Humboldt County Supervisors look at supporting Yurok Tribe legislation

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will vote Tuesday on supporting the Yurok Tribe's request for Congressman Mike Thompson to carry legislation that will return federal lands to the tribe.

According to the agenda item memo, the legislation would begin efforts to return federal lands within the boundaries of the reservation back to the tribe for management and co-management purposes. The tribe is requesting Thompson introduce the legislation to fulfill the commitments made under the Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act of 1988.

The draft letter indicates that the Board of Supervisors supports the tribe's request for the proposed legislation. It also states that the county is “very interested in working with the tribe as additional management plans are developed for those specific lands that both the county and the tribe share an interest,” and recognizes “the tribe's role and responsibility to manage their traditional homelands.”

The Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act of 1988 recognized some of the inequities between the two neighboring tribes and included sections within the act that attempted to redress the disparities, including limited transfers of forest service land, according to supporting documents. To date, the tribe has control over 12,120 acres.

In other matters, the board will extend the local state of emergency it declared as a result of the Jan. 9 magnitude 6.5 earthquake. According to an agenda memo, the county must extend the local state of emergency every 30 days in order to continue emergency repair work.

The board will also amend an operation plan for controlled substance operations for fiscal year 2010. The amendment allows the U.S. Forest Service to fund an additional $20,000 to the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office for operations within the Six Rivers National Forest. The total amount of funding would be $33,000.

The county will also be accepting $100,000 of Federal Recovery Act funding for the District Attorney's Office. The District Attorney's Office will use the funding to pay for a forensic computer examiner for the next two years.

IF YOU GO:

What: Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting

Where: Supervisors' Chamber, first floor, Humboldt County Courthouse, 825 Fifth St.

When: 9 a.m. Tuesday

Donna Tam can be reached at 441-0532 or dtam@times-standard.com.