2006 annual report - cskt - Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

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NATURAL RESOURCES The department is organized into three areas; the Division of Water; Division of Fish, Wildlife, Recreation and Conservation; and the Division of Environmental Protection. The Natural Resource Department has more than 100 full-time regular employees and up to 130 seasonal summer employees. NRD has a combined annual budget of more than $20 million from CSKT, Compact, EPA and grant funds. In fiscal year 2006, Water Management’s operating budget was $327,829 and employed six FTEs; five were CSKT members. The program operated 60 full-time continuous-recording surface-water gauging stations, 40 groundwater monitoring stations, and six reservation snow courses. DIVISION OF WATER Water Administration’s operating budget was $573,906 ($262,806 BIA Compact funds and $311,100 Tribal funds) and employed two FTEs; two were CSKT members. Outcomes include supporting the management of water rights information, continued development of the reservation water rights claim, financial support of the U.S. Geological Survey stream gauging stations as well as support for water right negotiations. Geographic Information System’s operating budget was $160,814 ($72,765 BIA Compact funds and $88,049 tribal funds) and employed 3 FTEs of which one was a CSKT member. Outcomes include providing mapping and analysis for the NRD and other departments. The Highway 93, Safety of Dams and Roads Programs are all managed under the Division of Water. The Highway 93 program has a 5-year budget totaling $1.845 million, which is provided through the Montana Department of Highways MDOT. Two tribal members are employed by this program. Workers provided oversight, coordination and communication between everyone involved in the construction and re-vegetation of Highway 93 through the reservation.
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ Annual Repor t 2006 16 The Safety of Dams’ operating budget was $6.385 million from BIA Compact funds. It employed 21 FTEs; 19 were CSKT members. Work included field investigations, engineering designs, and construction activities to reduce or eliminate deficiencies at Bureau of Indian Affairs’ dams. The program also monitored conditions at dams via the National Monitoring Center and informed interested agencies with data. The Roads Program’s operating budget was $2.93 million in BIA Compact funds and employed six FTEs; four were CSKT members. Maintenance outcomes include blading, grading and snow removal on BIA Roads. Construction outcomes include the construction of drainage improvements, paved streets and concrete sidewalks. Planning outcomes include the update of the road inventory and preparation for a Transportation Improvement Plan. DIVISION OF FISH, WILDLIFE, RECREATION, AND CONSERVATION The Division of Fish, Wildlife, Recreation and Conservation is the largest division of NRD. In fiscal year 2006, the division budget was $7.38 million and employed 41 FTEs; 29 were CSKT members. The most significant event for fiscal year 2006 was the completion of wetland and riparian land acquisition for Kerr mitigation. In 1985, when Kerr Dam had to be relicensed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, environmental code required that negative impacts to fish and wildlife caused by the dam’s operation were to be corrected. In 1997, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a final order outlining what mitigation goals had to be reached. CSKT sought and was granted the task of meeting those goals, which is to acquire land able to produce 3,089 wetland credits. (Credits are based on a complex calculation of lost acres. Each credit is equivalent to 1.5 acres of wetland or 4 aces of dry lands surrounding the wetlands that provide nesting habitat and watershed protection.) For the past six years, staff teamed with Lands and Legal departments to acquire these credits using funds provided by Montana Power Company and PPL Montana. The tribes were able to use mitigation funding also to purchase a total of 18,440 acres of fee land on the Reservation. Now that all the land has been acquired, the fish and wildlife habitats on the mitigation lands will be restored with funding from a separate habitat restoration account that was also part of the mitigation. DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION The Division of Environmental Protection houses the Indian General Assistance Program, a Shoreline Protection Office, Air and Water Quality, Non-Point Source pollution program, Wetlands Conservation, Solid and Hazardous Waste, a Brownfield program, and its newest addition this past year, the Pesticides Program. The Division’s primary purpose is to monitor, evaluate, and regulate activities on the reservation that may impact environmental quality. The Shoreline Protection Office processed 157 shoreline permits and 57 aquatic lands permits, and collected approximately $121,000 in dock fees and permits. During the past year, three Phase II Environmental Site Assessments were completed for three primary Brownfield sites: Elmo Cash Store, former Char-Koosta News building, and the old St. Ignatius/Woodcock dump. The fiscal year 2006 operating budget totaled approximately $820,000 and employed 17 FTEs; 15 were CSKT members.
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2006 annual report - cskt - Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

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