Time Capsule: From the archives of local weeklies

Mission Valley News, Aug. 27, 1987

Tribes reject proposal to exchange easements 

Jon Malcolm says he is “a little bit puzzled” by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes decision not to trade easements on lands surrounding Pablo Reservoir. The exchange was proposed by the manager of the National Bison Range and Ninepipe and Pablo waterfowl refuges at a Tribal Council meeting on Aug. 14. 

Malcolm asked the Tribes to establish new easements for 82 acres on the west side of the reservoir, which would square-off refuge boundaries parallel to an adjacent county road. In exchange, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would return easements on approximately 115 acres of tribal land south, east and northwest of the refuge. 

“I can’t see any real benefit,” said Tribal Chairman Muchael Pablo of the decision to reject the FWS proposal. “It’s all tribal land anyway. They just want to move the so-called boundary by changing the boundary line.” 

According to Malcolm, the easement exchange would help overseers accurately post and maintain refuge boundaries and help keep hunters from illegally trespassing on refuge lands. Current fencelines around the refuge generally follow the shoreline of the reservoir instead of its actual boundaries. Some areas outside the fenceline are part of the refuge, which misleads hunters who are required to stay off refuge lands … 

Tribes publish hunting regulations; schedule public hearing 

PABLO – The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes published waterfowl and upland bird hunting regulations this week in local newspapers. A public hearing on the proposed regulations is scheduled for Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. in the tribal council chambers here. 

The new regulations are part of Tribal Ordinance 44D which assumes jurisdiction over all hunting and fishing on the reservation. The ordinance went into effect April 1. 

Still unresolved is the question of who has jurisdiction over hunting on the 3,377 acres of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks lands adjacent to Ninepipe and Pablo Wildlife Refuges and on privately owned “fee lands” throughout the reservation. 

“We’re still saying on fee title or state lands hunters only need a state license,” said FWP Region I Supervisor Al Elser recently. “We are not recognizing tribal authority over non-tribal members on non-tribal lands.” 

According to Tribal Chairman Michael Pablo, “We’re still in the negotiation mode with the State. If things get worked out, we won’t have to prosecute hunters.” 

Negotiations began last winter between the Tribes and State over discrepancies between hunting regulations and jurisdiction. There have been no formal meetings between the two parties since last May … 

Fiddling sisters bring old time tunes to St. Ignatius 

ST. IGNATIUS - The Chaffin family expects carpenters to build the trophy shelves any day now. Probably a wall’s worth could accommodate the 50 horse show awards and slightly fewer fiddle trophies daughters Jamie and Juli have accumulated to date. But where will they store next year’s prizes? 

It's the fiddle trophies we’re interested in. Seven-year-old Juli hauls out the glass plaque that proclaims her current pee wee champ of the Dillon Fiddle Contest. Eleven-year-old Jami shows the wide, silver pan she earned for her second place win at the Helena Gold Rush. Both girls have placed the top 12 at the annual state fiddle contest for the past two years. Juli took tenth and Jami ninth in the junior division at this year’s event.  

“Fiddles and horses,” says father Dick Chaffin, nodding toward his daughters. “That’s what they like.” Chaffin, his wife Carleen and two daughters moved here in June from Dillon. Dick managed the Inniway Ranch south of St. Ignatius. 

The girls got their first taste for fiddle music while trailing cows …