Colvilles May Ease Up On Hunters Non-Tribal People May Get Limited Access

The Colville Confederated Tribes are prepared to make some concessions to non-Indian hunters - but not to allow non-Indian landowners on the Colville Reservation to hunt big game.

Joe Peone, tribal fish and wildlife director, said tribal and state wildlife officials have worked out a proposal that would allow some additional hunting by non-Indians. Initially, the expansion would be limited to establishing seasons next year for mourning doves and rabbits.

The plan also calls for the tribal government to recognize state fishing licenses on Lake Roosevelt in exchange for a yet-undetermined share of the fees.

“We’ve thrown numbers around, but I don’t wish to disclose anything yet,” Peone said about the fee sharing.

Peone said the tribal government is not willing to back down on the biggest demand by non-Indian landowners on the reservation: that they be allowed to hunt big game on their own property.

Big game hunting on the reservation by non-Indians has been banned since 1982, when the state Fish and Wildlife Department made an agreement to settle a jurisdictional lawsuit by the tribe. State officials declared an emergency shortage of big game that still remains in effect.

Peone said he and Jeff Tayer, Region 2 director for the state Fish and Wildlife Department, have been negotiating changes in the 1982 deal since January. Tayer could not be reached for comment.

Tribal council members have approved the plan and will discuss it next month in Olympia with state Fish and Wildlife Director Bern Shanks, Peone said.

Meanwhile, Tayer has scheduled a public meeting Thursday in Okanogan to discuss the possible renegotiation of a 1982 lawsuit settlement that established the hunting and fishing regulations on the reservation. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Okanogan Grange, 305 Tyee St.

Ultimately, Peone said, the tribal government wants the state to recognize tribal licenses because of the importance of demonstrating sovereignty. But he said state recognition of tribal permits would require action by the Legislature, and tribal leaders feel “now is not the best time to be bringing in legislation for various reasons.”

Also, Peone said, “As long as there are fee properties (land owned by non-Indians) on the reservation, I feel it is important to maintain a good working relationship with the state and not be a pain in their sides.”

However, he said tribal officials believe their insistence on banning non-Indian big-game hunters is solidly based in treaty rights and presidential declarations.

“The Colville Tribes have always maintained that the reservation was set aside for the use of the Colville peoples, and that the people who bought property on the reservation knew that when they came,” Peone said.

Hunting within the reservation boundaries is a right for tribal members, but a privilege for others, Peone said.

, DataTimes