Chairman Keene Speaks at National NAFOA Conference in Portland

Chairman Carla Keene helped to explain the lengthy, bureaucratic process that held up harvesting timber from the Milepost 97 wildfire in 2019 to a large gathering of Tribal leaders in Portland in September.

Keene was invited to participate in a panel discussion about the remodeled Portland International Airport at the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA) Conference that was hosted by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz.

The panel discussion included Tom Strong, CEO of the Skokomish Tribe who also contributed timber to the airport remodel, and Vince Granato Chief Projects Officer at the Port of Portland.

Keene praised the partnership with the Port of Portland for listening to Native American Tribes in Oregon and protecting those Tribal relationships throughout the project. She also talked about new projects and priorities that have come about as a result of the work at PDX.

“On our Tribal lands, especially when we are doing wildfire mitigation work to clear brush and small trees to create space on the forest floor, we are removing trees that are too small to process into lumber. But there’s still value in those,” said Keene. “Everything the forest gives us has value. So we are not only preventing the next catastrophic wildfire, we are utilizing the resources available to us to support our economic sovereignty.”

The NAFOA event brought together leaders and executives from dozens of Tribes who traveled for the two-day conference. Nearly half of all federal recognized Tribes in the U.S. are NAFOA members.

In addition to remarks from Chair Dee Pigsley of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz, and Rodney Butler, Chair of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and NAFOA President, the newly appointed Treasurer of the United States, Brandon Beach, also spoke to the gathering, emphasizing the importance of removing
bureaucracy to allow Tribes to develop thriving economies.

Chair Keene serves alongside Chair Butler on the federal Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee that makes recommendations to the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury.