[env-trinity] Two River Tribune Report on Hoopa Tribal Council actions and Fish Disaster Relief Funds

Tue Dec 20 11:40:01 PST 2011

All,

The first article appears to be from September, but I thought it would be of great interest to all of you.  The second article is from December.

I couldn't seem to cut and paste just the text, so you get the full web pages below.  

Tom Stokely
Water Policy Analyst/Media Contact
California Water Impact Network
V/FAX 530-926-9727
Cell 530-524-0315
tstokely at att.net
http://www.c-win.org

http://www.tworiverstribune.com/2011/09/new-option-for-salmon-aid-money-fish-weir-or-paycheck-to-fishermen/

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New Option for Salmon Aid Money, Fish Weir or Paycheck to Fishermen

The Hoopa Valley Tribal Council held a public hearing last Wednesday to discuss alternative ways to spend salmon disaster relief aid that has been sitting idle since 2007. The original spending plan included building and improving five roads into the Hoopa gorge area of the Trinity River, but that plan was stricken last month by the Tribal Council. An alternative will be discussed at the Tribe’s Sept.15, regularly scheduled meeting. / TRT file photo.

Public Hearing Results in Demand for Immediate Action
By Allie Hostler, Two Rivers Tribune

The Hoopa Valley Tribal (HVT) Council held a public hearing last Wednesday evening to hear the tribal membership’s ideas on how to spend $228,000 remaining from salmon disaster relief aid granted back in 2007.

The tribe has until July 31, 2012 to complete a yet-to-be determined project or the funds will be permanently lost. Originally, the HVT Council approved a spending plan that included the distribution of gill nets, the purchase of an ice machine and ice chests for tribal members. That spending plan also included a quarter million to build or improve five river access roads in the gorge area of the reservation. After the latter was completed, public opposition to the river access roads portion of the project prompted the HVT Council to revisit the plan, this time with public input.

The meeting got off to a slow start at 6pm. Council member Hayley Hutt was present along with about a dozen tribal members. She stalled the meeting waiting for more council members to arrive. Shortly thereafter, council members Augustine Montgomery and Byron Nelson arrived. No other council members were present.

HVT Vice Chairman, Byron Nelson asked the Fisheries Department Director if an extension of the grant period is possible. Some attendees supported an extension and others opposed stating that the money needs to be spent soon and on what it was originally intended for—disaster relief.

“The Fisheries Department provided the Council with a list of projects when the grant was awarded—the main objective of the council at that time was to increase the tribal harvest of Chinook salmon,” Orcutt said. “Now we’ve been asked to come up with a range of alternatives,”

Orcutt provided a 10-page packet that listed six different alternatives; the construction of a fish processing facility; improvement of existing river access roads in the Hoopa Valley; ice machine operation and maintenance; the construction of a fish dam; contracting with under-employed fishermen to provide fish for elders and the tribal membership; and individual cash payment to the membership.

Tribal member Lois Risling thanked Orcutt for providing the memo, but complained that it lacked budget information.

“I’m being asked to come here and comment on these,” Risling said “But, I need to have costs associated with each item to make these sorts of decisions”

The memo provides minimal financial information for one of the proposed projects—the fish weir, not to be confused with the traditional fish dam.

Hoopa Tribal Self Governance Coordinator, Danny Jordan estimated the cost of a modern, metal fish weir to be about $134,602. He based that number on the cost the California Department of Fish and Game paid for a weir back in 1987 and applied the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation rate.

Risling complained that using an inflation calculator wasn’t the appropriate way to estimate weir costs.

Subsequent research reveals that the current cost of a 12-foot section of a weir is about $1,000. That would make a 250 foot section of the river approximately $20,000 to weir, plus the cost of catch boxes and a gate to allow navigation. Cost estimates vary by source and product.

