by Marsha Shaiman
The City of Tacoma's Cushman Hydroelectric Project is located on the North
Fork Skokomish River on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State and for
over 65 years parts of the project have trespassed on Skokomish
Reservation land. On May 1, 1996, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a
law suit against the City of Tacoma to require return of the trust land to
the Tribe and payment of damages. Before bringing suit, the Department of
Justice attempted to negotiate an out of court settlement with Tacoma, but
the City rebuked all offers of negotiation.
Cushman Project power lines and service access roads occupy the
Reservation lands in question, which the lawsuit states Tacoma had
illegally condemned in Washington State court. Since reservation trust
lands are federal lands, condemnation must occur in federal court and the
federal government must be a party to the process.
In 1920, Tacoma applied to the Department of Interior for the purchase of
some of the disputed land they now occupy and for a right of way over the
rest of the land in question. Later that same year, while Interior was
still considering their application, Tacoma brought suit in state court to
condemn lands needed for their power project; included was the trust land
the Tribe seeks to have returned.
When Tacoma went into state court, they neglected to inform the Department
of Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of their law suit. In
October, 1921, Washington State granted Tacoma the lands they wanted and
it was not until after that judgement that Tacoma first notified the
federal government about their state law suit and subsequent acquisition
of tribal land.
For the last 65 years Tacoma's Cushman Project has diverted the North Fork
River to their power plant on Hood Canal. This diversion has devastated
the North Fork salmon runs, once one of the richest in the Pacific
Northwest and upon which the Skokomish Tribe depended for cultural and
economic sustenance.
Because of the Skokomish Tribe's dependence on the River for their very
existence, the Skokomish Reservation was placed on Hood Canal at the mouth
of the mainstem Skokomish River, fed in the past by North Fork waters. The
Tribe's Reservation as well as their right to fish, hunt and gather in the
Skokomish watershed is protected by the 1855 Point No Point Treaty which
the U.S. Constitution requires the federal government to uphold.
> From the beginning, the Skokomish Tribe, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and
the Department of Interior opposed all proposals for destructive
hydroelectric projects in the Skokomish watershed, such as the one Tacoma
finally managed to build. Diversion of the North Fork River and taking of
Reservation lands violates the Tribe's treaty protected right to their
Reservation, the salmon, and hunting, fishing and gathering sites.
Diversion of the River violates the Tribe's aboriginal water rights and
destroyed religious and cultural sites. In 1930, tribal members filed suit
in federal and state court to stop diversion of the River, but with no
success. Because the federal government was not a party to their law
suits, the suits were thrown out of court.
Now the Cushman Project is in the midst of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission's (FERC) licensing process, and the Tribe is seeking to have
the federal government require Tacoma to modify project operation and
return the North Fork waters to the River, restoring health to the
Skokomish watershed.
To help the Skokomish Tribe in their efforts to return the water to the
North Fork Skokomish River and restore the watershed, write the following
people and ask them to support the Tribe, be sure to cite FERC Project
#460, Cushman Hydroelectric Project.
Washington State Governor Mike Lowry, Legislative Bldg., Olympia WA 98504
Senator Patty Murray, U.S. Senate, Washington DC 20510
Representative Norm Dicks, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington DC 20515
Tacoma Mayor Brian Ebersole, 747 Market St., Suite 1200, Tacoma WA 98402
Chair Elizabeth Moler, FERC, 825 N. Capitol St. NE, Room 3110, Washington DC
20426
For more information or for a showing of the Skokomish Tribe's video about
the Skokomish watershed and the Cushman Project, contact Victor Martino,
Skokomish Tribe Project Manager, 8424 NE Beck Rd, Bainbridge Island WA 98110.
Phone: (206) 842-5386, fax: (206) 780-5332, email: martino@interserv.com