1982-12-15 Char-Koosta News

              PABLO, MONTANA 59855 ISSN: 0528-8592
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NEWSPAPER OF THE SAUSH, PEND d'OREILLE AND KOOTENAI TRIBES OF THE FLATHEAD INDIAN RESERVATION , WESTERN MONTANA
VOLUME 11 NUMBER 15        NEW MOON OF CONTINUOUS SNOW        DECEMBER 15, 1982
Federal energy agency hires Tribes to study fish and geese
The Tribes has been selected to be the lead agency for a Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)-financed study to determine the effects of hydropower development on the fish and wildlife in the lower Flathead River area
Herschel Mays, Tribal Wildlands Recreation department director, said BPA has agreed to pay the Tribes over one million dollars to gather facts on how Kerr Dam has affected game fish and geese in and along the Reservation portion of the Flathead River over the next four-and-a-half years.
Once the facts are in, Mays says they'll prove to be important tools in future fisheries management The money received December 9 is, in effect, Mays noted, the first phase of a multi-agency effort that is leading to enhancing habitat for Columbia River system fish and wildlife.
The ultimate goal, he stressed, is finding a balance
PUBLIC NOTICE
The Tribal Legal Code becomes effective today, December 15, 1982.
The public is invited to look at the document in various locations at the Complex in Pablo.
Questions? Call Judge Don Dupuis at 675-4600.
between the need for electric power in the region, and the need for critical fish and wildlife habitat
A second benefit; of the two grants, of special interest locally, is the employment-training opportunities for Tribal members. Fourteen people will be needed to accomplish the separate fish and geese studies. Six of them - two project directors and four biologists - are required by the grant contracts to have college degrees, but the remaining eight will be advertised for locally, and will be trained while they work. Mays said recruiting for the positions will begin immedately, so the work can begin as soon as possible. He said February 1983 is the target date for starting the projects.
The federal research money is the result of the Northwest Power Act which became law in 1980 to save anadromous fish (Le., salmon) whose survival is being threatened by Pacific Northwest hydropower development
Mays noted that the law, and the subsequent research money, doesn't intend to halt progress or deter hydro development The objective is "a balanced approach" to producing power without sacrificing animal and fish life. "BPA is buying a product" from the Tribes, he said, not merely paying for a lot of esoteric data, to be ignored
The proposals accepted by BPA were two of seven submitted 18 months ago by Mays and a support staff of BIA
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Federal taxes and woods workers, page 2 SKC winter quarter information, page 12