Table A.20. Estimated annual cost to reduce major existing backlogs over a 15-year period.
Annual Funding Need for 15-yr reduction of
backlogs (million $)
Estimated Backlog
Cost Per Unit to Restore
Years to Accomplish
Program with Backlog Precommercial Thinning
500,000 acres 500,000 acres 43,300 miles/ 379 bridges
$300/acre $500/acre
15 15 15
10 17 89
Planting
Road restoration and upgrading
$1.33 billion (total)
Reduction of hazardous fuels in the High/Very-High rating category
7.9 million acres $240/acre on 25% of the acres
15
32
Total Backlog Need
148
across tribal lands. About 43,300 miles of road and 379 bridges were identified by the BIA to need upgrading. Undertaking this work will also require significant road maintenance, along with the annual maintenance necessary to maintain the entire road system. ■ Reduction of high hazardous fuels on tribal forest lands: Analysis by the US Forest Service Research Station indicates that at least 7.9 million acres of tribal forests (approximately 41%) have been classified as High/ Very-High Wildfire Hazard Potential. Research has shown an estimated 25% of the total acres would need to be treated for effective control on the landscape (Jain et al. 2021). If these backlogs were addressed over a 15-year period, an additional investment of $148 million annually would be needed (Table A.20). Mobilization for these significant catchup projects will also need additional funding for HR and training. In context, the Forest Service received authorization to spend $2.5 billion under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to reduce the hazardous fuel backlog on the National Forests. This compares
Task B as well as expenditures by the federal management agencies to address wild horses and burros. There are likely more than 40,000 horses above the acceptable management level on tribal lands. The wild horse adoption programs offered by the Forest Service and BLM provide up to $1000 per adopted animal that is removed from federal lands. However, on tribal lands no formal program exists for the active management of wild horses and burros. Efforts within the BIA Office of Trust Responsibilities to fund programs to assist tribes is a start, but the incidental funding available does not come close to helping mitigate the issue. Up to $40 million would be needed to provide support comparable to the National Forest and BLM lands. Facilities During site visits there was the observation that many facilities are in poor (or even worse) condition; some at the point they may need to be condemned. BIA Facilities provided the condition of the buildings used for BIA administered forestry and fire programs from their facilities inventory list. After reviewing this inventory list with selected tribal programs, IFMAT found this list is incomplete or out of date. Using
to an estimated $0.5 billion in this report to treat the backlog of hazardous fuels on tribal forests. Other Funding Issues Law Enforcement With the exception of wildlife wardens, there is extremely limited law enforcement on Indian forest lands. Several tribes note a lack of law enforcement capacity needed to pursue illegal fishing and hunting, camping, dumping, and illegal tree cutting on their reservations. Others reported that illegal activities on tribal lands are impediments to gathering and gathering-based practices such as basketmaking by making it unsafe for youth and women to go into the forest to gather (Task B). For reference, Forest Service law enforcement funding is about $0.83/acre. Even if the entire BIA Fish, Wildlife, and Parks TPA funding was spent on law enforcement on the 19.3 million tribal forest acres, it would be equivalent to only $0.27/acre. Wild horses Wild horse/feral horses are a forest and woodland management issue throughout the semi-arid West particularly on tribal, National Forest, and BLM lands. The impacts on forests and woodlands are discussed under
Task Findings and Recommendations 73
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