Natural Resources

SEE "NATURAL RESOURCE NOTICES" TAB FOR CURRENT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mike Kennedy - Natural Resources Manager mikek@ctsi.nsn.us
Mari Kramer - Assistant Tribal Forester/Engineer
Jay Christensen - Forestry/Engineering Technician
Tom Downey - Environmental Protection Specialist
Stan van de Wetering - Aquatics Program Leader
Reggie Butler - Natural Resources Crew Leader
Tristen John - Natural Resources Crew Member
Kelley Ellis - Administrative Assistant  kelleye@ctsi.nsn.us

Forestry

Foresters, Engineers, Crew Members and Administrative Staff are responsible for ensuring and overseeing day to day operations related to the mission and objectives of the Natural Resource Department. This includes management of the Tribe's 8,067 acres of timberlands in accordance with the Tribe's approved Forest Resource Management Plan. Wood permits are issued to enrolled tribal members to access firewood for personal use only at approved tribal firewood sites. Tribal Elders may access firewood at the Toledo Mill Site by contacting the Elders Program.

NORTH FORK 2

FIREWOOD AREA OPEN

PERMITS ARE REQUIRED

Elder's access to the Toledo Mill Site wood is available by permit only through the Elders Program.

Click here for Wood Cutting Rules.

Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan Update

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians are currently updating the hazard mitigation plan. The purpose of hazard mitigation planning is to implement projects that eliminate the risk or reduce the severity of hazards on people and property. The draft plan is currently open for public comment until July 1, 2009. For more information, please contact: Brady Smith, CTSI GIS Planner at bradys@ctsi.nsn.us or 541-444-8237.  More informatin can also be found by following the links below.

Newsletter/Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Hazardous Mitigation Plan Update

Siletz Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan 060109

Fish & Wildlife

Natural Resource Technician is responsible for the maintenance and issuance of hunting, fishing and shellfish tags to enrolled tribal members. He also maintains the tribal hatchery grounds and tribal fishing sites. Annually the tribe is provided an allocation of subsistence salmon which is distributed to the membership through the Fish & Wildlife program, typically in late spring or early summer. The tribe also receives illegal game from the Oregon State Police to process and distribute to tribal members in need.

Click here for Consent Decree.

Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW) hunting maps

Tag Information

The Natural Resources Committee has set the following rules for applying for, obtaining, and using Tribal hunting and fishing licenses and tags. These rules implement the requirements of the Tribe’s existing Hunting, Fishing and Gathering Ordinance. Hunters and fishers should read these rules carefully as they are different from past practices in some instances. They more accurately reflect Tribal law as described in the Hunting, Fishing and Gathering Ordinance. As in past years, all those who report filling of their tag will be entered into a drawing for gift certificates to be awarded after the end of the fishing and hunting seasons. If you have any questions about these rules, please contact Tribal Natural Resources Manager Mike Kennedy at 541-444-8232 or 1-800-922-1399 ext. 1232.

v     Applicant must fill out drawing form with their own address, phone number, etc. and must personally sign drawing form.  Addresses will be verified with Enrollment.

v     Minors must list their hunter safety number on the application (numbers will be verified with ODFW).

v     Tags will only be issued to the person who is drawn, even if that person intends to have someone else hunt for them.

v     Person wanting tag must come in and fill out tag form with their own address, phone number, etc. and must personally sign tag form.

v     Minors must present their hunter safety card when obtaining a hunting tag.

v     Natural Resources staff will be available after hours the week prior to general deer season to accommodate those that cannot come in during regular office hours.

v     Natural Resources staff will issue tags at the Salem and Eugene area offices prior to general deer season.

v     If none of these times work for an individual, forms and tags will be mailed to those desiring them if they call the Natural Resources office and provide the following information:  name, enrollment number, phone number, mailing address, hunter safety card number (if a minor).  Tag will not be valid until they sign the form.  The yellow part of the form must be returned to the Natural Resources Department once signed.

v     Tags will not be issued to one person for another person (ie:  spouses, children, relatives, etc.).

v     The person who the tag is issued to is responsible for reporting if the tag is filled or returning the tag if it is not filled.  Penalties apply if this is not done (see below).

