KWSO News for Wed., May 10, 2017

The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission’s Salmon Marketing Program is hosting a workshop for tribal fishers. On Wednesday, May 17th, CRITFC and the Northwest Cooperative Development Center are co-hosting a workshop on how to develop a tribal fishers’ cooperative. The workshop will be from 1-3:00 at the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fisheries Enforcement Office in Hood River.  Cooperatives are associations of people united voluntarily to meet their common economic needs and goals thru a jointly owned and democratically controlled business.  Cooperatives generate benefits for the worker/owners rather than outside investors. The workshop will cover cooperative education, cooperative governance and business development planning. RSVP for the workshop by calling or texting Salmon Marketing Specialist Buck Jones at 971-221-2546.

Bend Spay and Neuter Project Executive Director Megan Gram made a presentation to Warm Springs Tribal Council this week. The clinic offers free spay and neuter surgeries for dogs in Warm Springs on the first Sunday of each month.  They also offer basic wellness services such as vaccinations.  Gram reported that the project has held seven clinics to date and provided over 150 free surgeries.  On average, she says they have around 22 dogs per clinic, but they can take up to 35 during a visit.  They are also joined by local shelters to provide a place for residents to surrender dogs to be adopted, and have taken in and adopted out 28 dogs from Warm Springs since the clinics began in September. Some of their future goals are to develop education programs for children, provide basic training and obedience classes, and work with the community to trap and transport feral and unowned dogs for spay/neuter services. They would also like to provide additional services to dogs, and eventually cats and work toward an community volunteer program.

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said Tuesday that it was “outrageous” for President Donald Trump to fire FBI Director James Comey in the middle of an investigation into Russian links with people close to the president. Wyden, a senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Comey should be “immediately called to testify” before Congress “about the status of the investigation into Russia and Trump associates at the time he was fired.” The Oregon senator also renewed his call for an independent prosecutor to lead the FBI investigation.

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation has won an Oregon State Land Board award for its outstanding environmental work. The Tribes’ fish habitat restoration project on Catherine Creek near La Grande caught the eye of Oregon Governor Kate Brown and the Oregon State Land Board, which honored the tribe and its partners Tuesday in Salem. With its partners, the tribe restored one mile of prime salmon, steelhead and bull trout habitat.