TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTORY LETTER
2. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
3. IFMAT TASKS
4. THE PRE-VISIT
5. SITE VISIT: EXAMPLE AGENDA
6. FOCUS GROUPS: RATIONALE AND PROTOCOL
7. SURVEYS: DESCRIPTION AND AUDIENCE
8. SITE VISIT REPORT
9. DOCUMENT CHECKLIST
10. APPENDIX: DIRECT AND INDIRECT IMPACTS, OUTCOMES, AND INFLUENCES FROM IFMAT ASSESSMENTS
1. INTRODUCTORY LETTER
Past IFMAT reports have been used by ITC and many tribes to inform funding requests, leverage increased cooperation with federal agencies, advocate for support regarding many topics including education, workforce development and climate change adaptation, and to inform new legislation on topics ranging from trust reform to landscape level management. We appreciate the time and effort involved on your part in hosting our site visit that provides us with opportunities to collect information that will inform all aspects of our report. As our assessment is national in scope, we will not be referring to any specific tribe or using any photos in our assessment report to Congress without tribal permission. There will be an opportunity to discuss any site-specific questions you may have during the visit. A site report summarizing our visit will be emailed to you within 30 days of the completion of our visit. Once again, thank you very much for your invitation. We look forward to our visit.
The Secretary of the Interior is required under the National Indian Forest Resource Management Act (NIFRMA) to undertake an independent national assessment of Indian Forests and Forest Management each ten years. This assessment is contracted to the Intertribal Timber Council (ITC) which in turn has engaged a team of nationally known experts in forest management to do the assessment and prepare the report to Congress. This team, known as the Indian Forest Management Assessment Team (IFMAT) is required to address eight tasks defined in NIFRMA and three additional tasks specified by ITC. An important part of the assessment is to understand tribal management goals, forest conditions, and management issues. To gather information for the assessment, IFMAT has selected a sample of approximately 40 reservations, Pueblos and Alaska Native Corporations. Your tribe has been identified as an important part of the IFMAT sample representing conditions in your region.
Appendix ix — IFMAT IV Site Visit Handbook A-71
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