The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act states that “Nothing in this Act shall be construed as authorizing or requiring the termination of any existing trust responsibility of the United States with respect to Indian people” and the Indian Trust Asset Reform Act states “Nothing in this title enhances, diminishes, or otherwise affects the trust responsibility of the United States to Indian Tribes or individual Indians”. While Congress intends that the federal trust responsibility remains intact and unaltered, under Indian self-determination, tribal self-governance and ITARA implementation there are significant changes in the context of the trust responsibility and the standards and processes by which it is fulfilled. With many forestry programs now under direct tribal operations, such standards need to be tribally focused and aligned with tribal visions for their forests. Forest Management Plans, which continue to be approved by both tribes and the Secretary, are appropriate documents to contain standards for meeting the trust responsibility and achieving tribally defined state-of-the-art forest management (see Tasks F and G). A consistent IFMAT recommendation has been to create an independent trust oversight body, such as a permanent commission independent of both the BIA and Secretary, to evaluate the overall federal government’s fulfilment
A regeneration unit containing sequoia on the Coquille Reservation in Oregon. PHOTO CREDIT: MARK RASMUSSEN
of its trust duties to Indian tribes (see Task G and Appendix v). However, this recommendation has never been implemented (see Appendix v). In the absence of having an independent trust oversight body, possible alternatives would be to modify the existing trust evaluation processes for self-governance
compacts and ITAMPs. To improve the effectiveness of these evaluations for forestry programs, there is a need to have professional forestry personnel as part of the evaluation team and include a determination of the extent to which the functions performed achieve the tribes’ vision for their forests. Also, the evaluations need to recognize and be consistent with the principles of self-governance. The validity and potential value provided by the evaluations could be enhanced by including independent third-party
“The federal emphasis on single species management is at odds with our view of the world.” —IFMAT IV focus group participant
The Evolving Role and Progression of Self Governance in Forest Management 47
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