The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON—Representatives of the Umatilla Confederated Tribes came before the BOCC at last week’s regular meeting to present and discuss a proposed Memorandum of Agreement for the Rainwater Wildlife Area, which, if enacted, would establish a formal working relationship between the tribes and the county.

Since 1997 the tribes, in conjunction with the Bonneville Power System, have acquired land in the Rainwater Wildlife Area, of which 10,835 acres lie in Columbia County. The lands have been purchased for the purpose of mitigation for impacts on fish and wildlife in the Columbia River power s...