Tulalip shoreline rules in dispute

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, November 22, 2003

TULALIP — Nontribal residents of the Tulalip Indian Reservation have challenged the tribes’ legal authority to regulate some of the reservation’s coastline.

The tribal planning commission scheduled a series of community meetings to talk about ownership and regulation of reservation tidelands. But some residents say the commission isn’t the forum to settle issues that have been argued for 150 years, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

About 150 people turned out for the first community meeting Tuesday. Tulalip land use planner Joe Sparr made a presentation regarding the reservation’s history and why the tribe decided that it needed to adopt rules and policies governing its shoreline. Sparr said the tribe owns all the tidelands along its shores. He said bulkheads built by residents are a particular concern on the shoreline because they change wave action in a way that damages salmon habitat.

Along the reservation shoreline, some lands are owned by the tribe, some by individual tribal members, and some by nontribal members.

Alan Erickson, a Priest Point resident, read a statement challenging the tribe’s ownership of tidelands adjacent to properties that have been sold by tribal members to nontribal members, as well as its authority to make rules to govern those properties.

"We welcome dialogue and cooperation and believe that this communication can be constructive when carried out in an environment of mutual respect within appropriate legal authorities," said the statement, which purported to represent the views of people living in the Priest Point and Potlatch beach communities .

Erickson maintains that tidelands owned by the nontribal landowners now are subject to federal, state and county regulation, and the tribe and its planning commission lack legal authority to impose shoreline regulations. Those present declined to discuss who owns the tidelands, and most left the meeting after the statement was read.

Nontribal residents share the Tulalips’ concerns about protecting Puget Sound, Erickson said.

"There are many ways we can work together with you to promote environmentally sound policies within the legal framework of federal and/or state authority, and we look forward to working with you in this arena. But these actions must be taken within the legal ownership and regulatory authorities granted to tribal and nontribal landowners, respectively," he said.

The commission plans to conduct five more community meetings to discuss the draft regulations. Four have been scheduled and one will be rescheduled soon.

In September, the commission hosted a public hearing at Quil Ceda Village on the draft shoreline regulations. About 200 people showed up, with only half finding space to squeeze inside the room. They asked the tribe to involve the community in developing tideland regulations and criticized the planning commission for not spreading the word about the meeting.

"The planning commission wanted to make an effort to sit down and talk to these folks," Sparr said. "Maybe there are some circumstances that have been lost in history. We wanted to exchange information and take a timeout."

The Tulalips were surprised when people walked out of last week’s meeting without discussing their concerns.

"It throws us because we were trying to respond to their requests and concerns. We don’t want to close the door on these other communities," Sparr said.

The commission plans to make a recommendation to the tribal board of directors on how best to regulate tidelands.

"I hope we get some discussion in the upcoming meetings," Sparr said.

Reporter Cathy Logg: 425-339-3437 or logg@heraldnet.com.