1975-07-01 Char-Koosta News

              FORESTRY PLAN PART 2: SOME SEARCHING QUESTIONS
Although the new BIA Forest Management Plan would only map reservation timber use for the next six years, it will affect the course of forested lands here for several lifetimes. This is why some tribal council-men and several people a-round the reservation would like the plan to be thoroughly reviewed by the entire tribe before final action is
taken.
The massive new plan... some 400 pages long...has been in the works since 1971. It was introduced to the Tribal Council May 23, it's principle author, Forestry Officer Bob Miller. The plan develops several alternative schemes for managing the tribe's 434,314 acres of land with forests, for the decade 1972 to 1981. The
BIA recommended options would annually harvest 56. 4 million board feet of timber from 323,852 acres of "commercial" forest lands... lands that are feasibly ac-cessable by conventional logging techniques...the bureau recommendations would bring the entire forest under intensive management by the end of the period.
But the BIA recommended
Volume 5 Number 5   NEW MOON OF THE SERVICEBERRY   July 1, 1975
NO ACTION ON MISSION LANDS
The three parties involved in a dispute over nearly 1,000 acres of Mission lands, failed to reach a final decision in a meeting held June 16. The Tribe and the Jesuit Fathers are attempting to restore the "Mission Lands" to the Tribe if an agreement can be reached with the Pack River Company. Negotiations for restoration have been in progress for nearly 7 years.
The land in question was originally obtained by the Jesuit Fathers from the U. S. Government prior to the 1900's. Title to the land is being disputed now by the Tribes. The land was purchased by Pack River from the
Fathers in the late 1960s. Because of the land's historical value to the Indian community, the Tribe is now seeking restoration of the land. Father Edmund McNulty, of Port-
MISSION (see page 2)
F.S.TOPAY       DIXON
FOR PILFERED SCHOOLS SEEK
TRIBAL TREES JOINT CREDITS
Perma: Some twenty-two years ago, the Lolo National Forest accidently poached about 80,000 board feet of timber from reservation lands along the western boundary. Now the U.S. Forest Service owns to the mistake and has offered to pay for the pilfered timber...at 1953 prices.
The Forest Service offer is $500, the amount of stump-age they received for the timber. However, the value today of the stand of timber north of Knowles would be roughly ten times that amount, or a-bout $5,000.
But the question of whether to accept the $500 or shoot for the $5,000 involves a lot of red tape and perhaps expensive litigation. The Tribal Council discussed the situation June 13, and decided that $500 in the hand was probably better than $5,000 in the trees.
Dixon: The Dixon School Regents and the Reservation Education Committee have agreed to pursue the possibility of a joint accreditation agreement between the Dixon School and the Alternative School.
The board and the commit-te met June 16 to work out a preliminary agreement for the joint district. Under the agreement, both schools would remain independent in matters of financing, course scheduling and curriculum. However, the two schools would devise standard student performance requirements and share state accreditation.
The Alternative School began last year as a facility for Indian students who had dropped out of reservation public schools. During its first year of operation, the school offered General E-SCHOOLS (cont. on page 3)
options would also change the nature of the forests and set management into relatively tight 20-year harvesting schedules. The BIA recommended options would remove all the remaining 127,948 acres of commercial virgin forest and all over-stocked areas by 1981, thus bringing the forest under controlled growth conditions. According to the plan, this would create
FOREST PLAN (see page 12)
ARLEE POWWOW JULY 1
Arlee: There will be a few changes in this year's annual Arlee July Pow Wow, but the reservation's biggest affair will be substantially the same as it was in years past.
The biggest change is in the sponsorship of the 4th of July Rodeo. This year the action will come under the authority of the Montana Rodeo Association, rather than the Indian. 'Rodeo Cowboy Association. The. switch in rodeo sponsorship was made, according to Rodeo Committee man, Fred Whitworth, Arlee, because more contestants can participate under the MRA. The production of the Arlee Rodeo was again contracted by Jocko Valley Rodeo promoter, Bob Schall.
The Pow Wow will begin July 1, with camp set-up and evening war-dancing. The schedule runs through July 6, with dance contest finals scheduled for July 5.
There will again be Wah Luk games at the north end of the grounds and stick games in the old Dance Pavilion in the center of the Pow Wow grounds. There was still some question at the time Char-Koosta went to press as to whether beer would be sold in the PowWow grounds
POW WOW (cont. page 7)