Task J Findings and Recommendations
Findings and Recommendations J1 Finding Limited tribal capacity to carry out landscape level projects.
Recommendation Tribes need adequate staffing to
implement cross-boundary projects. ■ Some tribes may also benefit from more workforce related activities such as training and development opportunities including grant management and/or various fire qualifications so that their staff can implement prescribed burn plans, forest measurements and inventory, etc. ■ Supply multiple year funding for a co- management coordinator position in tribal programs. This would be similar to the positions in the Federal agencies such as tribal relations or tribal liaisons. ■ Recruitment efforts to encourage tribal youth and early career professionals to enter natural resource management would benefit tribal partnerships. ■ Encourage the BIA to hire a biometrician with the primary duty to support tribal partnerships for landscape level projects. ■ Encourage federal partners to enter into agreements or contracts with tribes to add funding to hire more tribal staff dedicated to cross-boundary work.
■ Tribal departments are understaffed and underfunded (see Task B and C for additional information). ■ Managing their own resources, lands and tribal interests is paramount and most relevant, in many cases adding on the need to coordinate with and manage adjacent lands just is not feasible. Tribes need all current personnel to address management on their own trust lands and in many cases are still short-handed. ■ Developing and maintaining project agreements, MOUs, and contracts with (often multiple) partners require significant investment of resources and time that further spread limited staff. Capacity, as far as staff time and funding, was most often cited as the limiting factor to engaging on cross boundary work.
“There is no chance we have the ability to do off reservation work.” —IFMAT IV focus group participant
190 Assessment of Indian Forests and Forest Management in the United States
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator