OLYMPIA (January 12, 2004) - Governor Locke committed to work with tribes to develop a government-to-government process to improve water management in a state/tribal meeting here Friday evening, after being…
OLYMPIA (June 24, 2003)– Governor Locke signed the highly controversial water bills quietly and without fanfare Friday. The bills, dubbed the “water grab and hoarding bills of 2003” by the tribal governments that co-own the water with the state and federal governments, send a clear message that the state has little regard for environmental health, says Billy Frank, Jr., chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
“These are bad news bills,” said Frank. “We’ve said so all along. They’re bad for the environment and they’re bad for the state/tribal relationship.”
OLYMPIA (June 11, 2003)-- Passage of three water bills in the waning hours of Special Session Number One of the State Legislature last night sent a clear message to the…