KWSO News Dec. 10, 2018

Each of the districts now has dates set for Tribal Council Nomination meetings. This Wednesday, the Agency District will hold nominations at the Agency Longhouse. And, on Monday December 17 both the Simnasho and Seekseequa districts will hold nominations at their respective meeting places. Folks will have a good amount of time to consider their votes for their tribal representatives. The Tribal Council Election will be held April 4.

BEND, Ore. (AP) — A scenic Oregon river will be honored with a stamp next year. The Bend Bulletin reports the Deschutes River will be featured on a “forever” stamp in 2019. The U.S. Postal Service announced in November that 19 sets of forever stamps will be available. They include a series designed to commemorate the National Wild and Scenic River Act, a federal law that limits development along portions of distinctive rivers.

If a bill to protect wild salmon passed without exception last week by the U.S. Senate is also approved by the House of Representatives, it would allow Oregon to kill up to 100 California sea lions a year at the Bonneville Dam and Willamette Falls. The measure was supported by senators of both parties from the Pacific Northwest. A news release from the delegation states that the sea lion population along the West Coast is estimated at roughly 300,000, and the pinnipeds have entered into habitat where they had never been before, including the Bonneville Dam and Willamette Falls. Wildlife officials have tried trapping and transporting the hungry sea lions, only to watch them all return to those two areas. Oregon State University researchers predict that if the sea lions continue to consume salmon at the current rate, there is an 89 percent chance that a population of wild steelhead could go extinct. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the measure, the Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act, before the end of the year.