Mary Jane Risling commented that there were two alternatives not included in the memo. She urged the Council to use some of the allocated funds to investigate and research traditional regulatory measures regarding fishing. She also urged the Council to revisit the earlier projects (net distribution, ice chests etc.) to gage the progress made toward the ultimate goal of harvesting more Chinook salmon.

Tribal member Kenny Norton voiced his support for a fish dam or weir. Norton said he’s confident that community members would volunteer to work the weir and that he, himself would volunteer as well. He also said that a weir would allow the tribe to selectively harvest the fish they want, releasing endangered coho or certain ages or sizes of Chinook salmon.

Most of the comments supported the construction of a fish dam or weir, except those of Norvin Hostler.

Hostler said the weir is a good idea, while at the same time he urged the Council to revisit the intention of the grant.

“What’s our definition of disaster relief?,” he said. “We’re still sitting here pushing this ‘how to catch our quota’ agenda when what we need to look at is who suffered the disaster. Who does this funding really belong to? We need to identify the fishermen that suffered from the disaster and relieve them. That’s what this money was for. And, that’s how it benefited ocean fishermen and the Yurok Tribe.

He added that the money should have been spent back in 2007 when it became available. He urged the council to hurry and act before the money is lost for good.

Hoopa Tribal member Steve Baldy stepped up the podium and asked about the possibilities of a functioning fish dam or weir this late in the season.

“Can we do a fish dam now? Or, next year after the July deadline?,” he asked. “It seems like if we want to move with that project we’d be forced to get an extension. We should start eliminating certain alternatives if we want to do them this year.”

Local fisherman, Stanley Ferris, Jr. told the Council that the fishing disaster devastated his famly, whom rely heavily on fishing to barter for other goods and services.

“The Yurok Tribe cut their fishermen checks. When farmers lose their crops, the government gives them a subsidy so they don’t abandon their businesses. This is really no different,” Ferris said. “To this day the individual Hupa fisherman hasn’t been compensated, yet the Tribe was given money on our behalf back in 2007.”

The Tribe will continue the discussion about how to spend the money at their Thursday, Sept. 15 regularly scheduled meeting.

Hostler added a final comment at the end of the hearing, “If I were sitting at the leadership table I would ask myself, ‘Are the people who are actually affected by the disaster seeing the money?’”

The Federal appropriation of $60.4 million was shared between the commercial salmon industries in California, Oregon and the Indian Tribes that rely upon the salmon fishery for their subsidence and cultural heritage. The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission located in Portland, Oregon coordinated tri-lateral relief effort with the Federal government and in particular the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the California Salmon Council, the Oregon Salmon Commission and the Hoopa and Yurok tribes.

Congressman Mike Thompson sponsored the bill in cooperation with other California and Oregon legislators. The appropriations bill was signed by President George Bush in May of 2007 when it was included in the military spending package. The grant was awarded in 2007 by an act of congress. A total of $60 million was made available to fishermen in California and Oregon.

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September 15th, 2011

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http://www.tworiverstribune.com/2011/12/hoopa-tribal-council-approves-project-for-hsu-student-passes-resolution-on-irrigation-project/ 

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Hoopa Tribal Council Approves Project for HSU Student, Passes Resolution on Irrigation Project

Regular Meeting Held Monday
By Allie Hostler, Two Rivers Tribune

Once again the regularly scheduled Hoopa Valley Tribal Council meeting was rescheduled. It was held Monday, Dec.5 at 1:30pm.

The agenda made available to the public was not the agenda used by the council during the meeting. Additions were made to the executive session portion of the agenda that included an enrollment issue; a debt collection issue; a private discussion with Jacqueline Alford; and discussion on Klamath legislation.

Continuing business included a motion to approve of the Decision Notice for Adoption of Alternative 2011-2025 Forest Management Plan Environmental Assessment. The motion passed.

A discussion that ended in a motion was held with Hoopa  Tribal member Lori Biondini. Biondini is a master’s degree candidate at Humboldt State University who is interested in helping the tribe develop a salmon harvest plan as part to meets the goals and objectives addressed by the tribe in a series of public hearings held in summer of 2011.

