Month: January 2015

Record amount of water put in trust for fish

Water purveyor for King County cities donates water rights for White River

 

Joint News Release: Department of Ecology, Cascade Water Alliance, Muckleshooot Indian Tribe

 

LAKE TAPPS – It’s the largest trust water donation in Washington state history. Enough water to fill a football field 130 miles deep will stay in the White River for perpetuity.

The Washington Department of Ecology has signed an agreement with a consortium of five cities and two water and sewer districts in King County for permanent and temporary trust water donations that will protect flows for fish in the river through 2034 and beyond.

“Big things happen when the state, local governments and tribes come together to form strategic partnerships,” said Ecology Director Maia Bellon. “This historic donation protects water levels for fish, guarantees water supplies for people, and preserves Lake Tapps as a vital community asset for decades to come.”

On Jan. 17, 2015, Cascade Water Alliance will make its permanent donation of 684,571 acre feet of water to the state’s Trust Water Rights Program. The donation will preserve instream flows and protect fish habitat in a stretch of the White River that flows through the Muckleshoot Tribal Reservation. Cascade is the water purveyor for eight King County cities and two water and sewer districts.

This month’s transaction completes the agreement Cascade made with Ecology in 2010 to donate a portion of the water rights it acquired in the purchase of Lake Tapps in Pierce County to the trust water program. In addition, Cascade will donate another 154,751 acre feet of water to the Temporary Trust water rights program until 2034.

The trust water donation keeps water in the river for the benefit of fish, wildlife, recreation and the natural environment. Ecology has agreed not to approve or issue new water right permits for 20.7 miles of the White River in what is known as the Reservation Reach between Buckley and Sumner. Several salmon species use this stretch of the river for migration, spawning, rearing and flood refuge.

“For more than 90 years diversions from the White River at Buckley have largely de-watered the stretch of river that flows through our Reservation,” said Muckleshoot Tribal Council Chair Virginia Cross. “The water donations restore and will permanently preserve river flows through the Reservation that allow recovery of healthy fish runs. We are pleased to have had the opportunity to work with the Cascade Water Alliance to achieve this historic goal.”

The trust water donation is the culmination of a water rights package that has converted Lake Tapps in Pierce County into a future municipal water supply for 50 years or longer for Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Issaquah, Tukwila and the water and sewer districts serving the Sammamish Plateau and Skyway.

Ecology approved the transfer of water rights from Puget Sound Energy (PSE) to Cascade and issued new municipal water rights to Cascade in 2010. PSE sold Lake Tapps to Cascade in 2009 after PSE no longer needed the lake as a reservoir for hydroelectric power operations.

In its purchase of Lake Tapps as a future drinking water supply for nearly 400,000 residents and 22,000 businesses in eastern King County, Cascade agreed to preserve the lake for the benefit of surrounding homeowners, boaters, swimmers and anglers.

“We are honored to make this donation a reality,” said Cascade Board Chair John Marchione, mayor of Redmond. “It’s the culmination of our regional collaboration with our partners around Lake Tapps – the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, the Lake Tapps homeowners and the four cities surrounding the lake – Auburn, Bonney Lake, Buckley and Sumner. Our work together helped make possible municipal water for the future, instream flows and a summer recreational lake.”

Mom’s death inspires advocacy for those living with addiction

Dan Bates / The HeraldRico Jones-Fernandez waits in a gravel lot outside a vacant building on the Tulalip Reservation on Tuesday for anyone wishing to exchange needles.
Dan Bates / The Herald
Rico Jones-Fernandez waits in a gravel lot outside a vacant building on the Tulalip Reservation on Tuesday for anyone wishing to exchange needles.

 

By Andrew Gobin, The Herald

 

TULALIP — Since his mother’s death four years ago from a drug overdose, Rico Jones- Fernandez has worked to save other lives that might be lost.

His focus has been on people living with addiction on the Tulalip Indian Reservation.

“I have the ability to do something, so it is my responsibility to do something,” he said.

