Statesman Journal
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde are now conservators of a two-mile section of the North Santiam River and 338 acres of adjacent land that was formerly a farm. The tribe purchased the property with help from the Western Rivers Conservancy and Bonneville Power Authority, but not disclosed the purchase price. The area was once held by the Kalapuya people; now one of 27 tribes that make up the confederation,
According CTGR ceded-lands program manager Michael Karnosh, the property has been named “Chahalpam,” which means “place of the Santiam Kalapuya people” in the Kalapuyan language.
“It is on the north bank of the North Santiam River a few miles downstream from Stayton. A stone’s throw away, directly across the river from Chahalpam, is the ‘Reservation of the Santiam Band of the Calapooia Tribe’, as delineated in the heated, hard-fought treaty negotiations in 1851 between Chief Alquema and Indian Agent John Gains,” Karnosh said.
“Unfortunately, although the Indian agent finally agreed to reserve this area for the Santiam Kalapuya in the 1851 Treaty, when Congress received the signed treaty they refused to ratify it ….Over time, as the tribe’s ceded-land acquisitions continue, Chief Alquema’s people will once again own the homelands they fought so hard to retain,” he added.
The tribe received a helping hand from the Western Rivers Conservancy (WRC). According to organization president, Sue Doroff, the nonprofit is the country’s “only conservation program dedicated solely to the protection of river lands. It acquires lands along rivers to protect critical habitat and to create or improve public access for compatible use and enjoyment.”
“This is the most significant tract of intact habitat along the entire lower North Santiam River and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde are the perfect stewards,” said Doroff.
In the case of the Chahalpam property the WRC helped the tribe in several ways including bringing in revenue from Bonneville Power Authority through the Willamette Wildlife Habitat Agreement.
“Western Rivers Conservancy utilizes public funding to convey river-land properties to longterm conservation stewards. For example, in the case of the North Santiam Chahalpam project, we purchased the farm and then we secured funding from the Willamette Wildlife Mitigation Program for the tribe to acquire the property,” said WRC spokesman Danny Palmerlee.
Palmerlee is enthusiastic about helping return the property to the tribe, and he considers it an opportunity to help preserve a unique eco-environment that was at one point considered for gravel mining.
“The conservation lands includes over 20 acres of wetlands, seven side channels and sloughs, and portions of Dieckman Creek, which is key side-channel habitat for salmon and steelhead. A magnificent, 130-acre stand of mature black cottonwoods, big-leaf maples and red aldersCQ lines the river, and willows are commonplace,” Palmerlee said, “… the project lands include an extraordinary assemblage of riparian features, including 130 acres of floodplain forest, numerous winding side channels and 20 acres of wetlands, as well as a unique native upland prairie.”
According to CTGR land steward Lawrence Schwabe, the tribe plans to replant several of the farm-field native species that are culturally significant to the Santiam Kalapuya.
The tribe will help protect the endangered and threatened species that reside on the property. The river and surrounding property is home to winter steelhead, spring Chinook, Pacific lamprey, Oregon chub, the pileated woodpecker, hooded merganser, American kestrel, little willow fly-catcher, western pond turtle and red-legged frog.
“The tribe has the natural resource expertise to care for this vital habitat and shares WRC’s vision to protect and restore this remarkable block of riverfront, forests and wetlands,” added Tribal Chairman Reyn Leno
Copyright the Statesman Journal 2013
Reposted to OPB with permission of Gannet Company Inc.
http://www.opb.org/news/article/stretch-of-north-santiam-river-back-in-tribal-hands/
Statesman Journal | July 07, 2013 11:21 p.m. | Updated: July 08, 2013 6:21 a.m.
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