“Law & Order Code 8-3 Tribal Elections” establishes and defines written procedures for the Administration of FAIR Tribal Elections
VALID OR INVALID?—The first thing on the Agenda during the counting of Absentee Ballots on Thursday, Mar. 23, was deciding whether or not the eighty (80) votes that were contested at the Reservations’ four (4) voting polls on Saturday, Mar. 18, were valid or invalid. The four (4) members of the Tribal Council’s “Election Committee” who made the final decision on the “Contested Votes” were: (L to R) Omak District Council Person Margie Hutchinson, Inchelium District Councilman Virgil Seymour, Nespelem District Councilman Andy Joseph Jr., and the Chairman of the Election Committee, Keller District Councilman Lee Adolph. Next to Lee is “Niki” Wippel, the Election Coordinator, who kept everything going in an orderly fashion. It took about 7-1/2 hours to count all the Absentee Ballots, and throughout the day at least ten (10) or more Tribal Members were present and observed what took place!!!
WE’RE ALMOST DONE!—Lee Adolph goes over his Absentee Ballot Count Form as Niki prepares to have the remaining Contested Ballots declared Valid or Invalid.
I’VE GOT 12-BALLOTS—Each of the six (6) “Counters” were given so many ballots. Each one of them counted how many ballots they had, and then gave the information to Niki. The six (6) Counters were: (L to R) Melissa Dogskin, Julia Gendron, Lorna Simpson, Alex Ostenberg, Kodi Jo Kiser, and Mary Dick.
WHO’S GOING TO BE DONE 1ST??—(L to R) Lorna Simpson, Alex Ostenberg, and Kodi Jo Kiser open up a White Pre-stamped Envelope so they can take the brown “Tribal Ballot” Envelope out. Tribal members have to sign their name in the upper left-hand corner of the White Pre-stamped Envelope or it will not be counted. There are no identifying marks on the brown Tribal Ballot.
JULIA MUST HAVE BEEN 1ST!—The six (6) Counters are almost done taking the White Absentee Ballots out of the Brown Tribal Ballot Envelopes. (L) Melissa Dogskin counts the number of ballots that she has. Each of the ballots contained a tear-off serial number that is used to insure proper accountability, and is removed prior to voting at the polls or before an Absentee Ballot is mailed to the voter.
WAS THAT A YES OR NO VOTE?—Lisa Dick hands a white Absentee Ballot to Wilma Goggles, who then announces for everyone to hear...whether the vote was Yes or No on the proposed Molybdenum Mine at Mt. Tolman. Wilma then hands the ballot to Teena Stanger, who plies each ballot on top of each other.
WHAT DISTRICT?—The Election Coordinator, Niki Wippel gives each of the six (6) Counters a stack of Absentee Ballots for the Nespelem District. Helping Niki and holding the basket that contained the ballots is her co-worker, Gwen St. Peter
ONLY DISTRICT TO SAY YES TO REFERENDUM—The Acting BIA Superintendent Reggie Atkins, tells everyone present that the final tally for the Inchelium District is 215 Yes votes and 153 No votes! Reggie kept the “tally” on the chalkboard by placing a “tick mark” each time a Yes or No vote was called. Although not in the picture was Veronica Tatshama, who was the “tally person”, and called out “tally” each time there was a fifth mark for either a Yes vote or a No vote. And as a final note, Special arrangements are made at the Nespelem U.S. Post Office to handle the Election correspondence...and ONLY the Election Staff are authorized to receive election materials from the Nespelem U.S. Post Office!
Colville Tribes Forest Management Program Works
Coulee Dam, Wash. March 24, 2006 – The Colville Tribe was recognized for its forest management practices by the Evergreen Foundation. In its 2006 winter edition titled “Forestry in Indian Country,” its focus was on tribal models of forest sustainability. It described how the Colville Tribe effectively manages its forest for current and future generations. How did this come about?
In July 2001, the Tribe’s Natural Resource Department and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) established an Integrated Resource Management Plan (IRMP) to provide guidance to manage 1.4 million acres of reservation land for the next 15 years. The IRMP was designed to respond to the need of a healthy forest, support specie populations, and sustain a supply of timber that would help maintain a stable workforce. The plan also provides protection and restoration of watersheds on the reservation to ensure quality water and fish habitats.
“We are not raping the lands,” said John St. Pierre, Director of Natural Resources for the Colville Tribe. “We’ve developed this plan to protect our forest, water and wildlife, while at the same time providing a sustainable yield.”
The management of the reservation’s natural resources is also governed by federal laws and regulations like the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air and Water Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). While the Tribe meets every federal environmental law, its IRMP was also designed to protect the cultural and timber resources, and contribute to the economic stability of the Tribe and local communities.
Darrel Dick, Assistant Forest Manager for the BIA Forestry Division mentioned that they follow a process for every timber sale.
“The core group consists of Fish & Wildlife, Range, Soils, Vegetation, Water Quality, Environmental Trust, Realty, History & Archaeology, and Forestry,” he said. “We work together until we’ve developed a timber sales agreement. He continued, “The Tribal Council approves all timber sales by resolution before it can be sold to CTEC.”
Once the timber sale agreement is administered by the BIA, a contract is prepared and Colville Timber Resource Company (CTRC) harvests the timber according to the contract.
“We are adding value from the timber we harvest,” said Brett Black, Director of CTEC’s Wood Products Division. “Instead of selling to the outside market, we manufacture the timber at our two mills, which provides jobs and keeps those dollars here locally while supplying quality wood products to our customers.”
The Forest Products Division employs approximately 430 people and injects millions in payroll into the local economy. Recent stumpage payments to the Tribe were over $12 million. Colville Indian Precision Pine (CIPP) manufactures Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir into quality lumber for industrial and commodity use. Most of its ponderosa is sold to Anderson, Marvin, Jeldwen, Pella, Home Depot and Lowes. Colville Indian Plywood and Veneer (CIPV) sells its products to Vandermeer, North Star, Boise Cascade, Seneca, Pacific Wood, Anderson Windows, and more.
Colville Tribal
Enterprise Corporation
PO Box 5
Coulee Dam, WA 99116
(509)634-3200
