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This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project, a nonprofit newsroom covering the state.
As Gov. Tina Kotek faces an Aug. 8 deadline to decide whether to veto a $45 million appropriation for the Willamette Falls Trust, she is hearing from advocates with strong opinions about the funding, which would help the organization buy 60 acres on the west side of Willamette Falls.
In issuing a notice she might veto the funding as part of House Bill 5006, Kotek placed herself squarely at the center of an intertribal conflict that spans many years and a variety of issues.
The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, which owns the former Blue Heron paper mill on the east bank of Willamette Falls, and their allies the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians want Kotek to veto the appropriation.
Four other tribes, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, that sit on the board of the Willamette Falls Trust are eager to use the state money to grant public access to the falls.
“The Willamette Falls Trust represents a coalition committed to an inclusive process that stewards public and private funds wisely and leads to an outcome that reflects our shared histories, values and future,” said a spokesperson for the trust.
Tribes have long competed to establish which has the strongest historical ties to Willamette Falls. In 2018, the state granted the Grand Ronde a license to install a ceremonial fishing platform below the falls. That led Portland General Electric, which operates the Pelton-Round Butte Dam complex, and its partners the Warm Springs tribe to sue the state in federal court.
That case is pending, as is a challenge by the Willamette Falls Trust tribes to an expanded hunting, fishing and gathering permit that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife granted the Grand Ronde in 2023. In short, the proposed $45 million expenditure for Willamette Falls is just another point of disagreement in a far larger conflict that also includes competing interests in the state’s on-reservation casino market.
On Aug. 5, former U.S. Rep. Les AuCoin (D-Ore.), whose 1st Congressional District included the Grand Ronde reservation in Polk and Yamhill counties, wrote a strongly worded letter to Kotek urging her to follow through with a veto.
“I am deeply dismayed that the $45 million slush fund for the Willamette Falls Trust might become law. I commend you for rigorously reviewing this legislative proposal and urge you to veto it. I do so for two fundamental reasons: first, the fund lacks any form of outcome accountability in the use of taxpayer monies (thus, my term, ‘slush fund’),” wrote AuCoin, who served in Congress from 1975 to 1993.
“Then there is fundamental unfairness,” he added. “The Fund will inflict extraordinary harm on the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, one of three Oregon tribes I worked with as a member of the U.S. House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee and beyond, and the only tribe with treaty rights and direct heirship at Willamette Falls.”
Kotek also heard from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48, a key supporter of hers and the Willamette Falls Trust. (Local 48 gave Kotek $405,000 for her 2022 campaign, according to state filings. National IBEW affiliates chipped in more than $100,000. The Grand Ronde gave Kotek $85,000 during and soon after her 2022 campaign.)
“This project is a powerful collaboration to honor the cultural, spiritual and historical connections of the region’s Tribal communities,” IBEW business manager Garth Bachman wrote in an Aug. 6 letter.
“Its focus on restoring public access to Willamette Falls and restoring the historic Moore’s Island will offer job opportunities in its development phase and will ensure inclusive, educational and respectful access to one of Oregon’s most treasured landmarks.”
A spokesman for Kotek says the governor has received at least 16 letters about the proposed veto, one of four vetoes she is presently considering.
