Tule River tribal forestry crew takes a quick break to visit with IFMAT IV in front of a Giant Sequoia. Developing the next generation of tribal forestry professionals will sustain forestlands into the future and help support tribal self-determination. PHOTO CREDIT: SERRA HOAGLAND
“We know what we need to do. Now we need partnerships with the federal government.” —IFMAT IV focus group participant
corollary Implementation Plan of the USFS there are options that could apply restoration efforts at a landscape-scale to improve ecologic function and protect infrastructure. Several tribes had a designated employee, such as an RTRL coordinator, to oversee and manage landscape scale restoration projects in collaboration with neighboring lands. In few cases the tribe had little to no cooperation between neighbors with no existing contracts or agreements. In at least once instance, the tribe primarily conducted all their forest restoration work on non- trust lands.
What: Often the intent and desire to pursue landscape level projects existed even if no current landscape-scale project was in place. More than half of the tribes sampled had accomplished some level of partnership with their neighboring landowners. Tribes with a larger number of natural resource staff and support from their tribal council and tribal membership partnered more often with their neighbors. Tribes that had small staff and limited resources had less partnerships with their neighbors. Some tribes’ landscape restoration goals focused on cultural resources or traditional foods, especially in the case where subsistence harvesting
and cultural plant resources on their lands are limited. Where: Cross-boundary projects tended to focus on shared boundaries, along fence lines or within ancestral homelands where the need for forest restoration was higher to protect or enhance their landscape. Projects also tended to occur in locations that were important to the tribal community, such as gathering sites or locations of high cultural significance. When: Ecological restoration projects were ongoing, or in some cases completed and new projects would begin when additional
188 Assessment of Indian Forests and Forest Management in the United States
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator