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S moke S ignals
APRIL 1, 2019
Tribal Council signs on to Falls sea lion agreement
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Council approved an agree-
ment to establish a State-Tribes
Committee with the state and three
other Oregon Tribes to control sea
lion predation of threatened winter
steelhead runs at Willamette Falls
on Wednesday, March 20.
Tribal Attorney Rob Greene said
during the Tuesday, March 19, Leg-
islative Action Committee meeting
that the agreement, spurred by the
Endangered Salmon Predation Pre-
vention Act signed into law in De-
cember, states the Warm Springs,
Umatilla, Grand Ronde and Siletz
Tribes in conjunction with Oregon
are tasked with identifying sea li-
ons preying on winter steelhead for
removal at Willamette Falls.
The Grand Ronde Tribe has iden-
tified sea lion predation as a threat
to the fishery on the Grand Ronde
Reservation.
Fish & Wildlife Program Manag-
er Kelly Dirksen said that any sea
lion above Clackamas River on the
Willamette River is presumed to
be preying on salmon at the falls
and eligible to be culled from the
population.
Dirksen said sea lions are eating
between 20 percent and 25 per-
cent of already depressed winter
steelhead runs. He added that only
seven winter steelhead returned to
Agency Creek in 2018.
“Our run is in trouble,” Dirksen
said. “All of the run in the entire
Willamette Basin is in trouble.”
When sea lions were previously
removed from Willamette Falls
and transported to Newport Bay
and released, it only took some of
the sea lions three days to return
to the falls, Dirksen added.
“This is the most immediate
threat to the species right now,”
Dirksen said.
Tribal Council member Kathleen
George said the agreement is “com-
pletely necessary” to control the sea
lion population at Willamette Falls’
horseshoe.
“If predation at the falls isn’t
controlled and reduced, both our
staff and ODF&W agree that it is
highly unlikely Willamette Valley
steelhead will survive,” George
said. “If it isn’t addressed, our fish
don’t stand a chance.”
To permanently remove sea lions
from the Willamette Falls area, the
state must apply for a permit to the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. The suspected
sea lions must be identified by
the Willamette Committee, which
includes the Tribal and state repre-
sentatives, according to the federal
legislation.
So far, Dirksen said, the Oregon
Department of Fish & Wildlife has
captured and euthanized nine sea
lions at Willamette Falls.
Tribal Council also approved the
agenda for the 11 a.m. Sunday,
April 7, General Council meet-
ing that will be held at the Lane
Community College Longhouse
in Eugene. Social Services will
present the program report and a
Community Input meeting seeking
topics for advisory votes for the
September Tribal Council election
ballot will be held following lunch.
In other action, Tribal Council:
• Approved a $277,030 pharmacy
software purchase called Enter-
prise Rx with McKesson Pharma-
cy Systems of Livonia, Mich., that
also will include an $81,000 an-
nual support package. Pharmacy
Director Lincoln Wright said
during the March 12 Legislative
Action Committee meeting that
the system is “top-notch” and that
Pharmacy staff visited hospitals
in Nashville, Tenn., and outside
New York City to see it in use.
“This will also remedy many of
Family Fun Run/Walk event in the
Tribal gym following the egg hunt
EASTER continued
from front page
of eggs.”
This is one Tribal event that
requires extreme promptness on
the part of parents and prospective
Easter egg hunters, lest they miss
out on the various treats.
There are four hunt categories
for children ages 1 to 2, 3 to 4, 5
to 8 and 9 to 12. Egg hunters are
advised to bring their own Easter
basket to put their eggs in. Typi-
cally, there are approximately 200
participants.
Parents are reminded to bring
their own camera and Tribal Elder
Steve Bobb Sr. is slated to be this
year’s Easter Bunny again as he
has in past years. He will be posing
for pictures with children before
and after the hunt.
Members of the Tribe’s Housing
Department, Community Health
employees and other volunteers
stuff about 2,000 plastic eggs with
candy during the week before the
event. Tribal Council sponsors the
hunt and pays for the candy.
“Housing’s maintenance staff is
usually very helpful in this pro-
cess,” Kroeker said.
She has been involved with the
egg hunt since it was re-started in
2006, and said although it can be a
tiring event for organizers, seeing
the children’s smiles makes the
effort worth it.
“The participation of the commu-
nity in the preparation and events
of the day and, of course, watching
the kids with the Easter Bunny are
my favorite parts of this,” Kroeker
said.
All attendees are encouraged to
attend a Family Fun Run/Walk
event in the Tribal gym following
the hunt in honor of April being
Child Abuse Prevention Month.
The event is hosted by the Tribe’s
Children & Family Services De-
partment, and will begin at 10:15
a.m. and end at noon. Activities in-
clude the run/walk, bouncy house,
lunch, prizes and a raffle.
the common concerns the Tribal
membership has regarding filling
prescriptions in an efficient, time-
ly and straightforward manner,”
stated the executive summary
regarding the purchase.
• Appointed Sarah Ross to the
Culture Committee with a term
expiring in March 2020;
• Appointed Tribal Council mem-
bers Kathleen George and Jack
Giffen Jr. to serve on the Spirit
Mountain Gaming Inc. Board of
Directors with terms expiring in
September 2022 or until they are
no longer Tribal Council mem-
bers;
• Extended the contract with Tribal
Court Chief Judge David Shaw
for one month through April
2019. Shaw has served as the
Tribal Court chief judge since
February 2015;
• Approved Portland Harbor hab-
itat restoration projects for the
33-acre Rinearson Natural Area
and 27-acre Linnton Mill area;
• Approved an agreement with
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice to include the conservation
property Rattlesnake Butte into
the service’s Partners Program,
which works with landowners to
conserve, protect and enhance
fish and wildlife, and their hab-
itats. The Tribe acquired the
97-acre Rattlesnake Butte prop-
erty northwest of Junction City
through the Willamette Wildlife
Mitigation Program;
• Appointed Oregon Sen. Arnie
Roblan and Rep. Karin Power to
the Spirit Mountain Community
Fund Board of Trustees with
terms expiring in September
2020;
• Approved the 2019 Tribal Strate-
gic Plan;
• Approved an application to the
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services’ Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Ser-
vices Administration for funding
that would support a five-year
project to combat underage drink-
ing;
• And approved the enrollment of
two infants into the Tribe because
they meet the requirements out-
lined in the Tribal Constitution
and Enrollment Ordinance.
Cultural Resources Department
Manager David Harrelson gave
the cultural presentation to open
the meeting. He discussed Trib-
al springtime activities, such as
harvesting hazel patches and the
awakening of Tribal canoes.
Also included in the March 20
Tribal Council packet were approved
authorizations to proceed that nomi-
nated Tribal Council member Denise
Harvey for the Office of Violence
Against Women Task Force on Re-
search on Violence Against Native
American Indian and Alaska Native
Women, transferred $41,035 from
general contingency to the Tribal
Council budget to complete the
“Visionaries” statue of Restoration
figures Marvin Kimsey, Margaret
Provost and Merle Holmes, and ap-
proved a letter to the Oregon Depart-
ment of State Lands accepting the
director’s offer of government-to-gov-
ernment consultation on the Jordan
Cove permit application.
A video of the meeting can be
viewed in its entirety at the Tribal
government’s website, www.gran-
dronde.org, by clicking on the News
tab and then Video.