# Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council (2023) > Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more. URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/tribal%3Apyramid_lake%3A7f0e0142453036b4 ## Record - **Collection:** Tribal code - **Document type:** Tribal code ## Text Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council Post Office Box 256 Nixon, Nevada 89424 Telephone: (775) 574-1000 Fax (775) 574-1054 REGULAR MEETING MINUTES (INCOMING) Tribal Chambers ~ Nixon, NV January 6, 2023 Members Present: James Phoenix, Tribal Chairman Steven Wadsworth, Vice Chairman Harriet Brady, Councilmember Judith Davis, Councilmember Nathan Dunn, Councilmember Edward Ely III, Councilmember Natalia Gonzales, Councilmember John Guerrero, Councilmember Della John, Councilmember Genevieve John, Councilmember Note: This meeting was in-person but zoom conferencing was an option for presenters and audience. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Phoenix called the January 6, 2023, Regular (Incoming) Tribal Council meeting of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council to order at 6:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Roll call was taken by Brenda A. Henry, Tribal Council Secretary. All Councilmembers were present at roll call and a quorum was established for this meeting. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chairman Phoenix read the agenda, adding the Selection of Tribal Council Representative for NUMU Inc Board of Directors (BOD) under New Business. Councilmember Guerrero motioned to approve the agenda with the addition. Councilmember Brady seconded the motion. Councilmember John said they can pull the addition of the Selection of Tribal Council Representative for NUMU Inc BOD. Vice Chairman Wadsworth agreed with Councilmember John, the email that was provided to Council earlier with the information related to this topic states that she is still a member. Councilmember Gonzales said last year when new Council was switched over and new reps were placed, it was discussed when terms were up then they had to reappoint for that position which is what they did for the Health Board. Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council January 6, 2023 Regular Council Meeting Incoming Vice Chairman Wadsworth said the Health Board Charter specifically states at the end of the term versus NUMU Inc Charter states the complete opposite. Three-years instead of at the end of the term. The NUMU Inc Charter doesn’t specify terms and Councilmember Brady’s position doesn’t end until three years so it would be at the end of 2023 and her term is done. Councilmember Dunn said they should allow someone else to have the opportunity if anyone else wants to put in for it. Councilmember Ely said it’s in their charter. Councilmember Guerrero said they need to take a look at the charter or discuss it as #4 on the agenda. Votes were eight (8) for and one (1) opposed (Della John) with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED PUBLIC COMMENT Leona Collins. Ms. Collins, tribal member, congratulated the newly elected Councilmembers. Just an observation watching for the past two years not make any forward progress due to too much negative attitudes and too much infighting. You must remember you were elected to this position to represent all the Pyramid Lake membership, not for personal gain or for any personal interests. An open mind must be kept to all that is brought forward. It is given to agree to disagree, that’s life. State your case and move on, you were elected to represent the tribal membership. Employee status should be left at the door. As a Tribal Councilmember, any personal feelings should also be left at the door. As a Tribal Councilmember, you represent the membership and in the best interest of the Tribe. I’ve been watching the ongoing in Washington with Congress and them unable to seat a house speaker. She read a quote “regarding a comment on the Republicans inability to let the House of Representatives Speaker in Congress, lack of legislative maturity to understand it can’t be personal.” That is what is happening there, people are taking it personal. It has to be business and that is how she feels about Tribal Council. They can’t take it personal, they were seated to look out for the Tribe. They have to treat it like a business. Move forward and make progress. Della John. Councilmember John stepped down to address Council. Stated she prepared a 2022-2023 activity summary of some of the work she did this year for the Tribe. A lot of it includes draft positions, the Constitutional amendments regarding civil rights, government close down, her position on health care, elderly, health aging, and her position statements. She will provide it to the Tribal Secretary and make it available to the public is asked for. Nicholas Cortes. Mr. Cortez, tribal member, congratulated Council for being seated. He wanted to make a recommendation on a motion that was done at the February 19, 2019 Tribal Council meeting. At that meeting, they made a motion to schedule a two-year plan, to sit down and make a plan with your objectives. It would be interesting to see Council sit down together to form lists to see actual change that they want to see happen and to make it available for everyone to see what they plan on getting accomplished. You look back in those notes and see that everything they had in their plan was eventually accomplished over the last year or So. CONSENT AGENDA No consent agenda. PRESENTATION -2-|Page Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council January 6, 2023 Regular Council Meeting Incoming 1. Boys and Girls Club of Truckee Meadows - Fernley Outreach. Oscar Aguilar, Fernley Area Director for the Boys and Girls Club of Truckee Meadows. Ms. Aguilar said the Boys and Girls Club’s mission is to enable all young people especially those who need the most to reach their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens. The club is open to serve youth ages six to eighteen. There is an annual $20 membership, they provide before/after school programming weekly and during the summer/winter break they provide additional programming. It’s $40 weekly, plus the cost of any field trips. They provide a traditional summer camp, same price. The provide specialty camps, some free, examples of camps are equestrian, robotics and a Get Fit for Life camp. They've done a career launch where there is a series of activities in the post-secondary education field. Once they complete these courses they take them out to UNR for a tour. They provide financial literacy classes and a course by Charles Schwab called Money Matters. They offer financial assistance, they don’t turn any child away for inability to pay. They offer sibling discounts. In the City of Fernley, they have five sites. All of the youth sites are under a 21st Century grant which provides an academic enrichment which makes it a priority for all their activities on a daily basis and requires them to do some sort of academic enrichment with all their members. They either are reading a book or helping out with homework and providing tutors to keep them reading at grade level or above and they are not missing any homework assignments. The provide programming in five core areas: education, STEM, sports, fitness, recreation, healthy lifestyles, character leadership, development and the arts. They provide an internal workforce development program called Leaders in Training, it’s a program to train youth with mock interviews, resume building and provide them professional attire from thrift stores. They volunteer with community events during the holidays. Councilmember John asked if they were to partner with the them, what do they expect from the Tribe? Do they need a facility? Mr. Aguilar said they had potential members to sign up that they could possibly transport to their facilities, to expand their services or even to come to the reservation and do weekly/monthly activities. They would provide volunteers to help with their activities. They don’t mind coming out to the reservation or having members come to their facilities. They do have some members who work for them in Fernley which is the reason they are briefing to Council. Irwin Mix, in the audience said they have a lot of people who volunteer here, what type of background checks is required, are they required to take special classes? Will they be bringing their own people in to volunteer; will they allow the locals to volunteer here? Mr. Aguilar said long-term volunteers have to be fingerprinted, complete a federal/state background check and all the staff are CPR and First Aid certified. With volunteering it would be open to the community. As mentioned before, the reason why he is here presenting is they have staff who live in Wadsworth and they could be the ones who would stay within the community to start whatever programming that is needed. NEW BUSINESS 1. Selection Tribal Council Representative for Pyramid Lake High School Board of Directors. Councilmember Dunn volunteered to be the Tribal Council representative for the PL High School Board of Education. -3-|Page Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council January 6, 2023 Regular Council Meeting Incoming Councilmember Guerrero motioned to approve Councilmember Dunn’s appointment as Tribal Council representative to the Pyramid Lake High School Board of Education. Councilmember Davis seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with one (1) abstention (Dunn). MOTION PASSED 2. Selection Tribal Council Representative for Pyramid Lake Health Board of Directors. Councilmember Guerrero was nominated as the Tribal Councilmember representative. Councilmember Dunn nominated Councilmember Guerrero as the Tribal Council representative on the PL Health Board of Directors. Councilmember Brady seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with one (1) abstention (Guerrero). MOTION PASSED. 3. Selection NUMU Inc board of Directors (2 - vacancies). There were three applicants. Latisha Burke six votes, Kathleen Wright-Bryan five votes and Sherry Ely- Mendes four votes with one vote each for abstention and repost. Latisha Burke and Kathleen Wright-Bryan were selected to serve on the NUMU Inc Board of Directors. 4. Selection Tribal council Representative for NUMU Inc Board of Directors. Councilmember Ely said on page 8 of the NUMU Inc. Charter, it says the term of the Office of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Councilmember elected to the Board of Directors shall be for three years or until a Councilmember resigns or is removed from Council, whichever occurs first. He thinks Councilmember Brady is re-elected and she should be allowed to serve out her three year-term until the end of the year, then Tribal Council will re-appoint or re-elect her. Councilmember Guerrero asked what was the date Councilmember Brady was originally elected. Councilmember Brady said she was first elected in 2020 and started her term in 2021. Councilmember Gonzales said with all the other boards they follow the terms of the Councilmembers. It states when they are removed, technically is there a break when they are sworn back in? Wouldn’t that be the break in Council when you're re-elected. Councilmember Guerrero said if there are no amendments, then they follow the current ordinance. Councilmember Dunn said they should allow her to finish off this year. Chairman Phoenix asked if that was his motion. Councilmember Dunn stated yes, Councilmember Davis said they don’t need a motion, it’s already in the policy. Cassandra Darrough, Executive Project Director, speaking on behalf of Debra Harry, Board Chairman. Her statement is that Councilmember Brady’s term has ended according to the Tribal Council, a two-year term, she was re-elected, it should open to a new Council to seek their rep. They did place a request for a new Tribal Council rep. She is unable to call in at this time. -4-|Page Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council January 6, 2023 Regular Council Meeting Incoming Councilmember Guerrero read on the bottom paragraph, it says the term of office for the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council member elected to the Board of Directors shall be for three years or until the Councilmember resigns or is removed from Council whichever occurs first. That is in black and white. Until someone amends the ordinance they have to follow it. Councilmember Brady will remain the Tribal Council representative on the NUMU Inc. Board of Directors for one more year. 5. Selection Pyramid Lake Fisheries Board of Trustees (3 - vacancies). The three vacancies included 2 - 2-year positions and 1 - 1-year position. The two with the highest votes were selected to the 2-year positions and the next highest to the 1-year position. There were nine applicants for the Pyramid Lake Fisheries Board of Trustees: Ritilio Lara four votes, Cassandra Darrough two votes, Autumn Harry two votes, Carolyn Harry one vote, Gina Wadsworth five votes, Richard Frazier six votes, Brian Wadsworth two votes, Karole McQueen one vote and Sherry Ely-Mendes one vote with one abstention vote. Gina Wadsworth and Richard Frazier were selected to the 2-year vacancies and Ritilio Lara was selected to the 1-year vacancy. 6. Selection Tribal Council Representative Pyramid Lake Fisheries Board of Directors. Councilmember Ely volunteered for the Tribal Council representative Pyramid Lake Fisheries Board of Directors position. Councilmember Davis motioned to approved the selection of Councilmember Ely to the PL Fisheries Board of Trustees as the Tribal Council representative. Councilmember Genevieve John seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with one (1) abstention (Ely). MOTION PASSED. 7. Selection Tax Commission (2 - vacancies). There were two applicants for the Tax Commission: Kathleen Wright-Bryan and DaNelle Smith. Kathleen Wright-Bryan received eight votes and DaNelle Smith received nine votes with one repost. DaNelle Smith and Kathleen Wright-Bryan were selected to the Tax Commission. 8. Request for Approval Cast Hope Fishing Derby. Matt Heron, Regional Director for Cast Hope. Mr. Heron said Cast Hope is a 501C nonprofit company on the west coast. His specific region is the Reno- Tahoe Norther Nevada area. They are requesting permission to host their seventh annual Pyramid Lake fundraising tournament for Cast Hope. All proceeds, as in past years, are dedicated towards at-risk and underserved youth in this region. Specifically, they take kids fly fishing for most of the year and run outdoor programs such as whitewater rafting, hiking, and snowshoeing. With the success of last year’s event, they were able to partner with some tribal youth with the Tribe. They partnered with Marvin Racine, a tribal guide, and Rich Emott where there were able to co-sponsor one of his fishing events. Through that event they sponsored breakfast for all the families that attended and provided free rod and reel outfits to 35 kids. They -5-|Page Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council January 6, 2023 Regular Council Meeting Incoming provided volunteers who gave casting lessons. They again will invite one-two youths from the Tribe along with their parents/guardian to participate in their program. Councilmember Dunn asked if they will be posting a flyer or recruit for the family member. Mr. Heron said they could puta flyer together or have the Tribe provide a name. He will coordinate with the Tribal Secretary. Councilmember Davis motioned to approved Cast Hope Fishing Derby. Councilmember Guerrero seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. 9. Request for Approval Museum Native American Initiative Grant with Resolution. Billie Jean Guerrero, Museum/Cultural Center Director Ms. Guerrero said the grant submittal is for the Native American Initiatives, it’s through the Nevada Arts Council for a $5,000 grant. It would be used to teach traditional arts, they have a number of classes planned to teach moccasin making, Tule duck decoys, coil baskets, Tule duck egg baskets, beaded medallions & caps, and traditional Paiute songs and hand game songs. It would cover the cost for the teachers and supplies. It would also cover doing murals in the medicine garden to cover two large power boxes which are an eyesore, utilizing local artists and to further promote the history and culture. Councilmember Ely asked if there was a match. Ms. Guerrero said there is no match but for this particular grant they don’t allow indirect. They were recently notified of a $8,000 