TEB Talks Social Services Numbers, Wildland Fire Program

The Fort Peck Tribes executive board heard from Bureau of Indian Affairs Superintendent Anna Eder during this week’s chairman’s report.

For the month of September, the Wildland Fire Program counted nine fires that affect 55 acres on the reservation. From April to the present day, the program recorded a total of 152 fires that burned across 2,764.75 acres.

The fire management officer will be working on plans for conducting controlled burns either before the next fire season, October of next year. Councilwoman Patt Iron Cloud Runs Through expressed a need for additional job fairs to recruit more firefighters.

The board passed two motions to hire Willy Black Dog and William Charbonneau for the tribal police force.

Eder told the board about the Social Services Program, which received 32 referrals in the month of September. Currently, there are 61 children under the supervision of the program. This month also saw four children born who tested positive for methamphetamine and other substances. The program has also had four other children under the age of two that have tested positive for meth and other substances in the past two weeks.

Eder reminded the board that there is still a need for additional foster home outreach on the reservation.

Councilwoman Runs Through asked Eder about the funding for the Social Services Program, since there appears to be funding only for the staff that work there. Runs Through said that the tribes are looking to take over the program and will need to find the money to pay for more than just staff salaries.

“We want them to really help our youth, to really help our poor, and to keep our children home here, that’s what we want,” said Runs Through.

In committee resolutions, the board set aside $500,000 under the Indian Community Block Grant to help low income homeowners affected by the Western Reservation Damaging Storm.