Oklahoma Modoc Tribe states intentions of land, airport and water acquisitions in Tulelake Basin and beyond 112817

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Oklahoma Modoc Tribal attorney Blake Follis states his tribe's intentions of land, airport and water acquisitions in the Tulelake Basin and beyond

"Airport Update…11/28/17

On Nov 6 was a small airport meeting at our (Newell) airport with Blake Follis, housing director Ron, rancher/farmer Mike Byrne, TID manager Brad Kirby, me, Nick Macy, farmer John Prosser, and an airport employee

Blake Follis, attorney, and grandson of the chief of Modoc Tribe from Oklahoma told how their tribe has 300 members and has 300 employees. Their tribe pays for members’ education including college, so are well educated. He said they are involved in many businesses: industry, finance and construction unlike our local tribes.

Blake attended the year-long FAA stakeholder meetings, facilitated by Udall Foundation, with a few Tulelake community members, FAA, government agencies and their historical and environmental branches, Klamath Tribes, Modoc and Siskiyou Counties, and the Tule Lake Committee. The meetings were intended to find some compromise because The Tule Lake Committee has been suing the city, Modoc County and the airport to stop a security fence because they claim it is their “sacred ground.” They want our airport gone so they can manage the land.

He said the government has long pitted tribes against the community, and they want to work with us.

Blake said the Oklahoma Modoc Tribe wants to buy the airport, and showed a diagram of how they will build hangers, and they will build a security fence. He said it will continue as an airport. They recently bought 800 acres of private land near the Lava Beds National Monument that is surrounded mostly by National Forest. He also said that the county wants the airport.

He said they want to work with the entire community and not displace the current residents. They are buying the vacated Newell School, near the Tulelake Airport, from the Tulelake Fire Department, and the Fire Department will use the funds to build a new fire hall. Blake said that the tribe could build a travel center, house pharmaceutical companies, insurance agencies, and they would employ local people.

In response to questions, Blake responded:

We will be buying public land and are not interested in private land.

Farmers will lose their water rights, we will have the water rights, and we will lease water to you.

We will have a Water Authority: there will be 3 tribal members, 1 representative from Modoc and 1 from Siskiyou County. You will have input and we will listen to your concerns.

We are stakeholders in water issues now that we own land here

We will be able to have our land “sovereign” and you will be able to save money buying gas from us (sovereign land does not have to pay taxes)

I mentioned it might reassure our region if they would sign a “Restrictive Covenant.” According to a tribal expert and former city administrator of Hobart, Wisconsin where tribes had sovereign land that did not pay taxes, Elaine Willman wrote: “Restrictive covenants can be used for a variety of purposes. The two that come to mind for the (Tulelake) airport property would be: 1) to preserve the property for airport use only, in perpetuity; and 2) to preserve the property to remain in the City of Tulelake, county and state property tax base in perpetuity.” To the question of signing a Restrictive Covenant, Blake responded essentially no, because the tribe would bring so much business to our community, and hire our people, that they would be good to the whole community.

Since our “whole community” serviced by the airport is 200x200 miles, or 40,000 sq miles, and is already pitted against each other over water rights, when asked how he’d bring all them together, he responded that their tribe would work with anyone who wants to work with them.

Blake has spent time with Siskiyou County Supervisors, City of Tulelake who owns the airport, and spoke at an event at Klamath County Museum. He’s spoken with Lava Beds National Monument Superintendent and Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge. He said he wants to partner with Lava Beds in managing the Peninsula because there are tribal areas there to preserve. He has no plans for a public meeting in Tulelake.

Attached is a map of land Blake said was in their treaty. Blake said their treaty line goes to Modoc Point, Warners, Cascades, Sprague River…

Jacqui Krizo "

(HERE is a recent article: Modoc Nation purchases ranches near Sheepy Ridge, H&N, posted to KBC 2/6/21. "With the Modoc Nation’s recent purchase of an overgrazed ranch near Sheepy Ridge, bison may be headed to the Klamath Basin — along with, tribal leadership hopes, cultural healing...Recently, the tribe has purchased several properties in the Tulelake area, intending to develop a presence on lands they were forcibly removed from..." KBC NOTE: they also bought the Tulelake Airport and land north of that.
http://klamathbasincrisis.org/.../ModocNationPurchasesShe...)

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