Tulalip News

Quinault Flooding: Before Clear-Cutting, Watershed Prevented Overflow

Courtesy Quinault NationHighway 109 at Moclips on the Quinault Indian Nation, taken just before 10 a.m. on January 6. — Courtesy Quinault Nation
Highway 109 at Moclips on the Quinault Indian Nation, taken just before 10 a.m. on January 6.

Richard Walker, Indian Country Today, 1/12/15

In its natural state, before the logging and development and riprap, the Quinault River watershed worked like a finely tuned machine.

The north and east forks of the Quinault River flow from headwaters in the Olympic Mountains, meander through temperate rain forest and the Valley of a Thousand Waterfalls to Lake Quinault—where returning blueback salmon mature before they head upstream to spawn—and, finally, to the Pacific Ocean. The Quinault River and its tributaries nourish and drain a 188-square-mile watershed.

The river has changed since the time of the grandparents’ grandparents.

“Areas that were clear-cut changed river processes to a greater degree than did areas where only the largest trees were selectively cut,” the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reported in a 2002 study. “After vegetation was removed … the river was free to migrate across the floodplain at a faster rate.”

The more rapidly migrating river “liberated large amounts of sediment that had been stored in bars, vegetated islands, and the floodplain,” the Bureau of Reclamation added.

To protect their homes and property from the force of the rapidly migrating river, riverfront landowners responded “by re-arranging or removing large woody debris and log jams in the river and placing cabled logs and rock riprap along the river bank to prevent erosion,” the Bureau of Reclamation reported. While this worked in some places, it had unanticipated effects downstream.

“In some cases, this has limited [salmon] habitat availability because entrances to side channels become blocked with fill or levees,” the Bureau reported.

Quinault Nation President Fawn Sharp, who lives at Lake Quinault, said a century of manmade changes on the Quinault River have altered natural river dynamics and ecological processes, diminishing “the popular desire for watersheds to flood within their natural floodplains, and many of the fixes and proposed fixes only make matters worse.”

Sharp believes those modifications are partly responsible for flooding, road washouts and culvert failures that occurred during a storm on January 4–5. Several residents were evacuated, one elder was rescued from a car that stalled on a flooded road, and a school in Taholah was temporarily closed because of flooding. The Quinault Nation issued a disaster-area declaration, spurring the involvement of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“FEMA quickly responded and are working with staff to assess damage,” Sharp reported on January 7. “We sustained damage to a number of interior bridges and logging roads. Our offices and schools reopened today.”

The Quinault will work with FEMA over the next 30 days “to assess damages and financial impacts,” Sharp said, adding that a meeting had been scheduled for January 14. “Our scientists and natural resource staff will be briefing us on environmental impacts. [We] will know more then.”

One thing Sharp knew as she issued the emergency declaration: Any response must address modifications that have made the river more hazardous during storms.

A July 2011 environmental impact assessment, by the Quinault Nation and BIA, of Quinault’s restoration plans for the Upper Quinault River “preferred [the] alternative of installing engineered logjams and restorative planting of conifer and hardwood trees to meet the goals of improving river processes and salmon habitat.”

The Quinault Nation is installing engineered logjams, removing invasive species, and replanting native trees to aid forest regeneration. And between 2000 and 2013, the Quinault Nation spent more than $5 million on river and salmon habitat restoration.

In 2013, the Quinault asked Congress for an investment of $5.79 million over a period of five years for Upper Quinault River restoration; the tribe also asked Washington State—with the Quinault a co-manager of the state’s salmon populations—for an allocation of $2.8 million for continued restoration work on the Upper Quinault River watershed. Those requests were partially funded, according to Quinault Nation spokesman Steve Robinson.

As far as salmon habitat restoration goes, “We have had small local effects, particularly in those areas where we’ve put in structures, such as log jams,” Quinault Nation fisheries senior scientist Larry Gilbertson told Indian Country Today Media Network in 2013. “But in the overall watershed, we’ve only just begun.”

