13 February
2003
Media Contact:
Charles Hudson, CRITFC,
(503) 731-1257
Howard Funke, UCUT, (208) 667-5486
Bob Bostwick,
Coeur d'Alene Tribe,
(208) 686-0154
Tana Klum, CBFWA, (503) 720-2444
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Northwest tribes blast Bonneville
for fish and wildlife funding cuts
Affiliated Tribes of Northwest
Indians unites members to condemn agency
Portland, Oregon
- Northwest tribes
are calling for a full audit of the Bonneville Power Administration's
fish and wildlife program and demanding the federal energy marketer
honor its financial commitments to salmon recovery efforts.
In a strongly worded resolution unanimously approved this morning
at its winter conference in Portland, the 54-member Affiliated Tribes
of Northwest Indians (ATNI) condemn the agency's proposal to cap its
annual fish and wildlife expenditures at $139 million, nearly half
of what it committed to, its disregard for the National Marine Fisheries
Service's Biological Opinion and its defiance of treaties and tribal
trust responsibilities.
The tribes, and federal and state fish and wildlife agencies, along
with an independent science panel established by the Northwest Power
Planning Council, identified $242 million in annual expenditures for
high-priority projects in the Columbia Basin.
Justin Gould, chairman of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
(CRITFC), which includes the Warm Springs, Umatilla, Nez Perce and
Yakama tribes, called the resolution "a shot across Bonneville's bow."
"This resolution demonstrates that, as Indian people, we've had it
with the Bonneville Power Administration," he said. "Last fall, Bonneville
officials crowed about large salmon returns, suggesting that fish
and wildlife programs they funded deserved their due. Ironically,
the only successful programs within this agency are the ones taking
the biggest hits."
The resolution points out countless cases in which Bonneville ignored
fish and wildlife recovery recommendations from not only Columbia
Basin tribes, but also the National Marine Fisheries Service and the
Northwest Power Planning Council. It also notes several instances
in which Bonneville breached memoranda of understanding (MOUs) and
practiced outright deceit.
In addition, according to the motion, BPA has required culture, fish
and wildlife managers to drastically reduce their budgets while increasing
its own, paying for "non-essential personnel, property and services,"
which is contrary to objectives stated in the 1976 MOU that include
minimizing BPA staff and deferring decision making to the tribes.
And "BPA has failed to reveal a truthful and accurate accounting of
its expenditures."
The resolution calls for a complete financial and management audit
of BPA's fish and wildlife program "to increase transparency and accountability."
It also demands "full implementation and funding" by BPA of NMFS's
2000 Biological Opinion on the Federal Columbia River Power System
and the Power Planning Council's Fish and Wildlife Program by triggering
Safety Net Cost Recovery Adjustment Clauses "if necessary and appropriate."
A Safety Net Cost Recovery Adjustment Clause allows Bonneville to
make the remainder of its payments to the U.S. Department of the Treasury
during a rate period. It kicks in when BPA forecasts a 50 percent
probability that it will miss a payment to the Treasury or other creditor,
or when it actually misses a payment.
The resolution points out the complexity and subjectiveness of Bonneville's
contracting process for fish and wildlife recovery projects. ATNI
calls for BPA to use its capital budget for land and water acquisitions
and remove its "self-imposed prohibition" on carrying over funds to
future years.
Samuel Penney, Nez Perce Tribe Executive Committee chairman, said
the resolution shows "there's regional support for the fisheries issue,
and that we all have a stake in what's happening here. If the fishery
resource is depleted all along the (Columbia River) system, everyone
is going to be affected."
"We're not going to sit back and let these stocks go extinct," he
added.
Jay Minthorn, a Umatilla Fish & Wildlife Committee member, said Bonneville's
proposed cuts will send the region back to the 1930s, when dams were
being built and the federal government was regularly making promises
it couldn't keep.
"They told the people, 'Don't worry, Indian people. We'll double the
runs for you,'" Minthorn said. "Well, where are we today? We're back
to the '30s. They put the almighty dollar before our resources."
Warren Seyler, chairman of the Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT),
which includes the Coeur d'Alene, Colville, Kalispel, Kootenai and
Spokane tribes, said Bonneville has never treated the entire Columbia
Basin equitably, and UCUT's up-river tribes have suffered.
"They need to look at it as a system. They need to do it in an equitable
fashion and recognize that this is a regionwide issue," he said. "The
water that flows from upriver, without that there is no salmon recovery.
The tribes refuse to be drawn into a BPA-induced squabble. It's more
than a tribal issue, it's a BPA issue. We're trying to benefit the
region, not just tribal members."
Mathew Tomaskin, ATNI's second vice president and a Yakama tribal
council member, said that if Bonneville's fish and wildlife cuts go
through, it could result in significant layoffs of tribal staff members.
"These projects are ongoing and very vital," he said. "We'd have to
suddenly decide which costs to cover."
Bonneville's cuts would have a "rippling effect" on other businesses
that rely heavily on the patronage of natural resource agencies and
their workers, not to mention fishers who benefit from recovery efforts,
Tomaskin believes. "They would lose out."
According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, natural
resource-related recreation, including wildlife watching, fishing
and hunting, is big business to sporting goods stores, bait shops
and boat ramps in that state. It also makes a substantial contribution
to motels, campgrounds, convenience stores, restaurants, gas stations
and other small businesses across the state, especially in rural communities.
Fishers, hunters and wildlife viewers spent a combined total of more
than $2.18 billion in Washington in 2001. The state ranks first in
the Northwest, and eighth in the nation, in spending by sport fishers,
which totaled nearly $854 million that same year.
Tomaskin added that BPA never consulted with the tribes before proposing
the cuts. In fact, he didn't know about the proposed cuts until he
read about them in the newspaper.
"This was just thrown at us," he said. "When was the consultation
prior to this? They have an obligation to the tribes and to natural
resources and they need to uphold that obligation to the utmost of
their ability and include the tribes in every bit of negotiation."
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About CRITFC
The Portland-based Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission is
the technical support and coordinating agency for fishery management
policies of the Columbia River Basin's four treaty tribes: the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes
and Bands of the Yakama Nation and the Nez Perce Tribe.
CRITFC, formed in 1977, employs biologists, other scientists, public
information specialists, policy analysts and administrators who work
in fisheries research and analyses, advocacy, planning and coordination,
harvest control and law enforcement. |
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