Environmental Reviews Tribal timber sale procedures are influenced by the tribe in several different ways. Some tribes stay with the BIA layout and regulations while others that have a forest products enterprise engage in marketing the products and implementing the timber sale harvest. The environmental assessment and working through the interdisciplinary (ID) team is the most time-consuming activity in the timber sale layout process. Some streamlining has occurred on reservations that have conducted a programmatic EA for the entire reservation. The BIA, in most cases, still requires an environmental assessment for an individual timber harvest area. The archaeological surveys can also be very time-consuming and costly and require a BIA signature which can take many months to acquire. Streamlining the timber sale process has been done with tribes using an enterprise business where the enterprise pays the stumpage to the tribe and handles all harvest activities. Tribes that continue to use direct services are required to layout timber sales under the BIA process which requires an EA, cultural surveys, appraisal, Forest Officers Report, and BIA superintendent’s signatures. Increasing the timber sale permit amount would assist in expediting management on reservation lands (H8). Under the ITARA demonstration project, tribes establish their own rules and operate under Section 9 of ESA (see Self-governance). The ID team process that evaluates timber sale layout encompasses forestry, wildlife, fisheries, cultural, hydrology, and range programs and provides the opportunity for input by
the trees, reducing the cost of marking each tree, and to utilize GIS and GPS technology for timber sale layout for harvest boundaries and implementing silvicultural prescriptions, but tribes need more access to these technologies. Opportunities to Improve Value Cross training of wildlife and other natural resources staff and technicians to assist in sale layout has been implemented by some tribes and the use of drones could provide additional information for monitoring and management of operations. Tribes are also using the stand inventory to identify the volumes for the sale layout and selling the logs. This practice can streamline the process without collecting pre-sale inventories as all logs are scaled. The Indian Trust Asset Reform Act provides the best opportunity to streamline these activities and places these under tribal rules and regulations. Tribes that have entered an Indian Trust Asset Management Plan have found it very effective in streamlining the process. Allotment Challenges An allotment’s timber sale preparation requires all BIA sale preparation requirements, and the timber sale must also be sold at a competitive bid. The competitive bid is to ensure that the allottees are receiving a reasonable market price for their timber in the region. The allotments are considered individual private ownerships and must be managed through the BIA rules, regulations, and procedures. Allotments on
all the resources. This process varies in its effectiveness where some tribes work through it in a satisfactory manner while others are contentious and difficult. Tribal Enterprises The relationships between natural resource departments/ forestry and the tribal enterprises overall have improved since IFMAT III. Presently the management planning process is not recognizing marketing strategies or working with the enterprises in long-term planning for harvesting and road maintenance. Depending on the BIA region, most areas felt that the BIA approval process on timber sales is satisfactory but the archaeological, appraisal process, and prescribed burn plans are often delayed for many months due to a slow approval process by the BIA. Roads Roads were found to be in poor condition in all three earlier IFMAT reports with little resolution. Roads developed for timber management often provide access for tribal members for hunting and gathering, becoming extensions of the tribal public road network while contributing to road maintenance issues. Additionally, the impacts of the large wildfires and precipitation throughout the reservations. Logging Contractor Capacity Most regions throughout the country expressed concerns that there are not enough logging contractors to complete the work. events have continued to deteriorate forest roads Tribes could have the logging contractor trained to harvest
110 Assessment of Indian Forests and Forest Management in the United States
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