Task F Findings and Recommendations
F4 Finding
Recommendation ■ Develop a team of experts to review current definitions and procedures for determining allowable annual cut and propose revisions. ■ Work with tribes to introduce and train on new scheduling techniques.
The concept of Sustained Yield Management and development of allowable annual cut needs to be modernized to meet today’s issues and demands. ■ There is not a clear definition and interpretation of sustained yield
management principles. On some forests, the interpretation and implementation of sustained yield management is restricting the implementation of practices to increase forest resilience. ■ The BIA and tribes continue using older principles for developing allowable annual cut instead of current practices. ■ Older forest planning models used in the planning process typically were short-term models and show little detail on how to reach desired future conditions. The forest inventory program is lacking needed information for developing modern forest plans. ■ There is a need to separate the need for an inventory to monitor sustainability and the need for an inventory to manage forest land. ■ There is too much reliance on Continuous Forest Inventories to provide all inventory needs. Inventories are not adequately addressing management issues for all land types. ■ Clear national direction and standards for stand-level inventories have not been developed. ■ Without ability to utilize stand-based inventories, tribes are at a disadvantage for adequate assessment of catastrophic events such as fire and wind-events. ■ Tribes have an interest in working with new technologies, but there is not the capacity in BIA to assist, nor funding available to implement or contract out. ■ Inventory and planning technology within
F5 Finding
Recommendation The scope of using the Continuous Forest Inventory (CFI) system needs to be evaluated and scaled back to its original intent or to become more of a sustainability model. ■ An in-depth analysis of the inventory needs and requirements for forest planning and implementation needs to be initiated. Discussion topics mentioned in this assessment should be a starting point for creating a path forward. ■ Stand inventories should be considered wherever possible to increase the knowledge of the forest and used in developing tools such as growth and yield models and harvest schedules. ■ Forest inventories need to utilize all the newer technologies that are available to better plan forest management activities. ■ Funding for implementation of in-place inventories, use of new technologies (such as LiDAR) needs to be increased to cover these important improvements.
the BIA has not kept pace with forest developments on other ownerships.
Task Findings and Recommendations 133
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