donation from Washoe County. Their purpose for that donation is to enhance the programming at the museum and it’s a perfect fit to be able to pay for the indirect costs out of that donation. Councilmember Ely motioned to approved the submission of the Museum Native American Initiative Grant with Resolution. Councilmember Davis seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with one (1) abstention (Guerrero). MOTION PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 003-22 NATIVE AMERICAN INITIATIVE GRANT 10. Request for Approval BIA Invasive Species Feral Horse and Burros Program. Brianna Merrill, Water Quality and Rangeland Specialist, Natural Resources Ms. Merrill said this grant is unique because they don’t have any source of funding for horse or burro population management and this would be a great step to protect the rangelands. She also thanked her coworkers Kaylee Wilmot and Aaron Bill. She heard numerous accounts from tribal cattlemen and hunters that they have seen population changes with the antelope and deer as a result of increasing populations of wild horses and burros. Their goal with this funding is to update the Comprehensive Resource management Plan that is in place that would allow the capture of feral horses and burros which they have done in the past and a declaration of horses and burros as an invasive species. Overview applications are due next week, they have very few funding and are going for the maximum amount of $250,000. They are seeking tribal resolution for the capture, holding and removal of feral wild horses and burros and the grant comes with annual reporting requirements. It is highly encouraged as part of this grant they eradicate the population versus holding like the BLM does in maintaining the population, their goal is to have no horses or burros. There is tribal membership in the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society that is encouraged. This is a nonrecurring funding, so their solution is to be a self-sustaining program. The annual reporting requirements which is nothing different that they usually do. The plan is having a round portable pen which can be set up -6-|Page Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council January 6, 2023 Regular Council Meeting Incoming in numerous locations and at different elevations but are easy to access with a truck and trailer. They have 58 wetland sites that they monitor and they can identify using the trail cameras. They propose purchasing more cameras so they can do additional monitoring and see where the horses are impacting the wetland areas and install the traps at those locations. They would like to purchase two stock trailers to be able to have reliable transportation to assist any tribal members who’d like to conduct these traps and having extra trailers so they can get all the horses at one time. Research shows this trap method is publicly thought to be the most humane, although it does have the same fatality incident ratio as the helicopter gathers. The benefit to this method is it can be moved multiple times per year and far less costly compared to helicopter vehicle roundups and given the reservation terrain it’s versatile. There is going to be a single investment of the panels, the water infrastructure troughs, and water buffalo and a small investment of bait of water, salt and molasses, time, people and transportation. The horses will continue to invade if they have more fires, fences will be down and they would like to not rely on BLM funding to wait until the rangelands are in such dire condition that they need to conduct roundups. Some limitations of the grant are they are not able to hold any horses or burros so any animals gathered would have to be sold or otherwise disposed of. They would only provide the equipment and they would like to have as a part of the funding a small pot of funding to be able to contract with tribal members to do the roundups. The 1971 Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act only applies to horses and burros on public lands, for tribal members they have complete say over what happens to these animals. Wild horse activists can be very persistent and they don’t really take into consideration environmental health carrying capacity in regards to these animals, so they don’t have a legal leg to stand on with that fact. The horses and burros actually chase other animals away from the water sources. The reservation has spring resources but they become highly degraded when the horses congregate around them. They trample and create a lot of bare ground which makes native plants to have a hard time regenerating but invasive species take the opportunity to expand on the rangeland. This impacts the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout (LCT) and Cui-ui because they require a certain temperature of water depth and if they were to have any spring channels and repairing areas these horses are widening the channels and that increases the water temperature and makes it harder for them to spawn. She heard that some horses dig at the water and keep the springs active, that is not the case, it mostly contributes to that channel widening and dissipation of water. They take the same forage mostly that the cattle do, they graze year-round, there is no limitations to them which makes it harder for cattle. Not only for those reasons but the over grazing of plants causes shifts in vegetation types and it impacts the pollinators and impacts the sage grouse populations and all native species. The