Coquille Tribe release – Gov. Kate Brown visited Coos County this past week to view recent projects of the Coquille Indian Tribe. After staying the night at the tribe’s Mill Casino-Hotel & RV Park, Brown visited the Bandon Hatchery on Friday morning. There she learned about the tribe’s salmon restoration partnership with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The governor heard about Oregon’s increasingly rundown hatchery system, particularly the aging Bandon Hatchery at Ferry Creek. “It was a wakeup call – like, this place needs to be upgraded fast,” she said. Coquille Tribal Chairman Brenda Meade said her tribe and others are coming forward to help state and local authorities whose resources for such projects are scarce. Oregon’s Fish and Wildlife Commission is considering the tribe’s proposal for co-management of the Coquille River watershed. “People have lived on this land since time immemorial, and we are the stewards,” Meade said. While touring the tribe’s new Ko-Kwel Wellness Center near Charleston, Brown admired both the building and the tribe’s holistic efforts to offer diversified care under one roof. The wellness center offers medical, dental and behavioral health care, as well as social services for tribal families and an in-house pharmacy. The governor also visited the Bandon waterfront and Bandon’s Nasomah Memorial, which commemorates a village that flourished on the site for thousands of years. “We had a great visit,” Meade said. “We are so grateful to the governor for taking time to come here and see what we’ve achieved on wellness and the challenges we’re facing with our salmon return numbers.”
