The%20Upper%20Columbia%20River%20and%20the%20FCRPS

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The Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT)

• Formed in 1983 to provide a common voice for
  our region through the collaborative efforts of
  the Upper Columbia River Tribes.
• Formed to ensure a healthy future for the
  traditional lands of our ancestors and for the
  benefit of all people.
• Proactive, collaborative and science-based
  approach to promoting culture, fish, water,
  wildlife, and diverse habitat.

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UCUT MEMBER TRIBES

• Coeur dAlene Tribe The Discovered People or
  Those Who Are Found Here
• Current enrolled membership 2,188
• Reservation (Idaho) 334,500 acres
• Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
• Current enrolled membership 9,353
• Reservation (Washington) 1.4 million acres
• Kalispel Tribe of Indians The "River/Lake
  Paddlers" or "Camas People"
• Current enrolled membership 409
• Reservation (Washington) 4,700 acres Pend
  Oreille County and off-Reservation land in Airway
  Heights
• Kootenai Tribe of Idaho "The Kootenay who
  remained"
• Current enrolled membership 145
• Reservation (Idaho) 2,200 acres
• Spokane Tribe of Indians "Children of the Sun"
• Current enrolled membership 2,621
• Reservation (Washington) 156,000 acres

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Mission Statement

• To unite Upper Columbia River Tribes for the
  protection, preservation, and enhancement of
  Treaty/Executive Order Rights, Sovereignty,
  Culture, Fish, Water, Wildlife, Habitat and other
  interests and issues of common concern in our
  respective territories through a structured
  process of cooperation and coordination for the
  benefit of all people.

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Upper Columbia Basin (U.S.)
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UCUT Governance

• One Commissioner and one alternate/delegate from
  each tribe, with a strategy/technical committee.
• UCUT employs five total staff.
• Organizational structure is de-centralized, using
  a regional approach for natural resource issues,
  emphasizing coordination and collaboration across
  a large geographic area.
• Efficiencies and effectiveness are ensured by
  complementing and supplementing existing natural
  resources expertise of Member Tribes.

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UCUT Collaborative Projects

• UCUT Fish Wildlife Coordination Project
• Inter-governmental contract with BPA to inform,
  coordinate participation in, and facilitate
  consensus-based decision-making.
• Participation in forums related to the Columbia
  Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.
• Communicates UCUT positions to regional
  decision-makers.
• Develops collaborative relationships with
  regional partners.

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UCUT Collaborative Projects

• UCUT / BPA Memorandum of Understanding
• 35 of the annual power production from the
  Columbia River federal hydropower system comes
  from the Upper Columbia River.
• Yet, the Upper Columbia eco-region only receives
  13 of the Columbia Basin funding for fish,
  wildlife, and habitat mitigation.
• A primary intent of the MOU is to increase the
  proportion of mitigated habitat in the U.S.
  portion of the Upper Columbia River basin.
• Through the MOU, the BPA recognizes its trust
  responsibility to use the management capability
  and regulatory authority of the UCUT to carry out
  fish, wildlife, and habitat protection and
  mitigation.

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UCUT Collaborative Projects

• UCUT Wildlife Monitoring and Evaluation Program
  (UWMEP)
• Uses protocols developed from the Albeni Falls
  ME Plan in collaboration with Eastern Washington
  University faculty and the expertise of the UCUT.
• Monitors habitat structure, vegetation
  composition and population responses of
  vertebrates.
• Compares reference sites (DFC) to responses from
  management actions at mitigation sites.
• Potential use as a model for Wildlife ME for the
  Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program, using a
  regional approach.

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UCUT Collaborative Projects

• Timber, Fish, and Wildlife Agreement and the
  Forests and Fish Report Habitat Conservation Plan
  and Adaptive Management Program
• Participate in research and monitoring efforts
  under the consensus-based framework of the 1987
  Timber, Fish, and Wildlife Agreement and the 1999
  Forests and Fish Report, including contracts that
  address forest health issues in Eastern
  Washington.
• Emphasis on technical information and
  science-based recommendations to adjust guidance
  of forest practices in Washington State in order
  to best protect the natural and cultural
  resources of the UCUT, while maintaining a viable
  timber industry.
• Cooperator with the Family Forest Fish Passage
  Program.

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UCUT Collaborative Projects

• Drumheller Springs Urban Natural Park
• 12 acre natural area in the City of Spokane to
  which the UCUT have strong cultural and historic
  ties.
• Adopted by the UCUT which provides in-kind labor
  and materials to maintain, clean, and improve
  park infrastructure.
• Provided for the benefit and use of all people.

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UCUT Collaboration

• Coordination of the Columbia River Treaty with
  other Sovereigns.
• Impacts from the Treaty are more severe to the
  UCUT than any other U.S. tribes.
• Blockage of anadromous fish.
• Reliance on upper Columbia River water by
  downstream users.
• Assistance with funding for Lake Roosevelt
  management and other federal appropriations.
• The UCUT are the First Affected by operations of
  the FCRPS and the Last and least to be Mitigated
  for those impacts.