Tribe protects lands and waterways

 

Caj Matheson's work as director of natural resources for the Coeur d'Alene Tribe (Schitsu'umsh) carries on the Tribe's responsibility for the Coeur d'Alene Lake and the land where they have lived from time immemorial. He also sees his work as part of his spiritual journey.

His overall role is to oversee the work of others who manage fisheries, wildlife, forestry, air quality, water quality, land management, wetland restoration, recreation, environment, energy efficiency, climate impact, pesticides and smoke management

In the 1970s, however, little land within the reservation boundaries was owned. Now the Tribe owns nearly 50 percent because they bought it with funds from the Coeur d'Alene Casino and various settlements related to natural resources.

Caj facilitates policies and spends much of his time dealing with attorneys on two lawsuits and follow-up, delegating the programs to the managers.

A lawsuit over water rights has been going on for 15 years and takes much of his time.

On June 18, the Tribe will rename Camp Larson, which it purchased in 2005 from Washington State University. The site at Cottonwood Bay east of Worley will be renamed "We Have Returned"—ch uLts'te'l'l—in the Coeur d'Alene Salishan language.

The day will also celebrate the Tribe winning the Coeur d'Alene Lake case in 2001. That lawsuit gave the Coeur d'Alene Tribe legal standing for other lawsuits over issues like runoff of contamination from the mines.

"We gained standing to be involved in cleanup with other settlements as a natural resource trustee for the Coeur d'Alene Lake and watershed," said Caj. "Now we work with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on cleanup and with the other natural resources trustees on restoration: 1) our Tribe, 2) the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3) the U.S. Department of Interior and 4) the State of Idaho.

"For the Coeur d'Alene Basin Restoration Plan, we are slowly spending the $170 million settlement on natural resources restoration," he said, noting that there is still about $135 million remaining in investments.

"The settlement funds for clean-up are significantly more and have been wisely invested, so they could be spread over many years. Those funds are already in accounts and not subject to federal freezes," Caj said, adding that these remediation settlement funds went to the EPA to manage through the Coeur d'Alene Custodial Work Trust.

"Federal cuts will still have an impact, especially when it comes to administrative support at the regional level. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, for example, is facing 45 percent cuts, and they are responsible for supporting the tribe's management of land, forests, fires and fields," he clarified.

"Unfortunately, Coeur d'Alene Lake was not included in the EPA Superfund Site, because of significant public controversy," he explained.

While the 2001 Supreme Court decision confirmed tribal ownership of the southern third of the lake, Caj said the entire lake is co-managed with the State of Idaho outside the Superfund Authority. This means the lake, although highly contaminated, does not have access to remediation funds.

"The lake is an interconnected system, so we pool funds to protect it," he said. "Our job includes remediation, planting trees like willows along streams and restoring the channels to raise the water table in key tributaries."

One project was for the Tribe and state to do an inventory of where nutrients enter the lake.

"The more nutrient loading there is, the more algae grow. As algae die, they sink to the bottom, which is covered by the lead, zinc, cadmium and other mining waste. When the dying algae suck up the oxygen at the bottom, a chemical process then can cause the heavy metals to be released into the water column," Caj explained.

In 2018, certain lake health indicators reached a triggering point that had been identified in the lake management plan, he continued. The agreement in the plan was to take an alternate course of action.

The tribe pushed the EPA and state to do something different, but they did not reach an agreement. As a result, the tribe withdrew from the Lake Management Plan in 2019.

"It didn't have any teeth, and we needed something different," said Caj, noting that eventually they agreed on a review by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

"Unfortunately, the review fell short of the Tribe's expectations. Some of the data in the report was used incorrectly and didn't account for certain nuances, so the analysis was misleading," Caj said, noting that the southern part of the lake is four to five shallow lakes that are hot and have a proclivity for algae.

The NAS report identified data gaps that needed to be filled, but the Tribe wanted something to be done in the meantime that would prevent a catastrophe, he said.

At this time, Idaho Governor Brad Little pledged $33 million for nutrient-loading projects.

"Governor Little deserves credit for this effort," said Caj. "We have a long way to go, but this is a good start."

"As cleanup reduces the heavy metal contamination flowing down the Coeur d'Alene River, there is also less zinc. Its presence suppresses the harmful algae blooms. The less zinc we have, the more algae the lake will produce, resulting in less oxygen at the bottom. What is scary is that this relation seems to change at an exponential rate, meaning by the time we see it coming, we will not likely be able to stop it," he said. "We know it will happen but cannot predict when the nutrients will create more algae blooms that will die, float to the bottom, deplete the oxygen and release the metals into the water."

Most contamination now comes from the riverbanks, he observed.

Caj had hoped the National Academy of Science would say the lake was in peril. When they instead said it was cleaner because fewer contaminants were flowing into it, he challenged that as a mixed message.

Over his years growing up on the reservation, Caj's interest and skills in addressing the Tribe's natural resources issues emerged. Now this work is also part of his spiritual journey.

He attended the Coeur d'Alene Tribal School at DeSmet, graduated from Plummer-Worley High School in 1992 and began studies in business and marketing that year at the University of Idaho (UI). As "a nontraditional student," he worked in local smoke shops, sold fireworks, and bought and sold houses while studying.

Caj started working with the Tribe's Department of Natural Resources in 2012 and graduated from the UI in 2014.

By then, his spiritual life shifted.

In his early years, he had rejected Christianity because churches' different beliefs prevented people from working together locally and because of what some Christians did to Native people in the name of Jesus.

"I identified as a Native person and explored Native roots and traditions," he said. "I did that until my mother wanted our family to read the Bible with her. Then I found that my ideas about Christianity were not from the Bible. Jesus taught about the impact of anger, sin and lust on our hearts. Jesus said to love neighbors and enemies.

"Christianity is not about words or lighting candles, but is about what is happening in our hearts," he said. "We need room to allow for differences and people being on different walks."

Caj began doing Christian ministry—leading Bible studies and a youth group, counseling people, training leaders and teaching emotional and spiritual applications. While he did that, his wife, Kim, worked, teaching Coeur d'Alene language and culture. She now works in natural resources.

After meditating and praying about what God wanted him to do, Caj decided to look for a job to help support their family.

"I began applying to myself what I urged others to do. We helped people pay their rent or electricity bills, but the same people needed help over and over. Rather than giving funds, we gave opportunities to earn money," he said.

"We helped people change attitudes, learn how to keep jobs we helped them find, and not to quit if they felt a supervisor treated them unfairly," he added.

"I decided to see if the Tribe had a job in marketing and business. There was an opening for a communication specialist for natural resources restoration. I applied and was hired to communicate among the four entities," Caj said.

Knowing cultural stories related to natural resources, he moved to a cultural management position and then became director eight years ago.

Caj still leads a prayer group but now primarily sees his spiritual journey in his work.

"I see how God relates to us in our personal struggles," he said. "I see the good people who support me in my journey as God opening doors. My job is to trust God. I find God relevant in every facet of what I do.

"I believe God created the ecosystem and us as human partners. We are to love and not hurt one another or creation," he said.

"We are not just here to restore natural resources, like restoring a house as a museum where no one lives, but to restore natural resources so people can interact with, use and enjoy them," he said. "We want to restore the salmon so we can fish and eat the fish."

For information, call 208-686-1800 or visit cdatribe-nsn.gov/nr.