$45 million state grant inflames tribal tensions at Willamette Falls

A separate action has heightened tensions at the famous waterfall at the border between Oregon City and West Linn, while Oregon tribes await a decision in a controversial federal court battle over land at Willamette Falls.

The Willamette Falls Trust, a group that advocates for public access at Willamette Falls and is led by former Oregon Governor Kate Brown, is set to receive more than $45 million from the Legislature to buy land at the falls. Intense intertribal warfare has recently erupted at the iconic site.

Four other tribes that claim ancestral ties to the falls—the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation—have largely been pitted against the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde as a result of the local tribes’ re-assertion of their presence at Willamette Falls over the past ten years, which has resulted in conflict over land development and fishing rights.

The $45 million award, which would be funded by bonds that the Oregon State Lottery would repay, is a component of a large budget plan that passed a critical committee vote on Tuesday and is expected to be approved by the House and Senate in the days ahead. First reported by Willamette Week, the funds will be used to buy 60 acres of land on the West Linn side of the waterfall. According to a paper the Willamette Falls Trust produced for lawmakers, that would include land at the now-closed Willamette Falls Paper Company and at Portland General Electric’s hydropower project at the falls.

Although no major progress has been achieved since the project’s initial announcement in 2023, PGE and the Willamette Falls Trust have been working together on a public access project at the falls.

Kate Brown, the former governor of Oregon, speaks at a press conference following her appointment as the Willamette Falls Trust president.America’s Underscore News/Report by Jarrette Werk

The Willamette Falls Inter-Tribal Public Access Project, spearheaded by the intertribal group the Willamette Falls Trust, is a proposed project on the west side of Willamette Falls in West Linn, and renderings depict its preliminary design.The Willamette Falls Trust

A view of Willamette Falls from Oregon City’s McLoughlin Promenade.”The Oregonian” or Jamie Hale

The land purchase was classified as a once-in-a-generation opportunity by the Willamette Falls Trust.

It is currently possible to purchase the land on the west bank of the river. In an emailed statement, trust spokesperson Jason Little stated, “We must not pass up this opportunity.” The splendor and magnificence of Willamette Falls will be appreciated by future generations of Oregonians, who will also value the investments being made now.

The anticipated purchase coincides with a contentious federal court case over Willamette Falls land ownership. PGE filed a lawsuit in 2018, requesting permission to acquire almost all of the land near Willamette Falls after the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde obtained a state approval for a fishing platform there. A decision is anticipated shortly.

The Grand Ronde tribe’s attorneys accused the utility of acting in bad faith during the trial, claiming that it condemned Willamette Falls out of respect for its alliances with the four tribes that make up the Willamette Falls Trust, who have openly opposed the Grand Ronde tribe’s actions at the waterfall, rather than for safety or federal compliance as it had publicly claimed.

According to the Grand Ronde tribe, an apparent property sale deal between PGE and the Willamette Falls Trust seems to support such allegations.

Grand Ronde spokesman Sara Thompson said in an emailed statement on Tuesday that these activities simply confirm what we have seen for years and what Grand Ronde contended in the recent court case over the proposed condemnation of state property near Willamette Falls by PGE.

It’s unclear what a possible property purchase would entail and if the $45 million in public funds would be sufficient to finish it. At first, the Willamette Falls Trust requested between $50 million and $75 million from the Legislature.

At the conclusion of each session, when lawmakers decide on the state budget for the next two years, the Legislature has a practice of approving significant spending legislation. Like this year, such laws typically include a long list of financial prizes, both big and little, that reward specific politicians and fulfill the interests of the Legislature’s top leaders, its influential Ways & Means co-chairs who write the budget, and other important actors.

A 95-page omnibus budget bill, sometimes referred to as the “Christmas tree bill,” allocates $45,436,500 for the Willamette Falls Trust, which is by far the greatest amount for a capital project. The projected James Beard Public Market in downtown Portland would receive around four and a half times that amount of money.

The Grand Ronde tribe, which is engaged in its own development project at Willamette Falls, was incensed by the initial request for up to $75 million. The historic Blue Heron paper mill in Oregon City would be replaced by the tribe’s stumwata village, which would offer cultural areas and public access.

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde chairwoman, Cheryle Kennedy, wrote to Governor Tina Kotek on June 9 to oppose the Willamette Falls Trust’s budget request. She criticized the organization for excluding the Grand Ronde tribe from its planning process and called their project misguided and dishonest.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Willamette Falls Trust refuted such allegations, stating that the Grand Ronde tribe has been extended an offer to serve on the trust’s board and Tribal Leadership Committee, which is valid both now and in the future.

“As we work to restore public access to this historically and spiritually significant place, the Trust has long been committed to an inclusive process,” the statement read. We firmly think that when everyone’s opinions are heard, every project is stronger.

Since the Grand Ronde tribe withdrew from a different collaboration, the Willamette Falls Legacy Project, in 2022, there hasn’t been any significant cooperation between the five tribes near the cascade.

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