Jones, a member of the Tulalip Tribes, has been an advocate for expanding outreach programs on the reservation, particularly efforts that reach people who are not yet ready for rehabilitation.

Last year, Jones worked to develop a law that shields addicts from arrest and prosecution of misdemeanor offenses when they are seeking medical assistance to save a life. In recent months, Jones also has played a key role in bringing a syringe exchange to the Tulalip community, the first program of its kind for the reservation.

 

In 2010, Jones’ mother, Lois Luella Jones, died of a drug overdose. Her friends did nothing to help her, fearing they themselves would be arrested.

His mother’s story inspired Jones to draft a 911 Good Samaritan law for the Tulalip Tribes in hopes that others might be saved.

In June, the Tulalip Tribal Council passed the Lois Luella Jones Law, which provides temporary immunity from prosecution for low-level offenses if the person is attempting to get medical attention for themselves or somebody else in any emergency.

A higher value is placed on saving lives than filing misdemeanor drug charges, Jones said.

In May of last year, Tulalip Prosecutor Dave Wall told Tulalip News, “In terms of the war on drugs, when someone is overdosing, the war has been lost. The battle for that person’s life is now the focus.”

Jones began volunteering with the Snohomish County Syringe Exchange in 2014 to learn how he might start a similar program on the reservation. The exchange offered to expand their service and two months ago began exchanging needles at Tulalip every Tuesday.

The goal is not to enable drug use, but to prevent the spread of disease.

“Hepatitis-C and HIV get on everything, not just syringes. We exchange everything. The cooker, the cottons and the tourniquets,” Jones said.

Some criticize syringe exchanges, concerned these types of programs are giving needles away, fueling a problem.

“People already have needles that they are using, and reusing,” Jones said. “This isn’t about giving them needles, it’s about making sure they have a place to safely dispose of dirty needles in exchange for clean, safe syringes.”

His mother’s death continues to drive him, but it is the promise of the future that fuels Jones’ perseverance.

“I get tired. I face a lot of opposition when I try to bring programs like this to our community,” Jones said. “But I made a promise to myself and my son that this would be a safer place for him. I can’t give up.”

Currently, Jones is seeking approval from the tribal council to increase access to Naloxone on the reservation. If approved, people would be trained to administer Narcan, a compound that counters the effects of a drug overdose.

Jones, who has never been an addict, hopes to spare others the sorrow of loss he knows too well.

“It’s not about drugs or enabling people; it’s about people’s lives. All I do is in hopes of saving lives,” he said.

In 2013, 580 people died in Washington from opioid drug overdoses, 86 of whom were from Snohomish County, and Providence Regional Medical Center Everett reportedly treated 440 cases of opiate poisonings.

Endangered newborn baby orca is a girl, experts say

In this Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014 photo provided by the Center for Whale Research, a new baby orca whale swims near its mother near Vancouver Island in the Canadian Gulf Islands of British Columbia. (AP Photo/Center for Whale Research, Ken Balcomb)
In this Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014 photo provided by the Center for Whale Research, a new baby orca whale swims near its mother near Vancouver Island in the Canadian Gulf Islands of British Columbia. (AP Photo/Center for Whale Research, Ken Balcomb)

 

By Associated Press and KOMO News Staff

 

The Center for Whale Research in Washington state says the baby, part of the J pod of the southern resident orca population, has stayed healthy since it was first spotted Dec. 30 off the Canadian Gulf Islands of British Columbia.

The newborn whale is being called J-50. Researchers say they are now working with Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans to gather more information about the baby’s mother.

Experts originally identified a whale in her early 40s known as J-16 seen swimming alongside the calf as its mother, but now say she might have actually been looking after the newborn for her daughter – a 16-year-old orca called J-36.

If J-16 is the mother, she will be the oldest southern resident orca to give birth in more than four decades of field studies.

Southern resident killer whales are considered an endangered species, with just 78 in the waters of British Columbia and Washington state, including the new arrival. But the arrival of the newborn orca is considered an encouraging sign following the death earlier this month of a pregnant killer whale from the same group.