And now, the impacts to people and property of those earlier modifications that altered natural river dynamics are being felt.

‘The worst I’ve seen it’

Sharp is accustomed to storms. And she has studied photographs of floods that occurred in Quinault territory 100 years ago. But she had never seen anything like this.

There were reports of landslides and flooding in Quinault territory and in neighboring communities during the January 4–5 storm. Portions of two state routes and U.S. Highway 101 were closed, made treacherous by flooding, debris or washouts.

The Quinault Nation’s administrative offices and a school in Taholah were temporarily closed because of flooding. Quinault’s Property Management Division ordered an emergency inspection of all the Nation’s buildings and infrastructure. Major access roads into Quinault were closed or deemed extremely hazardous.

A portion of road reportedly washed out on the Upper Quinault River, sending debris into salmon spawning habitat. Two nearby rivers, the Moclips and the Queets, also overflowed.

“The Moclips River flooding is the worst I’ve seen it,” Sharp said on January 5. “The Moclips Highway 109 Bridge near Quinault Village, a main access road to and from the Nation, has been washed out and is closed. That is a major problem for [Quinault]. SR 109 could take days to repair. And if our own Moclips Highway needs major repairs, we will have significant commuter problems.”

Various Quinault agencies worked to clear storm drains, evaluate damage, and monitor the wastewater treatment plant in Queets, which was compromised by the overflowing Queets River.

Amid the rain and flooding and landslide and debris, Sharp found reason to be grateful. “We are very happy and relieved to report that, to our knowledge, there has been no loss of life or injury caused by this heavy rain and flooding,” she said at the time.

However, as rain was expected to return during the weekend, Sharp warned, “It is important for people to remain alert for potential slides, lingering flood dangers and infrastructure damage.”

Hawks take loss against rival Lummi Nation Blackhawks, 49-62

Heritage Hawk Ayrik Miranda takes the ball down the court, Friday, Jan. 9 , 2015, in game against Lummi Nation Blackhawks. (Tulalip News/ Michael Rios)

By Michael Rios, Tulalip News

TULALIP – The 8-2 Tulalip Heritage Hawks lost again to rivals 9-0 Lummi Nation Blackhawks Friday night in a game that the Hawks led 17-8 after the first quarter.

The Blackhawks used a full court trapping defense throughout the second and third quarter that forced the Hawks into making errant passes, resulting in easy transition buckets for the still unbeaten Lummi Blackhawks. With the win Lummi all but secures the number one seed in the district playoffs.

Lady Hawks take a win over rival Lummi Lady Blackhawks, 33-17

By Michael Rios, Tulalip News

TULALIP- The 0-11 Tulalip Heritage Lady Hawks picked up their first win of the season by defeating the 1-5 Lummi Lady Blackhawks in convincing fashion Friday night, 33-17.

The Lady Hawks trailed 2-7 after the opening quarter, but then locked in defensively and held the Lady Blackhawks to only 10 points the remainder of the game.

A 23-6 run that span over the second and third quarters was more than enough to secure the victory. Guard Michelle Iukes led the Lady Hawks with 12 points.

Lady Hawk point guard Myrna Redleaf guards a Lummi Nation Lady Blackhawk, Friday, Jan. 9, 2014, during the game played at Tulalip Heritage High School. (Tulalip News/ Micheal Rios) — Lady Hawk point guard Myrna Redleaf guards a Lummi Nation Lady Blackhawk, Friday, Jan. 9, 2015, during the game played at Tulalip Heritage High School. (Tulalip News/ Michael Rios)

Hightek Lowlives debut video for “Error Code 504″

By Tulalip News staff

Check out Hightek Lowlives debut video off record label Cabin Games, which is co-owned by Tulalip Tribal member, Brodie Stevens.

This is their debut video directed by Dave Wilson and released through the channels of Seattle EMP museum.

