only half of the decline within forestry. The USFS saw a similar pattern, with a 19% decrease in overall workforce between 1995-2017, and a loss of 24% of FTE in the National Forest System (Westphal et al, 2022). However, the Forest Service has begun to rebuild their forestry staff with over 800 positions in silviculture, timber sales, and forest management advertised in 2022 alone. This sudden increase in hiring by the USFS is likely to further compound existing recruitment and retention issues within the BIA and tribes. Of particular concern, the total number of professional foresters has declined for the first time since IFMAT began, returning to levels similar to 1991. While the number of professional foresters in the BIA has been decreasing slowly since 1991, in the last 8 years, there has been a precipitous drop, declining 33%. To some degree, the slow decrease in federal foresters has historically been offset by an increase in tribal foresters, as more tribes compact or contract forestry programs. Despite an increase in
19%
43%
6%
51%
EĂƚŝǀĞ&ĞŵĂůĞ EŽŶͲEĂƚŝǀĞ&ĞŵĂůĞ EŽŶͲEĂƚŝǀĞDĂůĞ EĂƚŝǀĞDĂůĞ
Figure C.1. BIA and Tribal workforce by gender and ethnicity as reflected in 2019 workforce survey.
women in the workforce has increased from 15% to 21%. An interesting result of the survey is that 76% of the female forestry workforce was Native, compared to only 46% for males. Staffing As in past IFMAT assessments, staffing (professional, technical, support, and seasonal/temporary) was determined using the Funding and Position Analysis (F&PA) survey administered to all tribes and BIA agencies and offices by BIA Forest Inventory and Planning (FIP, formerly the Bureau of Forest Resource Planning). Generally, the F&PA is requested every 5, or more recently, 10 years. IFMAT III was based on 2011 data. IFMAT IV made the decision to use 2019 as the base year for staffing evaluation instead of 2021 due to the potential short-term impact that COVID-19 had on staffing
and other productivity metrics during those years. Overall staffing (including foresters, forest technicians, support, and temporary/seasonal staff) has continued to decline for the third consecutive decade, despite the fact that the number of trust acres and the complexity of management has increased, as well as more opportunities for tribal involvement in the management of adjacent federal lands. To put this decline in perspective, this is a 19% decrease since 1991 and a 26% decline since the staffing high of 2001. The overall BIA/tribal forestry workforce shrank 21% between 2001 and 2011. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) (2011) reported that while there was a 5% increase in DOI workforce between 1999-2010, there was a 9.55% decline for the entire BIA in FTE, which is still
Table C.2. Change in number of all BIA and Tribal forestry staff over time
Staff
1991 1492
2001 1206 1277 2494
2011
2019
Sign inside the Mississippi Band of Choctaw tribal building showing the way to offices of non-tribal partners. PHOTO CREDIT: ADRIAN LEIGHTON
BIA
734
438
Tribal Total
775
1239 1906
1399 1837
2254
100 Assessment of Indian Forests and Forest Management in the United States
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