Using Tags:

v     Tags may be hunted/fished by the individual obtaining the tag or that individual may give their tag to another Siletz Tribal member hunter/fisher to hunt/fish for them.  The other Tribal member must have a valid hunting/fishing license.

v     Tags may not be given to a non-Siletz Tribal member.

v     The person who the tag is issued to is responsible for reporting if the tag is filled or returning the tag if it is not filled.

v     Tribal members may possess only one Tribal tag in their name at a time for the season that they are hunting.  If they fill that tag, they may obtain another tag if additional tags are available.  Possessing a Tribal tag does not preclude also possessing a State issued tag.

v     All other ODFW rules and regulations regarding hunting seasons, locations, gear, etc. must be followed.

v     Once filled, the tag must be attached to the animal/fish and reported to the Natural Resources Department within 72 hours.

v     Fishing tags may only be used to fish for salmon at the Tribe’s three fishing sites (Euchre Creek Falls, Dewey Creek Falls, Little Rock Creek [hatchery]), using only the following gear:  dip net, spear, gaff hook.  Fishing may only occur during the Tribally set fishing season (dates will be posted at the Tribal offices and on the Tribes’ web site).

Reporting:

v     If the tag is filled, the person to whom the tag was issued must report the kill/catch to the Natural Resources Department within 72 hours.

v     If the tag is not filled, the person to whom the tag was issued must return the tag to the Natural Resources Department within 14 days of the end of the season.

v     Failure to report the tag filled or to return the tag unfilled within the prescribed time period will result in a Notice of Violation being issued to the person to whom the tag was issued, with potential penalties, including suspension of hunting/fishing privileges, in accordance with the Tribe’s Hunting, Fishing and Gathering Ordinance.

Click here to download Hunting/Fishing Tag Rules

CLICK PICTURE for

2010 Hunting/Fishing Tag Distribution & Date Information will be posted soon

Click Picture for

2009 Elk Tag Drawing Results

REPORT YOUR HUNTING/FISHING HARVESTS

All reported harvests will be entered into a drawing for the following Walmart Gift Card incentives.

Hunting:  $100, $75, $50              Fishing:  $50                                       

 

You can call, mail or email your report to the Natural Resource Department.  Drawings will be conducted at the end of the season in April 2010.   

Failure to report the tag filled within the prescribed time period will result in a Notice of Violation being issued to the person to whom the tag was issued, with potential penalties, including suspension of hunting/fishing privileges, in accordance with the Tribe’s Hunting, Fishing and Gathering Ordinance.

CLICK HERE to access the Hunting, Fishing and Gathering Ordinance 

Hunting tags typically will begin to be distributed in August with notice to all tribal members through the Siletz Newsletter.

Fishing tags are available ONLY during the designated season of each year and these tags allow only Tribal members to fish for salmon using traditional methods (dip net, gaff hook, spear) at three approved tribal fishing sites: Euchre Creek, Dewey Creek Falls and Rock Creek.  The designated season will be posted.  (Season typically begins within October or November annually)

The Natural Resources Committee recommends and Tribal Council reviews and approves the annual schedule and methods for tag distribution during early summer. This schedule will be posted no later than July 31 of each year.

No early calls to "save" a tag for someone. Must physically show up to obtain tag. A waiting list will be developed for the late season archery hunt if all of the early season archery tags are issued.

Questions regarding the above schedule and distribution methods may be directed to Mike Kennedy at (541) 444-8232or toll free: (800) 922-1399 or mikek@ctsi.nsn.us 

Drawing forms for the 2010-2011 Elk Season will be available at the Natural Resource Department Office and on this web site. beginning in mid August 2010.

You may complete the form and print it then mail it to: Natural Resources ATTN: Mike Kennedy P.O. Box 549 Siletz, OR 97380.

