Tribal Sovereignty/EPA

[Toni Hardy <rogntonihardy@aol.com>]

     I am a stakeholder in the Coeur d'Alene Basin and I own land on the (former?) CdA Reservtion.  I am perplexed, frustrated, angry about EPA's refusal to discuss openly all the facets and implications of the TAS process.  I have written and questioned EPA REgion 10 lawyers Clifford Villa and Rich Mc Allister for over a year about TAS and how it affects those of us (non-Tribal members)that live on and own 75%of the land on the (former?) Resrvation.  To date, I've not received any nformation that makes sense, and I feel alternately "talked down to" (as in "Federal law is so complex that even we, lawyers, don't understand it") as well as confused by the use of obfuscated quotations from statutes.  I want the truth, and I find it absolutely astounding that I, a voting member of a representative democracy, have absolutley no voice in the decisions made about my land and the surrounding environment because of EPA generated TAS.  EPA funded (my tax dollars) a 3-year "Environmental Assessment Plan" for the CdA Tribe, and the Integrated Management Pln which follows this EAP will take another 5 or so years.  I tried to answer the Tribal call for "good neighbors" to join in the process.  My phone calls to Tiffany Allgood, Tribal EAP Chairperson, were unanswered last summer.  My follow-up e-mails, phone calls, in-person questions toTribal Biologist Jack Gunderman about the EAP were never answered.  Finally, after speaking with Jack at a public (non)"Informational Meeting," he told me that he had spoken to Tiffany and "there is no such plan."  Then, suddenly, a few months ago, the "Plan" was introduced, and it is clear that all the preliminary "planning" was done by a select group of people, none of whom include my (former) Reservation neighbors.  We have all tried to find out why the maps in this plan list our land (in my family for nearly 100 years) as illegally seized land when, in fact, we hold valid and legitimate homestead patents. We protested the fact that any input we enter into the "Plan" is advisory only.  All decisions are made by the Tribal Council.  Over the past years, I have written the TribalCouncil, but I have not received even one answer.  My family drove to the Tribal Center and met with the Tribal Spokesman, Bob Bostwick, but his promises to "keep us informed" (in spite of our follow-up calls and e-mails) were just hot air.  Frankly, I am appalled at the non-inclusive manner in which I and my friends and neighbors have been treated.  I am offended by the lies and the secrecy.  It is interesting to note that none of us had any problems until this proposed Mullan-Plummer 72-mile recreational trail (a key to the CdA Basin cleanup, since it provides access to all the  waterways, wetlands, later lakes, etc.) came into being about 6 years ago.  Since then,it is clear to me that there exists a huge power struggle (for grant money? for control of utility corridors? for control of water quality?) between the Tribe and the State of Idaho, and EPA is right in there.  EPA is sole "power" behind TAS, and the State of Idaho vehemently opposes the granting of this status.  HAS IT ALEADY BEEN GRANTED?  Who knows?  No one is talking! My neighbors and I have been excellent stewards of our land for generations.  In fact, it is we (not the Tribe) that "forced" inclusion of creosote cleanup into the current railroad cleanup plan.  It is we who paid for (at our own expense, since the Governments allowed Union Pacific to egotiate barriers to testing) to prove that lead and arsenic are rampant far from the center line of the abandoned right-of-way.  The fact that alarming lead levels (and there isn't even separate testing for arsenic!) are well over 30,000 ppm (and they need to be 700 ppm for a recreational trail) alarms and angers us....NONE OF THIS IS IN THE PRESS!  None of this is made public.  Why??  We believe that EPA is part of a huge "cover up" because the TRUTH is just too incredible and would do harm to the Coeur d'Alene emphasis on tourism and recreation.  We believe that EPA has failed to protect us and our environment, instead working out politically expedient and clandestine "deals", and TAS appears to be a part of that process.  Why does EPA REFUSE to answer us?  Why does EPA ignore us?  WHY is BOB MArtin, EPA Ombudsman supporting our efforts to demand public accountability?  When will EPA realize that token public involvement undermines any chance for collabortion and consensus?  The TAS process (which I still have little information about in spite of repeated requests) is, to me, a kind of exclusionary process that will only promote misunderstanding and animosity.  The reality is that we have no "sovereign" to protect us......The Tribe operates in almost total secrecy, and the State of Idaho virtually ignores us and our rights.  Meanwhile, the two (State and Tribe) apparently connive aginst each other for control over OUR land and the adjacent waterways, and EPA manipulates both sides through secret or non-inclusive meetings and "carefully" worded statements that employ very nebulous words like "may" or "could".  The Coeur d'Alene Basin will end up like the Hudson River.....EPA will "return" for years and years after the Record of Decision (now to be issuedin October....the date keeps changing, as do the plans.....Lots of EPA "Mission Creep" in Region 10, but tht's another topic.)  Just what is going on among these allegedly "friendly" Governments (EPA, State, Tribe, DOJ) in the CdA Basin?