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3.10 Tribal Trust 3. Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences



Trinity River Restoration Program

Trinity River Bridges Project
May, 2003
3.10-1

EA/Draft EIR




3.10 Tribal Trust
3.10.1 A
FFECTED
E
NVIRONMENT
/E
NVIRONMENTAL
S
ETTING

The need to restore and maintain the natural production of anadromous fish in the Trinity River mainstem originates
partly from the federal governments trust responsibility to protect the fishery resources of the regions Indian tribes.
The Trinity River Basin Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-541) expressly acknowledges the
tribal interest in the Basins fishery resources by declaring that the measure of successful restoration of the Trinity
River fishery includes the ability of dependent tribalfisheries to participate fully, through enhanced in-river
harvest opportunities, in the benefits of restoration. In addition, the 1992 CVPIA specifically recognizes the federal
trust responsibility in regard to the Trinity River fishery. The proposed Project could potentially impact anadromous
fish, non-anadromous fish, water, wildlife, vegetation, and overall riverine health. These impacts could consequently
affect the sociocultures and economies of the tribes.
This section focuses principally on the interests of the Hoopa Valley and Yurok Tribes since, of the Indian tribes of
the Klamath/Trinity Region, their interests would be the most directly affected by the project. It should be
understood, however, that the

impacts are pertinent to the Karuk and Klamath people as well since they share a
common regional heritage.
Regional Setting
The United States recognition of the importance of rivers and fish to the Indian people of the Klamath/ Trinity
Region is exemplified by the very shape and location of the lands first set aside for their reservations. The Secretarys
own instructions at the time were, to select these reservations from such tracts of land adapted as to soil, climate,
water privileges, and timber, to the comfortable and permanent accommodation of the Indians (USFWS et al.
2000a). In 1855, Indian Agent S. Whipple, when speaking of the Yurok, noted that, The river is abundantly supplied
with Salmon. A fine large fish quite easily taken by the Indians and which is very properly regarded by the Indian as
his staff of life (USFWS et al. 2000a).
In that same year, President Pierce established the Klamath River Reservation. The reservation (not to be confused
with the Klamath Reservation in Oregon) was designated as a strip of territory commencing at the Pacific Ocean and
extending one mile in width on each side of the Klamath River for a distance of approximately 20 miles. This
reservation was created entirely within the aboriginal territory of the Yurok. Although the federal governments
intent was to eventually move all the regions Indians onto the Klamath River Reservation, only some Yurok and
Tolowa were moved. Flooding along the Klamath River in 1862 led to the closing of the areas Indian Bureau office
and contributed to the erroneous belief that the reservation had been abandoned, though it was still occupied by the
Yurok (USFWS et al. 2000a).
On August 21, 1864, the DOI issued a proclamation and instructions that established the Hoopa Valley Reservation
on the Trinity River pursuant to legislation enacted by Congress that same year. The reservation is 12 miles square
and bisected by 15 miles of the river (it has often been called the Square or the 12-mile Square). In 1876 President
Grant issued an Executive Order formally establishing the boundaries of the Hoopa Valley Reservation, and provided
that the land contained within those boundaries, be withdrawn from public sale, and set apart in California by act of
Congress approved April 8, 1864 (USFWS et al. 2000a). 3. Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences
3.10 Tribal Trust

Trinity River Bridges Project


Trinity River Restoration Program

EA/Draft EIR
3.10-2
May,
2003




Efforts soon began to provide a single contiguous homeland for the regions Indian people by connecting the Klamath
River Reservation to the Hoopa Valley Reservation. Paris Folsom, a Special Agent for the DOI, proposed that the
two reservations be connected in his Report of Special Agent on Conditions and Needs of Non-Reservation Klamath
Indians, sent to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1885.
In 1891, President Harrison extended the Hoopa Valley Reservation from the mouth of the Trinity River to the ocean,
thereby encompassing and including the Hoopa Valley Reservation, the original Klamath River Reservation, and the
connecting strip between. By that time, as a result of the Dawes Act of 1887, much of the Klamath River Reservation
and extension lands (the 20-mile strip that connected the two reservations is commonly referred to as the Connecting
Strip or Extension) not already claimed as allotments by resident Indians had been opened up to non-Indian
settlement.
This led to checkerboard ownership of the Yurok portions of both the Extension and former Klamath River
Reservation. Through various means, several timber companies quickly consolidated and heavily logged much of this
land.
From 1891 through 1988, the Hoopa Valley Reservation was comprised of the Hoopa Valley Square, the Extension,
and the original Klamath River Reservation. In 1988, Congress, under the Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act, separated
the Hoopa Valley Reservation into the present Yurok Reservation (a combination of the original Klamath River
Reservation and Extension) and Hoopa Valley Reservation. Figure 3.10-1 shows the current reservation boundaries.
Indian Reserved Rights
By first creating reservations for Indian Purposes, the United States sought to provide the Hoopa Valley and Yurok
Tribes with the opportunity to remain mostly self-sufficient, exercise their rights as sovereigns, and maintain their
traditional ways of life (USFWS et al. 2000a). Implicit in this objective was an expectation that the federal
government would protect the tribes and their resources (a protection that extended beyond reservation borders).
The Unites States has a trust responsibility to protect tribal trust resources. In general, this tribal trust responsibility
requires that the United States protect tribal fishing and water rights, which are held in trust for the benefit of the
tribes (DOI 1995). This trust responsibility is one held by all federal agencies. For the proposed Project, the BOR is
obligated to ensure that project operations do not interfere with the Tribes senior water rights. Pursuant to its trust
responsibility and consistent with its other legal obligations, the BOR must also prevent activities under its control
that would adversely affect Tribal fishing rights, even when those activities take place off-reservation.
Fishing Rights
Salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, and lamprey that spawn in the Trinity River pass through the Hoopa Valley and Yurok
Reservations and are harvested in tribal fisheries. The fishing traditions of these tribes stem from practices that far
pre-date the arrival

of non-Indians. Accordingly, when the federal government established what are today the Hoopa
Valley and Yurok Indian Reservations on the Trinity and lower Klamath Rivers, it reserved for the benefit of the
Indian tribes of those reservations a right to the fish resources in the rivers running through them. The Yurok and
Hoopa Valley Tribes fishing rights entitle them to take fish for ceremonial, subsistence, and commercial purposes.
The United States has long recognized the rights of the tribes of the Klamath/Trinity River Basin to fish. The federal Yurok Indian Reservation*
Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation*
*Boundaries are approximate
L
egend
Not to Scale
Figure 3.10-1
Trinity Basin Indian Reservations
Trinity River Bridges Project
10006 -
T
rinity River Bridge Replacement/Graphics/Fig_3.10-1.ai 03/25/03 VB Source:
T
rinity River Draft EIR
North State Resources, Inc. 3. Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences
3.10 Tribal Trust

Trinity River Bridges Project


Trinity River Restoration Program

EA/Draft EIR
3.10-4
May,
2003




government, as trustee, has an affirmative obligation to manage tribal rights and resources for the benefit of the tribes.
Tribal fishing rights are vested property rights held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the Indians. These
rights have been acknowledged and confirmed by the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches of the federal
government in a numb