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VAWA BILL SET FOR VOTE ON MONDAY
– Grassley Substitute Bill defeated –
– Vote No on Coburn Amendment! –
We still have work to do!
S. 47, the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization, is a strong, bipartisan bill sponsored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Michael Crapo (R-ID). S. 47 is very similar to the bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Leahy and Crapo last Congress and would improve VAWA programs and strengthen protections for all victims of violence.
The bill includes historically important tribal provisions that would enable tribes to address domestic violence in Indian country. Votes on the bill were started yesterday, and are expected to be completed early next week, probably Monday early evening and Tuesday.
In a letter sent to Senators Leahy and Crapo on Thursday morning, the NCAI Taskforce on Violence Against Women expressed strong opposition to any harmful amendments offered to the Senate legislation to reauthorize VAWA. In the letter to the Senate co-authors of the legislation, NCAI expressed unified opposition to amendments to VAWA that would strip tribal jurisdiction provisions or alter the current language in S. 47 in a harmful manner. The letter sent by NCAI Task Force co-chairs Juana Majel Dixon (Pauma Band of Mission Indians, CA) and Terri Henry (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, NC) can be downloaded here and you can read NCAI’s full press release here.
As a result of a lot of hard work by VAWA advocates, a harmful substitute bill proposed by Senator Grassley, that would have removed the tribal provisions and a lot of other good provisions, was defeated on Thursday 65-34.
It was an important moment, but there is more work to do to defeat a Coburn amendment that would strip the tribal provisions.
In anticipation of the impending votes, we urge you to take action this weekend and first thing MONDAY by contacting your Senators to vote against any further harmful amendments and vote for the overall bill!
ACTION ITEM: EMAIL YOUR SENATOR(s)
THIS WEEKEND AND CALL ON MONDAY!!!
“Dear Senator, Monday is an important day, you’ll have a chance to protect all women, including Native women. It’s time to be a hero and pass a comprehensive VAWA – S.47 – including the tribal provisions and I urge you to vote NO on the Coburn Amendment. I urge you to support the Murkowski and Leahy Amendments.”
CALL – On Monday, call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask the operator to connect you to your Senators. When you’re connected to their offices, ask to speak to the staff person who handles VAWA. Tell them the same thing you wrote in your email over the weekend.
” Today is an important day, the Senator has the chance to protect all women, including Native women. It’s time to be a hero and pass a comprehensive VAWA – S.47 – including the tribal provisions and I urge the Senator to vote NO on the Coburn Amendment. I urge you to support the Murkowski and Leahy Amendments.”
Oppose Coburn Amendment Senator Coburn of Oklahoma has filed an amendment that would strip the tribal provisions from the legislation, and this amendment is scheduled for a vote. This is a critical vote that will show the strength of support for tribes.
As you know, S. 47 contains key provisions that would restore tribal jurisdiction over non-Indians for certain acts of domestic violence and dating violence, as well as for violations of protection orders, in Indian country.
We urge all tribes and advocates to ask their Senators to vote NO on the Coburn Amendment. This vote will be exclusively about the tribal provisions and it is critical to get as many no votes as possible.
Support Murkowski Amendment: Senator Murkowski has offered an amendment that clarifies Section 905 regarding protective orders. The language of Section 905 on Alaska was vague, and could be interpreted to generally exclude Alaska tribes from 18 USC 2265. This is a clarification and it helps Alaska tribes. Although it doesn’t go as far as Alaska tribes would like, it is significantly better than the introduced version. This amendment is scheduled to receive a vote, and can be found here.
Support Leahy Human Trafficking Amendment: Senator Leahy is offering a trafficking-related amendment, which is effectively the same as S.1301, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), a positive bill that had broad bipartisan support last year (including from 15 Republicans). For a factsheet on S.1301, click here. For the bill text click here . The National Task Force to End Domestic Violence supports this amendment.
For more information, fact sheets, press coverage, support letters and updates: www.ncai.org and www.4vawa.org.
NCAI Contact Information:Please contact John Dossett,General Counsel jdossett@ncai.org or Derrick Beetso, Staff Attorney, dbeetso@ncai.org if you have any questions.
