Four Bears Community votes against man camp
Four Bears Community votes against man camp
By Jerry W. Kram
Wendi Wells grew up in the Four Bears Segment, able to walk or run just about anywhere without worry. Now she is afraid her daughter will never know that same freedom because of the dangers that oil development has brought to the reservation.
Those dangers include cars and trucks flying down the highways at excessive speeds and the drugs and violence that have followed the oil field crews. She is most concerned with a proposed man camp that could be built adjacent to the land she grew up on west of Four Bears.
The 150 unit camp is proposed to be built on tribally owned land by a company called Inspire. The company has preliminary approval from the Tribal Business Council to lease 40 acres for the next 25 years. Wells said she and her family knew nothing about the proposal until after the council voted to approve the agreement. She said the agreement was approved by a 6-1 vote with only Tribal Chairman Tex Hall opposing the agreement.
“Once I found out about this camp, my father and I carried a petition to ask you (the Four Bears Community Council) to oppose it,” Wells said. “This is literally happening in my back yard. This project should have come to the community before it was every considered by the tribal council. We ask this community board to go to the tribal council and ask them to reconsider their vote.”