Councilmember Joseph LeMieux is supportive of the idea that was brought to the table by Vice Chairman, Byron Nelson. “I have no objections to giving you a project to do at school,” he said. “But I would like to see some parameters on what it will consist of.”

Biondini assured the council that the project focus would be driven by the interests of the tribe. Nelson said Biondini’s work will provide the framework for a plan that will help the tribe harvest its full allocation of fall run Chinook salmon, a goal heavily discussed over the course of several public hearings held in the wake of the tribe’s referendum vote to ban commercial fishing. “I don’t think we can depend on the Fisheries Department,” he said. “We’ve got to develop a program to harvest fish.”

Biondini said she will be able to devote about 25 hours per week to the project on a voluntary basis. No timeline for completion has yet been set, but Biondini’s term is set to end in June of 2012. Her master’s degree will be in environment and community, arts and social sciences. The council voted to allow Biondini to begin the project and meet with her in upcoming working sessions.

A motion to approve a payment of $24,567 to Thomas Peterson was next up on the agenda. Peterson currently represents the Hoopa Tribe in their suit against former Chairman Clifford Lyle Marshall for severance pay Marshall received near the end of his term as chairman in 2009.

LeMieux asked if the issue of damages in the case against Marshall had been settled. Chairman, Leonard Masten Jr., replied saying that they are currently working on that portion of the case.

In the new business portion of the meeting, several motions were made to approve Hoopa Tribal Fisheries Department spending on a Trinity River Hatchery survey being conducted by Humboldt State University; legal services rendered by Joseph Membrino at Hall Estill for the month of October amounting to $11,979.50. A motion was also made to approve the receipt of $175,000 as part of an Annual Funding Agreement with the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration for salmon recovery projects.

A motion was made to accept a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to administer the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to Hoopa Tribal members. The grant amount is $46,080. Councilmember

Ryan Jackson asked the Director of the Tribe’s Human Services, Millie Grant, if the program was also open to non-tribal members. She said it was not. Jackson suspects that non tribal members have received assistance through LIHEAP and asked for a list of program recipients over the past several cycles. Grant said that to provide a list of recipients would violate client rights to confidentiality. The council voted to accept the funding and also agreed to support a process to ensure only tribal members receive help through the program.

Ken Norton, Director of the Tribe’s Environmental Protection Agency (TEPA) was on the agenda for approval to travel to Tulsa, Okla. for a National Tribal Caucus meeting, however he said he canceled his trip and chose to participate in the meeting via conference call.

Several small budget modifications were made by Norton to close out funds from fiscal year 2011. The Tribe’s Head Start program also had a similar budget closeout item.

The Tribal Employment Rights Office (TERO) was added to the agenda seeking approval to sign a special MOU with CalTrans. The MOU will allow CalTrans to include the Tribe’s TERO requirements in a contract bid package currently being prepared to begin work on the Trinity River bridge in downtown Hoopa. The bridge rehabilitation project will consist of a 1 inch thick polyester coating on the entire bridge to prolong its life.

The Tribe’s Public Utilities District (PUD) asked for a resolution that provides access to fee property by the tribe to complete phase one of the valley-wide irrigation property. PUD director, Barbara Ferris said that the project is currently at a standstill because of access issues. A resolution was approved and work should resume soon.

The final agenda item was to approve a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of Robert ‘Brooder’ Mabry. Mabry is suspected of several burglaries in and around the Klamath-Trinity region and has evaded arrest on several occasions. A motion was passed and the reward notice went public on Dec. 6. The following day, Mabry was apprehended by Hoopa Valley Tribal Police.

The next regularly scheduled Council meeting will be held on Thursday, Dec. 15 at 1:30pm in the Hoopa Valley Tribal Council Chambers.

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December 13th, 2011

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