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NAFSA applauds President Obama’s nomination of Sally Jewell for Secretary of the Interior
Native American Group Urges Secretary-designate to Protect Government-to-Government Relationship between Tribal Nations and Federal Government
Native American Financial Services Association
http://www.mynafsa.org/
WASHINGTON, DC (February 8, 2013) – Following President Obama’s announcement earlier this week that he would nominate Sally Jewell, President and CEO of REI, to succeed retiring Secretary Ken Salazar at the helm of the Department of Interior, The Native American Financial Services Association (NAFSA) issued the following statement:
“With so many Department of the Interior bureaus and agencies impacting daily life on Native American reservations, Sally Jewell is an outstanding choice to succeed Secretary Salazar,” said Barry Brandon, Executive Director of NAFSA. “She understands the value of our precious wilderness and how important it is to protect our public lands. It is our hope that she will use her new post as Interior Secretary to continually strengthen the unique government-to-government relationship that our tribes share with the federal government. We applaud her nomination and look forward to working with her.”
The Department of the Interior (DOI) is accountable for the administration and preservation of most federal land and natural resources, as well as the management of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. Included within DOI is the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the oldest bureau in the Interior Department.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs provides services to approximately 1.9 million native peoples on reservations across the United States. Additionally, the bureau manages 55 million surface acres and 57 million acres of subsurface minerals held in trust by American Indians, Indian Tribes, and Alaska Natives. If confirmed by the Senate, Jewell will have immense jurisdiction around Native American life.
Jewell, a former oil company official and outdoor enthusiast, won the 2009 Rachel Carson award from the Audubon Society for work furthering environmental efforts. Jewell is vice chairwoman of the National Parks Conservation Association and additionally serves as a board member of the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust; a linked network of green spaces, and historic towns recreational opportunities in Washington State.
About NAFSA
The Native American Financial Services Association (NAFSA) formed in 2012 to advocate for Native American sovereign rights and enable tribes to offer responsible online lending products. Through the protection of consumer rights and sovereign immunity, NAFSA provides vital services to tribally operated lenders serving the under-banked with better short term financial services, furthering economic development opportunities in Indian Country.
Documentary crew to visit Tulalip
By Rikki King, http://www.heraldnet.com
A French film crew plans to visit the Tulalip Indian Reservation next week to work on a short documentary and conduct interviews regarding the reauthorization efforts there for the Violence Against Women Act.
Tulalip officials last year, including vice chairwoman Deborah Parker, were among those fighting to expand the act to include more tribal provisions. It ultimately didn’t happen. They plan to try again.
Herald columnist Julie Muhlstein wrote a story about Parker’s work last May.
The documentary crew with “Canal+” is expected in town Wednesday, tribal spokeswoman Francesca Hillery said. A private ceremony also is planned on the reservation next week as part of a national day of recognition for efforts to reauthorize the anti-violence law.
“What we will be doing essentially is sending up a prayer for all native women,” Hillery said.
For more information about the law and what’s happening nationally, read this Associated Press story from Tuesday.
Encouraging kids to live healthy and stay active
By Jeannie Briones and Kim Kalliber, Tulalip News staff
Tulalip Tribes Youth Services are working to educate elementary grade kids about the importance of eating healthy and staying active, along with the devastating affects that smoking cigarettes can have on the body.
The Healthy Lungs, Healthy Lifestyle after-school program provides kids with information on tobacco and overall health, along with teaching them that in order to stay active in daily living and to participate in sports, they need to have clean, healthy lungs.
Over a dozen kids danced, exercised and laughed in the Quil Ceda Elementary School Gym during the Healthy Lungs, Healthy Lifestyle gathering on February 6th.
The kids learned basic dance moves with help from the host of the day, Zumba instructor Ossha Williams, of Health Quest Fitness Studio. Once the music started, the electrifying beat filled the gym with contagious energy that made the kids move their bodies to a combination of hip-hop, salsa, soca, and mambo music, while incorporating martial arts and aerobic elements into their workout.
