A wildfire salvage timber sale operated by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana. PHOTO CREDIT: VINCENT CORRAO
BIA, but can have unintended consequences (C4) such as the positions not being filled when they cannot identify a qualified tribal applicant or the forestry positions being filled with tribal members who have experience in other natural resource disciplines (i.e. wildlife, range, hydrology, etc.) which makes it more challenging for them to pursue the National Advanced Silviculture Program (NASP) certifications. ■ The lack of qualified personnel for timber sale layout makes it difficult for tribes to complete timber sales for meeting annual harvest volumes (D1).
increased in 20 or more years and is no longer a sufficient amount to pay salaries it was originally designed to. ■ It is increasingly difficult for tribes to bring on permanent staff due to uncertainty in funding levels (C2). In many cases, the team heard that future increases in project funds were irrelevant because there was a shortage of staff to perform the work and in many cases the facilities to house them. ■ Indian and tribal preference hiring policies have led to an increase in Native foresters working for tribes and the
3. Limited staffing and issues around workforce capacity are impacting tribal forest management. ■ Forestry Tribal Priority Allocation (TPA) funding has remained relatively static, compared to budget increases that are used to fund annual, mostly competitive projects. The result of this is that neither the BIA nor tribes have adequate funds to pay for staffing (C1). This problem is especially acute for tribes that compacted or contracted programs several decades ago. In multiple visits the team was told that the annual funding from the Bureau has not
Executive Summary 5
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