Now, everyone is hoping J-50 survives. An estimated 35 percent to 45 percent of orcas die in their first year, said Howard Garrett of the Whidbey Island-based Orca Network.

Roads Reopen, Flood Cleanup Underway In Western Washington

Flood waters undermined the Moclips HighwayFawn Sharp Quinault Indian Nation
Flood waters undermined the Moclips Highway
Fawn Sharp Quinault Indian Nation

 

By Tom Banse, NW News Network

 

Grays Harbor County commissioners approved an emergency declaration for their coastal county Tuesday in the wake of flooding and landslides.

Damage assessment and cleanup is underway in half a dozen river basins around Western Washington.

The disaster declaration in hard-hit Grays Harbor County gives officials greater flexibility to pay for response and recovery. They can move money around expeditiously and waive certain contracting and bidding requirements.

In Aberdeen and Hoquiam — and beyond to Chehalis and Snoqualmie — business owners and residents started the messy cleanup of flooded ground floors now that floodwaters have mostly receded. Highway crews reopened at least one lane of traffic on most of the major roads leading to and from the coast.

Meanwhile, Washington Department of Natural Resources geologist Dave Norman urged people living near steep slopes “to stay vigilant.” A landslide risk lingers probably until the weekend given how saturated some soils are.

There are still no reports of serious injuries from the landslides or the localized flooding. The Washington State Patrol reported one driver suffered minor injuries when a car and two trucks hit boulders that fell onto Interstate 90 a few miles east of Snoqualmie Pass early Tuesday morning.

The westbound lanes of the freeway were closed for much of the day as WSDOT engineers assessed the hillside above the roadway. The agency then placed concrete jersey barriers along the right shoulder of the freeway to stop any more rocks from rolling into the traffic lanes.

Secretary Jewell Celebrates Agreement with Seminole Tribe of Florida to Help Spur Investment, Commercial Development

Tribal leasing regulations foster economic development, represent another step furthering tribal self-determination

Source: U.S. Department of the Interior

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – As part of President Obama’s commitment to empowering American Indian and Alaska Native tribal nations and strengthening their economies, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Michael Black today joined Seminole Tribal Chairman James E. Billie to formally approve tribal leasing regulations that will help spur investment and commercial development on the Seminole Tribe’s reservations.

Upon approval of the tribal regulations by the Department of the Interior, tribes may approve land leases without Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) approval, fostering tribal self-governance in the approval of leases for homes and small businesses in Indian Country.

“The Seminole Tribe of Florida will now decide for itself how it wants to do business on its lands – from making it easier for families to buy and build houses to opening businesses in the communities where they have lived for generations,” said Secretary Jewell, who also serves as chair of the White House Council on Native American Affairs. “Today’s agreement will encourage economic development and help create jobs while strengthening tribal sovereignty and self-determination by putting these decisions back in the hands of the tribe.”

Today’s signing ceremony comes on the heels of the White House Tribal Nations Conference held in December 2014, when leaders from all 566 federally recognized tribes were invited to Washington, D.C. to interact directly with the President and senior cabinet and administration officials. The conference – the sixth for the Obama Administration – continues to build on the President’s commitment to strengthen the government-to-government relationship with Indian Country.

“This is an important day for the Seminole Tribe, which will be able to process residential and business leases without the need for BIA approval,” said Chairman Billie. “This authority will allow the Tribe to better serve its members and create new opportunities for economic development on the Tribe’s reservations. We appreciate the Department’s assistance in working with the Tribe through the approval process.”

“Tribal self-determination means the tribe will now decide how its lands may be used for the good of its members and how it wants to do business on its lands,” said BIA Director Black. “The Seminole Tribe’s endeavors contribute to the local, state and regional economies and the tribe’s leasing initiative will further that economic vitality and contribution.”

Tribal council members and several tribal government officials joined Secretary Jewell, Director Black and Chairman Billie during a signing ceremony this morning at Seminole Tribal Headquarters in Hollywood, Florida.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida resides in communities located on six component reservations: Big Cypress, Brighton, Fort Pierce, Hollywood, Immokalee and Tampa. The Tribe expects to use its new authority for business, residential and biomass energy development, as well as for cultural, educational, recreational, spiritual, and other purposes.

