A commercial thinning on the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon. PHOTO CREDIT: VINCENT CORRAO
representation with expertise and experience in Indian forest management. With transition to direct tribal operations of forestry programs, any method to evaluate fulfillment of trust responsibility needs to be based on tribally focused trust standards agreed to by tribes and the Secretary of the Interior. Such standards need
clear definition and to include a process for trust oversight. The process for trust oversight should be an independent body rendering specific problems with trust oversight (see Task H). An in-depth evaluation of the structure and role of the BIA is needed as more tribes assume full authority for carrying out forestry program activities under
ITARA. The BIA Central Office needs to issue policy guidance to Regional Offices regarding their continued role and relationship to ITARA tribes. Lack of guidance has created confusion, and sometimes tension, between tribal and Regional Office staffs in such areas as the responsibility for continued project funding and distribution of year-end and special initiative funding.
“We are genetically Native American, but to be a tribe, we have to regain harmony with the land.” —IFMAT IV focus group participant
48 Assessment of Indian Forests and Forest Management in the United States
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator