Tribal Circumstances and Impacts of the Lower Snake River Project on the Nez Perce, Yakama, Umatilla, Warm Springs and Shoshone Bannock Tribes Developed for the: Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Developed by: Meyer Resources, Inc. April 1999 i 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF TRIBAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND IMPACTS FROM THE LOWER SNAKE RIVER PROJECT ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE STUDY TRIBES ............................................................................................... 1 1.2 PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF THE PRESENT IMPOVERISHMENT OF PEOPLES OF THE STUDY TRIBES............................... 2 1.2.1 Losing Tribal Salmon.................................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 LOSING TRIBAL LANDS......................................................................................................................................... 3 1.4 A SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF PRESENT ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES FOR THE STUDY TRIBES ....... 4 1.5 THE CONTINUED IMPORTANCE OF SALMON FOR THE TRIBES ............................................................................... 5 1.5 RESERVATION OF THE TRIBAL RIGHT TO HARVEST SALMON IN THE TREATIES BETWEEN THE STUDY TRIBES AND THE UNITED STATES..................................................................................................................................... 6 1.6 IMPACTS OF THE LOWER SNAKE RIVER DAMS ON THE STUDY TRIBES ................................................................ 8 1.7 PRESENT LOWER SNAKE RIVER PROJECT ALTERNATIVES.................................................................................... 9 1.8 SELECTION OF ALTERNATIVES A1 OR A2........................................................................................................... 11 1.9 SELECTION OF ALTERNATIVE A3........................................................................................................................ 12 1.10 IMPACTS OF PROJECT ALTERNATIVES ON FLOODED LANDS IMPORTANT TO THE TRIBES ................................. 12 1.11 CUMULATIVE TRIBAL IMPACTS OF LOWER SNAKE RIVER PROJECT ALTERNATIVES........................................ 15 1.13 MITIGATION TO PROTECT TRIBAL SITES AND RESOURCES ............................................................................... 17 1.14 A SUMMARY TRIBAL ASSESSMENT OF LOWER SNAKE RIVER PROJECT ALTERNATIVES.................................. 17 2.0 PROCEDURAL OVERVIEW FOR ASSESSMENT OF TRIBAL IMPACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES22 2.1 STUDY METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................................... 22 2.1.1 Federal Guidelines...................................................................................................................................... 22 2.1.1.1 Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation Studies - 1983..........................................................................................................................................................22 2.1.1.2 Presidential and Executive Department Direction, Guidance and Policy................................................................24 2.1.1.3 US Army Corps of Engineers Guidance Respecting Tribes....................................................................................25 2.1.1.4 The Responsibility of the U.S. Department of Commerce ......................................................................................26 2.1.1.5 EPA Guidelines With Respect to Environmental Justice ........................................................................................27 2.1.1.6 Court Findings with Respect to “Perspective” in Assessing Impacts on Treaty Trust Resources ..........................28 2.1.2 Understanding Tribal Treaties.................................................................................................................... 29 2.1.2.1 Treaties Related to this Analysis..............................................................................................................................29 2.1.2.2 Treaties as Negotiated Settlements ..........................................................................................................................29 2.1.2.3 Relevance of Treaties for the Present Analysis .......................................................................................................34 2.1.2.4 Tribal Trust Resources.............................................................................................................................................35 2.1.2.5 A Summary of Other Selected Laws Relevant to Tribal Protection........................................................................37 2.1.3 Analytical Issues Affecting Assessment of Impacts on Tribes..................................................................... 38 2.1.3.1 Crediting What Tribes Say.......................................................................................................................................39 2.1.3.2 Tribal Culture is Modern and Evolutionary.............................................................................................................40 2.1.3.3 Tribes View Themselves and Their Resources Holistically....................................................................................41 2.1.4 Selecting Indicators of Tribal Circumstances and Potential Effects .......................................................... 42 2.1.4.1 Salmon and Access to Salmon Fishing....................................................................................................................42 2.1.4.3 Historic Villages, Grave Sites and Usual and Accustomed Fishing, Hunting and Gathering Areas.......................43 2.1.4.4 Speaking Tribal Languages......................................................................................................................................44 2.1.5 Integration of Tribal Assessment with Non-Tribal Models for Assessing Circumstances and Potential Impacts on Tribes....................................................................................................................................... 45 2.1.5.1 A “Hierarchy of Needs” Model for Integration of Tribal and Non-Tribal Assessment Measures..........................45 2.1.5.2 Non-Tribal Indicators of Tribal Circumstances and Potential Impacts ...................................................................49 2.1.5.2.1 Tribal Poverty...................................................................................................................................................49 2.1.5.2.2 Tribal Unemployment ......................................................................................................................................50 2.1.5.2.3 Tribal Per Capita Income..................................................................................................................................50 2.1.5.3 Tribal Health ............................................................................................................................................................51 2.1.5.4 Tribal Assets and the Associated Annual Values they Produce ..............................................................................53 2.1.6 Valuing Tribal Benefits and Costs in the Present and The Future ............................................................. 54 2.1.6.1 Value in Use, Value in Exchange and Intrinsic Value.............................................................................................54 2.1.6.2 The Value of Present and Future Trust Assets to Tribes .........................................................................................56 2.1.6.3 Economic Analysis and Discounting the Future......................................................................................................57 2.1.7 Assessing Tribal Circumstances and Benefits - A Summary of Method ..................................................... 58 ii 3.0 ASSESSING HISTORIC AND EXISTING TRIBAL CIRCUMSTANCES POTENTIALLY AFFECTED BY THE LOWER SNAKE RIVER PROJECT............................................................................................... 61 3.1 LINKAGES BETWEEN LOWER SNAKE RIVER PROJECT ALTERNATIVES AND REFERENT TRIBES.......................... 61 3.1.1 Securing Tribal Assets................................................................................................................................. 61 3.1.2 Linkages between Tribal Fishing and the Lower Snake River Project....................................................... 63 3.1.3 Linkages between Usual and Accustomed Tribal Areas and Project Reservoirs ....................................... 64 4.0 CIRCUMSTANCES AND IMPACTS ON NEE-ME-POO (NEZ PERCE)................................................... 69 4.1 ACCUSTOMED TRIBAL AREAS AND SEASONAL HARVEST ROUNDS OF NEE-ME-POO......................................... 69 4.2 NATURAL CAPITAL AND ANNUAL PRODUCTIVE YIELD OF ORIGINAL NEE-ME-POO LANDS ............................. 72 4.3 A BROADER PERSPECTIVE OF NEZ PERCE LIVING CIRCUMSTANCES IN PRE-CONTACT TIMES........................... 75 4.4 CHANGES IN NEE-ME-POO CIRCUMSTANCES DUE TO THE TREATIES OF 1855 AND 1863 .................................. 77 4.5 FURTHER