Under the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act (HEARTH Act), signed by President Obama in July 2012, federally recognized tribes may develop and implement their own laws governing leasing of federal tribal trust lands for residential, business, renewable energy and other purposes. The law provides that such tribes may lease their lands without federal approval, promoting greater investment in tribal communities and job creation, both of which support tribal self-determination.

The Secretary’s action today brings to 15 the number of federally recognized tribes with leasing regulations approved under the HEARTH Act. An additional 14 tribes have HEARTH Act applications under current review or modification. A full list of approved regulations and additional information about the HEART Act is available HERE.

The HEARTH Act complements a parallel effort Interior undertook to overhaul the BIA regulations that govern its process for approving surface leases on lands the federal government holds in trust for Indian tribes and individuals. As trustee, Interior manages about 56 million surface acres in Indian Country.

The new regulations were finalized in December 2012 and represent the most comprehensive reform of the BIA’s antiquated leasing process. The new regulations fundamentally change the way the BIA does business, providing clarity by identifying specific processes – with enforceable timelines – through which the BIA must review leases. The regulation also establishes separate, simplified processes for residential, business, and renewable energy development, rather than using a “one-size fits all” approach that treats a lease for a single family home the same as a lease for a large wind energy project.

Nike N7 ignites a Tulalip Move Moment

Tulalip youth, energized and inspired, gather around the $10,000 check the N& fund awarded the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club.Photo/Micheal Rios
Tulalip youth, energized and inspired, gather around the $10,000 check the N& fund awarded the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club.
Photo/Micheal Rios

 

By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News 

During this past fall season Nike N7 ignited a series of ‘move moments’ across tribal and aboriginal communities in North America and Canada. Tulalip was among the very select few chosen to participate in the Nike N7 event. In all there were seven communities selected, three in Canada (Siksika, Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, and the Aboriginal Friendship Center) and four in the United States (Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, Inter Tribal Sports in California, a Native Urban Center in Oklahoma, and the Tulalip Tribes).

“Tulalip was a community that we picked a few months ago. Every time we release product we like to do an event within the Native community,” Tessa Sayers, Nike N7 Product Specialist, explains. “The latest Nike N7 holiday collection product is inspired by coastal design. We worked with an artist named Peter Boome, a Salish artist, and he worked with our Nike designers to focus on a collection that was inspired by coastal design. When we were picking communities we could only pick one community in Oregon or Washington, and partly why we chose Tulalip is because you have a Nike Factory Store where we sell Nike N7 product. So I called and spoke with Tori Torrolova (Athletic Director for the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club) who said ‘Absolutely, we are game. Bring the event to us.’”

The goal of the N7 Move Moments is to inspire and enable youth to be physically active. They look a lot like mini-camps, but the Nike brand calls them ‘move moments’ because it is a moment in time they are getting the youth active and participating in a sport. This year the events were basketball themed, last year it was soccer. Bringing basketball into our community in an fun and energizing way that will inspire participants to move themselves and their generation is all part of the Nike N7 philosophy. N7 is inspired by Native American wisdom of the Seven Generations: In every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the seventh generation.

 

Tulalip youth mimc motions of their trainer during the warm-up session. Photo/Micheal Rios
Tulalip youth mimc motions of their trainer during the warm-up session.
Photo/Micheal Rios

 

Nike originally planned to have the N7 Move Moment in Tulalip at the Boys and Girls Club during the month of November, but decided to push the date back in the wake of the Marysville Pilchuck High School shooting. Pushing the date back several weeks was part of Nike N7’s plan to make the event much more impactful for the Tulalip youth.

“Everybody on the N7 staff and our media group are all Native American and this stuff we are naturally passionate about,” Sayers says. “When we heard about the unfortunate incident that happened out here it was not something we had to think about, we called Tori and arranged to come out and actually put on the event with you guys and make it a bigger thing, so we can really bring something positive and uplifting to the Tulalip community. The other six communities had their ‘move moments’ on their own, but we decided to come up and bring our own trainers and put on the event for Tulalip. It was a no brainer for N7.”

