Flood danger to Hoh Tribe sparks need to relocate

[The Straight Story]

Flood danger to Hoh Tribe sparks need to relocate

Posted by Letters editor

Request for Olympic National Park land reasonable

The Times’ story on the Hoh Tribe did an excellent job conveying the tribe’s need to move to higher ground in the wake of river floods, ocean storms and potential tsunamis <“River flooding out tribe,” page one, March 9>.

The tribe has shown foresight and determination, working for years to acquire lands from private timberland owners and the Washington Department of Natural Resources to relocate tribal housing and essential services. The small — 37 acre — piece of Olympic National Park’s coastal strip needed to link these lands to the existing reservation is a reasonable request.

Normally, park advocates are loath to see a single acre removed from our irreplaceable national parks. But the Hoh Tribe has been responsible and open in its modest request. We hope Congress will act in a timely manner to ensure the tribe’s future safety.

— Donna Osseward, Olympic Park Associates president, Seattle

Don’t grant special treatment to tribe

I am sorry that the Hoh Tribe is experiencing flooding in their traditional reservation area, but I have issues with their request for 37 acres of the Olympic National Park.

Do the citizens of other flood-prone areas — Chehalis for example — ever assume they are “entitled” to an act of Congress to get another chunk of land for free to replace where they live when and if it floods? Does anyone else ever assume they can ask to grab a chunk of any national park for this reason? The Olympic National Park grounds are sacred and should not be given to anyone whatsoever.

I wish the flooding wasn’t happening to anyone, anywhere. However, as any individual flooded-out person must do, maybe the Hoh Tribe should talk with their insurance company about their flood insurance coverage.

Do not expect the citizens of this state or this country to donate any national park lands to them. Nobody else would ever assume this or even attempt to insinuate that.

— Janet Blight, Lynnwood

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/northwestvoices/2011332508_flooddangertohohtribesparksneedtorelocate.html

[cliffordu]

1. Janet truly IS a Blight, I'd say.

[uppityperson]

2. Here's the background story to go with the Letters to editor

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011292772_hohtribe09m.html

It chews, it gnaws and jumps around, avulsing in a tantrum of energy to new channels, taking anything in its way right along with it. Just ask members of the Hoh Tribe: The river that carries their name is shoving them right out of their reservation.

The Hoh are a tiny tribe of fewer than 300 members, with an even smaller reservation — only a mile square when it was created in 1893. And the reservation is besieged by water from three directions: Storm surges barrel in from the Pacific. The river floods nearly every winter. And then there's the torrential rain: The Hoh live in one of the rainiest places in the lower forty-eight.

The tribe's community center and many members' homes on the reservation are encircled by sandbags to hold back the water that is too often at their doors. Some homes have even been abandoned. As chunks of their reservation wash away, the Hoh have turned to Congress for help, seeking legislation to deed a chunk of Olympic National Park to the tribe to move the remote, isolated reservation to higher ground. Most usable land on the reservation is within the 100-year flood plain of the river, making economic development even harder for this tribe battered by high unemployment and poverty.

The tribe has worked for several years to acquire a safe homeland for its people and a viable land base for economic development. The tribe has purchased about 260 acres to move some of its reservation out of the flood zone, and has taken title to 160 acres transferred to the tribe from the state Department of Natural Resources. The tribe now is seeking 37 acres of national-park land, to be deeded into trust as part of its reservation, through an act of Congress....(more, including map)

[n2doc]

3. As Midnight Oil once sang

The time has come
To say fair's fair
To pay the rent
To pay our share
The time has come
A fact's a fact
It belongs to them
Let's give it back



It was theirs once, should be again....