- Details
- By Native News Online Staff
President Biden has approved a disaster declaration for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in northeastern Washington, making federal dollars available to the tribe to build back facilities damaged by summer wildfires.
The federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, according to The White House press release.
Want more Native News? Get the free daily newsletter today.
One of the July wildfires, the Chuweah Creek fire, burned its way through four homes and 34,694 acres of the tribe’s timberland, The Spokesman Review reported at the time.
It was the third major fire the Colville Reservation has sustained in six years, which directly correlates to the tribe’s economic development. Colville Tribal Chairman Andrew Joseph Jr told The Spokesman Review that 20% of the tribe’s finances come from logging.
In 2015, the tribe sued the federal government for failing to meet its trust obligations to the tribe when the tribe lost 20% of the commercial timber on the reservation.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is responsible for managing the forest health of Native American tribes.Their Branch of Wildfire Fire Management states its mission “is to execute our fiduciary trust responsibility by protecting lives, property, and resources while restoring and maintaining healthy ecosystems through cost-effective and creative fire-management programs, collaboration, and promoting Indian self-determination.”
“Wildfire is a regular natural phenomenon,” the tribe’s complaint reads. “However, the United States’ breaches of trust relating to the Tribes’ forests greatly increased the opportunity for, and the size and severity of, the North Star, Tunk Block, and other fires on the Reservation.”
More Stories Like This
Native News Weekly (June 3, 2023): D.C. BriefsHouse Passes Bipartisan Debt Ceiling Deal; How Native American Members of Congress Voted
History Made as First Navajo Appointed U.S. Federal Judge in California
California Bill Aims to Increase State Funding for Tribal Housing
Navajo Nation Leaders Recognized the Fallen on Memorial Day
Native News is free to read.
We hope you enjoyed the story you've just read. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.
Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps. Most readers donate between $10 and $25 to help us cover the costs of salaries, travel and maintaining our digital platforms. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to join the Founder's Circle. All donations help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.
Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.