Unlike the N7 Move Moments that were held at the other six Native and aboriginal communities chosen, Tulalip was given twice as much product and equipment in order to allow up to 160 youth to participate. To further add to the significance for Tulalip the Nike N7 team personally delivered the product, spoke to our youth, and brought along a 12 person training crew to engage with our youth while participating in the activities.

Tulalip’s very own specialized N7 Move Moment, titled ‘Move Your Generation’ was held Monday, December 15, 2014 at the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Youth who participated in the event were provided with plenty of Nike N7 freebies upon entry. Nike N7 wrist bands, stickers, and t-shirts were among the free merchandise.

An estimated ninety 5-12 year-olds and thirty 13-18 year-olds, for a grand total of 120 Tulalip community youth, were inspired and enabled to be physically active while participating in the premium and energetic basketball experience.

 

Trainers, volunteers and child participants huddle up to celebrate their evening of physical activity. Photo/ Micheal Rios
Trainers, volunteers and child participants huddle up to celebrate their evening of physical activity.
Photo/ Micheal Rios

 

The Tulalip youth were treated to a 10 minute warm-up session by nationally certified strength and conditioning coach and trainer at Nike World Headquarters, Henry Barrera. Following the warm-up session the kids were broken up into five groups where they would alternate between 5 mini-camp stations, each one lasting 10 minutes.

The ball skills station taught basketball-specific skills, like alternating dribbles between both hands, basics of a crossover, and then a quick dribble into a crossover. The training cones station taught body control and body mechanics by having kids quickly change directions in a 5-10-5 agility drill. The mini-bands station taught stability and body control by placing a mini-band around the ankles and having participants perform a series of movements all the while stepping and stabilizing with each movement. The speed rope station taught rhythm, body control and coordination. Lastly, the agility balls station taught athletic stance and body control.

A special workshop was also added to the mix when Nike N7 decided to put on the event for Tulalip. Nike made it possible for Jillene Joseph, Executive Director of the Native Wellness Institute, to spend an hour with each age group (5-12 and 13-18). In her workshop Joseph promoted well-being through a series of activities that embrace the teachings and traditions of our Native American ancestors.

“We know your community is grieving and healing at this time therefore we wanted to bring you an uplifting, fun and energetic experience. We hope you leave here feeling invigorated, refreshed, inspired and motivated to take leadership among your community,” said Sam McCracken, GM for Nike N7, to all the Tulalip youth and community members present.

Adding to the already youth impacting event, N7 surprisingly held a check ceremony in their evening wrap up. Boys and Girls Club executive staff members Chuck Thacker and Tori Torrolova were presented with a $10,000 grant award from the N7 Fund to the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club. The money will help support the club’s athletic program says Torrolova. “Those funds I’m hoping to use to benefit our coaches, volunteers and people who constantly work with the program. Making sure kids are fed when we have home games and away games and snacks to take with us. All this money I want to concentrate on the athletic programs that we run here on a yearly basis.”

After the N7 Move Moment was over, Torrolova took a moment to reflect on the evening’s activities, “I think it turned out great and all the kids had a blast. They saw different ways of moving and using different types of equipment all the while everything was being tied to basketball. We received so much brand new basketball equipment thanks to Nike N7. Now, our staff and coaches have access to that equipment will use it for future practices and activities.”

Henry Barrera, N7 trainer, practices dribbling fundamentals with the Tulalip youth. Photo/Micheal Rios
Henry Barrera, N7 trainer, practices dribbling fundamentals with the Tulalip youth.
Photo/Micheal Rios

 

Micheal Rios, mrios@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov

Grounding Yourself in Uncertain Times

Do you have things that are weighing you down from last year, the year before, the years before that?

There is a new group at Tulalip to help you work through some of those issues, perhaps some grief, frustration, confusion, all the feelings one has when things happen in life that leave you off center.

This is a drop in group, open to the Tribal Community

 

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