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[forwarded by Pat Morris. Thanks...]
 

http://www.oregonlive.com:80/news/00/01/st012826.html

Willamette forest, tribes agree on collaboration

A memorandum signed Thursday formalizes a
relationship with the Grand Ronde tribes

Friday, January 28, 2000
By Courtenay Thompson of The Oregonian staff

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde signed a
memorandum of understanding Thursday with the
Willamette National Forest, laying the groundwork for more
tribal involvement on the 1.8 million-acre public forest on
the western flanks of the Cascades.

The agreement, the first between the Willamette and an
Oregon tribe, formalizes a growing relationship between
forest and the Grand Ronde confederation, which includes
tribes whose ancestral lands were located across the
forest.

"Hard work for a number of years came together today,"
said Kathryn Harrison, Grand Ronde chairwoman. "How
nice to walk up on the land that our ancestors used, and
maybe pick huckleberries in the same place they did, and
walk the old Molalla trails, and tell our children and
grandchildren how much it means to us."

The agreement formalizes a process for working with the
tribes and notifying them of upcoming actions on the forest,
such as timber sales and projects that might affect cultural
sites, burial grounds or traditional foods such as camas root.

"There's a lot the tribes will be able to teach us and have
input on," said Roseanne Lestenkof, tribal liaison for the
Willamette. "Hopefully what comes out of this is doing a lot
of projects together in a real good partnership."

The Willamette also works with the Warm Springs and
Confederated Siletz tribes.

Lestenkof said she hoped the agreement would help build
ties between staff members from her agency and the tribes
to fulfill the federal government's trust responsibility to look
after tribal interests. "We're connecting people with
people," she said. "We're honoring what is important to
people who lived on this land before."
 

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