PORT ANGELES — The shortest course to resolving the Tse-whit-zen controversy is returning to a land swap legislators offered to the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe in March, state Rep. Jim Buck said Thursday
Furthermore, the state law regarding historic cemeteries — which the tribe cited in its suit seeking reburial of ancestors at the former Hood Canal Bridge graving yard — specifically excludes Native Americans, according to the District 24 Republican legislator from Joyce.
And the state Department of Transportation cannot cede the 22.5-acre site to the tribe without the consent of the Legislature, Buck said, citing an attorney general’s opinion.
“I don’t think it’s a racial thing,” he said.
“It’s a legal construct-type thing.
“The attorney general’s opinion clearly shows that there are some limits to what can be done.”
Tribe not commenting
John Miller, executive director of the tribe, said, “On the advice of counsel, members of the tribal business committee — the elected officials — are not commenting on the court case or negotiations with the state.”
In the meantime, parties to the controversy — the tribe, labor leaders, and city, state and federal officials — are expected to meet Monday or Tuesday to continue negotiating the impasse.
Included in discussions will be whether concrete anchors for the Hood Canal Bridge can be built on the shoreward side of the site.
Because the shore is fill land, the tribe has indicated it has no objection to building anchors there.
Next week’s meeting with Tim Thompson, the negotiator who has moderated discussions since graving yard construction halted last December, was spurred by U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, whose congressional district includes Jefferson and Clallam counties.
Thompson is a former aide to Dicks.
“I understand that labor leaders and some City Council people have been told by Norm that they had to get back to the table,” Buck said.