TULELAKE — Efforts to re-designate Lava Beds National
Monument as a national park are being revived, with a
focus on greater involvement with the Klamath Tribes
and, if possible, the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma and
California Rep. Doug LaMalfa.
During a Saturday meeting in Tulelake, four Modocs from
the Klamath Tribes — which includes Klamath, Modoc and
Yahooskin Indians — attended as individuals to learn
more about the re-designation effort and possible
impacts on tribal sites.
No
representatives from the Oklahoma tribe or LaMalfa’s
office attended. Blake Follis, a member of the Oklahoma
tribe, has voiced opposition in letters. LaMalfa, R-Richvale,
Calif., whose congressional district includes Modoc and
Siskiyou counties, has likewise not supported the
proposal.
Elizabeth Norton, who has headed the group seeking
national park status, said efforts to gain support from
regional Indian tribes, LaMalfa and other politicians is
continuing. She believes others, including California
Senators Barbara Boxer and Kamala Harris, will back
re-designation if tribal support is achieved.
Spokesmen for LaMalfa along with some Tulelake Basin
residents previously expressed concerns a park status
change might result in expansion of the nearby Tule Lake
Unit of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National
Monument.
The two monuments are administered by the same staff but
are separate sites. Norton noted a recently released
Tule Lake Unit management plan does not include
expanding the Unit’s boundaries.
Taylor Tupper, Rayson Tupper, Clayton Dumont and Loren
“Buzz” Kirk, all of Modoc descent with the Klamath
Tribes, emphasized they were attending as individuals.
During discussions they suggested the group, informally
named the Lava Beds National Monument Redesignation
Project Committee, discuss the re-designation effort
with the tribal and elders councils. A meeting with the
groups may be scheduled in August. A decision on whether
the Klamath Tribes will support the change requires
approval from the tribal council.
Cheewa James, a Modoc of Oklahoma tribal member, who
also emphasized she was speaking as an individual, and
Craig Dorman, Lava Beds’ superintendent from 1993 to
2007, both expressed beliefs a change in status would
positively address tribal concerns, such as protection
of culturally significant sites.
Dorman, who is retired from the National Park Service
and is not a Redesignation Project Committee member,
said Lava Beds was designated as a National Historic
Archeological Site in 1984.
“New efforts would be appropriate,” he said of previous
projects that failed because of lack of tribal response,
including a Modoc Village. Dorman noted when Channel
Islands was re-designated as a national park in 1980
visitation increased and cooperative agreements with
other agencies expanded.
James, who recently visited Little Bighorn Battlefield
National Monument, said Native groups are highly
involved in management planning and operations.
“I
feel if there are things to need to be corrected, why
wouldn’t they correct them,” said James, who worked as a
seasonal ranger at Lava Beds for two years.
Of
special concern to the Klamath and Modoc of Oklahoma
tribes has been vandalism at Petroglyph Point. In his
letters, Follis has expressed fears increased visitation
could lead to increased damage of cultural sites.
Angela Sutton, Lava Beds’ acting chief of
interpretation, said major vandalism incidents are
relatively unusual, with incidents one or two times
every three or four years. She noted the monument
follows detailed protection procedures.
Increased visitation is a goal of re-designation. Along
with cultural history from Native use, Lava Beds was
where key battles of the 1872-73 Modoc War and is the
site of more than 700 lava tube caves.
Based on projections, Jim Chadderdon, a committee member
and executive director for Discover Klamath, said
national park status could increase annual visitation,
now about 135,000 a year, by 1,350 to 2,700 a year,
which potentially could benefit the financially
struggling Tulelake Basin economy.
“While Lava Beds is in California, it’s in the greater
Klamath Basin,” he said, noting many travelers would use
services in Klamath Falls.
“It really has an array of attributes that make it
suitable to be a national park,” Norton said.
Norton said talks with staff for LaMalfa indicate the
congressman is concerned about increased costs if Lava
Beds becomes a national park, but monument staff have
previously said no such increases are envisioned.
LaMalfa also reportedly wants a cultural museum,
something Norton suggested might be done in cooperation
with the Tulelake-Butte Valley Fair, which already has a
regional history museum on the Tulelake fairgrounds.