Hightek Lowlives includes vocalist/ songwriter Otieno Terry, winner of the 2014 EMP Sound Off!, and producer/ instrumentalist, Kjell Nelson.

Hightek Lowlives explore a variety of topics and issues throughout their music including ideas of love, human existence and artificial intelligence. By blending elements of the future and past Terry has developed the character Brother Damien, a humanoid with Artificial Intelligence from the year 2047, who has returned to our time to seek love and is a descendant of Otieno Terry.

Combing an array of sounds ranging from hip-hop, R&B, electronic and science fiction Hightek Lowlives are establishing themselves as a unique contestant in Seattle’s music scene.

NPR heavy weight Ann Powers describes their debut album, “Humanoid Void,” as one of the best break through albums of the year.

Cabin Games is owned and ran by former Sub Pop president Rich Jensen, and Up Records known for Built to Spill and Modest Mouse, as well as Tulalip Tribes tribal member, Brodie Stevens.

NWIC Poetry students showcase work at Hibulb Cultural Center poetry series

By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News

NWIC student Ed Hill recites his poetry during the Hibulb Cultural Center's December poetry series. Students penned poems during a NWIC poetry class and recited for the first time to the public for the first time. Photo/ Bob Mitchell — NWIC student Ed Hill recites his poetry during the Hibulb Cultural Center’s December poetry series. Students penned poems during a NWIC poetry class and recited for the first time to the public for the first time.
Photo/ Bob Mitchell

Students in a Northwest Indian College poetry class had a chance to showcase their creative prowess during December’s Hibulb Cultural Center’s poetry series. The class, composed of novice and beginner poets, presented a collection of work created during the course to the public for the first time.

Professor Lynda Jensen, who teaches the class, is an avid writer and poet herself, encouraging students to create poetry with depth and emotional response.

“One of the exercises that we did in class was to make a list of 35 words we like. We would pass the list to someone else, and that person’s job was to turn the list into a poem,” said Jensen. A poem by student Talon Arbuckle using the list of 35 words technique was performed during the event.

“I asked the students to give me a list of 35 words that they associate with themselves, with their personal identity. From these lists, I made a poem for each student. I read these poems to them at the event. That was one of my favorite parts of the evening, extolling and featuring them within poetry,” Jensen.

Students Ed Hill and Crystal Meachem, both newcomers to poetry, found inspiration in the structure of poetry. Hill’s poems focus on his connection to nature, and discovered poetry to be an inviting and inspiring form of communication. Meachem, who did not enjoy poetry at the start of the class, explored different forms of poetry to learn the deeper meanings embedded in style and word choice.

“As an enthusiastic optimist, Crystal enjoys the word search when creating something sublime. She said that when she writes poems, she lets the words flow out. Then she re-reads to see if it is sublime yet. If it isn’t she sits there, frustrated and confused, until she finds the right words to make the poem work perfectly,” said Jensen.

Novice writers Bobbi Jones and Marci Fryberg use poetry regularly as a way of self-expression. Jensen describes Frberg’s use of poetry as, “strong, inviting and eschew the exclusivity that poetry so often inflicts on readers. Her meanings are clear and her metaphors recognizable. A quiet and private person, Bobbi was uncertain about performing her poetry in public. She gave me permission to read two of her poems. After I finished reading her poem “Howling,” an appreciative hush fell over the room. Bobbi writes powerful personal poetry,” explained Jensen.

Other students use poetry as a mean of healing. Student Katie Longstreet used the skills she learned in class to write poetry as a way to process difficult emotions, drawing inspiration from strength and courage. She shared several poems that focus on the isolation individuals who endure trauma experience.

While poetry for many of the students became a way to communicate emotions and thoughts that could not be described otherwise, student Talon Arbuckle found a comedic undertone while developing his poetry.

“Talon discovered his interest in poetry on the first day of class. He shared several poems that he wrote, including one that was a response to an assignment that students write a poem as if they were someone else. Talon decided to write a poem as if he were Mike Tyson. He used only published quotes from Tyson. The poem was powerful and very well received,” said Jensen.

