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06/27/2006: "Tulalip Lopez Development: Just A Dream?"

(Tulalip Tribes Land on Barlow Bay, Lopez Island)

It has been reported that the Tulalip Tribes Chairman would like to develop property the Tribes own on Lopez, as a satellite to the Tulalip Casino in Marysville. According to a news report by Krista J. Kapralos, in the Herald Writer newspaper, tribal Chairman Stan Jones Sr. is quoted as having a "dream" to turn Barlow Bay waterfront land into a compound of cabins to be used by "High-rolling casino patrons" that will be flow to the property to fish and relax.

According to the story, the concept Mr., Jones has in mind is to run a daily commute by helicopter or seaplanes to Lopez, where the Casino clients can do a little R&R, then be flown back to the Casino hotel in Marysville. Needless to say, this is not going down well with some of the locals who own property on Lopez, and while one may assume that the Tulalip proposal for the land will be rejected by the County due to conflicts with local land use laws, the Tribes may be able to jump over that local barrier due to the classification of the land as "reservation land", and as a result, any development would only be subject to the Tribes control and regulations, since it would be exempt from local land use controls.

Former Planning Director Laura Arnold recalls that at one point an agreement was made by the County and the Tribes that in the event that land was placed in reservation trust, at least one of the parcels owned by the Tribes would have land use regulations placed on it by the Tribes, and that the regulations would "parallel those of the County". County regulations restrict commercial development of the land, and the use of planes or helicopters to ferry in commercial passengers is not allowed for that area of Lopez. If there is in no recorded agreement, and the Island Guardian has not found any, then the "dream" may be able to become a reality if the Tribes decide to move forward with such a development.

The background story to all this is interesting, convoluted, and not without some irony.


The Tulalip Tribes own two parcels on Barlow Bay, both of which have docks. One of the Tulalip Tribes docks, about 850 feet long, is used primarily for moorage by the tribal fishing fleet. When the previous local owners of one of the parcels applied for a marina dock, the application was appealed to the Shorelines Hearing Board by the Friends of Barlow Bay, local neighbors Ken and Barbara Jennings, and, the Tulalip Tribes.

The appeal was denied and the permit was issued, but one of the provisions of the permit was that "Float plane use shall be prohibited". The Board stated that because of the conditions placed on the permit "These conditions properly mitigate any potential for the proposed development to have a significant adverse impact on human health or the environment" . As it turned out, the marina was not constructed, and the permit expired. A new permit was later issued to the owners of the property to make repairs to an existing dock, and then the property was sold to, the Tulalip Tribes.

The Tulalip Tribes have maintained a low profile on Lopez, with a few minor newspaper reports on their canoe trips "through the San Juans", but for the most part have not been in the news; although there has been an occasional story by the publisher of the San Juan Journal, Richard Walker, who sent in occasional stories to Indian Country Today, and on-line newspaper that listed Walker as a "correspondent reporting from San Juan Island".

In one of the reports in Indian Country Today, Walker filed a story reporting that former County Commissioner candidate Ray Bigler had labeled the Tulalip Tribes an "off-island special interest group". Bigler was running against current County Council member Kevin Ranker, and in a speech had questioned why Ranker (and the Friends of the San Juans) were receiving donations from the Tribes, pointing out that Ranker had received a $4,000.00 donation to his campaign. Walker stated in the article that the Tribes participated in the SJC Marine Resources Committee; a committee that Ranker had been a member of, and that the Tribes owned land on Lopez; the implication being that they had a vested interest in San Juan government.

Reached by phone, Mr. Bigler told the Island Guardian that he "finds it interesting that a special interest group that made contributions to a political candidate and to the Friends of the San Juans, would now be entertaining an action that would be counter to county regulations.

The Tribes have a record of contributing large amounts of money to groups and individuals that have the potential to further the interests of the Tribe, and their pro-active approach to legislation, is well known. Tulalip Tribes member Rep. John McCoy (D) of the 38th Legislative District, is on the committees of Commerce & Labor, and also the Economic Development Agriculture & Trade committee, so the Tribes have shown an interest in being a player in State and local government.

In the Indian Country Today story , Walker also quoted Tulalip Chairman Stan Jones Sr., who had wrote a column that appeared in the San Juan Journal that: ''I am very disturbed that some islanders would think that the Tulalip Tribes are not part of this community. Actually, we were among the original inhabitants of the islands, arriving approximately 10,000 years ago''. And in the recent story in the Herald Writer, Mr., Jones is quoted as stating "Our people have fished there for 10,000 years" . Lopez resident, and a former member of the Freeholders, Madrona Murphy, takes exception to the Jones statements, telling the Island Guardian that "Just for the record, there were no salmon in San Juan County waters 10,000 years ago, nor was there such a thing as the Tulalip Tribes at the time".

Murphy told the Island Guardian that "I'm just outraged that the Tulalip Tribes would announce their intentions to an Everett paper without first talking to the neighbors and the Lopez community". Murphy added that "I'm also outraged that the executive director of Friends of the San Juans would comment on the story, but not let the local communities know that something may be in the works".

When Contacted by the Island Guardian, Executive Director Stephanie Buffum said that while she has had no contact with Chairman Stan Jones Sr., she had talked to the Tribes Planning Department, and was told they had no plans for the development of the land in question on Lopez.. When asked what the position of the Friends would be toward development of the land as outlined in the Herald Writer story, she said "there is nothing in the record on this proposal, but we would respond in the same manner as we would to a proposal from an individual property owner. She then added "If they wanted to have jet-skies, we would not support that either". The Island Guardian contacted the office of the Tulalip Tribes Board and asked to talk to Chairman Jones, but have yet to receive a call back.