14
S moke S ignals
NOVEMBER 1, 2018
Employees risked safety on project
PLATFORM continued
from front page
of Tribal Council. It doesn’t just
happen.”
Kennedy spoke to approximately
60 Tribal members, government
officials and Tribal employees
gathered at the McLean House.
She praised the efforts of employees
who risked their safety to ferry sup-
plies across the Willamette River in
rafts to complete the platform and
worked nonstop to do so.
“It took a huge effort to get to this
place,” she said. “I’m thankful to
our employees who helped us stay
strong.”
The Tribe applied for and received
approval for a waterway structure
registration application from the
Department of State Lands in
August. The fishing platform at
Willamette Falls was completed on
Tuesday, Oct. 23.
On Sept. 21, Portland General
Electric revoked permission allow-
ing Grand Ronde use of its land to
access and build a platform, which
meant Tribal Natural Resources
Department employees had to
undertake the tedious and more
dangerous task of hauling supplies
across the river from the Oregon
City side of the falls to the West
Linn side.
Previously, the Tribe was allowed
to access the site from PGE proper-
ty on the West Linn side to conduct
ceremonial fishing and perform
blessings, a much safer option than
crossing the river. However, PGE
maintains that the area where the
Photos by Timothy J. Gonzalez
Cultural Advisor Bobby Mercier, center, and Tribal member David DeHart,
right, leave the dock to dipnet fish off the newly installed Tribal fishing
platform at Willamette Falls on Thursday, Oct. 25.
Tribal Council Secretary Jon A.
George uses binoculars to watch
members dipnet fish off the
newly installed Tribal fishing
platform at Willamette Falls on
Thursday, Oct. 25.
Tribe built the removable platform
is its land, not the state’s. The
company is currently appealing the
process to the state Land Use Board
of Appeals.
The celebration occurred on the
same day that The Oregonian ran
a front-page story entitled “Fight
springs up over falls.” The Port-
land daily newspaper reported that
three Northwest Tribes – Warm
Springs, Umatilla and Yakama –
contest Grand Ronde’s dominion
over the falls and want the Depart-
ment of State Lands to repeal the
fishing platform permit.
However, Kennedy addressed
that issue at the Wednesday, Oct.
24, Tribal Council meeting, where
she said the Clowewalla band of
Tumwaters were year-round res-
idents at the falls and were “the
gatekeepers of the falls.”
“They were responsible for the
management of the fishery and
visiting Tribal members would
share with them a percentage of
their catch as a type of tax on the
fishery,” she said. “It is a part of
our ancestral homelands and is an
important location for fishing and
gathering here. To this day, Grand
Ronde Tribal members continue
to fish for lam-
prey and salm-
on at Willamette
Falls. … Claims
by other Tribes to
supremacy in the
area are simply
inaccurate.”
Despite the
land use disagree-
ment between the
state and PGE
and flak from
other Northwest
Tribes, Grand
Ronde Tribal employees started
construction of the fishing platform
PLATFORM continued
on page 15
PGE appeals to state Land Use Board
regarding fishing platform approval
By Danielle Frost
Smoke Signals staff writer
WEST LINN — Portland General Electric
has filed an appeal regarding West Linn’s
land use decision about an application by the
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde to build
a fishing platform at Willamette Falls.
The Tribe applied for and received approval
of a waterway structure registration applica-
tion from the Department of State Lands in
August. The fishing platform was completed
on Tuesday, Oct. 23.
PGE filed an Oct. 12 intent to appeal with
the state Land Use Board of Appeals. In it,
the utility company is objecting to West Linn’s
decision not to regulate the structure.
“The appeal was related to a separate pre-
requisite, not the registration (application)
itself,” PGE spokesperson Melanie Erdmann
said. “As part of the DSL granting the regis-
tration, they have to establish compatibility
with local land use laws. DSL sought a deci-
sion from West Linn, and we are appealing
the decision from West Linn, as they didn’t
follow their local land use and zoning code.”
In the Tribe’s Aug. 7 waterway structure
registration application, West Linn Planning
Manager John Boyd said that the fishing
platform project is not regulated by the local
comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance.
“The city’s present understanding of (Or-
egon Administrative Rule) 635-041-0610 is
that it is intended to preempt the regulatory
authority of the city with respect to structures
permitted by the rule,” he wrote.
Boyd was referring to the Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife’s April 2016 decision to allow
the Grand Ronde Tribe ceremonial salmon and
steelhead harvesting rights at Willamette Falls.
The ruling also states fishing can occur from
the shore or a single platform erected within
the designated fishing area to be constructed in
a location “mutually agreed upon between the
director and the Tribe.”
Tribal Attorney Rob Greene said the Tribe filed
a motion to intervene in the case.
In a Sept. 14 letter from Greene, released by
PGE to Smoke Signals, he states that an extensive
ownership study was conducted by a Department
of State Lands consultant and it found that the
areas on which the Tribe wants to install platform
footings are indeed state lands. PGE disagrees.
“In order to allow any outside activity (on PGE
property), an agreement needs to be recognized
by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,”
PGE spokesperson Steve Corson said previously.
FERC is an independent agency that regulates
the interstate transmission of natural gas, oil and
electricity. FERC also regulates natural gas and
hydropower projects, such as Willamette Falls.
PGE has said it has a “longstanding dispute”
with the state regarding ownership of the fishing
platform site and has “been working through this
property issue for years.”
The Umatilla and Warm Springs Tribes also
are threatening to challenge the state permit in
court, claiming the Grand Ronde platform will
interfere with their treaty rights to harvest lam-
prey at the falls.
On Sept. 21, PGE revoked permission al-
lowing Grand Ronde Tribal use of its land to
access and build a fishing platform, which has
meant Tribal Natural Resources Department
employees have had to undertake the tedious
and more dangerous process of hauling supplies
across the river from the Oregon City side of
the falls to the West Linn side.
Previously, the Tribe was allowed to access the
site from PGE property on the West Linn side to
conduct ceremonial fishing and perform bless-
ings, a much safer option than crossing the river.
According to its website, the Land Use Board
of Appeals was created in 1979 and has exclusive
jurisdiction to review governmental land use
decisions. The Board of Appeals was created to
simplify the appeals process, speed up resolu-
tion of land use disputes and provide consistent
interpretation of state and local land use laws.
The three-member board, appointed by the
governor, serves four-year terms. Members,
who are confirmed by the Oregon Senate, must
be members of the Oregon State Bar.
Despite the land use disagreement between
the state and PGE, Grand Ronde Tribal mem-
bers started construction of fishing platform on
Oct. 3 and have worked throughout the month
on the project.
The Tribe held a reception Friday, Oct. 26,
to fete the completion of the Willamette Falls
fishing platform and honor those who worked
to make it a reality at the McLean House, 5350
River St., in West Linn.