Dear Pam Roach and Jack Venrick and 5th District
Reps and Senator:
I received the following
response from the WA DOT Interim Chief of Staff, Steve Reinmuth, regarding
the Federal Court decision in favor of the Indians on fish culverts and the
status of the State DOT on an appeal of that decision.
I thought you would like to know.
Take care,
Ron Ewart,
President
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
RURAL LANDOWNERS
P. O. Box 1031, Issaquah, WA
98027
425 222-4742 or 1 800
682-7848
(Fax No. 425 222-4743)
Mr.
Ewart,
Interim Secretary of
Transportation Paula Hammond asked me to let you know the status of any
decision to appeal the recent federal district court decision about Tribal
treaty rights relating to fish habitat and road culverts.
I have confirmed with the
Office of the Attorney General that the defendant state agencies are not
able to appeal the court decision until a final remedy has been agreed on by the
parties or ordered by the judge. While the parties have an
initial decision declaring the treaty right, the second phase of the case (the
remedy) must be decided before a potential appeal can be
filed.
The parties are meeting
today to discuss the remedy and will likely have several other meetings between
now and the end of the year. We will let you know when any appeal is
filed.
Thanks for contacting us
with your concerns.
Steve
Reinmuth
Interim Chief of
Staff
Department of
Transportation
(360)
705-7117
Cell Phone (360)
480-2145