“This program is a great thing because it gives the kids something do and shows them ways to stay healthy. It sends a positive message, because there is a high smoking rate among Native Americans,” said Rachel Steeve, Youth Services Smoking Cessation Specialist.
Kids are also treated to a healthy snack and drink, and can participate in hands-on projects and crafts.
Healthy Lungs, Healthy Lifestyle program will be held every other day in the Quil Ceda and Tulalip Elementary gym after school. Monday 3:35-5:00 p.m., Wednesday 1:05-3:00 p.m. and Friday from 3:35-5:00 p.m.
To enroll your child in this fun, education program contact Rachel Steeve, Youth Services Smoking Cessation Specialist, at 360-716-4936; email rsteeve@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov, or stop by Youth Services at 3107 Reuben Shelton Dr, Tulalip, WA 98271.
Where Alaska wants to fly from Paine Field
By Bill Sheets, Herald Writer
EVERETT — Alaska Airlines wants to fly passengers to Honolulu, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and other West Coast destinations from Everett’s Paine Field.
Flying to destinations beyond the Northwest is a change from Alaska Airlines’ original request to run Horizon Air commuter flights per week at the airport, primarily to Portland and Spokane.
Also different: The airline will use 737-800 jets. The airline initially proposed using only smaller Bombardier Q400 turboprops.
Alaska proposes to run 98 flights per week in and out of the Snohomish County-owned airport within five years, according to a proposal it submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday. Included are 42 flights between Everett and Portland per week on the Bombardiers.
Allegiant Air also has asked to operate flights to Las Vegas from Paine Field and possibly other West Coast destinations. Allegiant is based in Las Vegas, Alaska in Seattle. Both airlines first approached Snohomish County in 2008.
The Federal Aviation Administration recently gave its go-ahead to flights at the airport following a drawn-out, three-year environmental study.
Mukilteo, Edmonds and community groups last week challenged that decision by filing suit in federal court.
Snohomish County still must build a terminal at Paine Field to accommodate passengers. That process would take more than a year, according to county officials.
The airport was built in the late 1930s. It primarily has served military operations, Boeing service and test flights, aircraft maintenance businesses and small, private planes. Except a short period around 1950 and briefly in the late 1980s, Paine Field has not had commercial airline service.
It’s unclear if or how Alaska’s latest proposal would affect the federal environmental ruling. The earlier plans would have brought 23 flights per day, combined between the two airlines, to Paine Field within five years.
The current plan would bring about 17 daily flights to the airport in the same time frame — fewer overall, but some with larger, louder jets.
“We’ve asked the FAA to determine if any further environmental review is needed because of our proposed jet service,” Alaska spokesman Paul McElroy said.
Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman at the FAA’s regional office in Renton, provided only a brief comment.
“We have in fact received a letter from Alaska Airlines and are reviewing it,” he said in an email.
Last year, Alaska Airlines officials said they were backing out of flying from Paine Field, citing the economy and improvements at Sea-Tac Airport and Bellingham International Airport.
Officials also said, however, that if another airline were to serve the airport, then Alaska would again be interested.
Allegiant officials have remained interested throughout.
Recent projects at Sea-Tac include the completion of a third runway; a remodeled terminal building, and Sound Transit’s extension of Link light rail to the airport.
Bellingham, about an hour’s drive north of Everett, is undergoing a $17 million expansion of its terminal.
“They have made Sea-Tac more convenient for travelers and they’ve better equipped Bellingham to handle more traffic,” McElroy said. “Serving a third airport between those cities undercuts our ability to provide travelers with the lowest fares possible.”
At the same time, he said, “the airline industry is extremely competitive, and we take all threats very seriously.”
In the first year Alaska would run 14 weekly round trips to Las Vegas, Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii on the 737-800s and 21 weekly round-trips to Portland. Not all destinations would be served daily.
By the fifth year of operations, Alaska would fly 49 weekly round-trip flights, or 98 one-way flights in and out of Paine Field. This would include 28 round-trips to Las Vegas, Honolulu, Maui, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Diego with 737-800s, plus the 21 weekly round-trips to Portland using Q400s.
