News Release Coquille Tribe. The Coquille Indian Tribe praised a U.S. Senate committee’s action on legislation supporting fairness and economic opportunity on the tribe’s forest land. “This bill will finally put the Coquille Tribal Forest on equal legal footing with forests owned by other tribes,” said Coquille Chairperson Brenda Meade. “Allowing sustainable harvest on a portion of our ancestral lands will provide revenue to serve our tribe’s children and elders, and it will support jobs in southwest Oregon communities.” Meade particularly thanked Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., for his role in guiding the legislation through the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The committee approved the bill by voice vote on Wednesday, putting it on track for passage by the end of the year. “We thank Sen. Wyden for his sponsorship of this bill in the Senate, and Sen. Jeff Merkley for cosponsoring,” Meade said. “We also thank Rep. Peter DeFazio, who’s been successful in passing a similar measure through the House of Representatives. These bills recognize Oregon tribes’ important role in economic development and as community partners for the long haul.” Congress conveyed more than 5,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management forest to the Coquille Tribe in 1996, but it required the tribe to manage the land according to the “standards and guidelines” of adjacent federal land. No other tribal forest in the United States is similarly restricted. Twenty years later, a proposed BLM management plan for federal forests in Oregon could significantly affect the tribe’s management of its forest, potentially slashing the tribe’s revenue and reducing timber-related jobs in southwest Oregon. By “decoupling” the Coquille Tribal Forest from BLM rules, the bill approved on Wednesday will empower the tribe to resume its stewardship of a small piece of ancestral homeland. The bill also conveys parcels of federal land to the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians and to the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians. The Coquille Tribe strongly supports restoration of ancestral lands to tribal ownership.
