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Executive Board Considers Firefighter Pay

Bureau of Indian Affairs superintendent Anna Eder gave her report to the Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board during Monday’s meeting. The wildland fire program reported that as of April 21 there have been a total of 31 fires. They are preparing for this year’s fire season. The program will be having its job fair, which started April 26 and will run until April 28 at the BIA fire hall.

Councilman Terry Rattling Thunder asked Eder about the wages that firefighters would receive as a means of attracting potential enlistees to attend the fair.

“When I got out of the service, I went straight to firefighting because all my cousins were bragging about what they were making,” Rattling Thunder said. “You don’t see that anymore, and I believe we need to entice these people to join.”

Rattling Thunder also suggested that the tribes pay for firefighting boots as they’re one of the biggest hurdles to becoming a firefighter.

Eder ended her report on BIA Social Services which currently has 71 children under its care. The program had 49 referrals in March and 37 as of April 26.

After the chairman’s report, the board moved on to committee recommendations where a motion was passed to approve the base bid of $50,161.00 for the Jim Black Dog Hall remodel in Fort Kipp. That motion also accepts the base bid of $60,255 to remodel the Brockton Cultural Center office.

The board also allowed the National Head Start Association to utilize Fort Peck Head Start facilities and names for their national flier.

Finally, the board authorized the use of raw data related to the buffalo herd by Yarrow, LLC. The data will be collected and consolidated by the group and will be used for future research, funding and promotion of the health and welfare of the tribal buffalo program.

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