Opponents of commercial service say opening Paine Field to commercial service could increase noise and traffic in surrounding communities. Supporters say flights could help the economy by bringing jobs to the county and convenience for travelers.
Front Porch: Top Seattle chef to visit Everett gift store on Saturday
Everett Herald, http://www.heraldnet.com
Seattle chef Tom Douglas, a three-time winner of the James Beard Award, plans to sign copies of his latest book, “The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook,” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at J. Matheson Gifts, Kitchen and Gourmet, 2615 Colby Ave., Everett.
The cookbook is full of mouth-watering pictures and recipes and stories about the food that make it as much fun to read as it is to cook from.
The book, which retail for $35, will be available at 20 percent off during the event.
Judy and Miranda Matheson, the mother and daughter owners and operators of J. Matheson, will serve samples of recipes from the book. A member of Team Douglas will demonstrate Tom Douglas’ line of rubs, Rub With Love, used to season meat and fish.
As an added bonus, the wine folks across the street at Wicked Cellars will pair a couple of wines with some of the more savory recipes in the cookbook and offer samples of both.
Artists are invited to apply for the 56th annual Edmonds Arts Festival Juried Art Show, one of the longest running in the Northwest that attracts submissions from across the nation.
Profits from the Edmonds Arts Festival are returned to the community through the Edmonds Arts Festival Foundation. Programs include art scholarships, educational grants, public art installations, and ArtWorks, a gathering place for artists in downtown Edmonds.
All entries must be completed online. For the 2013 prospectus, visit the Edmonds Arts Festival website at www.edmondsartsfestival.com. Application deadline is March 30.
Communities Report Prolonged Success in Reducing Cigarette Butt Litter
National Program Continues to Reduce Cigarette Litter by More than Half
Source: Keep America Beautiful
STAMFORD, Conn. (Feb. 6, 2013) — Keep America Beautiful (KAB) reports an average 55 percent reduction of cigarette litter in the communities implementing KAB’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program (CLPP) during 2012. In 2012, the program’s 10th year, there were 195 grant-supported implementations across the country in a variety of places including downtowns, roadways, beaches, parks, marinas, colleges/universities, tourist spots, and at special events.
Over the past seven years, the CLPP has consistently cut cigarette butt litter by half based on local measurements taken in the first four months to six months after a program implementation. Survey results also showed that as communities continue to monitor the program those reductions are sustained or even increased over time. For example, more than 100 communities that started programs in 2011 achieved an average reduction of 48 percent that year, and increased that reduction by an additional 17 percent when measured again in 2012.
“Cigarette litter may still be a significant issue throughout the country, but our Cigarette Litter Prevention Program is making a difference in communities where the program is being implemented,” said Matthew M. McKenna, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. “Through consistent and persistent public education in combination with access to receptacles, we can lessen the environmental harm cigarette litter places on our landscapes and waterways.”
Tobacco products, consisting mainly of cigarette butts, are the most-littered item in America, representing nearly 38 percent of all items, according to “Litter in America,” KAB’s landmark 2009 study of litter and littering behavior. In response to this issue, KAB developed the CLPP with funding from Philip Morris USA, an Altria company. Since 2010, the program has received additional support from RAI Services Company. Since its inception, the program has been implemented in 1,263 U.S. communities.
“We studied 12 sites over an 11-week period and realized a 68 percent reduction in cigarette litter at sites where we had public education, signage and ash receptacles as compared with control sites where we didn’t have those CLPP program components,” said Adam Roberts, executive director of KAB affiliate Hot Springs/Garland County Beautification Commission in Hot Springs, Ark.
“Ground crews and staff at every site where interventions took place commented about the reductions in cigarette litter and – as important – litter in general,” added Roberts, who noted a 33 percent decrease in the amount of general litter at those sites.
In addition to Keep America Beautiful affiliates, KAB offered grants through its partnership with the International Downtown Association (IDA) and International City/County Management Association (ICMA) in 2012. In Southwest Detroit, the West Vernor and Springwells Business Improvement District realized an 81 percent reduction in cigarette litter between July and October. With 10 receptacles installed, the organization estimated it saved four hours of maintenance per week. “The impact in reducing litter through the CLPP has been astonishing,” said Matthew Bihun, BID program manager.
Research has shown that even self-reported “non-litterers” often don’t consider tossing cigarette butts on the ground to be “littering.” Keep America Beautiful has found that cigarette butt litter occurs most often at transition points—areas where a person must stop smoking before proceeding into another area. These include bus stops, entrances to stores and public buildings, and the sidewalk areas outside of bars and restaurants, among others.
To address cigarette butt litter, KAB’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program recommends communities integrate four proven approaches:
Over the past seven years, the CLPP has consistently cut cigarette butt litter by half based on local measurements taken in the first four months to six months after a program implementation. Survey results also showed that as communities continue to monitor the program those reductions are sustained or even increased over time. For example, more than 100 communities that started programs in 2011 achieved an average reduction of 48 percent that year, and increased that reduction by an additional 17 percent when measured again in 2012.
“Cigarette litter may still be a significant issue throughout the country, but our Cigarette Litter Prevention Program is making a difference in communities where the program is being implemented,” said Matthew M. McKenna, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. “Through consistent and persistent public education in combination with access to receptacles, we can lessen the environmental harm cigarette litter places on our landscapes and waterways.”
Tobacco products, consisting mainly of cigarette butts, are the most-littered item in America, representing nearly 38 percent of all items, according to “Litter in America,” KAB’s landmark 2009 study of litter and littering behavior. In response to this issue, KAB developed the CLPP with funding from Philip Morris USA, an Altria company. Since 2010, the program has received additional support from RAI Services Company. Since its inception, the program has been implemented in 1,263 U.S. communities.
“We studied 12 sites over an 11-week period and realized a 68 percent reduction in cigarette litter at sites where we had public education, signage and ash receptacles as compared with control sites where we didn’t have those CLPP program components,” said Adam Roberts, executive director of KAB affiliate Hot Springs/Garland County Beautification Commission in Hot Springs, Ark.
“Ground crews and staff at every site where interventions took place commented about the reductions in cigarette litter and – as important – litter in general,” added Roberts, who noted a 33 percent decrease in the amount of general litter at those sites.
In addition to Keep America Beautiful affiliates, KAB offered grants through its partnership with the International Downtown Association (IDA) and International City/County Management Association (ICMA) in 2012. In Southwest Detroit, the West Vernor and Springwells Business Improvement District realized an 81 percent reduction in cigarette litter between July and October. With 10 receptacles installed, the organization estimated it saved four hours of maintenance per week. “The impact in reducing litter through the CLPP has been astonishing,” said Matthew Bihun, BID program manager.
Research has shown that even self-reported “non-litterers” often don’t consider tossing cigarette butts on the ground to be “littering.” Keep America Beautiful has found that cigarette butt litter occurs most often at transition points—areas where a person must stop smoking before proceeding into another area. These include bus stops, entrances to stores and public buildings, and the sidewalk areas outside of bars and restaurants, among others.
To address cigarette butt litter, KAB’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program recommends communities integrate four proven approaches:
- Encourage enforcement of litter laws, including cigarette litter;
- Raise awareness about the issue using public service messages;
- Place ash receptacles at transition points such as entrances to public buildings; and
- Distribute pocket or portable ashtrays to adult smokers.
The “Guide to Cigarette Litter Prevention” provides information about starting and maintaining a Cigarette Litter Prevention Program in your community, and can be found online at PreventCigaretteLitter.org.
About Keep America Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. With a strong national network of 1,200 affiliates and partners including state recycling organizations, we work with millions of volunteers who take action in their communities.
Keep America Beautiful offers programs and engages in public-private partnerships that help create clean, beautiful public places, reduce waste and increase recycling while educating generations of environmental stewards. Through our actions, we help create communities that are socially connected, environmentally healthy and economically sound. For more information, visit kab.org.
About Keep America Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. With a strong national network of 1,200 affiliates and partners including state recycling organizations, we work with millions of volunteers who take action in their communities.
