An evaluation of staffing patterns of forestry organizations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and of Indian tribes
TASK C
An assessment of the adequacy of staffing, both tribal and BIA, needed to manage tribal forest lands is a core component of the IFMAT process and has been central to all previous IFMAT assessments. The number of staff, professional and technical, as well as the ability of tribes and the Bureau to recruit, retain and train individuals have all been key metrics, as well as a staffing comparison with federal, state and private forestry organizations. Overall staffing patterns have continued to trend downward for the third consecutive decade, and many of the barriers to recruitment, retention and access to training continue.
Workforce Demographics
On the whole, despite the decline in numbers, both tribal and BIA workforce demographic trends have not changed significantly since IFMAT III, based on an IFMAT workforce survey answered by 121 respondents. The average employee age was 47 in IFMAT IV, as opposed to 49 based on the IFMAT III survey (145 responses). The one notable trend is the increase in number of employees under the age of 30 from less than 2% in
A recently thinned sugar maple stand at the Grand Portage Reservation in Minnesota was converted into a teaching/demonstration sugar bush for youth education. PHOTO CREDIT: ADRIAN LEIGHTON
2012 to 11% in the 2019 survey. The fact that only 1.5% of the workforce was under 30 in 2012 was a matter of great concern,
especially compared to a 2007 survey of USDA permanent employees which revealed 10.2% of that workforce was under 30. While the increase in younger employees is heartening, the survey also shows a decline in relative portion of the workforce in their 30s and 40s. The percentage of the workforce that is Native has remained at 48%, unchanged since the last assessment. The percentage of
Table C.1. BIA & Tribal Forestry and Fire Employee Age Distributions, 2019 and 2012
Age >50
IFMAT IV
IFMAT III
51% 17% 21% 11%
51%
41-49 31-40
23.5%
24% 1.5%
<30
Task Findings and Recommendations 99
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