population of horses and burros increases about 20% annual and roughly doubles every four years, so if they don’t have a solution and continually combat this then it does get to be a big problem. The damage they cause can take over five-years to repair. They are an invasive species. The only population control is starvation or dehydration, they have no natural predators. Councilmember Brady asked where are they going to go once they capture them? Ms. Merrell said that would be up to the tribal members they contract with. They can provide them with resources for selling, using them for work or pleasure or they could be sold to countries for consumption. Currently they just want to keep it simple and provide the funding and equipment but it could have potential in the future if they want to continue to sell these horses as they come onto the rangeland to have an economic opportunity. She does know the Cattleman’s would like a mobile butchering unit. Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council January 6, 2023 Regular Council Meeting Incoming Councilmember Ely asked about managing the fences, they can remove a lot of horses and they keep moving in from outside the reservation. Ms. Merrell said as part of the Baer Grant funding that they are still working on, that is a part of it to restore the fences. They didn’t include this time in the grant but they are going to seek out that funding because it is effective. Councilmember Brady agreed, the fencing does need to be addressed. Councilmember Dunn motioned to approved submission of the BIA Invasive Species Grant Feral Horse and Burros Program with Resolution. Councilmember Ely seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 004-22 BIA INVASIVE SPECIES GRANT FERAL HOURSE AND BURROS PROGRAM 11. Request for Approval Resolution Support of Feral Horse and Burros Removal. Brianna Councilmember John request confirmation they are calling them feral horses which is the proper term instead of wild horses in the resolution. Ms. Merrill said they are calling them feral horses because they are not a native species. Councilmember Dunn motioned to approved the Resolution of Support of Feral Horse and Burros Removal. Councilmember Brady seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 005-22 SUPPORT OF FERAL HORSE AND BURROS REMOVAL 12. Request for Approval Pyramid Lake Fisheries. Mervin Wright Jr., Pyramid Lake Fisheries Executive Director a. Approval for DRI Microplastics Sampling at two locations on the lower Truckee River and Pyramid Lake Mr. Wright said he emphasized during the last couple of meetings the water quality is becoming critically important. We are a terminal lake, at the bottom of the system, the water ends and does not exit Pyramid Lake, only through evaporation. In view of the contaminants that currently exist and in preparing for the meeting he went onto the EPA’s website, where they are terming it Emerging Contaminants for drinking water systems. They have five categories, he started with number one and there must be 30 contaminants that have not been regulated and they have four more categories with just as many more. There are a lot of chemicals that are being produced, the society has become so dependent on chemical production and it ends up in the wastewater treatment plant which in turn discharges it into the Truckee River. Their obligation is to protect the public health. They met with the DRI, Britney Krueger who was giving an update on the black carbon study and she mentioned that DRI was currently doing a microplastics study on the Truckee River. He told her it might be a good idea if they could include the lower Truckee River and Pyramid Lake with this study. It’s an initial study, they do know that microplastics are present. Councilmember Davis said he explained it to Council at the last meeting prior and it was tabled because it needed to go before the Fisheries Board, did it go before the board? Mr. Wright said it did go before the Fisheries Board but it was tabled because it didn’t go before the Inter- Disciplinary Team (IDT). It did go before the IDT but they did not meet, he submitted a letter to the IDT and -8-|Page Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council January 6, 2023 Regular Council Meeting Incoming they submitted comments. It reminded him some years ago when the University of Nevada Reno (UNR) conducted a mercury study here and Tribal Council decided not to have the results published, he didn’t understand why, but in the same regard these comments from the IDT are consistent with Tribal Councils decision back then saying if they publish this (doesn’t finish sentence). They are just quantifying microplastic presence, they know it’s there, they just don’t know how much, the same question is going on upstream. This is just the initial step in determining how much microplastics are present. They know nationwide, microplastics are everywhere and Pyramid Lake is a terminus lake and fish have to be consuming it. With the emerging contaminates that EPA is doing, there is no standards yet and so they are trying to get ahead of it so they know what their next step will be. They don’t know the bio accumulation effect of microplastics are but in three instances in the IDT comments, they state that publishing this report would be detrimental to the Tribe’s recreation, it could harm the Tribe. It could be harmful to the Tribe? He is not sure, they are just trying to find out how much is present. They still have to take the next steps and look at fish tissue