfortable when
they come here and they have a
good experience,” Schrader said.
“A couple miles doesn’t make that
much of a difference and it’s a lot
prettier drive.”
“As long as they don’t build any
more bridges across the (Columbia)
river, we’ll be in great shape,” Leno
joked.
Natural Resources Manager Mi-
chael Wilson briefed Schrader on
the Tribe’s 10-Year Management
Plan for the Reservation that con-
siders environmental and financial
impacts on the Tribe through 2022.
Wilson said the Tribe’s Natural
"I am trying to shepherd the
national discussion to something a
little more thoughtful. Best practices, frankly.
Real-world experience cuts through a lot of BS."
~ U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader
Resources staff balloons from about
20 employees in the winter to about
80 in the summer.
Schrader asked how the Tribe’s
volume-based harvest goals relate
to the mortality rate and forest life
cycle on the Reservation.
Wilson said the Tribe harvests on
a 70-year cutting rotation. “We’re
not cutting until the trees are right
around 70 years old,” he said. “Com-
pared to the industry, I think you
are seeing 40 years. We’re getting a
lot older forest structure and bigger
trees.”
Senior Forester Zach Haas briefed
Schrader on the Tribe’s annual tim-
ber harvest on the Reservation,
which currently culls approximate-
ly 7.1 million board feet off of about
270 acres.
“I think it is a real balance,” Leno
said. “Our membership goes up on
the Reservation a lot and they don’t
want to see a clear-cut Reservation,
so they have been very supportive
of what we do on the Reservation
even though you can say it poten-
tially costs them because all of the
revenues go back to them.”
Schrader inquired about Tribal
buffer zones around fish-bearing
waterways and Haas said the Tribe
uses a 150-foot horizontal distance
zone and then another 100-foot out-
er zone to create a complex forest
structure.
Wildlife Biologist Lindsay Be-
longa discussed Tribal efforts to
ensure healthy and sustainable
wildlife and habitat on the Reser-
vation, which has mostly “properly
functioning” streams that have
temperatures reading 67 degrees
or below.
Silviculture and Fire Protection
Manager Colby Drake talked about
the Tribe’s self-sustaining fire pro-
gram that brings approximately
$150,000 in revenue and wages
back to the Grand Ronde commu-
nity. He also discussed the depart-
ment’s efforts to grow Native plants
in a nursery at Natural Resources.
Environmental Resources Di-
rector Meagan Flier finished the
whirlwind briefing as Schrader was
running out of time. She discussed
her reviews of state and federal
projects to ensure they don’t affect
Tribal lands and natural resources.
Other topics discussed included
sea lion predation of lamprey and
salmon at Willamette Falls and
the distance migrating fish have to
swim to reach the clean waters of
Agency Creek on the Reservation.
Schrader said he would return
and tour Reservation lands next
time, especially to see how the
Tribe manages buffer zones along
streams in an active timber har-
vesting area.
“I am trying to shepherd the na-
tional discussion to something a lit-
tle more thoughtful. Best practices,
frankly,” he said. “Real-world ex-
perience cuts through a lot of BS.”
Giffen volunteered to supply any
Tribal forest management practic-
es data should Schrader need it to
bolster his arguments in Congress.
Wilson presented him a copy of the
Tribe’s 10-Year Management Plan.
The meeting ended with Leno
presenting Schrader a framed
ceded lands map to hang in his
Washington, D.C., office. Because
of Schrader’s busy schedule, a
planned visit to the new Tribal
Police Station on Grand Ronde
Road and discussion of non-existent
federal law enforcement funding for
Terminated Tribes was postponed.
Tribal Council members Denise
Harvey, Brenda Tuomi, Chris Mer-
cier, Secretary Jon A. George and
Kathleen George also attended the
meeting, as did Tribal Council Chief
of Staff Stacia Hernandez, Tribal
Attorney Rob Greene and Economic
Development Administrative Assis-
tant Meghan Zimbrick.
Willamina High All-
Class Reunion set
The Willamina High School All-Class Reunion will be held starting
at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, at the home of Marilyn Rosenbalm, 385
S.W. Hill Drive. There will be a potluck meal and attendees are encour-
aged to bring chairs. Coffee, water and soft drinks will be furnished.
If you’d like something else to drink bring your own.
For more information, call 503-876-6773 or e-mail Ming1R@hotmail.
com.
Ad created by George Valdez