HERMISTON -- No decisions have been made about the future of the Umatilla Chemical Depot, but a recent letter suggesting the land be turned over to local Indian tribes has created a stir.

A group that was formed almost two decades ago to determine the future of the depot after it's abandoned by the Army was shocked by a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs asking that the sprawling depot be given to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

And the group, the Local Reuse Authority, decided Wednesday to send a letter to the Army reiterating its long-standing position that the depot be turned over to the authority when its mission is completed sometime after 2013.

George Anderson, chairman of the Local Reuse Authority, received a letter March 3 from the Army saying the BIA had requested that the nearly 20,000-acre site straddling Umatilla and Morrow counties be handed over to the tribes when the base closes.

Tribal representatives said the letter was a misunderstanding. The tribes have expressed interest in preserving the depot for wildlife habitat. The land encompasses well-preserved shrub-steppe grassland habitat that's home to a herd of pronghorns.

The Interior Secretary has authority to give tribes land from closed military bases, but the Confederated Tribes were turned down.

Carl Scheeler, tribal wildlife program manager, characterized the letter as an informal request. When the tribes were rejected, the idea "died there in our minds," he said.

The 12-member reuse authority includes commissioners from Umatilla and Morrow counties, both counties' ports, the military and local citizens in addition to the tribes. The group is trying to determine a use of the depot after the chemical weapons stockpile and incinerator are gone.

Other groups envision the land, buildings and igloos that were used to hold chemical weapons, munitions and supplies to be used by private companies. The Oregon National Guard also has asked to be allowed to continue training on part of the land.

Umatilla County Commissioner Bill Hansell said while he understood why the tribes made their request, the rest of the group should have been informed.

Morrow County Commissioner John Wenholtz echoed Hansell's sentiments. The reuse authority was working for the good of the entire community, he said.

"I feel like we've been back-doored on this," he said.

The ports of Umatilla and Morrow also submitted letters protesting the idea of handing the entire depot over to the tribes.

Tribal Chairman Antone Minthorn said that while the tribes wanted to diversify the economy and preserve the land's wildlife, they were clear that it could not happen without cooperation from the rest of the group.

The depot stores 220,604 munitions and containers filled with 7.4 million pounds of deadly nerve and mustard agents. It is currently destroying M55 rockets and bombs filled with GB sarin nerve agent.

Mustard agents stored at the depot date to World War II. All the nerve agents were brought to the depot for storage from 1962-69.

Once the site's chemical stockpile is destroyed, the incinerator plant and various waste will be dismantled and removed.