samples which they are already doing with Polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) and they haven’t yet determined a standard for PFAS on whether it’s toxic or not but itis everywhere in society. With the microplastic study they want to get samples at the Wadsworth bridge, Nixon bridge and then one by the delta to Pyramid Lake. It’s just to quantify the level of the presence of microplastics. Betty Aleck, THPO and IDT member, said she submitted comments but didn’t hear back from anyone. They didn’t vote on it because they didn’t have a meeting. Aaron Bill, Water Quality Manager, Natural Resources said this is an emerging subject they don’t really know about. In commercial fishing operations in the ocean, they have seen some of the accumulation in plastics so he’s is sure they will see results here. The concerns that were raised with IDT was there was no standards by the EPA and they were wary of any outside entity that works to get hold of this report and sensationalized it to the local media. Since the Tribe does have a portion of their revenue that depends on recreational fishing they shouldn’t encourage this report. They shouldn’t silence the researchers but urge caution when they go through a report and what it means especially when nobody knows what it means. Councilmember Ely confirmed this wasn’t brought before an IDT meeting. Mr. Wright said they didn’t schedule a meeting for either December or January. Councilmember Guerrero motioned to table the request and forward to IDT. Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion. Votes were six (6) for and three (3) opposed (Wadsworth, John, Brady) with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. Mr. Wright said to address who should be working with this, he mentioned the EPA only because they have a list of all the emerging contaminants and microplastics is listed but they don’t have a standard yet. The DRI, not sure where they received their funding to conduct the study but these were questions they were asking EPA about conducting studies and research. There is no funding in their budget because Congress is moving that funding so they are not allowing these types of funding and research to be done. b. Approval for US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) Cui-ui Research Permit. Mr. Wright said this is the USFWS Cui-ui Research Permit. This is was also tabled and request he produce a plan on the harvest and take. It was discussed at the board meeting and his staff feels this permit needs to be approved because of the process at the USFWS, it has to go to the regional office in Sacramento and they want -9-|Page Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council January 6, 2023 Regular Council Meeting Incoming to ensure the process gets done by the time of the spawning run occurs for the Cui-uis. He did write a plan and they talked about the hook line method for the data collection but they decide the size of the beach from the Delta to Howards Bay was too big for the data collection. They are going to limit the area to the Delta for the fishing but at the same time they are going to conduct the trap netting because they want a random selection with the fish they take because they feel some of the fisherman may want to just take some of the bigger ones and throw the small ones back which is not random selection. Councilmember Ely asked if he was only looking for approval of the permit and not the plan. Mr. Wright confirmed it is only for the permit. Councilmember Ely motioned to approve the USFWS Research Study Permit. Councilmember Brady seconded the motion. Votes were none (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. c. Approval USFWS lower Truckee River Management Activities for LCT Recovery. Erik Horgan USFWS Mr. Wright said this was discussed at the last board meeting and there were questions regarding reporting. Concern was they haven't received reports. There was a board motion to approve and the vote was 2 to approve, 1 opposed and 0 abstentions. Councilmember Ely said he wanted to reiterate what Mr. Wright said, he was on the board when this was approved by a narrow margin and the reason was they have been allowed to do studies but Fisheries and the Tribe haven’t received any reports back. It was a big concern, if they weren’t going to provide the reports then they don’t need to do anymore studies. Mr. Horgan said they are working on that report currently and summarizing the last three years and they will have it to the Tribe this year. Chairman Phoenix asked for a suspense date. Mr. Horgan said at the end of the fiscal year, September 30*, Mr. Wright said this is an annual activity they do every year and Tim Loux had reported to Council previously. Councilmember Gonzales stepped out of Chambers at 7:33 p.m. Councilmember Davis motioned to approve the USFWS lower Truckee River Management Activities for LCT Recovery with a suspense date of September 30% for required reporting to Tribe. Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion. Votes were seven (7) for and one (1) opposed (Brady) with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. Councilmember Brady noted the reason she opposed is because they should provide the reports first. d. Approval UNR Truckee River Ecology Research Study Mr. Wright said they are looking to take one sample near Marble Bluff for algae growth and the effect of the toxin that’s present in algae, how it responds to temperatures. They were lacking information and the Fishery Board tabled the request. -10-|Page Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council January 6, 2023 Regular Council Meeting Incoming Councilmember Davis motioned to table the request for UNR Truckee River Ecology Research Study pending the Fisheries Board review. Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. Mr. Wright said he put together information on the volume of Pyramid Lake in correlation with the elevation as well as the area. To date, since October 1, about 61,000-acre feet of water has reached Pyramid Lake, which is about % foot increase in the lake. Mr. Wright mentioned to Councilmember Ely about State Route 446, between mile marker 3-4, near Sand Hole, how close the lake shore is to SR4-46. It’s one of the areas that blew out in 2017, not sure if anyone has been in communication with NDOT to see if they have plans to move the state route away from the bank. Councilmember Ely said he reached out to a contact at NDOT and he went out to measure and it’s 14 feet. He did talk with Transportation to pass the information on and they do have contacts with NDOT. Johnny Garcia has been in contact with NDOT. Councilmember Gonzales returned to Chambers at 7:36 p.m. Councilmember Davis made a point of order in the vote where Councilmember Gonzales was noted as abstaining for the votes when she stepped out of the room, she doesn’t think they are counted as abstentions when they are not in the room but it is noted in the record that person is not present. An abstention is when there is a conflict of interest. Irwin Mix, Roads Department, said they are in contact with Chris with NDOT and they measured 14 feet down, possibly due to gopher holes, there is an area closer to the road and in the bushes so there are two areas of concern. He did notify NDOT and but they are keeping an eye on them. Mr. Wright said they are keeping an eye on Hardscrabble Creek and checking the drainage in the canyon. 13. Request for Approval Resolution to Protect Peehee Mu’huh Support for a National Monument. Ronald Guerrero, Pyramid Lake tribal member Mr. Guerrero invited Nick Cortez to say a prayer. He invited Dallas Cummings to provide cultural history to Council. John Hatter, Executive Director of Great Basin Resource, said they worked on a number of campaigns regarding mining. They are one of the litigants on a case that was heard the previous day. They work in coalition with other organizations and indigenous tribes. They got involved in this one because of the damage that would be done on the area. This process for this one occurred quickly on a federal level and it’s not how they should be permitting mines. Brianna Merrell, in the audience, said that with lithium mining even if it’s for green renewable energy they need to think critically about what type of future this will be. Even though it’s advertised as renewable it’s still extracting, it’s still using diesel gasoline and it’s not anything different from what they have been doing. She doesn’t see how it’s going to be a solution to a better future especially when it impacts tribes more so than anyone else. If they allow the government a free ride to continue to exploit natural resources that will continue to pollute the tribal lands, they will have less of a foot hold. For context, the mine would be the equivalent of Wadsworth, an open pit mine. The open mine is a huge disrespect to the ancestors there. -11-|Page Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council January 6, 2023 Regular Council Meeting Incoming The strategy is calling for a national monument designation. Mr. Wright said the Tribe needs to formally object to the mines north of the Tribe, the San Emidio project. If they don’t object now, they will try to come in and convince the Tribe it’s a good thing. Nevada has the most mining claims and they are all near reservations. Councilmember John said the Tribe’s water quality personnel have to go through their property to monitor the streams, so the Tribe needs to keep and document their own data. Boyd Jackson said he believes in the right way and when they say lithium it brings a big fear. It’s gets stronger and wider and wider and everyone wants more and he sees a wasteland. There is supposed to be a balance or destruction. They need to clean up and think straight. Councilmember Davis motioned to approve the resolution to protect Peehee Mu’huh Support for a National Monument. Councilmember Brady seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with one (1) abstention (Guerrero). MOTION PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 006-22 PROTECTION OF PEEHEE MU’HUH SUPPORT FOR A NATIONAL MONUMENT ADJOURNMENT With no further business before the Tribal Council, Councilmember Ely made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Dunn. Votes taken were all in favor, motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 7:58 p.m. Submitted by, una Brenda A. Henry Tribal Council Secretary CERTIFICATION The foregoing minutes were adopted by the Pyramid Lake Tribal Council, governing body of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, at a meeting duly held on the 3"4 day of February 2023, having nine (9) members present, constituting a quorum, by the vote of eight (8) FOR and zero (0) OPPOSED, with zero (0) ABSTENTIONS. Minutes attested and concurred by: 7 James J. Phoenix, Tribal Chairman Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council // // -12-|Page --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/tribal%3Apyramid_lake%3A7f0e0142453036b4. Public record. Not legal advice.