Tribes Sue Over Severity Of Budget Cuts Colville Leaders Say Agency Didn’t Consult About Layoffs

Colville Confederated Tribes is suing the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs to block Clinton administration budget cuts said to be more extreme than those demanded by the Republican Congress.

The tribes claim in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Spokane that the bureau is pressing ahead with a 35 percent funding cut in its Colville Agency at Nespelem even though Congress apparently will require cuts of only 16 to 25 percent.

Edmond Payne, acting director of the BIA’s Portland regional office, said he was not familiar enough with the dispute to comment. Other officials were not immediately available.

Tribal leaders say the bureau acknowledged last month that the 35 percent cut ordered Aug. 31 probably was larger than necessary to satisfy lawmakers.

But Hilda Manuel, BIA deputy commissioner of Indian affairs, indicated in a lawsuit by the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico that the proposed cuts are part of the Clinton administration’s plan to “streamline” government.

Manuel told the Lagunas the BIA had consulted them about the streamlining plan and didn’t need to confer again.

In their lawsuit, the Colvilles say they were not consulted despite an Oct. 3 order requiring regional directors to consult tribes about pending layoffs.

The bureau plans to cut seven vacant positions at the Colville Agency and lay off 19 workers on Dec. 17, reducing the work force from 98 to 72, tribal officials say.

Productivity and morale have plunged as workers facing layoffs try to save their jobs by finding co-workers to “bump,” the lawsuit says.

In the meantime, the suit asserts, protection of the 1.3-million-acre reservation’s natural resources “was lost in the fast shuffle.”

Tribal leaders say the layoffs would “gut” a cooperative plan to combat insect infestations in the reservation’s 800,000 acres of timberland. Real estate management would suffer because a soil scientist no longer would be available for land-use decisions. And the loss of two range technicians would hamper management of cattle grazing, officials say.

The Colville Tribes contend the BIA should have done an environmental impact assessment before pushing such severe cuts.

, DataTimes