Lhuuke Illahee Fish Hatchery

We have explored new and innovative ways of rearing young coho salmon that contribute to traditional tribal fishing harvest in Rock Creek. Many more coho salmon have been available to tribal members the past few years than during the prior decade. Our fish are surviving significantly better than traditional hatchery fish so we can do a lot more with a lot less money. We have a long way to go in providing optimal opportunities for quality fish but we are continually experimenting and learning more.

We allow fry to swim into our ponds as they move down stream in the Rock Creek system. The fry rear in our ponds without being fed. We keep brush in the ponds for cover. This makes for less stress for the fish and protects them from predators. We place wood chips in the ponds twice a year. Bacteria and fungi break down the wood chips. Nutrients are released. Algae grow on the nutrients. Bugs eat the algae. Fish eat the bugs. Its pretty simple. We also place carcasses (dead fish) in the ponds in the fall. The carcasses slowly rot during the winter. The juveniles feed on the rotting flesh. Our goal is to grow 10,000 smolts total per year in the future.

The Tribal hatchery property supports many more animals than just coho salmon - herons, king fishers, jays, owls, red tails, an occasional eagle, deer, elk, beaver, muskrat and raccoon to name a few. The ponds also support Chinook, trout, steelhead, mussels, crayfish and eels.

Aquatics

Oyster Project: The objective of the Oyster Project is to determine what methods can be used to restore native oysters in Oregon estuaries. This project is focusing on restoring native populations that will be self-sustaining. That is, we need to get enough out there, in the right places, with the right habitats available, so they can reproduce on their own. This will be a significant job. The estuary has changed so much in the last 150 years that we may not be able to accomplish natural reproduction at the levels we are hoping for. The annual process involves spawning adult oysters in a hatchery, letting the babies attach to shell from harvested oysters. We then hang that shell from docks in the bay for a few months while the babies feed on plankton. We check the growth and survival by fall. Those that survive are then moved to ropes and placed at new sites in the bay where they are monitored for several months.

Eel Passage: We are trying to assist ODFW in fixing the ladder so that we get good passage of eels at the Siletz Gorge falls site. It is unclear how bad passage is and that is why we are going to radio tag fish and monitor their movement. The radio tagging involves capturing an eel, placing a radio transmitter inside it (surgically), then tracking it for a few months to see if it can get over the falls and around the ladder or whether it has to go through the ladder and gets stuck.

Estuarine Research: Over the past several years the Tribe has monitored several salt marsh channel systems in the Millport area of the Siletz River estuary just North of Salishan Resort near Lincoln City, Oregon. These data will prove valuable to a host of restoration and management agencies currently involved in salt marsh restoration. It is very uncommon for restoration funding agencies to provide dollars for monitoring those sites that have been restored. This makes it difficult for practitioners to know the "real" responses to their restoration efforts. In the case of the Millport marsh, we expect to have statistically sound numbers comparing the response of aquatic organisms, plant communities, soil elevations, water temperatures, salinities and tidal cycles after restoration in comparison to pre-restoration. This will help practitioners better understand how effective we were in meeting our goals as well as how to best utilize future restoration dollars.

Willamette Falls: Staff, tribal volunteers and community volunteers collect eels at Willamette Falls on the Willamette River near Portland, Oregon a few times each year during the spring months. This is a traditional harvest of the Siletz people that used to mainly occur on the Siletz River, before our local runs became so low and even non existent in some traditional areas. We have spent several tens of thousands of dollars working with dam relicensing projects on the Willamette River which have in large part focused on getting agencies to pay more attention to lamprey issues the Tribe is concerned about.

Environmental Protection

Tribal Staff work with various agencies throughout the Northwest on environmental issues including working on the relicensing of Hydro Projects. A great deal of effort is spent working with other tribes on the Portland Harbor Superfund Site which includes an 11 mile strip of land along the Willamette River in the Portland, Oregon industrial area

Air Quality: EPA Federal Air Rules for Reservations