Keep America Beautiful offers programs and engages in public-private partnerships that help create clean, beautiful public places, reduce waste and increase recycling while educating generations of environmental stewards. Through our actions, we help create communities that are socially connected, environmentally healthy and economically sound. For more information, visit kab.org.
Snohomish County Board of Health meets Feb. 12
SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — The Snohomish County Board of Health will hold its regular monthly meeting at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12 in the auditorium of the Snohomish Health District, 3020 Rucker Ave., Everett, Wash.
This month’s draft agenda includes:
· New board officers and a new member will be sworn in.
· Food Excellence Awards presented in six categories to the top restaurants, industrial kitchen and temporary food establishment as nominated by Snohomish Health District food inspectors.
· A resolution on gun-related injuries, encouraging the state Legislature to take meaningful action, including adequate funding for mental health services.
· How health care reform impacts publichealth briefing by Health Officer & Director Dr. Gary Goldbaum
· 2013 Work Plan overview by Deputy Director Pete Mayer
The Snohomish County Board of Health sets countywide public health policy, enacts and enforces local public health regulations, and carries out other duties of local boards of health specified in state law. These duties include enforcing state public health statutes, preventing and controlling the spread of infectious disease, abating nuisances, and establishing fee schedules for licenses, permits and other services.
For additional information about the board meeting, contact Lorie Ochmann, 425.339.5210; relay 711; lochmann@snohd.org. To request reasonable accommodations, please contact her by Friday, Feb. 8.
Established in 1959, the Snohomish Health District works for a safer and healthier Snohomish County through disease prevention, health promotion, and protection from environmental threats. Find more information about the Health Board and the Health District at http://www.snohd.org.
Lummis move to get trust land status worries local governments
JOHN STARK; THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
Updated: Feb. 1, 2013 at 6:01 p.m. PST
FERNDALE – Whatcom County and the city of Ferndale have written letters to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs opposing Lummi Nation’s move to get trust land designation for an 80-acre site south of Slater Road and west of Interstate 5.
The land had been mentioned as a possible site for both a new county jail and a new Costco store before the tribe acquired it from Ralph Black and family for a reported $5.4 million in late 2011. Ten of the 80 acres are inside the Ferndale city limits, while the remainder is within Bellingham’s legally designated urban growth area. That means it is earmarked for eventual Bellingham annexation.
Tribal trust designation would move the parcel out of city, county and state jurisdiction and take it off property tax rolls.
In his letter to BIA Northwest Regional Director Stanley Speaks in Portland, Ore., Ferndale City Administrator Greg Young notes that in 2006 Ferndale supported Lummi Nation’s earlier move of 3.78 acres into trust status for construction of the tribe’s Gateway Center. The city threw its support behind the tribe’s plans after working out a deal to compensate the city for loss of tax revenue, making an annual payment to the city that is meant to be roughly equivalent to the taxes that would otherwise have been collected without the trust land designation.
Young’s letter says recent negotiations with Lummi over the 80-acre parcel have not borne fruit, and he expresses concern that more transfers of land into trust status could follow.
“While we supported this prior trust conversion and appreciated the Lummis’ desire to have direct freeway exposure, we are now extremely concerned over what may become a pattern of slow but continuous removal of essential land from Ferndale – as you may be aware, not only have the Lummis purchased this 80-acre site, they hold purchase options on additional property in this area. Apparently they have adopted a strategy of land purchase, trust conversion, and development in this area – leading to direct and unavoidable harm to the city of Ferndale.”
Young’s letter also suggests that Lummi Nation may be hoping to imitate the Tulalip Tribes’ big commercial development along Interstate 5 in Marysville.
“It is understandable that the leaders of the Lummi Nation want to mimic the development success of the Tulalip Tribes to the south, but this should not be accomplished and coupled with perpetual harm to the city of Ferndale,” Young wrote.
The Whatcom County Council approved a letter of opposition to the Bureau of Indian Affairs after discussing the matter in a closed session on Tuesday, Jan. 29.