“The evening was full of emotion, support, beauty and laughter. It was the perfect capstone for our course,” Jensen said. “We are grateful to the Hibulb Cultural Center for hosting the event. We plan to create a chapbook with the poems we performed that night. We will make these available to the community when they are complete.”

The Hibulb Cultural Center hosts a monthly poetry series featuring local artists. For more information on the poetry series, please visit the Hibulb’s website at www.hibulbculturalcenter.org.

For more information on Northwest Indian College’s poetry classes, please visit their website at www.nwic.edu.

Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com

Tulalip Stop Smoking Program can help you reach your goals

Why becoming a quitter can make you a winner

By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News

The discussion to quit smoking cigarettes can be as stressful as trying to quit. The nagging. The pressure to succeed. The feeling of failure. The cost. The nagging. The fear. The withdrawals. The pressure. The nagging. Does this sound similar? Are you feeling like you need a smoke break as you read this? If so, then I know exactly how you feel and so does 42.1 million other people in the U.S. who smoke everyday.

I started smoking when I was 20-years-old, because it made me feel cool. Cliché as it is, it was my reason to commit to buying my first few packs and getting past the sick feeling I got every time I tried to inhale. Eventually I got over the sick feeling and I developed a habit.

Cigarettes contain 600 ingredients with nicotine as the key ingredient, giving it that addictive component. When smoked, a cigarette creates over 4,000 harmful chemicals including arsenic, commonly used in rat poison, formaldehyde, which is used as an embalming fluid, naphthalene, an ingredient found in moth balls, and tar, a material used to pave roads and to seal roofs.

According to the Centers for Disease and Control, Americans spent $8.4 billion on tobacco in 2011, and cigarette smoking is the number one leading cause of preventable death in the United States, “accounting for more than 480,000 deaths, or one of every five deaths, each year.”

My decision to quit smoking for good came in the beginning of 2014. I had tried, unsuccessfully to quit the previous year, but in 2014 I got the gusto to commit to quitting after meeting with the cessation specialist Ashley Tiedeman with the Tulalip Stop

Smoking Program. Now I have been smoke free for a year.

The Tulalip Tribes Stop Smoking program provides an essential lifeline for those trying to quit in the Snohomish County. Through the program you will receive one-on-one help tailored to your needs, free of cost. The program provides support and cessation supplies such as the popular nicotine patches and gum that help smokers kick the habit.

There were multiple factors that led to my decision to quit, which included the financial burden of smoking. I spent roughly $1,296.36 in 2013 on packs of Marlboros. The toll on my health was starting to be felt outwardly. I had decreased oxygen levels leading to shortness of breath. My teeth were yellowing and I experienced withdrawal symptoms when I couldn’t smoke, which include irritability, hunger, coughing, dry mouth, tiredness or drowsiness, and trouble sleeping.

When meeting with Tiedeman, I learned there were a variety of options available to me in my journey to quit the habit. The most common option smokers consider is the “cold turkey” method, which involves literally ceasing to smoke a cigarette, despite the withdrawal symptoms you experience. This is the method that I used to quit. Other methods include herbal remedies and medication to help tackle cravings, the number one obstacle people face when trying to quit.

The other obstacle smokers face trying to quit is fear of failure, which is why a majority of smokers try to hide their attempts at quitting. Routines developed as a smoker, such as pairing the activity of smoking with another daily activity like driving or after eating, also makes it difficult to quit.

To help participants, the Stop Smoking program helps smokers create a toolbox of resources to draw from when they experience temptations and cravings.

“There is no pressure. We help people develop coping skills to get past smoking. We meet with them on a weekly basis to help them stay on track, and help them assess where they succeeding and having difficulties, then develop action plans for them. There is no time limit to quitting. It is just day by day,” said Tiedeman.

For help quitting smoking or more information on the program, please contact Ashley Tiedeman at 360-716-5719.

Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com

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.