Tribal Council approves grant application for planning small forestry projects

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

Tribal Council approved moving forward with a grant application that – if awarded – would help the Tribe’s Natural Resources Department implement small forestry projects.

The approval during the Wednesday, Oct. 9, Tribal Council meeting is for a $200,000 grant application to the River Network Rooting Resilience program. 

“This grant is specifically designed for federally recognized Tribes and Tribal organizations for the planning and implementing of small community forestry projects in disadvantaged communities,” Tribal Grants Manager Wendy Sparks said during a Tuesday, Oct. 8, Legislative Action Committee meeting. “We hope to submit this application by the end of October and we anticipate receiving this award by January.”

Tribal Council Secretary Jon A. George thanked Natural Resources Department Native Nursery Supervisor Jeremy Ojua for his work helping to restore Indigenous plants to the landscape.

“I want to thank him for his continuing work with the nursery there,” he said. “I know he’s doing a wonderful job with expanding it and it’s a great example of how he’s creating that stock to restore a lot of native plants.”

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Re-appointed Robert Miller to serve on the Tribal Court of Appeals for a 2-year term;
• Approved the Tribal Housing Department’s 2025 Indian Housing Plan for submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development;
• Approved the Tribe’s updated 2024 Title IV (civil rights) Plan as required by agencies that fund the Tribe’s public transit programs;
• Approved a professional services agreement with Sembit of Beaverton for the development of an app for Tribal members with the goal of launching it by January;
• Approved appointing Tribal Council member Kathleen George to the Spirit Mountain Community Fund Board of Trustees with a term ending on Sept. 30, 2025;
• Approved enrolling four infants into the Tribe because they meet the enrollment requirements outlined in the Tribal Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance;
• And denied enrolling one infant into the Tribe because they didn’t meet the enrollment requirements outlined in the Tribal Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance.

To watch the entire meeting, visit the Tribal government’s website at www.grandronde.org and click on the Videos tab.