“There is no information regarding the proposed use or development,” says the letter, signed by County Executive Jack Louws and County Council chairwoman Kathy Kershner. “Nor has the Nation consulted with Whatcom County or entered into any agreements regarding the use of the land with any of the three impacted jurisdictions.”
In her own letter to Speaks at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bellingham Mayor Kelli Linville does not flatly oppose tribal trust land status.
“The City of Bellingham values its relationship with the Lummi Nation and is confident that, if given an opportunity, the concerns can be addressed through a government-to-government agreement that respects the self-determination of the Lummi Nation,” the letter says. “However, we believe these issues need to be addressed prior to a determination on the (trust) application.”
Linville’s letter states that the impact on the city goes far beyond the 70-acre section of Lummi Nation property that is inside the city’s urban growth area: Another 445 acres in the growth area would be cut off from the city if the 71-acre section is converted to trust status and cannot be annexed by the city.
Those 445 acres are industrially zoned.
“Bellingham has a shortage of industrial-zoned parcels that are sufficient in size and unencumbered by wetlands,” Linville’s letter says. “Conversion of the subject property to trust status would significantly erode Bellingham’s future industrial land base.”
In a later interview, Ferndale’s Young said as he understands it, the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ regional director has the discretion to approve trust status to the Lummi land, with or without the approval of local governments. But the local governments could appeal that approval, if it comes, to the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C.
In his talks with Lummi officials, Young said he got the impression that the tribe may not yet have definite plans for the property.
Linville said she got the same impression during a Thursday, Jan. 31, phone conversation with Lummi chairman Tim Ballew.
“He restated that the tribe didn’t have any plans,” Linville said. “There were no details to give me.”
Linville also agreed that the city and other local governments have a right to comment, but the BIA can give the property trust status despite local objections.
Linville said she told Ballew she would like to work with the tribe to find a mutually beneficial approach to development of the tribe’s property.
Lummi Nation and the BIA did not respond to requests for comment.
Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/02/04/2458700/lummis-move-to-get-trust-land.html#storylink=cpy
Inslee guarded on tribe casino, Governor says he hasn’t made decision
By Jim Camden of The Spokesman-Review
Article: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/feb/07/inslee-guarded-on-tribe-casino/Feb 7, 2013
OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee wouldn’t say Wednesday which way he’s leaning on the Spokane Tribe’s proposed casino on the West Plains. Inslee has the final ability to block the project near Fairchild Air Force Base even if federal officials sign off on it.
“It will be important for me to make the decision based on the facts and the evidence,” he said.
Inslee, taking questions at a morning news conference, said he would make “the right decision” but quickly added: “I won’t tell you what that is right now, because I have not made it.”
The decision will come after a “clean, academic, dispassionate review” but beyond that, he said he believed it was best not to discuss the casino or whether he would support more gambling facilities in the state.
“There are ramifications for the state beyond this specific application. I will be considering those in the decision,” Inslee said.
In his campaign for governor, Inslee received support from both the Spokane Tribe, which wants to build the casino, and the Kalispel Tribe, which owns the nearby Northern Quest casino and is opposed to the proposed facility. Each tribe gave Inslee $3,600, the maximum contribution from an individual source.
Overall, Indian tribes contributed $60,675 to Inslee’s gubernatorial campaign compared to $11,600 to his Republican opponent, Rob McKenna. Neither the Spokanes nor the Kalispels contributed to McKenna’s gubernatorial campaign.
Last week the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs released an environmental impact statement that said its preferred alternative was the largest of three construction options the Spokane Tribe has proposed for land north of U.S. Highway 2, across from the base. The agency continues to take comments before issuing its “record of decision,” after which the secretary of the interior must decide whether the casino is in the best interests of the tribe and the surrounding community. After that, Inslee must agree with the secretary’s decision before gambling can occur on the property.
The bureau looked at three construction options as well as building nothing on the property. It said a plan for a casino with about 98,500 square feet for electronic gaming devices and tables, a 300-room hotel with a 145-foot tower, restaurants, bars, convention space and a 96,000-square-foot shopping